Abstract: An improved slow down system in sheet handling equipment which makes possible high speed handling of paper and plastic materials, including limp-bodied paper and plastic stocks, such as lightweight and recycled paper and plastic bags. In the prior high speed sheet handling systems, the slow down sections tend to jam because the limp-bodied sheets are easily deformed at higher speeds. A conventional snubber and a laydown device just following the high speed section of the sheet handling equipment lays down the trailing portion and edges of the first and successive incoming sheets, so that the lead edge of each successive sheet will clear all parts of the previous sheet. The sheets are squared by a tape slow down section, which comprises sets of adjustable slow down tapes with idler rollers and lower slow speed tapes with idler rollers, all running at the same speed. The idler rollers are adjustable so that the optimum stream can be obtained for any limp-bodied or lightweight sheets.

Abstract: A gap cutting sheeter having controls to adjust the cutting position of the first and second flying shears relative to each other to set the gap size to a particular printed sheet. The downstream flying shear can be set up to cut the leading edge or the following edge of while the web is moving. When cutting the leading edge, a flexible flipper is provided just ahead of the flying shear to contact and push successive cut chips toward a vacuum chip removal system. Alternating vacuum removes the chips, and pulsing positive air pressure against the underside of a leading, trimmed edge guides it over the chip removal vacuum chamber to the downstream conveyor. A knockdown vane is provided just after the flying shear to press the leading edge of a cut signature against the downstream deck plate to prevent wrinkling of the cut signatures.

Abstract: An apparatus for in-line, high-speed stacking of paper signatures which includes two or more horizontally disposed batch forks having integral, pivoting fingers which project upstream towards an incoming flow of shingles being continuously conveyed from a sheeter. The batch forks are supported on a paper batching carriage, and can be raised and lowered from a pivot point, and retracted to transfer a partial stack of shingles to intermediate interrupt forks or to main pile forks for transfer to a conveyor. These additional paper handling forks cooperate with the batch forks and integral, pivoting fingers to continuously stack the shingled sheets in quantities determined by a counting and control system. The pivoting fingers depress the incoming signatures to separate them into stacks without slowing flow from a present rate of about 1200-1300 f.p.m. and higher.