Abstract: A side guide device adjustably positioned between two laterally spaced frame members includes a pair of side guide plates, each having vertical and horizontal members and a transverse mounting plate. A pair of rail members are mounted on the laterally spaced frame members. Each of the rail members includes a longitudinal groove wherein ends of the transverse mounting plate are adjustably positioned within the grooves of the rail members whereby the side guide members are positionable longitudinally. The transverse mounting plate includes at least two lateral slots through which the side guide members are adjustably mounted whereby the side guide members are positionable laterally. There is structure for locking the transverse mounting plate at a fixed position in the grooves of the rail members. The side guide plates are mounted below the locking plate.

Abstract: Sheet delivery of a printing machine having a gripper system running on an endless conveyor includes air containers located adjacent the endless conveyor and being formed with a sheet-wide field of air-outlet openings, the gripper system including grippers for gripping a sheet of printing material at a leading edge thereof so that the sheet is floatingly conveyable by the endless conveyor over the sheet-wide field of air-outlet openings formed in the air containers, the endless conveyor having a capability of turning the sheet and depositing it on a sheet pile, at least one of the air containers extending over the sheet width and having air-outlet openings of varying shapes formed so that air is discharged therefrom in different directions, the one air container being chargeable with blowing air regulatable in accordance with specific requirements of the printing material of the sheet.

Abstract: A singulator of the friction belt type capable of synchronous or asynchronous modes of operation is described. The singulator includes a buffer assembly for accepting a shingled stream of documents, a feeder pinch belt for extracting the first document from the buffer and a scanner for scanning the document as it passes through the feeder into an accelerator which is also a pinch belt. The accelerator accelerates the document to a constant speed leaving the singulator. A control means is provided which operates coupled to the feeder drive and the scanner so that the next upstream document is extracted a predetermine time after the first document leaves the accelerator.

Abstract: A paper feeder for a printing and bookbinding system incorporates a top load, bottom feed hopper having a cyclically operated platform for transporting paper signatures from a stack to a conveyor. The platform utilizes spaced supports of a high friction, low durameter rated material in contact with the lowermost signature in the stack. A gating mechanism is adjustable to pass only a single signature during each cycle of the platform. Outfeed rollers grasp the signature after initial advancement by the platform. Operation of the platform is synchronized to position such that the platform lowers to drop the supports out of contact with the signature as the advancing signature is grasped by the rollers. In one form, the platform may include a vacuum attachment to assure adherence of the signature to the supports. A vacuum mechanism may also be attached to the outfeed rollers for use in opening signatures for an insert-stitch-trim operation.

Abstract: A sorter for sorting sheets successively supplied thereto, comprising: a fixed frame; a movable frame movable vertically with respect to the fixed frame; a plurality of bins arranged one over another at a predetermined distance and each having an upper surface sloping upwardly in a sheet supply direction for receiving thereon one or more of the sheets, the bins being supported on the movable frame; a non-sort bin situated upwardly of the bins and supported pivotally on an upper portion of the movable frame for receiving the non-sorted sheets, the non-sort bin being biased normally so as to slant upwardly in the sheet supply direction; and a holder mounted on the fixed frame, at a position to which the sheets are to be supplied, for holding the non-sorer bin horizontally against the bias.

Abstract: A separating apparatus having a magazine in which stacked sheets made of plastics material or the like are arranged, and having movable suction means for moving the separated sheets to a workplace, where the sheets in the stack are supported in a horizontal position by holding means on the bottom edge of the magazine, and therebetween the bottom most sheet is freely disposed and is accessible to the suction means. The holding means comprises a rotatably driven shaft arranged along the two bottom edges of the magazine, the cross-section of which shaft, in the region of the length of the sheet, is recessed so as to form a shoulder, the depth of the shoulder being equal to the thickness of the sheet to be separated, and arranged approximately in the center between the edges of the magazine are the suction means which are able to move toward and away from the bottom sheet.

Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus for continuous sheet delivery. According to the invention, a continuous stream of sheets is separated into a main pile, supported by a removable pallet, and an auxiliary pile, in which sheets are stored while the pallet and the main pile are removed and a new pallet is introduced. An embodiment of the invention includes a sheet supply, a pallet for accepting sheets from the sheet supply to form a main pile, a belt having a widened portion forming an edge for separating the edges of the pile to define an auxiliary pile, an auxiliary pile support, and a main pile. The auxiliary pile is divided from the main pile and supported separately therefrom by the dividing means while the pallet is replaced.

Abstract: Successive or selected sheets of a series of exposed sheets of photosensitive material which are to enter a developing machine are shifted sideways through identical distances or through randomly selected distances so that each next-following sheet partially registers with one or more preceding sheets. The series can consist of a single row or of plural rows of exposed sheets. Such lateral staggering of the sheets ensures that the sheets contact each portion of each advancing roll in the developing machine so that the rolls cannot gather layers of impurities which could affect the quality of next-following sheets. The sheets of the series have identical formats.

Abstract: A stacker has a feed unit for feeding separate sheets in a direction, a stacking unit for stacking the separate sheets in a normal position, and a sheet classifying mechanism for shifting a sheet into a position different from the normal position, upstream of the stacking unit with respect to the direction. Sheets to be used to classify respective batches of sheets stacked by the stacking unit can selectively be shifted into the position different from the normal position by the sheet classifying mechanism. Since those shifted sheets can easily and clearly be recognized by the operator, the batches of stacked sheet can be sorted out with ease. The sheets remain sightly in appearance as no classifying ink mark is applied to those sheets used to classify the batches of stacked sheets.

Abstract: A detecting device is adapted for detecting the presence of an item and includes a shaft rotatably supported on a frame, a first contacting member attached to the shaft and operable to come into contact with an item; a second contacting member attached to the shaft and operable to come into contact with an item, the second contacting member being spaced away from the first contacting member in an axial direction of the shaft by a specified distance, a pivotal member, a detector for detecting whether the pivotal member is at a specified detecting position, and a transmission device for transmitting a rotation of either the first or second contacting member to the pivotal member to rotate the pivotal member to the specified detecting position.

Abstract: Safety device in a sheet feeder of a sheet-fed processing machine includes a freely revolving pile-lifting chain for lifting and lowering a feed pile, a first drive for entraining pile-lifting chain with a driving connection so as to lift the feed pile, a second drive for entraining the pile-lifting chain with a driving connection so as to lower the feed pile, and a device for disconnecting at least one of the driving connections of the first and the second drives with the pile-lifting chain for lowering the feed pile when a limit value for a force exerted by the feed pile upon the pile-lifting chain is exceeded; and a safety method.

Abstract: Provided is a vertical movement control device for a paper feed table device which allows a favorable paper feeding action to be carried out at an appropriate paper feed pressure for all kinds of paper without involving any failure to properly lift the paper feed table or any occurrence of seizure of the electric motor, and eliminates any unduly long waiting period even when the required lift of the paper feed table is relatively great due to addition of new paper or removal of paper jamming. An upper limit sensor 19 detects if the upper surface of the paper stack on the paper feed table 1 has reached a prescribed height by the upward movement of the paper feed table 1.

Abstract: A sheet feeding unit includes a sheet forwarding unit for forwarding sheets from a sheet storing unit, a key input portion, a sheet detection gate, and a control unit. In one embodiment, the sheet forwarding unit repetitively performs its function after an operation start instruction until either the sheet detection gate detects a sheet from the feeding cassette or until the number of repetitions of the sheet forwarding unit reaches a predetermined number. An error process is performed when the number of repetition reaches the predetermined number without the gate detecting a sheet. Also, the sheet feeding unit compares the number of times a sheet is fed from the sheet feeding unit with the number of times the sheet if forwarding to determine the status of the feeding roller.

Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing, one by one, a stack of media as stacked in a stacker table by friction rollers to separate and supply the media to the next work station. The friction rollers are rotated in such a manner that rotational force thereof is provided to overcome any frictional resistance generated between the media so that no slip is caused between the rollers to obtain a smooth medium without damage thereto.

Abstract: A receive magazine configured to be positioned in a generally upright, vertical orientation for passively collecting a plurality of flexible sheets of media. The top wall of the enclosure has a collection door in the top wall of a light-tight enclosure allows sheets of media to be passively received within the magazine. A contoured plate is hinged along a hinge line near the collection door on a non-stacked side of the enclosure. The plate is planar near the hinge line and is non-planar at an end of the plate opposite from the hinge line. A biasing mechanism is positioned near the collection door for resiliently biasing the plurality of flexible sheets of media laterally toward the non-stacking side of the enclosure biasing the plate away from the non-stacking side of the enclosure.

Abstract: An automatic document conveying device has a stack tray on which a plurality of documents are stacked; a feeder by which the documents stacked on the stack tray are separated and fed one by one; at least one pair of conveying rollers provided downstream of the feeder; a reading position for reading document information from said separated documents positioned downstream of the at least one pair of conveying rollers; a conveyor provided opposite to the reader for conveying separated documents to the reading position; a discharger positioned downstream of said reading position for discharging documents after said conveyor conveys the documents to the reading position, a conveyance path on which a plurality of documents are sequentially located between the feeder and the reading position; the conveyance path having predetermined stand-by positions provided on the conveyance path at which documents, subsequent to a document positioned at the reading position are stopped; a document detector provided between the a

Abstract: A sheet feed device for image forming equipment and capable of feeding sheets one by one from a stack by separating them. The device has a flat plate including a dielectric portion which is capable of making surface-to-surface content with the top of the stack, a unit for moving the plate in a reciprocating motion, a unit for moving the plate into and out of contact with the stack, and a unit for applying a voltage to the plate to cause it to exert an electrostatic adhering force.

Abstract: A sheet sorter with includes a bin unit including a plurality of bins for accommodating sorted sheets, sheet stacker for accommodating non-sorted sheets, sheet switcher for selectively guiding the sheets to the plural bins or to the sheet stacker, stapler for stapling the sheets accommodated in the bins, for each of the bins, and controller for controlling the sheet switcher to direct the sheet to the bins in response to instructions for sorting and stapling the sheets, to direct the sheet to the sheet stacker in response to instructions for accommodating the sheets without sorting, and to direct the sheets to the bin unit in response to instructions for stapling the sheets without sorting. The apparatus further includes a reciprocating aligning member which is driven to an alignment position during movement of the bins and is again driven to the alignment position to complete the aligning operation after completion of the movement of the bins.

Abstract: A paper inverter system includes a clutch driven inverter nip for maintaining a positive bi-directional contact with the sheet. The apparatus includes a pair of opposing rollers defining a nip therebetween and a shaft connected to at least one of the pair of opposing rollers. A spring is held stationary on a first end and is connected to the shaft on the other end for resisting the rotation of the shaft with a spring force. The clutch responsive to a control signal, selectively couples the shaft to a drive system against the spring force in a first rotational direction and decouples the shaft from the drive system for rotation in a second and opposite direction with the spring force. In another embodiment a clutch operates a planetary gear system to be bi-directionally control the nip.

Abstract: A document handling system adapted for delivery of documents to an imaging station of an imaging input terminal. The system includes a driven friction belt for transporting the documents across a platen of the imaging station. The belt is urged into planar orientation with the platen by slider plates which are ski-like members that bear upon the belt. The slider plates are arranged to bear upon the margins of the imaging area to smooth documents on the belt and to urge such document onto the platen, thus providing an improved imaging of documents delivered to the imaging station.