GB885351A - Improvements relating to sheet stacking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

885,351. Stacking sheets. WARREN CO., S. D. April 27, 1960 [May 6, 1959), No. 14803/60. Class 100(1) Apparatus for aligning rectangular sheets of paper or the like which are successively deposited on a pile, comprises a pair of flat, elongated boards located at opposite sides of the pile and connected to mechanism which repeatedly moves them towards and away from positions corresponding to the opposite sides of the pile, each board carrying a device for striking the board with a sharp, sudden blow each time it reaches a position corresponding to the side of the pile. Sheets are fed from above, by means not shown, on to a pile 10, a number of inclined endless belts 14 directing the sheets forwards and downwards as they approach the pile. The front edges of the sheets are aligned against stops 18. Parallel horizontal shafts 22, 24 are journalled in bearings secured to beams 28 and have rigidly secured thereto boards 38, 40 respectively. The shaft 22 carries a crank lever 42 which is moved between and full- and dotted-line positions of Fig. 3 by means of a lever 44 controlled, by a cam 48. The cam 48 is mounted on a driven shaft 52. The shaft 24 is oscillated in a similar manner and in synchronizm with the shaft 22. Each of the boards 38, 40 has two solenoids 74 mounted thereon, the armatures of which strike a portion of the solenoid housing adjacent to the boards when the solenoids are energized. The solenoids are controlled by a cam 118 on the shaft 52 which closes a switch 114 in the solenoid circuits at the instant that the boards 38, 40 engage the pile 10. The sharp rap thus produced on the boards by the solenoids assists in squaring-up the pile. The boards 38, 40 are perforated at 120, the holes having flared mouths on the inner sides of the boards, so as to minimize air currents caused by their movement. The cam 48 is so shaped that the boards move rapidly outwards and more slowly inwards. The solenoids may be replaced by hammers driven by air pressure released by a valve which is opened at the desired instant by mechanical or electrical means, or by hammers tripped mechanically.