Sheet material processing
OwnerJohn Anthony Sullivaninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A feed mechanism sheet material sequentially on demand to a take-up mechanism of processing machinery. The feed mechanism has a feed table with a gate. Sheets may be stacked against the gate, which allows only the lowermost sheet to pass therebeneath. Rollers within the surface of the rotatably driven to advance the lowermost sheet beneath the gate to the take-up mechanism. A restraining device prevents freewheeling over run of the rollers. The sheets may be longer in length than the circumference of a tool-carrying roll set used to process the sheet. The difference is accommodated by transferring sheet feed through the nip between the tool set and a separate servo-controlled drive upstream of the nip.
Claims34
Apparatus for processing sheet material, comprising:
- a take-up mechanism of sheet processing machinery, a feed table having a gate and upon which sheets may be stacked against the gate which allows only the lowermost sheet to pass therebeneath, a drive transmitting arrangement driven by a servo-motor to advance the lowermost sheet beneath the gate to the take-up mechanism, a sensing means between the gate and the take-up mechanism to detect the passage of a datum position of the sheet, and a microprocessor which receives data indicating the position of the take-up mechanism and from the sensing means and which is programmed to control the servo-motor to ensure that the sheet presents itself to the take-up mechanism at the correct instant, such that, when the take-up mechanism commences to feed the sheet, the drive transmitting arrangement operates automatically in a freewheel mode while in engagement with the sheet, said apparatus further including restraining means for restraining feed of the next lowermost sheet by overrun of the freewheeling drive transmitting arrangement after the sheet being fed has cleared said drive-transmitting arrangement.
An apparatus for feeding sheet material on demand to a take-up mechanism of sheet processing machinery, comprising:
- a feed table having a gate and upon which sheets may be stacked against the gate which allows only the lowermost sheet to pass therebeneath;
- a drive mechanism driven by a servo-motor to advance the lowermost sheet beneath the gate to the take-up mechanism;
- a sensor adapted to be located between the gate and the take-up mechanism that detects the passage of a datum position of the sheet;
- a microprocessor that is adapted to receive data indicating the position of the take-up mechanism and data from the sensor and which controls the servo-motor to ensure that the sheet presents itself to the take-up mechanism at the correct instant;
- and wherein
- the drive mechanism automatically operates in a freewheel mode while still in engagement with the sheet at the same time the take-up mechanism commences to feed the sheet, the drive mechanism ceasing freewheel rotation once the sheet has cleared the drive mechanism.
An apparatus for processing sheet material, comprising:
- a take-up roller set that is operable at a selected continuous speed;
- a feed table having a gate and upon which sheets may be stacked against the gate which allows only the lowermost sheet to pass therebeneath;
- a drive roller set driven by a servo-motor to advance the lowermost sheet beneath the gate to the take-up roller set;
- a sensor located between the gate and the take-up roller set that detects the passage of a datum position of the lowermost sheet;
- a microprocessor that receives data indicating the rotational position of the take-up roller set and data from the sensor and which causes the servo-motor to intermittingly rotate the drive roller set to present the lowermost sheet to the take-up roller set at the correct instant;
- the drive roller set automatically operating in a freewheel mode while still in engagement with the lowermost sheet at the time the take-up roller set commences to engage the lowermost sheet;
- and
- a brake that engages the drive roller set to restrain the freewheeling movement of the drive roller set after the lowermost sheet has cleared the drive roller set.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.