Abstract: A sheet post treatment apparatus implementing exact and reliable sheet alignment without the need for a separate driving source for the sheet aligning bar. The apparatus includes a rotation center shaft attached to a slot liner of a side plate; a wheel fixed into the rotation center shaft and formed with a spiral groove; an eccentric cam rotating attached to the rotation center shaft; an aligning rod and a rotation lever one end of the rotation lever being connected to the eccentric cam and the other end thereof being passed through said the plate, displaced to the extent of eccentricity level of the eccentric cam; and a restoration spring, one end thereof being fixed at the side plate and the other end thereof being hung up on one side of the rotation lever. Alternate embodiments include driving the rotation lever through a bevel arrangement, and providing a moving pin on the eccentric to drive the rotation lever.

Abstract: An arrangement for feeding sheets from a bundle of sheets includes a wheel, roller or belt which, in operation, is located at one end of the bundle and which functions to feed-out the outermost sheets of the bundle, and a lifting mechanism for lifting the bundle in a direction towards the wheel. The lifting mechanism includes a post and a bundle-carrying plate which is movable up and down the post. The arrangement includes a spring element which functions to lock the plate to the post in a rest state and has a free-end which is fitted to the post and defines, with the longitudinal axis of the post, an angle other than 90.degree. and whose remaining end is attached to the plate and movable perpendicular to the post. The arrangement also includes an actuator which is fitted to the post close to the spring element and which is releasably attached mechanically to a drive mechanism for moving the plate relative to the post.

Abstract: A printer (1) and portable stations (2 and 3) when located side-by-side form a guide (1a, 2a, and 3a) for paper sheets sent out by printer 1. The paper is moved upward into U-shaped guide 1a by pinch rollers (6 and 7) and then moved laterally by pinch rollers (8 and 9) in guide 1a. Similar rollers are in guides 2a and 3a to direct the paper to the selected station and then downward.

Abstract: A paperboard sheet has a longitudinal scoreline defining a narrow flap portion on one side thereof and a body portion on the other side. The sheet is packaged flat together with a set of tabbed dividers thereby protecting the dividers. With the sheet and dividers removed from the packaging, the flap portion is folded up ninety degrees on the scoreline to define a guide tray. The guide tray is inserted into a printer feed tray and the set of tabbed dividers is placed on the body portion with the tabs thereof abutting the upturned flap portion, and the feed tray guides adjusted. The flap guides the dividers as they are fed into the printer, preventing skewing thereof. Guide tray instructions are conveniently printed on the paperboard sheet. The guide tray can be used for guiding sheets, other than tabbed dividers, which have irregular longitudinal edges.

Abstract: An apparatus for detecting a transfer medium (i.e., paper) accordion jam in a processing path of a laser printer comprises an accordion detection flag pivotally disposed near the processing path. In the event an accordion jam occurs to the transfer medium in the processing path, an accordioned portion of the transfer medium presses against the flag thereby forcing the flag to pivot for signaling the accordion jam.

Abstract: A media separation system is provided for separating individual sheets from a stack of media. The media separation system has a pressure plate positioned at an angle to support the stack of sheets along an incline. The pressure plate has an upper and lower end, with a relieved area formed in the lower end of the pressure plate. The media separation system also has a pick roller disposed in juxtaposition to the relieved area of the pressure plate to engage and separate a top sheet from the stack of sheets. The pick roller has a width that is more narrow than that of the relieved area in the pressure plate. A spring-like mechanism is provided to urge the pressure plate toward the pick roller to cause the pick roller and the pressure plate to work cooperatively to depress the sheets of media beneath the pick roller into the relieved area of the pressure plate. This causes formation of a primary depression in the stack of sheets.

Abstract: A device for rapidly feeding sheet inserts to a pusher conveyor of a packaging machine having upstream of the device a feeder for feeding sheet inserts one after another in a direction essentially perpendicular to the pusher conveyor, including at least one rotary disc provided with at least one element for gripping the sheet insert, the at least one gripping element being operable selectively to lock the sheet insert onto the disc and drag the sheet insert from a position aligned with the insert feeder to an advanced position on the pusher conveyor by causing the sheet insert to undergo a rototranslational movement, the relative drive mechanism for the disc, for the sheet insert feeder and for the pusher conveyor being correlated in their movement.

Abstract: Device for skewed sheet correction in a feeder of a sheet-fed printing press having at least one sucker which is adjustable in height and is disposed on a driven movable sucker carrier for horizontally transporting and simultaneously aligning a sheet lifted from a sheet pile, a rocker arm mounted in a frame of the printing press, the sucker carrier being articulatingly connected to the rocker arm so as to be movable in a feeding direction of the sheet and swingably driven, and a cam guide which is adjustable in height, the sucker carrier being braced against the cam guide, includes another rocker arm adjustably supported in the press frame, the sucker carrier being spaced apart from the first-mentioned rocker arm in a direction transverse to the sheet feeding direction and being articulatingly connected to the other rocker arm.

Abstract: The risk of jams that occur during return of a cut sheet to a position inside of a cut sheet tray as the trailing edge of the sheet moves past the leading edge of the stack of sheets remaining in the cut sheet tray is reduced by having the returning sheet itself move a lever to a position over the jam area when the cut sheet is returning to the tray. The lever has a first position covering the edge of the other cut sheets and a second position removed from the edge of the other cut sheets, whereby to not interfere with sheets being fed from the stack. An abutment surface on the member is located along the sheet path to move the member between said positions by the force of a cut sheet moving along the path.

Abstract: A sheet receiving sorting device or mailbox has a sheet infeed including a short, pivoted distributor to direct sheets from the infeed, selectively or in sequence, to the input ends of an array of sheet guides extending at angles radiating from the center of the infeed outwardly to the inlet ends of a vertical stack of trays. At the sheet infeed ends of the trays are drive rolls for carrying the sheets into the trays depending upon the positioning of the distributor with respect to the array of sheet guides. The frame structure enables removal of the guides for sheet jam removal.

Abstract: A selective flocculation process that uses a mixture of dispersants including soda ash to disperse a slimed ore pulp prior to conditioning with a fatty acid, salt and then a polymeric flocculating agent.

Abstract: A modular conveyor system for flat folded product includes a generally trapezoidal central drive unit having an upper endless belt conveyor which extends at an obtuse angle to first and second edges thereof. The central drive unit includes a drive motor for driving its endless belt conveyor and further includes first and second output pulleys. First and second auxiliary driven units each have a substantially rectangular frame which supports an endless belt conveyor where each endless belt conveyor is driven by an input pulley coupled to the first and second output pulleys respectively. The three units may be locked together in various configurations to form a deserter, a bump turn or a lateral realigner.

Abstract: A document handling device overturns a document having a first side, a second side lying opposite the first side, a leading edge, a trailing edge, and a relatively long lengthwise dimension between the leading and trailing edges. The device comprises a housing unit including a reference surface defining at least in part an opening through which the document is fed into a document path defined within the housing unit. A transport unit receives the document which has been fed through the opening with the first side of the document facing the reference surface of the housing unit. The transport unit overturns the received document and feeds the overturned document back through the opening with the second side of the document facing the reference surface of the housing unit. The units define an accumulating space into which the document can bulge while the document is being overturned.

Abstract: A transport unit having a shaft for receiving a stack of letters includes a stationary helical slide forming a bottom of the shaft and having an approximately vertical axis. The helical slide has an upper and a lower end each defining a transfer point for selectively feeding in and feeding out the stack of letters. A conveying device is provided operatively acting with the shaft for displacing the stack of letters on the helical slide.

Abstract: A moving tray sorter has a set of trays configured to extend upwardly from a horizontal plane at the point of sheet entry and each tray has progressively from the sheet inlet end a back stop against which the trailing edges of sheet are aligned, a horizontally extended section and an upwardly inclined section of a substantial angle from the horizontal providing trays which are short, which occupy a relatively small area or footprint and which support sheets of relatively large size and overhang without droop of the sheets at the outer ends.

Abstract: An apparatus for assessing the condition of a bank note includes a vacuum pump (4), an air flow detector (8) for producing an electrical output indicative of air flow through the detector (8), and a suction device (10) connected to the vacuum pump (4) via the air flow detector (8). In operation, a bank note is fed from an entry slot into cooperative relationship with the suction device (10) such that the bank note covers, and is sucked against, the suction device (10). An electronic control device is coupled to the detector (8) and is arranged to make a determination of the condition of the bank note based on the electrical output of the detector (8), this output being representative of the porosity of that part of the bank note sucked against the suction device (10).

Abstract: A dam for use with a screen deck for screening materials such as coal, sand, limestone, crushed stone and various ores where the dam regulates the flow of material across the screen deck, can be releasably retained to the screen deck in various positions about the screen deck and readily can be removed and repositioned about the screen deck or replaced with another dam member of a different size, configuration or both to accommodate various applications.

Abstract: Described is a process for separating a mixture of finely divided minerals into constituents thereof. In particular, the invention relates to a procedure for effecting such separation by a novel selective flocculation technique wherein a dispersed aqueous pulp containing the mixture of minerals is preconditioned for selective flocculation with an anionic polymer by addition of both a fatty acid such as oleic acid and source of polyvalent cation such as calcium chloride. The fatty acid and cation of the salt selectively coat the component of the mixture that is subsequently flocculated with the anionic polymer. A polyacrylate salt dispersant is preferably used in the process. The invention is especially adapted to the separation of colored titaniferous impurities from kaolin clay in which case both a white purified kaolin product and a strongly flocculated dun-colored titania/kaolin mixture are recovered and then dispersed producing a material useful as a paper coating pigment.

Abstract: Device for conveying a sheet along a conveyance path to a sheet pile having a conveyor for gripping the sheet at least at one edge thereof, a drive connected to the conveyor, fixed guides for the sheet, a pneumatic device disposed in cooperative proximity with the guides, and a control or regulating device connected to adjustment elements of the conveyor, the drive and the pneumatic device, includes at least one sensor disposed in the conveyance path of the sheet for detecting movement of the sheet, the sensor being connected to the control or regulating device.

Abstract: A turning and orienting device can receive an article such as a folded paper, envelope or the like, and can turn the article and/or rotate the article for re-orienting the article. An annular plate is constantly rotating, and a central plate in the same plane is fixed. Spring urged balls can receive the article therebeneath to urge the article against the plates; therefore, the portion on the stationary plate will be held still while the portion on the rotating plate will be moved in a circular path. By adjusting the location of the balls, and varying the point at which the .article is stopped, virtually any combination of turning and rotation of the article can be accomplished.