Paper separation and singulation apparatus and method

Abstract

A mechanical system that separates bundles of paper and presents the separated paper on a conveyor in a single layer fashion, for further processing. The paper is accumulated in a hopper and fed into the mechanical separating mechanism in a batch mode. When sufficient volume has been admitted to the container, the inflow port is closed and the mechanical separating impeller are activated to rotate in the same direction, imparting bidirectional forces on compacted bundles of sheets or shreds, causing them to deaggregate. Upon completion of the separation cycle, the separated sheets are expelled through an outlet port and conveyed to a drop chute for further singulation, from which the singulated sheets may be deposited onto one or more conveyor belts for sorting.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.