Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus with a sheet containing tray adapted to support a plurality of sheets and being shiftable between a sheet supplying position and a waiting position, a sheet supply roller for feeding out the sheet supported by the sheet containing tray at the sheet supplying position, a driving force transmitting device connected to the sheet supply roller and adapted to transmit a driving force from a drive source, and a holding device connected to the driving force transmitting device so that the sheet containing tray is shifted to the sheet supplying position by the driving force transmitted to the sheet supply roller and capable of holding the sheet containing tray at the sheet supplying position while the plurality of sheets are being supplied by the sheet supply roller.

Abstract: A closure mechanism for a receiver sheet supply drawer of a reproduction apparatus having a receiver sheet supply drawer, such drawer being slidable to a first location for loading a receiver sheet stack in the supply drawer and a second location relative to the reproduction apparatus where receiver sheets may be fed in register from said supply drawer. The closure mechanism comprises a variable damping mechanism for damping the movement of the receiver sheet supply drawer from the first location to the second location to assure that the receiver sheet supply drawer approaches the second location at a speed sufficiently slow to prevent receiver sheet stack dishevelment irrespective of the initial speed of the receiver sheet supply drawer as it leaves the first location. When the receiver sheet supply drawer is in the second location, it is releasably latched at a predetermined accurate position in the second location.

Abstract: A high speed apparatus for pocketing documents in a pocket. A document to be pocketed is diverted from a document track towards a cupping apparatus by a pocket selector. The cupping apparatus includes an initial cupping rib and first, second, and third drive rollers, with a metal pinch roller being positioned opposite the second drive roller to cup a document to be pocketed. The leading edge of the cupped document encounters a document spring to create a "travelling wave" which functions to push the trailing edges of documents already pocketed away from an entry point to the pocket to enable the document to be pocketed to enter the pocket without collision and to enter in the right order. The document spring has a rectangular opening in each end thereof to enable the end to be secured to a rectangular boss located on a guide member within the apparatus to provide a quick change construction.

Abstract: An apparatus for sequentially feeding an accumulation of sheets stored in a storing section thereof one by one to a predetermined transport path. A pressing member presses the accumulation of sheets to one side in a direction in which the sheets are accumulated. A pair of pick-up rollers abut against the surface of the accumulation of sheets at the above-mentioned one side. A pair of feed rollers are located at a predetermined feed position in parallel with the pair of pick-up rollers. Actuators cause the pick-up roller pair and the feed roller pair to move toward and away from each other in a reciprocating motion. A pair of reverse rollers are located to face the pair of feed rollers and rotatable in a counter-feed direction opposite to a predetermined feed direction. The pick-up rollers and feed rollers moving toward and away from each other pay out a sheet from one side of the accumulation.

Abstract: The conveying device comprises a first conveyor to feed printed products, arranged in an imbricated formation and arriving in a predetermined conveying direction, to an outfeed conveyor. In order to separate or detach printed products from this imbricated formation and supply the separated printed products to a second conveyor, there is provided a transfer or carry-over conveyor comprising two conveying arms pivotably connected to one another and arranged in tandem. The first conveying arm is stationarily mounted at its conveying-active end, and a reciprocating pivotable driving lever acts upon the second conveying arm for the purpose of shifting a conveying entrance of the transfer or carry-over conveyor from a working position, in which the printed products are supplied to the second conveyor, to a withdrawal position and again back to the working position.

Abstract: A side dispensing container closure cap is provided with a hinged lid extending to a side periphery of the cap and which is pivotable from a closed position to an opened position and which has depending side walls along the length of the pivotable portion forming a chute passage to the periphery of the cap, the chute passage has dividing walls between the side walls to define a plurality of chute-like passages. Stops are provided to allow partial opening of the pivoted portion and a reinforcing web interconnects the lower portion of the side walls and dividing walls.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is an apparatus for holding by suction and conveying, making use of a suction pad for holding a work by suction. The apparatus is characterized in that the suction pad comprises a root part to be connected to a vacuum and suction source and a skirt part provided integrally with the root part, and a cushioning part is provided integrally between the root part and the skirt part.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a suction pad for attracting and holding a work, which comprises a suction base coupled via a connector to a vacuum suction source, a suction skirt integrally provided in continuation with the base, and a vacuum chamber which is defined inside the suction pad and communicates with the inside of the skirt. In addition, the suction pad includes a plurality of smaller-diameter through holes which cause the vacuum chamber to communicate with a suction surface of the skirt, and partition walls for surrounding the through holes. The partition walls define a number of small vacuum chambers.

Abstract: A material separator that magnetically separates the desired material from a slurry as the slurry travels along one or more passageways between a hopper and a discharge chute. Riffle lines can also be incorporated in such passageways to increase the separation capabilities of the material separator. Additionally, as the need arises, more or fewer passageways can be added or removed to adjust the collection efficiency of the material separator.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a vertical stacking system comprising an apparatus and method to control stack formation based on a non-contact sensing of the reaction of the feed conveyor to the forming stack. In accordance with the invention a stream of signatures is fed by the feed conveyor onto a support surface. There is an upper feed extension of the feed conveyor located above the support surface. The stack is formed between the support surface and the feed extension. The top of the stack is adjacent to the upper feed extension. The location of the extension is determined by the location of the top of the stack. The non-contact sensing means senses the location of the feed extension and generates a location signal. This location signal is used to control a slide drive which moves the support surface.

Abstract: A multi-size paper cassette for a printer, such as an electrophotographic or laser jet printer and having a cassette housing which is adapted to receive a back wall and paper receiving shelf in slidable engagement with housing side walls during paper size adjustment and loading of paper into the cassette. A cammed shaft member having a predefined contoured slot therein is pivotally mounted on one of the upstanding side walls of the cassette housing and has an end face aligned with a plurality of indicia marked openinging in a front wall of the cassette housing. The cammed shaft member is operative to receive a driver pin within its contoured slot, and the driver pin and adjoining paper receiving shelf are driven backward and forward in the cassette during paper size adjustment and paper loading.

Abstract: An apparatus for changing the direction of travel of sheets of paper being conveyed seriatim along a paper path without changing the orientation of the sheets with respect to a first direction of travel, comprises a deck having an upstream end for receiving a sheet being conveyed along a paper path in a first direction. There are a plurality of first roller pairs operatively coupled to the deck and disposed in a second direction for seizing a first leading edge of the sheet and conveying the sheet in the second direction along the deck. The second direction forms an acute angle of at most 45.degree. with the first direction. There are guide stucture operatively coupled to the first roller pairs for preventing portions of the sheet from raising off the deck when the portions are not controlled by the first roller pairs.

Abstract: Air flows are jetted at leading edge of sheets from nozzles aligned along the widthwise direction of the sheets so as to separate the bottommost or uppermost sheet from the remaining sheets. When the sheets are large-sized, all the aligned nozzles form the air flows for separating the sheets. When the air flows from all the nozzles are jetted at the small-sized sheets, the sheets are liable to flap. Accordingly, the nozzles arranged near the both ends are closed, so that only the nozzles jetting the air flows to effectively separate the small-sized sheets are used.

Abstract: A liquid dispenser device comprising a shell adapted to be wall-mounted substantially vertically in a bathing or washing area and to removably and replaceably receive and hold one or more elongate bottles for liquids useful before, after, or while bathing, each bottle having a valve assembly operable by a push button along an axis extending substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of its associated bottle as positioned substantially vertically for use. The shell has a hinged and preferably lockable cover part that can be propped open when raised for allowing a bottle to be removed for refilling. Most of the components of the dispenser device are preferably fabricated from a thermoplastic material, as by well-known injection molding techniques.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a device for feeding sheets one by one. This device basically comprises a suction pad moved toward stacked sheets so as to attract an uppermost sheet of the stacked sheets thereto, a drum rotatable in both forward and reverse directions, a first belt-type conveying system disposed on one part of the surface of the drum, a second belt-type conveying system disposed on another part of the surface of the drum, a sheet insertion port defined by the drum and the first belt-type conveying system, and a sheet withdrawal port defined by the drum and the second belt-type conveying system. The device is also characterized in that the suction pad is displaced to face the sheet insertion port so as to interpose the uppermost sheet between the drum and the first belt-type conveying system, followed by transfer toward the second belt-type conveying system, and the uppermost sheet is reversed by the drum and the second belt-type conveying system so as to be discharged from the sheet withdrawal port.

Abstract: A paper tray arrangement is disclosed for receiving a stack of paper and which is insertable into a receiving device of a copying machine or the like and which includes a supporting plate for the stack of paper and springs applied to the supporting plate to lift the supporting plate off the bottom of the tray. Tensioning apparatus is provided for the springs and a stop of the receiving device is assigned to the tensioning device in such a manner that the spring is tensioned when the paper tray is inserted into the receiving device and is relaxed when the paper tray is taken out of the receiving device.

Abstract: When stacking up recording papers on a tray and conveying one by one from the top or bottom, they are conveyed by attracting in vacuum to a conveying belt. An example of conveying from the bottom is illustrated. When one recording paper is conveyed, its rear end comes into the attraction region of the conveying belt, and the second recording paper is attracted into the region out of the first recording paper in the attraction region, which results in duplicate feed. Therefore, the size of the attraction region is variable depending on the size of the recording paper so that the attraction region of the conveying belt may not come out from the rear end of the recording paper until the first recording paper is conveyed and its front end is held by the rear rollers of the conveying belt or the like.

Abstract: The top sheet is separated and removed from a paper sheet stack by a paper feed mechanism which is selectively movable downwardly toward the stack. As the feed mechanism downwardly approaches the stack, a foot portion of the mechanism frictionally contacts the top sheet and is upwardly pivoted by the stationary paper stack. Upward pivoting of the foot portion causes it to frictionally shift the top sheet in a first horizontal direction relative to the rest of the sheets. A drive wheel portion of the feed mechanism, supported for conjoint pivoting with the foot portion about its pivot axis, then frictionally engages the shifted top sheet in place of the foot portion. In response to the upward pivoting of the foot portion, a driven gear supported for pivotal movement therewith and rotationally locked to the drive wheel portion is caused to mesh with a drive gear operative to rotate the driven gear and thus the drive wheel portion.

Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus enables the uppermost sheet in sequence in a stack of recording papers be lifted by air flow to separate and to convey the recording paper. The feeding apparatus comprises a laying plate on which plural sheets are stacked, a sheet feeding means disposed above the stacked sheets, which means partially deforms the first sheet in sequence by negative pressure at the leading end part of the sheet, and air forming means which injects air flow between the first sheet and the next sheet near the both ends in the widthwise direction of the recording paper, which flow comprises a straightforward air flow, and an air flow directed outwardly in the widthwise direction. The recording paper is separated from the next sheet by the air flow.

Abstract: The device for the introduction of sheets makes it possible to introduce a stack of sheets through an auxiliary input or by-pass in addition to or as an alternative to the normal cassettes for sheets, with which the machine is fitted. A roll (57) rotating on a shaft (58) separates sheets from a stack inserted into a tray (54). A lever (68) is movable from a rest position to a function position. When the lever is moved to the functional position it causes a unidirectional clutch (86) mounted on the shaft to reverse the direction of rotation of the roll thereby moving sheets back to the tray. The lever also moves a cam (76) such that when the lever moved to the functional position, the tray is moved away from the roll such that additional sheets can be inserted.