Abstract: A machine for feeding flat articles from an end of a stack. The stack of articles is advanced to bring an end article in the stack to a pick-off station where a belt engages the end article and articles adjacent the end article to feed the articles shingle-fashion over a discriminator. As the articles approach the end of the stack, a vibrating plate engages edges of the articles to free each article from articles on opposite sides thereof.

Abstract: A machine that receives four rows of completely separated but closely spaced cartons from a customer printing and cutting press, and spaces each carton laterally and longitudinally from its neighbors for non-interference therewith. The machine aligns each independent stream of cartons with the longitudinal dimension of the overall machine and directs the streams of cartons to a switching device intended to control carton traffic to a primary automated stacking process or to an essentially secondary manual stacking process. The primary automated process passes the streams of cartons through an underlapping process, over an inspection table, through an inverting process, into a rate controlling hopper. From the rate controlling hopper, the cartons of each stream pass over a set of laterally disposed conveyors and into a discrete stack of cartons formed within a vertical hopper system that is the output receiver of this machine.