Method and apparatus for stacking thin sheets carrying product
OwnerWalter E. Lotzinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Thin sheets on which a product is held by limited adhesion are transferred from a first conveyor onto a speedup conveyor which slides the sheets, one by one, onto a pair of intermittently rotatable paddles. The paddles comprise a lattice of low-friction material and define receiving surfaces angled toward one another along a direction in which the sheets slide. The paddles rotate 1/2 revolution in response to the leading sheet on the speedup conveyor passing a photocell and form a stack in a compartment on an intermittently moving conveyor below. When a predetermined count of sheets is in the stack, the intermittently moving conveyor is advanced to move an empty compartment under the paddles.
Claims19
Apparatus for stacking thin sheets carrying a product held to the sheets by limited adhesion comprising:
- means for temporarily holding and then dropping the sheets one by one, said holding and dropping means comprising a movable surface;
- means for sliding said sheets at a speed onto said movable surface;
- means for adjusting the speed at which said sliding means slides said sheets onto said movable surface;
- and
- means for moving the movable surface to drop each said sheet when the sheet stops on the movable surface,
- wherein said means for sliding said sheets comprises a conveyor having an upper surface which is slightly higher than said movable surface, and the apparatus further comprises means for varying the height of said upper surface of said conveyor relative to said movable surface.
Apparatus for stacking thin sheets carrying a product held to the sheets by limited adhesion comprising:
- means for temporarily holding and then dropping the sheets one by one, said holding and dropping means comprising a movable surface;
- means for sliding said sheets at a speed onto said movable surface;
- means for adjusting the speed at which said sliding means slides said sheets onto said movable surface;
- and
- means for moving the movable surface to drop each said sheet when the sheet stops on the movable surface,
- wherein the movable surface comprises two elements, the elements having receiving positions in which, to define a pocket, the elements are inclined toward one another along a line parallel to the direction in which the sheets slide.
Apparatus for stacking thin sheets carrying a product held to the sheets by limited adhesion comprising:
- means for temporarily holding and then dropping the sheets one by one, said holding and dropping means comprising a movable surface;
- means for sliding said sheets at a speed onto said movable surface;
- means for adjusting the speed at which said sliding means slides said sheets onto said movable surface;
- and
- means for moving the movable surface to drop each said sheet when the sheet stops on the movable surface,
- wherein the movable surface is defined by two paddles, each paddle is rotatable about an axis parallel to the direction of sliding of the sheets, and each said paddle has a sheet support surface comprising a lattice of material.
Apparatus for stacking thin sheets carrying a product held to the sheets by limited adhesion comprising:
- means for temporarily holding and then dropping the sheets one by one, said holding and dropping means comprising a movable surface;
- means for sliding said sheets at a speed onto said movable surface;
- means for adjusting the speed at which said sliding means slides said sheets onto said movable surface;
- and
- means for moving the movable surface to drop each said sheet when the sheet stops on the movable surface,
- wherein the movable surface is defined by two paddles, each paddle is rotatable about an axis parallel to the direction of sliding of the sheets, and each said paddle comprises:
- a shaft defining a plurality of transverse through bores;
- a pin extending through each through bore and having projecting portions projecting from the shaft on opposite sides of the shaft;
- and
- a plurality of lattice modules each having through bores receiving two of said pins.
A method for stacking a series of thin sheets each carrying at least one product item held in place by limited adhesion comprising:
- conveying the sheets serially onto intermittently rotatable surfaces such that the sheets slide completely onto the rotatable surfaces and stop;
- rotating the rotatable surfaces about 180.degree. to drop each sheet a predetermined time after the sheet stops on the rotatable surfaces, and before a subsequent sheet moves onto the rotatable surfaces;
- and
- forming a stack of the sheets below the rotatable surfaces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.