Abstract: A stack of sheets of sheet material is stapled along an axis and fed to a position from which it is folded along the axis by a blade to form a booklet having a curved spine. The blade also inserts the booklet into a position between clamping jaws and determines its final position therebetween. Rotatable guide rollers guide the sheets into the gap and are fitted with one-way clutches to resist upward movement of the folded sheets upon retraction of the blade from the gap. In a first mode of operation, the curved spine of the booklet protrudes a short distance beyond the jaws. The spine is then flattened by a forming roller which passes along the spine. In a second mode of operation, the spinal portion lies between the jaws and the curved end surface is flattened by the clamping force alone. The first mode is suited to booklets having or more sheets; the second to booklets having fewer than sheets or having loop staples and any number of sheets.

Abstract: An apparatus for feeding sheets of material, such as paper, sequentially from the bottom of a stack of sheets comprises a suction chamber, a perforated belt movable over the suction chamber, a sheet restraining gate above the downstream end of the suction chamber, and a roller to produce an upward corrugation in the bottom sheet only of the stack. The gap between the bottom of the gate and the belt is profiled to match the corrugation in the bottom sheet to enable the bottom sheet only to pass through. The profile preferably includes a shallow triangular recess in the bottom edge of the gate.

Abstract: A booklet of sheets folded to create a curved spine is fixedly held by clamping jaws adjacent to the spine and a forming roller is passed one or more times along the length of the protruding spine with sufficient pressure to produce a flattening of the curvature of the spine. The deformation of the spine of the booklet means that the sheets lie flat after the treatment. A retractable stop plate defines the amount by which the spine protrudes beyond the jaws.

Abstract: An apparatus for feeding sheets of material, such as paper, sequentially from the bottom of a stack of sheets comprises a suction chamber, a perforated belt movable over the suction chamber, a sheet restraining gate above the downstream end of the suction chamber, and a roller to produce an upward corrugation in the bottom sheet only of the stack. The gap between the bottom of the gate and the belt is profiled to match the corrugation in the bottom sheet to enable the bottom sheet only to pass through. The profile preferably includes a shallow triangular recess in the bottom edge of the gate.

Abstract: A suction device for feeding sheets of material comprises a housing (38) connectable by a pipe (40) to a vacuum device and having apertures (54a, 54b, 54c, 54d, 58) through which a suction effect can be created. An eccentric roller (46) imparts a corrugation to the attracted sheet. The apertures are shaped and located so that there is a boost in the suction exerted on the sheet at the time that it is distorted. Continuous and pulsed air flows are used as well as aids to separate sheets individually from a stack.

Abstract: A collating machine comprises a plurality of bins for flexible sheets of material arranged in series on an arc of a circle, a sheet pick-up device above the bins, and a drive system to cause relative rotary movement between the bins and the pick-up device to cause single sheets from individual bins to be collected progressively at the pick-up device to form a collated set as the relative rotary movement occurs. Preferably, the bins are moved in a circle relative to the pick-up device. Detector means may also be provided to indicate when a bin becomes empty or when there is a mis-feed of the sheets.