Abstract: An endless conveyor belt having a series of perforations is positioned between a vacuum outlet and a carrier having a stack of substantially flat documents. The vacuum is operated only when the perforations in the belt are positioned in front of the vacuum outlet to reduce drag on the belt. When the vacuum is operational, the belt will attract one of the documents from the stack and deliver it to a subsequent processing station. Means are provided for maintaining the documents in spaced relation from the belt when the vacuum is inoperative to preclude premature removal of a document from the stack by frictional contact of the document and the belt. A deflectable roller is also located adjacent the belt which rotates counter to the direction of travel of the belt to preclude the feeding of more than one document at a time by the belt to the subsequent processing station.

Abstract: In combination with paper conveying apparatus in an electrostatic copier, including a movable photoconductor adapted to be electrically energized from a source of supply of electrostatic charge for attaching thereto a sheet of paper for movement therewith, there is described structure for detaching the sheet from the moving photoconductor. The structure includes the provision of one or more apertures in the photoconductor and finger means movable at least partially through the apertures, as the photoconductor is moving, for urging a portion of the attached sheet of paper away from the photoconductor. In addition, the structure preferably includes vacuum header means for urging the remainder of the attached sheet of paper away from the moving photoconductor.

Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for loading a master onto and unloading the master from the rotating master cylinder in a lithographic printing machine at substantially the same angular position of cylinder rotation. The apparatus includes external grippers for gripping a master edge and moving it into the proximity of the cylinder through a master delivery path. Internal grippers for gripping and later releasing the master edge in the proximity of the cylinder are mounted in the cylinder and are extendable beyond the cylinder surface during a first angular sector of cylinder rotation to describe a master receiving path that intersects the master delivery path in a loading merger region. The internal grippers are also extendable beyond the cylinder surface in a second angular sector of cylinder rotation to describe a master release path.

Abstract: A method and device for handling an endless, flexible, articulated belt of photoconductive material. The belt is continuously moving, and a housing is provided to store the greater portion of the belt which is not being run through copier machinery. A pair of feed rollers feeds a quantity of belt material returning from the copier machine to the housing, and a pair of dispensing rollers are synchronized with the feed rollers so as to eject a like quantity of belt material to the copier. Therefore, although the portion of the belt within the housing is continuously changing, the unit mass of material within the housing remains substantially constant. The photoconductive belt is uniquely fan-folded within the housing to provide a compact bundle of material, and the bundle is made to reciprocally translate within the housing, as the belt is fed to, and dispensed from, the housing.

Abstract: The side portions of a sheet are fed equally and in synchronism with its central portion so that when any side portion of a skewed sheet leads the central portion along the path of movement of the sheet said side portion will be held back until the central portion begins its feeding movement thereby eliminating skew in the sheet. The mechanism includes a drive shaft supporting a central drive roller secured thereon and idle rollers spaced to either side of the drive roller, and a driven shaft supporting a series of rollers secured thereto in opposition to the rollers on the drive shaft, the drive roller and its opposing roller being out of contact with one another but capable of contacting a sheet introduced therebetween, the idle rollers contacting their respective opposing rollers.

Abstract: Disclosed is a sheet jogging assembly for use in a sheet registering apparatus in which sheets are collected at a receiving station and arranged in registration with each other for performing an operation on the collected stack of sheets. The invention is utilized particularly in machines for stitching, stapling or punching stacks of sheets which have been collated into booklets, the sheets having been delivered to the stitching, stapling or punching machine by a suitable feeding apparatus. The registering apparatus operates on the rear edge of the sheets after they are deposited on a receiving tray and incorporates mechanism by which a jogging device can be adjustably set to an infinite number of operating positions between predetermined limits which allows the machine to handle sheets ranging from approximately seven inches to approximately fourteen inches in length.

Abstract: An apparatus for receiving flat sheet material seriatim and storing the material in rolled configuration on a winding spool. A suitable winding spool is mounted on a frame for rotation, and a plurality of endless belts are mounted on the frame so that a portion thereof is wrapped almost entirely around the spool and another portion is disposed away from the spool to form an entrance portion of the belts adjacent the surface of the winding spool where the belts are tangential thereto. When the belts are driven, sheet material fed between the belts and the peripheral surface of the winding spool and is wrapped around the winding spool and retained thereon for storage.

Abstract: A stand-alone power stacker for envelopes and similar type planar articles is provided wherein two end to end arcuately adjustable belt conveyors are adapted to be driven at automatically varying relative speeds depending on load conditions. The machine drive motor is controlled by a sensing means that detects the presence of each envelope that is delivered to the upstream end of the stacker and a time delay control circuit is provided to delay a termination of operation of said motor for a selected time period after said sensing means has completed a sensing operation. The arcuate adjustability of the outer ends of said conveyors permits the upstream one of said conveyors to receive envelopes, etc. from various heights and the downstream one of said conveyors to generate envelope stacks of desired compactness or density.