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US 5,556,254 AGranted
Paper set feeding
AssigneeStandard Duplicating Machines Corporation
InventorsJames A. Darcy, Thomas E. Weeks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a sheet set feeder, a shutter mechanism disposed at least in part beneath a hopper for receiving a stack of offset-jogged sheet sets defines an aperture sized to admit individual sets from the stack. The shutter mechanism is driven so that the aperture is moved from beneath one end of the bottommost sheet set--where a retainer supports the next-to-bottommost sheet set--to beneath the other end of the bottommost set. Individual sets fed by the feeder are then carried by a conveyor to a sheet set processor.
Claims26
A sheet set feeder comprising:
- a housing including a hopper for receiving a stack of sheet sets comprising a bottommost sheet set having a first end and a second end and a next-to-bottommost sheet set having a first end and a second end, the first end of the bottommost sheet set being offset-jogged with respect to the first end of the next-to-bottommost sheet set;
- and
- a shutter mechanism supported by said housing and disposed at least in part beneath said hopper, said shutter mechanism defining an aperture sized to admit the bottommost sheet set and the next-to-bottommost sheet set,
- said shutter mechanism including a driver for moving at least a portion of said shutter mechanism with respect to said hopper from a first position wherein said aperture is disposed beneath the first end of the bottommost sheet set to a second position wherein said aperture is disposed beneath the second end of the bottommost sheet set,
- said shutter mechanism including a first retainer for supporting the next-to-bottommost sheet set when said aperture is disposed beneath the first end of the bottommost sheet set.
2 more elements
A method for feeding sheet sets comprising:
- providing a sheet set feeder including:
- a hopper for receiving a stack of sheet sets;
- and
- a shutter disposed at least in part beneath said hopper, said shutter defining an aperture sized to admit individual sheet sets;
- loading said hopper with a stack of sheet sets comprising a bottommost sheet set having a first end and a second end and a next-to-bottommost sheet set having a first end and a second end, the first end of the bottommost sheet set being offset-jogged with respect to the first end of the next-to-bottommost sheet set;
- moving said shutter with respect to said hopper from a first position wherein said aperture is disposed beneath the first end of the bottommost sheet set to a second position wherein said aperture is disposed beneath the second end of the bottommost sheet set and;
- supporting the first end of the next-to-bottommost sheet set with a retainer, included within said shutter, when said shutter is in said first position.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.