Abstract: A fuzzy logic control device is used in conjunction with a pair of coaxially aligned and independently controlled paper feed rollers and a paper skew detector to detect and correct skew in a conveyed paper in a paper feeding device.

Abstract: The instant invention provides an apparatus and method for reliably separating a selected sheet from a spaced array of sheets transported on a conveyor. The invention continuously maintains vacuum on the conveyors, and uses selectively activated jets directed at the underside of the sheets to divert them for separating. The invention positively controls the destination of discrete, flexible sheets, such as photographic film, by continuously engaging the sheets with another conveyor during separating, sorting, shuffling or the like, as they travel in an array along a conveyor. Positive control of the sheets permits reliable, high speed separating of lightweight, flexible sheets.

Abstract: A screening plant having a feed plate located between a grizzly grate and a conveyor driven by a hydraulic motor. A first source of fluid supplies hydraulic fluid to a first cylinder to open the feed plate and to a second hydraulic cylinder to swing the grizzly grate. A second source of fluid provides hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic motor driving the conveyor and to a sequence valve at a pressure determined by the load on the motor. The sequence valve stops the flow of fluid to the second cylinder stopping the feed plate when the pressure of fluid from the second source of fluid reaches a predetermined value so that the conveyor will not be overloaded. The feed plate has to open at a preset speed and is started and stopped by the discharging conveyor, as the conveyor meets its capacity. When the feed plate reaches full open position, it activates a control that lifts the grizzly grate and dumps off large pieces of material. The grizzly grate is also controlled by the discharge conveyor.

Abstract: The roller screen arrangement includes a plurality of roller systems and a motor for driving the rollers of the roller system. Each roller system includes a drive shaft drivable by the motor driver and a roller associated with the drive shaft. One end of the drive shaft is disposed adjacent to one end of the roller and insert means are inserted into a hollow core of the roller at the one end of the roller. A threaded opening extends through the insert means and centrally thereof. A central screw is mounted in the hollow core of the drive shaft such that a threaded portion of the central screw extends outwardly of the drive shaft at the one end of the drive shaft, the threads of the central screw mating with the threads of the threaded opening and the central screw being rotatable relative to the drive shaft when mounted in the hollow core of the drive shaft.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus having a front loading paper feeding member is described which has an improved jam removing mechanism. The apparatus includes a sheet holding section having sheet trays arranged in a vertical direction for holding copy sheets. A conveying section is included for conveying a sheet sent from one sheet tray of the sheet holding section to an image forming section. A connecting member is included in the conveying section to allow the sheet trays to be drawn out from the body of the image forming apparatus conjointly with the conveying section. Other connecting members may be included to connect the sheet trays together. Further, a door member including a sheet tray may be included in the apparatus.

Abstract: A sheet-inverting mechanism for use in a high-speed copier or printer includes a sheet containment chamber, a drive shaft rotatable in a forward direction, and a sheet-moving driven shaft assembly for moving sheets into and out of the chamber. The mechanism also includes a belt and pulley assembly mounted to one end of the drive shaft for selectively rotating the driven shaft assembly in a first forward direction for moving a sheet in that first direction into the chamber, and a meshing gear assembly mounted to the other end of the drive shaft for selectively rotating the driven shaft assembly in a second and reverse direction opposite to the first forward direction for quickly moving the sheet reversibly in that second direction and out of the chamber.

Abstract: An opaque foreign article sorting apparatus which can sort an opaque foreign article during dropping from a conveyor precisely with a high degree of accuracy. Objects including transparent bodies in which opaque foreign articles may mix are scanned, during dropping, horizontally linearly with a laser beam, and reflected light is detected by a CCD image sensor. Whether an object scanned is a transparent body or an opaque foreign article is judged at each CCD block including N CCDs, and when an opaque foreign article is judged at a CCD block, air is jetted from a corresponding nozzle block and adjacent nozzle blocks to blow off the object.

Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus having a sheet supporting tray for supporting sheets, a sheet supply roller for feeding out the sheet supported by the sheet supporting tray thereon, a separating device having a plurality of separating surfaces of different coefficients of friction and adapted to separate the sheets one by one by cooperating with the sheet supply and roller by abutting against the sheet supply roller, a separating surface changing device for changing the separating surface to be abutted against the sheet supply tray, a detector for detecting a poor separating condition in which the sheets are not readily separated one by one by the separating tray, and a controller for controlling the separating surface changing device in accordance with the detected result of the detector to change the separating surface to be abutted against the sheet supply tray.

Abstract: In a driving device for a plate-shaped body feeding kicker, a durability of a slide section is improved and mixing of paper powder onto a slide surface can be prevented by supporting a rear end of a screw shaft for moving the kicker by use of a block encompassed by a guide cylinder. In more particular, a front end of a screw shaft for reciprocating a kicker is supported by a slider similarly to the driving device in the prior art, but the rear end of the screw shaft is supported by slidably encompassing a slide piece mounted to the screw shaft by means of a guide cylinder. Especially, the slide piece is held within the guide cylinder as immersed in oil.

Abstract: Pouring devices for accurate blending of color tinters to a base paint are known, but are generally of metal construction including a spout covered by a movable cover plate, with accurate pouring being due mainly to the rigidity of the metal components providing a sharp flow cut-off upon closure of the plate. The invention provides an accurate pouring device including essentially two plastics components in which a sharp flow cut-off can be achieved irrespective of the natural resilience normally present in plastic material. The two components are a cover plate (3) with an integral operating lever (4), and a spout (10) integral with a support body (1). The support body base (5) is elongate and when fitted to a liquid container engages an extended area of the container wall (19) to provide a stable support and to absorb loads applied to the device during use.

Abstract: A cash dispensing unit includes first and second cooperating endless belts (72, 74) for feeding a stack (76) of the currency notes to an exit port (54). End portions of the first and second belts (72, 74) respectively pass around first and second pulleys (52, 66), the first pulleys (52) having a fixed axis of rotation The second pulleys pivotally (66) are rotatably mounted on one end of pivotally mounted arms (56), and third pulleys (64) are rotatably mounted on the opposite ends of the arms (56), the third pulleys (64) being in engagement with part of the second endless belts (74) which are in cooperative engagement with the first belt (72). The first and second belts (72, 74) are resiliently stretchable and tensioned whereby the first and second pulleys (52, 66) are urged together so that when the stack (76) is positioned at the exit port (54), it is resiliently gripped between the first and second belts (72, 74).

Abstract: A sheet feeding system includes a first conveyor and a second endless, clamp conveyor wherein the first conveyor includes an endless belt and an idler roller which is biased toward the belt and adjustably mounted along the belt relative to a clamp on the endless, clamp conveyor. The roller is spaced from the clamp a distance approximately equal to the length of a sheet being conveyed so that the sheet remains in a nip between the idler roller and the belt until the leading edge of the sheet is driven into the clamp and the trailing edge of the sheet clears the nip so that the sheet is not driven further into the clamp.

Abstract: Paper supply cassette inserts for copy machines are disclosed which adapt cassettes for such machines for feeding sub-standard paper sizes. These inserts carry the sub-standard paper to be fed and are completely inserted in the paper cavity of existing paper supply cassettes without modification of those paper supply cassettes. Each insert includes a paper stack carrying platform, one or more paper stack locating stops, and positioning means for positioning the paper stack within the cavity of the cassette.

Abstract: A feeding and delivery structure for a cutform medium for use in a printer having a feeder positioned upstream of a platen, includes rollers disposed adjacent to the platen, a stacker having a curved bottom face member for storing delivered cutform media, guide plates positioned adjacent the feeder, and guide members slidingly attached to front faces of the guide plates, for guiding a manually fed cutform medium. The guide members form a surface of the stacker, and may have ribs formed thereon to decrease the carrying load of the cutform medium after it is conveyed through the rollers.

Abstract: The present invention comprises a method for measuring the amount, i.e., mass, of a volatile liquid which comprises passing the mass over a heat loss measuring device, calculating the amount of heat loss accompanying the vaporization of the mass and correlating the heat loss to measurement of heat loss of known liquid aerosol mass made with the same device.

Abstract: An apparatus for separating fine particulates from a particle flow having a generally vertically disposed column with a particle flow channel. A particle flow inlet and outlet are located at opposite ends of the column in which an airstream is produced. Alternatively arranged downwardly slopping baffles are exposed on opposite sides of the channel for receiving and distributing the particle flow to the airstream. Each successive baffle is longitudinally spaced from the previous baffle. A mechanism is provided adjacent the bottom of each baffle for fanning out the particle flow and for removing the fine particulates from the fanned out particle flow into the airstream.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and device for sorting returnable bottles, cans and other returnable packages. In the method, a returnable package is transferred by means of a transferring device to an identification device having a data processing unit and a data storage unit in which data concerning different types of acceptable package forms and/or package colors are preregistered. An identification index corresponding to form/color is given to the identified package and the index is transferred to a pushdown storage of a first sorter located after the identification device, to a first lowermost free storage location of the pushdown storage. The identification index is compared with a specific index related to the sorter. If the identification index corresponds to the specific index of the sorter, a sorting is performed with the sorter and the returnable package is transferred away from a main conveyor.

Abstract: A sheet feeding device for image forming equipment and having a sheet position changing mechanism for changing the orientation of a sheet being fed from a sheet storing section toward an image forming station defined in the equipment by 90 degrees in the horizontal direction. The sheet position changing mechanism is combined with a tandem arrangement of two or more sheet storing sections to enhance the functions available with each sheet storing section.

Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for stacking, from above, thin, flat articles such as blanks of cardboard or like material, of variable shapes and formats, these blanks being supplied, upstream, on a conveyor and being successively deposited on one another on the upper laying plane of a stacking-jolting table. This apparatus is characterized in that the laying plane of the stacking-jolting table is constituted, on the one hand, by a large continuous principal surface, and, on the other hand, by an auxiliary bearing surface located at the upstream end of the table, and a device is provided for vertically displacing the auxiliary bearing surface with respect to the principal surface.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a device for feeding sheets, one by one, to an automatic photographic processor or the like. The sheet feeding device generally includes a suction pad for taking out an uppermost sheet of stacked sheets stored in a sheet placement unit, a delivery mechanism for delivering the uppermost sheet to a sheet discharge port, a shutter mechanism used to open and close the sheet discharge port, a sheet insertion slot for directly introducing an extra sheet other than said stacked sheets to the sheet discharge port, a cover capable of opening and closing the sheet insertion slot, a magazine capable of accommodating a roll of sheet therein and capable of being disposed in the sheet insertion slot, a swingable plate having one end coupled to a drive source and the other end brought into engagement with the shutter mechanism so as to open and close the shutter mechanism, and a sensor for detecting angular positions of the swingable plate.