Abstract: Successive stacks of paper sheets are turned during travel along two parallel paths one of which is defined by a first conveyor and the other of which is defined by a set of two or more consecutive conveyors. The speed of the conveyor or conveyors defining one of the paths is greater than the speed of the conveyor or conveyors defining the other path so that the orientation of stacks changes during travel along the two paths. The orientation of successive stacks in at least one intermediate portion of each path is monitored by a battery of photoelectronic detectors whose signals are processed to ascertain whether or not the monitored orientation matches a desired intermediate orientation. The processed signals are used to change the speed of the conveyor or conveyors which define at least one of the paths so as to ensure that each stack assumes a predetermined orientation at the latest on reaching the ends of the two paths.

Abstract: Two conveyors for stacks of paper sheets are coupled to each other for movement back and forth between a first position in which one of the conveyors receives one or more stacks and the other conveyor is relieved of the stack or stacks thereon, and a second position in which the one conveyor is relieved of the stack or stacks thereon and the other conveyor receives one or more stacks. In order to expel air from the stacks on the conveyors the foremost portions of the stacks are clamped by reciprocable rams to the respective conveyors and the thus clamped stacks are caused to move along stationary squeegees which bear against successive increments of the stacks behind the respective rams while the stacks, the respective rams and the respective conveyors move away from the stack-receiving positions.

Abstract: Apparatus for converting a continuous stream of partially overlapping sheets of paper or the like into a succession of stacks has a table which is movable between a first position adjacent the discharge end of a conveyor for the stream of sheets and a second position adjacent a stack removing unit. When in first position, the table is lowered gradually at the rate at which the height of the growing stack on its top increases, and such table is mounted on a reciprocable carriage which further supports a platform adjacent to the table so that the platform can enter the gathering station and take over a growing stack while the fully grown stack on the table is advanced to the removing unit. The table and the platform are provided with conveyors so that a fully grown stack can be transferred from the table onto the removing unit and the conveyor on the platform can transfer a growing stack onto the table when the transfer of the fully grown stack onto the stack removing unit is completed.

Abstract: One edge face of each stack of overlapping paper sheets in a series of moving stacks is trimmed and simultaneously roughened by a driven circular knife before the thus trimmed and roughened edge faces are coated with adhesive paste in a step which immediately follows the combined trimming and roughening operation. The edge faces are roughened by teeth which form the cutting edge of the circular knife and/or by particles of hard metal and/or boron nitride on that major surface of the knife which confronts the edge face of the stack at the combined trimming and roughening station.

Abstract: Self-sticking note pads are mass-produced in a continuous operation starting with a running web of paper which is drawn from a roll and one side of which is coated with longitudinally or transversely extending stripes of adhesive before the web is subdivided into a series of large panels which are gathered into stacks and overlapped by bottom covers prior to subdivision into pads of desired size. The stacks are preferably inverted prior to subdivision into pads so that the bottom covers are disposed below the lowermost panels of the corresponding stacks, and the subdivision of successive stacks into pads takes place in two immediately following stages. The pads are transported to a packing machine.

Abstract: Apparatus for delivering singularized stacks of paper sheets to a packing machine has a first conveyor which intermittently receives groups of several abutting stacks and is intermittently driven by a variable-speed electric motor to advance the groups onto the individual endless bands of a gathering conveyor which serves to accumulate the groups into a row of abutting stacks ready to be singularized and delivered to the packing machine. The bands of the gathering conveyor are normally driven at a constant speed by a prime mover which further drives a first encoder serving to transmit a first signal whenever the bands cover a unit distance. A second encoder generates second signals whenever the motor is on and the first conveyor covers the same unit distance. The motor can also drive the bands at a speed higher than that at which the bands can be driven by the prime mover whenever the speed of the first conveyor exceeds the speed of the bands.

Abstract: A self-locking chuck which can clamp the hollow core of a bobbin to a rotor has two nuts which mate with externally threaded sections of the rotor and have threads inclined in opposite directions or threads of different pitch so that they move axially toward or away from each other in response to joint rotation relative to the rotor or vice versa. The nuts are surrounded by two or more axially parallel torque transmitting segments whose external surfaces are movable into torque-transmitting engagement with the internal surface of a core in response to joint rotation of the nuts relative to the rotor. To this end, the inner sides of the segments are provided with a first set of cam faces and the outer sides of the nuts are provided with a second set of cam faces which cooperate with the cam faces of the segments to move the segments radially outwardly in response to joint rotation of the nuts relative to the rotor.

Abstract: Adhesive coated front edge faces of successive stacks of paper sheets are bonded to downwardly folded marginal portions of flap-over covers at an aligning station which receives stacks from a first source along a first path wherein the stacks are caused to advance at right angles to their adhesive-coated edge faces and which receives covers with adhesive-coated marginal portions from a second source. The covers move along a second path lengthwise of their marginal portions and in parallelism with the front edge faces of the stacks in the first path. Each stack which arrives at the aligning station is disposed behind the downwardly bent marginal portion of the corresponding cover and is thereupon moved with the cover through the nip of two rollers which apply external pressure to bond the marginal portion to the edge face of the corresponding stack.

Abstract: A continuous web of paper with a series of transversely extending rows of perforations between successive panels is folded in zig-zag fashion by reducing the speed of each oddly numbered panel and simultaneously diverting the oddly numbered panel from the path of the web while the evenly numbered panels immediately following the diverted oddly numbered panels continue to advance at a higher speed so that the neighboring panels define loops while the next-following evenly numbered panels catch up with the immediately preceding oddly numbered panels. The loops are stabilized by suction-operated conveyors and by admission of compressed air thereinto, and the resulting stack of overlapping panels is severed at intervals across selected rows of perforations to form a series of smaller stacks each of which contains a desired number of panels.

Abstract: Successive watermarks on a running web of coherent paper sheets are monitored by a scanner which generates defect signals in response to detection of watermarks outside of selected portions of the respective sheets, and the cross cutter which severs the web to form discrete sheets is then adjusted to separate the respective sheets from the next-following sheets with a delay or prematurely so that the sheets bearing the improperly positioned watermarks are too short or too long. Such defective sheets are segregated from satisfactory sheets downstream of the cross cutter in properly delayed response to generation of defect signals by the scanner.

Abstract: Apparatus for delivering singularized stacks of paper sheets to a packing machine has a first conveyor which intermittently receives groups of several abutting stacks and is intermittently driven by a variable-speed electric motor to advance the groups onto the individual endless bands of a gathering conveyor which serves to accumulate the groups into a row of abutting stacks ready to be singularized and delivered to the packing machine. The bands of the gathering conveyor are normally driven at a constant speed by a prime mover which further drives a first encoder serving to transmit a first signal whenever the bands cover a unit distance. A second encoder generates second signals whenever the motor is on and the first conveyor covers the same unit distance. The motor can also drive the bands at a speed higher than that at which the bands can be driven by the prime mover whenever the speed of the first conveyor exceeds the speed of the bands.

Abstract: Apparatus for transporting paper stacks has two spaced-apart transporting units each having a supplying conveyor which can accept stacks from a maker or feeder, an intermediate conveyor which can accept stacks from the supplying conveyor, and a receiving conveyor which can accept stacks from the intermediate conveyor for delivery to a packing machine. A third receiving conveyor is disposed between the receiving conveyors of the two transporting units and serves to deliver stacks to a third packing machine. The intermediate conveyors can be linked to each other for simultaneous movement transversely of the transporting units so that one of the intermediate conveyors registers with the third receiving conveyor while the other intermediate conveyor receives one or more stacks from the supplying conveyor of the corresponding transporting unit.

Abstract: Stacks of superimposed paper sheets are formed from a succession of layers each of which contains a given number of groups of sheets. One or more layers which contain a first number of groups can be followed by one or more layers containing a different second number of groups so that a stack can contain layers which, in turn, contain different numbers of groups and hence different numbers of sheets. The number of sheets in each stack and in each layer is a whole multiple of the number of sheets in a group. If the average number of sheets in a series of successive stacks is to deviate from a whole multiple of the number of sheets in a group, successive stacks contain different numbers of sheets; each such number is a whole multiple of the number of sheets in a group but the total number of sheets in the series of stacks divided by the number of stacks which form the series can deviate from such whole multiple.

Abstract: Apparatus for accumulating stacks of superimposed layers or piles of paper sheets has a horizontal platform which receives successive layers from a feeding unit and can open up to permit the properly oriented layer thereon to descend by gravity onto an elevator which is disposed at a level below the platform and at a distance only slightly exceeding the height of a layer. The elevator is then lowered by a step, and the platform receives and discharges the next layer in the same way so that the elevator supports two layers. The accumulation of layers on the elevator is repeated as often as desired in order to accumulate a stack of desired height. The elevator is then opened and permits the fully grown stack to descend through a chute and into a container (such as a carton which is disposed therebelow and is properly centered by a suitable receptacle). The descent of the stack is braked by the column of air which is pushed by the stack in front of it through the chute and into the interior of the carton.

Abstract: Apparatus for back stripping stacks of paper sheets or the like has a transporting unit which advances suitably staggered stacks along a horizontal path toward, to and beyond a back stripping station. The apparatus further comprises a carrier for an endless suction conveyor which draws requisite lengths of a web of backing strip material from a source of supply and past an adhesive applicator which coats the exposed side of the web with adhesive before the foremost back strip is severed therefrom and is temporarily held by the suction conveyor for application to the selected edge face of the stack at the back stripping station. This is achieved by moving the carrier from below upwardly into the path of an oncoming stack if the edge face about to receive the back strip is the leading edge face of such stack.

Abstract: A first transporting unit advances a series of stacks of paper sheets along a straight first path. A transfer conveyor can be lifted into the first path to divert selected stacks into the range of a second transporting unit which defines a second path making an oblique angle with the first path. The transfer conveyor is assisted by a pusher which is adjacent to the first path opposite the stack-receiving end of the second transporting unit and is movable at right angles to the first path to move the diverted stack sideways. Such stack strikes a yieldable bumper which expels it from the second path into the range of a third transporting unit serving to advance stacks in parallelism with or at right angles to the direction of movement of stacks along the first path. The orientation of selected stacks remains unchanged during diversion from the first into the second path as well as during diversion from the second into the third path.

Abstract: A cross cutter subdivides a continuous paper web into a file of discrete randomly distributed satisfactory and unsatisfactory sheets which are advanced by a first transporting unit at an elevated first speed into the variable-width clearance between two superimposed conveyors of a second transporting unit which are driven at a lower second speed so that the sheets which enter the clearance are converted into a scalloped stream. Unsatisfactory sheets are removed from the first transporting unit and the width of the clearance is reduced in response to segregation of an unsatisfactory sheet or two or more successive unsatisfactory sheets to prevent the next-following satisfactory sheet from advancing through the clearance without deceleration by the two conveyors.

Abstract: Apparatus for accumulating stacks of paper sheets has a cross cutter which repeatedly severs several overlapping running paper webs to form a series of groups of overlapping sheets. Such groups are accumulated into layers at a gathering station, and successively formed layers are engaged and withdrawn by a transfer unit which delivers the layers into the range of a withdrawing conveyor serving to deliver the layers to a stack forming station. The operation of the transfer unit is controlled by a rotary camshaft which is driven by the prime mover for the cross cutter through the medium of a computer-controlled step-down transmission arrangement having a compensating transmission whose control shaft is adjustable by the computer, whose input member receives torque from the prime mover and whose output shaft drives the camshaft through the medium of a change-speed transmission, an adjustable planetary transmission, a bevel gear transmission and a gear transmission.

Abstract: Apparatus for converting successive groups of neighboring stacks of paper sheets into a row of spaced-apart equidistant stacks has a first transporting unit which receives at intervals groups of stacks from a maker and advances successive groups at intervals lengthwise so that the neighboring groups are separated by gaps. The first transporting unit is followed by a second transporting unit having a series of gathering conveyors which are driven at a relatively low constant speed and some of which can be driven at intervals at a higher second speed to thus cooperate with the first transporting unit, whose speed can be varied between zero speed and the second speed, in order to eliminate gaps between successive groups and to form a composite group of immediately adjacent stacks.

Abstract: Apparatus gathering writing pads into stacks has a row of receptacles disposed at a level below the discharge end of a feeding conveyor which delivers several lines of pads, one for each receptacle. The receptacles have a common horizontal floor assembled of spaced-apart elongated strips mounted in a main frame and extending in the longitudinal direction of the row, and the receptacles are separated from each other by separating units having sets of upright rods which extend upwardly through the spaces between the neighboring strips and can be lowered to move out of the way preparatory to removal of assembled stacks of pads by two endless conveyor belts which flank the row of receptacles and have inner reaches movable into engagement with the respective sides of the stacks. The conveyor belts are set in motion after their inner reaches engage the stacks and after the rods are retracted to a level below the floor.