Media feed roll apparatus and method for its use

A media feed roll apparatus for advancing articles having a relatively broad surface in relation to thickness one at a time onto a transport means, comprising:

• a drive roller assembly with at least one upper drive roller mounted in a carriage, said carriage and drive roller assembly moveably attached to a frame, the frame mounted on a first support member, the carriage mounted to a pivot lift assembly, at least one lower roller facing each of said at least one upper drive roller, said at least one lower roller being rotatably mounted on a second support member and proximate to the transfer means, said at least one upper drive roller and said at least one lower roller forming an article feed nip;
• and
• the pivot lift assembly with a first toggle arm connected to a lift lever, said toggle arm being rotatably mounted on a frame member, said first toggle arm rotatably connected through a toggle arm connector to a second toggle arm rotatably mounted on said frame member, the pivot lift assembly connected to the carriage and upper drive roller, said pivot lift assembly, carriage and drive roller assembly moveable from a raised drive roller position to a lowered article engagement position to engage the article with a preset pressure, said drive roller assembly releasably clampable at a raised or lowered position by a clamping means that is operable independent of the lift assembly to set separation of the at least one upper and at least one lower roller to handle a range of article thicknesses.

An upper drive roller lift assembly utilized in a media feed roll apparatus comprising:

• a lift lever in communication with a first toggle arm rotatably mounted on a frame member having a travel limiter slideably positioned on a frame pin means, said toggle arm rotatably mounted to a toggle arm connector;
• said toggle arm connector rotatably mounted to a second toggle arm which is rotatably mounted to the frame member;
• said first and second toggle arms and toggle connector structured and dimensioned for travel in parallel planes;
• and
• said toggle arm connector being connected to a first and a second independent upper drive roller lifting tube, each lifting tube supporting a separate, independent upper drive roller for raising and lowering said rollers with pivotal movement of the lift lever.

A media feed roll apparatus for advancing articles having relatively broad surface in relation to thickness from a stack of said articles, one at a time onto a transport means, comprising:

• a gating assembly with a vertically moveable gate positioned in a guide slot of a first support member, the gate moveably attached to a drive roller assembly frame by a gate arm threadably adjustable by a shaft connected to the frame;
• a feed hopper in alignment with the gate and having a drive means for moving a bottom article from underneath the stack of articles through the gate;
• a drive roller assembly with at least one upper drive roller mounted in a carriage, said carriage and drive roller assembly moveably attached to the frame, the frame mounted on the first support member, the carriage mounted to a pivot lift assembly, one lower roller facing each of said upper drive rollers, said lower roller being rotatably mounted on a second support member proximate to the transfer means, said upper drive rollers and said lower rollers forming an article feed nip;
• and
• the pivot lift assembly with a first toggle arm connected to a lift lever, said toggle arm being rotatably mounted on a frame member, said first toggle arm rotatably connected through a toggle arm connector to a second toggle arm rotatably mounted on said frame member, the pivot lift assembly connected to the carriage and upper drive roller assembly, said pivot lift assembly, carriage and drive roller assembly moveable from a raised drive roller position to a lowered article engagement position, said drive roller assembly releasably clampable at a raised or lowered position by a clamping means.

A method for causing equal feed roller pressure to be applied to articles being fed one at a time through a media feed roll apparatus, said apparatus including a drive roller assembly having independently suspended upper drive rollers, lower rollers associated in paired relationship with each of said upper drive rollers providing article feed nips therebetween, individual clamping means for holding each of said upper drive rollers in essentially stationary position relative to its paired lower rollers, each said upper drive roller being biased toward each said paired lower roller when said clamping means is unclamped, and a single lift means for raising said unclamped upper drive rollers relative to their paired lower rollers, the method comprising:

• unclamping each of said individual clamping means holding said independently suspended upper drive rollers to release said upper drive rollers for movement from said essentially stationary position;
• raising said upper drive rollers relative to said paired lower rollers by operation of said single lift means;
• inserting an article to be fed through said apparatus in said nips between said raised upper drive rollers and said paired lower rollers;
• lowering said upper drive rollers relative to said paired lower rollers by operation of said single lift means and allowing each of said upper drive rollers to be independently biased into engagement with the article inserted in said nips between said upper and lower rollers in a manner such that each of said rollers applies substantially equal force to the article;
• and
• clamping said individual clamping means to fix each of the upper drive rollers in essentially stationary position applying said substantially equal force to the article.

A method for causing equal feed roller pressure to be applied to articles being fed one at a time through a media feed roll apparatus, said apparatus including a drive roller assembly having independently suspended upper drive rollers, lower rollers associated in paired relationship with each of said upper drive rollers providing article feed nips therebetween, individual clamping means for holding each of said upper drive rollers in stationary position relative to its paired lower rollers, each said upper drive roller being biased toward each said paired lower roller when said clamping means is unclamped, and a single lift means for raising said unclamped upper drive rollers relative to their paired lower rollers, the method comprising:

• raising said upper drive rollers relative to said paired lower rollers by operation of said single lift means;
• inserting an article to be fed through said apparatus in said nips between said raised upper drive rollers and said paired lower rollers;
• lowering said upper drive rollers relative to said paired lower rollers by operation of said single lift means;
• and
• unclamping each of said individual clamping means holding said independently suspended upper drive rollers to release said upper drive rollers for movement from said stationary position and to allow each of said upper drive rollers to be independently biased into engagement with the article inserted in said nips between said upper and lower rollers in a manner such that each of said rollers applies substantially equal force to the article;
• and
• clamping said individual clamping means to fix each of the upper drive rollers in stationary position applying said substantially equal force to the article.