Method and apparatus for feeding sheets

A system for feeding sheets of material such as corrugated board comprising in combination, a first feeder including a pair of endless belt conveyors including endless belts trained about inlet and outlet pulleys for receiving sheets between inner runs of the belts and feeding the sheets towards the outlet pulleys, said inner runs of the belts being spaced from each other to form a first gap at rectilinearly moving sections located between the inlet and outlet pulleys, and being spaced from each other at the inlet pulleys to form a second gap which is greater than said first gap whereby blanks enter said second gap at the inlet pulleys and are engaged and driven by said rectilinearly moving belt sections at said first gap and fed toward the outlet pulleys, and a second feeder located upstream of said first feeder for feeding sheets to said first feeder, said second feeder having means for driving a sheet through said second gap at the inlet pulley and into said first gap at a constant velocity matched to the velocity of said belts, and wherein said inlet pulleys have axes of rotation and wherein said second gap is located along a line interconnecting said axes of the inlet pulleys.

A method of feeding corrugated blanks in a box finishing machine comprising the steps of:

• utilizing overlying and underlying endless belt conveyors including timing belts for engaging the blanks at sections of the belts intermediate the ends of the belts where the sections are spaced at a first gap, setting the first gap to be less than a second gap located at the inlet and outlet ends of the conveyor belts such that blanks pass through the inlet and are driven by the belts only at the first gap while the blanks are moving rectilinearly, utilizing a feeder for driving blanks through the inlet of the conveyor belts and into the first gap at a velocity matched to the velocity of said belts, and releasing the blanks from the feeder when the blanks reach a location between the inlet and outlet pulleys and while the blanks are engaged and driven by the belts.

A method of feeding corrugated blanks downstream in a box-finishing machine comprising the steps of:

• feeding a blank downstream with a feeder machine between inner runs of a pair of endless conveyor belts until the blank has at least reached a location intermediate the opposite ends of the belts, engaging the blank with both belts to drive the blank downstream at the same speed at which the feeder machine is feeding the blank, and releasing the blank from the feeder machine when the blank reaches said location and while the belts continue to drive the blank downstream.

In combination with a box finishing machine having at least one station where an operation is performed on corrugated blanks;

• a first feeder for feeding corrugated blanks towards the station and including endless timing belts trained about inlet and outlet pulleys for receiving blanks between inner runs of the belts and feeding the blanks downstream towards said station, said inner runs of the belts being spaced from each other to form a first gap at sections located between the inlet and outlet pulleys and a second gap between the inlet pulleys and greater than said first gap such that the blanks are fed by the belts only while the blanks are moving rectilinearly between said inlet and outlet pulleys, and a second feeder located upstream of said first feeder for feeding blanks to said first feeder, said second feeder having means for driving a blank between said belts at a velocity matched to the velocity of said belts while the belts are also feeding the blank downstream and for disengaging the blank when it reaches a predetermined location between the inlet and outlet pulleys and while the belts are still feeding the blank, and wherein said second gap is located along a line interconnecting rotational axes of the inlet pulleys.