Abstract: A feeder for flat objects, particularly a supplement feeder for supplements, having a stack compartment for receiving objects in the form of a stack and a takeoff device for taking individual objects off the stack along a takeoff direction, wherein the takeoff device includes a conveying element and a gate, through which the objects taken off the stack are led individually by the conveying element. In order to be able to process different objects with properties differing from one another, particularly objects of different type and thickness, with the feeder in continuous operation without problems and without congestion and to provide a feeder for different objects that is as flexible as possible and that is capable of processing both thick and thin objects without lasting deformations while largely avoiding takeoff errors, the gate has a first gate device and a second gate device.

Abstract: A pickup mechanism includes a mechanical frame, at least one pickup roller, a paper pressing board disposed above the mechanical frame, a transmitting element, a cover covered on the paper pressing board, at least one stopper element pivotally mounted to the paper pressing board, and at least one elastic element elastically disposed between the cover and the paper pressing board. The pickup roller is disposed under the mechanical frame. The paper pressing board has a bottom board. A top of the bottom board protrudes upward to form a movable portion. A front of the movable portion defines a driven link. The transmitting element is cooperated with the driven link of the paper pressing board to bring along the paper pressing board to be pressed downward and be raised up. The cover has a top wall. A bottom of the top wall protrudes downward to form a locking part.

Abstract: An automatic paper feed device includes a mechanical frame, a paper supply tray mounted to the mechanical frame, at least one motor mounted to one side of the mechanical frame, an upper cover, a stopper mechanism, a paper pressing mechanism, a transmission mechanism, a feed mechanism and a control mechanism. The stopper mechanism includes a blocking element and a torsion spring. The paper pressing mechanism includes a pressing board, at least one pressing roller and an elastic element. The feed mechanism is pivotally mounted to the paper supply tray. The control mechanism controls the motor to rotate, the rotation of the motor drives the transmission mechanism to support or break away from the pressing board to make the pressing board slide upward or downward with respect to the paper supply tray and further abut against or break away from the blocking element.

Abstract: An automatic feeding apparatus includes a body and a sheet passage, a sheet-separation mechanism and a sheet-input assisting mechanism in the body. The sheet-separation mechanism is configured to separate sheets. The sheet-input assisting mechanism includes a frame, a presser, a clutch gear and a driving device. The clutch gear, driven by the driving device, is displaceable on a guide groove of the frame between a first position and a second position. The clutch gear is rotated rearward to be engaged with a gear rack of the presser at the first position and thereby drive the presser to move in a first direction. The clutch gear is rotated forward to move to the second position and disengaged from the gear rack of the presser. After being released, the presser moves in a second direction to press a sheet in front of a nip portion of the sheet-separation mechanism.

Abstract: An apparatus to separate out printed products from a stack including a pushing device to separate out a respective printed product from the stack. The pushing device includes a first rotary drive. The apparatus further includes a downstream-arranged removal device to convey away the respective separated out printed product. The removal device also includes a second rotary drive separate from the first rotary drive.

Abstract: A card extracting device for use with a plurality of cards may include a card storage, a gate through which the cards pass toward an outside of the card storage, an extracting tab to engage with and extract one of the cards, a tab-moving mechanism to move the extracting tab, an extracting roller outside the card storage to further forward the extracted card, a motor to drive the tab-moving mechanism and the extracting roller, a card-extraction detecting section to detect that card extraction is completed, and a control section to control the motor. An engaging section may be formed in the extracting tab to abut a rear end portion of the card and extract the card. The control section may drive the motor forward to extract the card or drive the motor in reverse based on a detection result from the card extraction detecting section.

Abstract: A feeder for feeding sheet items has at least one circulatable feeding surface for frictionally engaging a sheet item from a stack and at least one separation surface for frictionally engaging the sheet item or an entrained next sheet item from an opposite side. In a lateral direction transverse to the feeding direction, the at least one feeding surface is located between two of the separation surfaces and/or the at least one separating surface is located between two of the feeding surfaces. At least the feeding surface or the separating surface has a resilient zone and a stiff zone more remote from a laterally adjacent separating surface or surfaces or, respectively feeding surface or surfaces than the resilient zone.

Abstract: A mailpiece selector device comprising a guide co-operating with at least one opposing selector roller to separate mailpieces one-by-one from a stack of mailpieces and to transport them downstream, said guide having at least two adjacent selector fingers having different lengths, it being possible for each of said selector fingers to pivot independently from the other(s) about a common pivot axis and against respective associated resilient return means.

Abstract: A card dispensing apparatus having a compact configuration has a housing to support a stack of cards on a fixed base. Openings in the base member can permit surfaces from a conveying member to extend into the housing and contact a surface of the lowest card. The conveyer member can move horizontal to a release point and retract beneath the base member to return to an initial position. A movement unit provides a cyclic looping movement of the conveyer member into and out of the housing for transporting cards. A feed unit positioned at the dispensing point of the cards can grasp and release the cards from the card dispensing apparatus.

Abstract: An improved document feeder flag assembly is disclosed. The improved document feeder flag assembly allows single handed, on the fly loading of a document sorter. A method for loading a document sorting machine with a single hand, while the method of operating the machine is also disclosed. The document feeder flag assembly includes a baseplate and a pivot post attached to the baseplate. Further, the assembly includes a flag arm having a first side and a second side, the first side of the flag arm is attached to the pivot post. There is also a feeder flag having a first side and a second side, the first side of the feeder flag being attached to a second side of the flag arm. The document feeder flag assembly also includes a resistance device attached between the feeder flag and the flag arm.

Abstract: A bottom friction feeder comprises a material magazine assembly, a gate assembly including a guide subassembly and a singulation gate subassembly, a back wedge assembly, and a bottom friction belt assembly.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a sheet feeder for a printer. The sheet feeding device feeds a single sheet into an infeeder of a printer without communicating with the printer. The sheet feeder is equipped with a sensor for detecting when the printer is able to accept a sheet. The sheet feeder is equipped with a programmable timing device that causes the sheet feeder to wait a predetermined amount of time before inserting another sheet into the printer. The predetermined amount of time corresponds to the amount of time needed for the printer to complete printing on a sheet after the sensor has detected that the printer is able to accept a sheet into the infeeder of the printer. The sheet feeder is configured with a gate having an adjustable gap in close proximity to a tray containing a stack of sheets. The gate permits only a single sheet to be fed into the infeeder of the printer at a time.

Abstract: In a device for isolating and feeding the lowest sheet (1) in each case from a stack (2), with pushing-out elements (9) which grip the rear edge (3a, 3b) of the sheet (1) and transport it through, under a front-edge stop (5), into a pair of drawing-off rollers (6), can be moved forwards and backwards, are mounted on a cross-member (7) and have faces (9a), which are optionally front-mounted, for supporting the rear region of the stack (2) and also have bearing elements (11, 12) supporting the stack (2), and lateral abutment strips (13), the front edge (4) of the said stack being constant with respect to the sheet length (H), provision is made, in order to achieve high isolating outputs and faultless feeding of the sheets (1) with a device of simple design, for the cross-member (7) which receives the pushing-out elements (9) to be guided so as to be capable of travel in a linear guide (14), and for there to be directly associated with the said cross-member (7), for the driving movement of the latter, a linear m

Abstract: The present invention relates to a selection device for separating one by one, or singulating, the items of a stack of mail items, comprising a support surface, conveying means for driving these mail items over the support surface, a mobile presser plate cooperating with the conveying means in order to drive downstream a part of the mail items issuing from the stack of mail items to be separated and corresponding to a predetermined maximum thickness of mail items, and independent, individually mobile selection means for selecting a mail item from the mail items driven by the conveying means.

Abstract: A card hopper for holding a stack of identification cards that are to be printed or in other ways processed has an outlet opening on one end through which the cards are fed. The outlet opening is adjustable in size to accommodate cards of different thicknesses by using a control gate that is slidably mounted relative to the hopper and can be adjusted through the use of a cam actuator to change the opening size of the outlet opening. Manual operation is shown using both rotating and sliding cams.

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 document conveying apparatus comprising a document conveying passage and a pair of document introduction rollers disposed at a document insertion portion, and a copier equipped with the document conveying apparatus. A cover frame is pivotably supported by the support frame body of the document conveying apparatus. A shutter member is supported by the support frame body so as to move up and down between a shut-off position and an open position. The cover frame and the shutter member are interlocked to each other so that the shutter member is moved up to the open position when the cover frame is turned to the closed position and the shutter member is moved down to the shut-off position when the cover frame is turned to the open position.

Abstract: A card hopper includes a control gate that reliably allows cards of varying thicknesses to be fed individually through an outlet opening without adjustment. The hopper is configured to hold a stack of plastic cards or similar, fairly rigid, substrates. The control gate is positioned at the outlet opening and includes a flexible blade that reduces a height of the outlet opening to less than a thickness of an end card of the stack, whereby the flexible blade flexes in response to the end card when driven through the outlet opening. Also disclosed is a card feeder assembly that includes the above-described hopper.

Abstract: The picking roller successively picks a plurality of sheets of paper stacked on the shooter from the bottom of the paper stack. The gate extends substantially perpendicular to a paper transport direction and forms a predetermined clearance between the picking roller. The separation pad is disposed in sliding contact with the outer circumferential surface of the picking roller and adapted to draw inside a single sheet of paper. The picking arm is driven to move to an upper position when sheets of paper are placed on the shooter, and to a lower position when the sheets of paper are fed in order to press the sheets of paper placed on the shooter toward the outer circumferential surface of the picking roller. The paper guide is disposed above the picking roller and has an opening and a bridge portion. The bridge portion extends across the opening and is fitted in a circumferential groove formed in an axially center portion of the picking roller.

Abstract: A material-feeding device (14) includes a base (52), a material passage (54) formed on the base, at least one guide member (56, 58) provided in the material passage and having a material-guide surface (56a, 58a), a direction-correcting roller assembly (60) provided in the material passage, and a conveyor roll mechanism (62) disposed downstream of the direction-correcting roller assembly in relation to a material-feeding direction, for conveying a material along the material passage. The direction-correcting roller assembly (60) includes a pair of integrally rotatable polygonal rollers (76) having a common rotation axis oblique to the material-guide surface and a freely rotatable ball (78) opposed to the pair of polygonal rollers and elastically supported in an operative position closer to the polygonal rollers to define a gap between the ball and each of the polygonal rollers for allowing the material to be inserted into the gap when the ball is in the operative position.

Abstract: A card dispensing device has a mechanism for preventing double feeding of cards. The double feed preventing mechanism can be card attitude correction rollers, which adjoin the leading edges of the cards within the card dispensing unit and thickness screws to regulate the vertical dimension of the card feed route. The double feed preventing mechanism can be a plate having a leading edge extending into the card feed route to regulate the vertical dimension of the card feed route.

Abstract: A card output gap adjustment mechanism installed in the casing of a card stacker and controlled to adjust a card output gap through which cards are individually driven out of the casing by a transmission mechanism, the card output gap adjustment mechanism including a back holder having two vertical guide rails and a top through hole, a cover plate covered on the back holder, an adjustment plate moved along the vertical guide rails in the back holder and defining with a pad in the casing the card output gap, the adjustment plate having two vertical sliding grooves respectively coupled to the vertical guide rails in the back holder and a vertical top screw hole, and a rotary adjustment knob inserted through the top through hole on the back holder and threaded into the vertical top screw hole and rotated to move the adjustment plate along the vertical guide rails and to further adjust the pitch of the card output gap.

Abstract: A bottom feed newspaper hopper utilizes a shuttle plate that reciprocates across the bottom of a stack of the papers to partially eject each successive lowermost newspaper from the stack during each feed stroke and present it to high speed nip rollers. The rollers grasp the leading edge of the partially ejected newspaper and quickly withdraw it the rest of the way from the stack. The stack of newspapers rests upon a fore-and-aft narrow rail on the shuttle plate so that a stiffening ridge is created in the body of the lowermost paper and at least several papers thereabove. During each feed stroke, a stop at the front of the hopper permits the lowermost paper to exit from the hopper but blocks similar movement of the second paper and all those above it. The stop is offset laterally from the path of travel of the rail so that the area immediately above the rail is open and unrestricted, allowing the peak of the ridge to pass out of the hopper even if the paper has an accidentally rolled up, fat leading edge.

Abstract: A hopper assembly for feeding literature to a literature dispenser. The literature dispenser and a label dispenser are positioned on opposite sides of a conveyor on which products being furnished with literature and labels are transported. The hopper assembly includes a chute which is designed to have an upstream chute portion adjacent the conveyor. The upstream chute portion is positioned within the reach of an operator who is stationed on the same side of the conveyer as the label dispenser, and a single operator can load both the hopper assembly and the label dispenser without moving from one side of the conveyor to the other. The hopper assembly also includes a literature escapement having a plurality of retaining members mounted on a pair of support elements. The retaining members engage a forward facing surface of a piece of literature and are arranged in spaced relationship to provide an opening through which the piece of literature is removable from the hopper assembly in the forward direction.

Abstract: A paper magazine including a magazine main body in which a photosensitive material is accommodated; a guide member for guiding the photosensitive material to a magazine opening through which the photosensitive material is delivered out to an exterior; at least one guide roller which is attached to the guide member so as to be freely rotatable, and which contacts a transverse direction end portion of the photosensitive material and guides the photosensitive material when the photosensitive material is delivered out to the exterior; and a cover which is supported at the magazine main body so as to be able to open and close an open portion of the magazine main body, and when the cover is closed, the cover is positioned so as to oppose the guide member with the photosensitive material being disposed between the guide member and the cover.

Abstract: A paper magazine including a magazine main body in which a photosensitive material is accommodated; a guide member for guiding the photosensitive material to a magazine opening through which the photosensitive material is delivered out to an exterior; at least one guide roller which is attached to the guide member so as to be freely rotatable, and which contacts a transverse direction end portion of the photosensitive material and guides the photosensitive material when the photosensitive material is delivered out to the exterior; and a cover which is supported at the magazine main body so as to be able to open and close an open portion of the magazine main body, and when the cover is closed, the cover is positioned so as to oppose the guide member with the photosensitive material being disposed between the guide member and the cover.

Abstract: A vending machine for dispensing relatively flat, thin articles, and particularly for dispensing valuable articles such as debit cards and tickets. A blocking bar is mounted adjacent the outlet of the dispensing mechanism and is adjustably but firmly positioned to positively block the issuance of more than one ticket at a time in response to the action of a pusher member. A device preferably comprising one or more rollers is provided near the entrance to the blocking bar so as to bear down on and flatten curved cards or tickets to insure that they will not jam against the blocking bar due to their lack of flatness.

Abstract: An apparatus which uses vacuum to singly feed pieces from a stack. The feeding apparatus has a plate supporting a bottom of the stack and defining a plurality of plate apertures. The plate is connected to a drive mechanism which moves the plate between rearward and forward positions. The plate apertures are in fluid communication with a first vacuum source which provides a vacuum to the plate apertures. When the drive mechanism moves the plate from the rearward to the forward position, the vacuum source provides a vacuum to the plate apertures for holding a bottom-most piece of the stack against the plate. As the bottom-most piece of the stack is moved forward, a metering member prevents other pieces of the stack from being moved along with the bottom-most piece.

Abstract: A Sheet Feeding System (10) having a reciprocating vacuum shuttle plate (52) includes a knife gate (112) and high-friction rollers 118 and 120 position between the knife gate and an additional conveyor formed by a driven feed roller 94 and an idler feed roller 96. The high-friction rollers form a singulator gap (188) with shoulders 184 of a vacuum-groove (186) on a sheet-engaging surface of the reciprocating shuttle plate. The sheet feeding system includes a transition tray (14) downstream of the additional conveyor for providing a transition to clamps of an endless chain (178). The transition tray comprises an endless conveyor belt (156) with a floating feed roller (160) biased thereagainst. The position of the floating feed roller can be adjusted so as to space it approximately a sheet length from a stationary clamp (176) on the endless chain.

Abstract: A paper feed roller (5) is divided into a first roller (5a) and a second roller (5b); a slit (58) through which about 10 to 20 sheets of documents can pass is formed between the first roller and a gate plate (57) opposite to this; and the paper fed out therefrom is fed out to a space between the second roller (5b) and a separation pad (7) in contact with this.Also, there is adopted a construction in which the pressing force of a paper conveyance spring is transformed by a slide cam sliding in a direction parallel to the paper feed roller; and the paper width detection sensor is assembled by a fitting construction.

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 sheet conveying apparatus includes a sheet accommodating unit for accommodating a plurality of sheets, a sheet feeding unit for feeding sheets from the sheet accommodating unit, separation pawls for individually separating the sheets fed from the sheet feeding unit, a manual feeding port for manually feeding a sheet between the sheet accommodating unit and the sheet feeding unit, and a manually-fed-sheet guiding unit disposed between the sheet accommodating unit and the sheet feeding unit for guiding the sheet manually fed from the manual feeding port. The manually-fed-sheet guiding unit is displaceable an amount sufficient to allow the formation of a loop in a sheet during the separation by the separation pawls.

Abstract: A Sheet Feeding System (10) having a reciprocating vacuum shuttle plate (52) includes a knife gate (112) and high-friction rollers 118 and 120 position between the knife gate and an additional conveyor formed by a driven feed roller 94 and an idler feed roller 96. The high-friction rollers form a singulator gap (188) with shoulders 184 of a vacuum-groove (186) on a sheet-engaging surface of the reciprocating shuttle plate. The sheet feeding system includes a transition tray (14) downstream of the additional conveyor for providing a transition to clamps of an endless chain (178). The transition tray comprises an endless conveyor belt (156) with a floating feed roller (160) biased thereagainst. The position of the floating feed roller can be adjusted so as to space it approximately a sheet length from a stationary clamp (176) on the endless chain.

Abstract: Apparatus for accurately dispensing and positioning a credit card onto a predetermined area of a surface, includes a support tray which supports a stack of cards; a pusher assembly including a pusher plate which pushes out a leading edge of a lowermost one of the cards in the stack; gripper jaws which grip the lowermost edge of the pushed out card; and a control assembly which controls the gripper jaws to grip the lowermost edge of the pushed out card, to move over the predetermined area of the surface and to then release the gripped card so that the latter drops onto the predetermined area of the surface.

Abstract: A delivery device of piled corrugated fiberboard boxes is provided, which comprises a hopper for holding therein corrugated fiberboard boxes in a piled mode, a front sheet receiver and a rear sheet receiver held at a position higher than is the front sheet receiver and having an inclined guide surface whose height is adjustable, both the receivers being disposed in a lower portion inside the hopper, a kicker movable back and forth on and along the inclined guide surface for kicking out obliquely the upper and lower sheet end faces of a lowermost corrugated fiberboard box, and upper and lower feed rolls disposed on the send-out side of the front sheet receiver, whereby deformation of the lowermost corrugated fiberboard can be amended and prevented.

Abstract: A tag container has a dispensing wall and contains a plurality of tags which are stackable in parallel to the dispensing wall. In the top wall of the container is a dispensing opening through which tags may be dispensed from the container by a slider which is slideable up and down along the dispensing wall. The slider includes a pusher portion which engages the bottom edge of a tag to push it upwardly and out through the dispensing opening.

Abstract: This invention provides a sheet feeding device suitable for use as a paper feeding device in an image forming apparatus such as a copying apparatus. The feeding device is provided with a sheet receiving portion for supporting thereon a number of sheets in superposed relationship, and means for passing therethrough the endmost one of the sheets supported on the sheet receiving portion. The feature of the invention resides that a control member vertically movable as viewed in the direction of superposition of the sheets to direct only the endmost sheet to the means is provided between the leading end edge of the superposed sheets and the means.

Abstract: A three-knife cutting machine for trimming the front side and the head- and foot-side of brochures, books, and the like, in which the products to be trimmed are slidable in stacks with the back side forward from a magazine charged from above downward by carriers adjustable to the desired stack height to the cutting station, and in which there is provided a shutter, likewise adjustable in height, by facing the back of the products to be trimmed, which serves for retaining the products remaining over the stack to be led off.

Abstract: Friction members, working together as an integral unit, rise up into engagement with the lowermost article in a stack to slightly raise it along the engaged portions thereof above the rest of the device as a forward stroke is commenced, thereby warping the article along its leading edge as such leading edge is at the same time tucked beneath a forwardly located element positioned to permit passage of only the lowermost article during each feed stroke. This combination of actions has the effect of advancing the articles seriatim from the stack into a pair of highspeed nip rollers which grab only the lowermost article and immediately complete its withdrawal. At the instant the nip rollers begin pulling on the article, the raised friction members respond by dropping down to their initial position below the upper surface of the feed device, which thereupon makes its return stroke in preparation for feeding the next article of the stack.

Abstract: Apparatus for feeding tags from a tag hopper to a tag attaching station includes a spring biased push member having a notched front end for cooperation with a downwardly inclined shutter at the entry of the tag hopper for engaging the lowermost tag and pushing the same to the tag attaching station. A second shutter at the exit of the tag hopper contains a resilient finger for exerting a drag force against any tags above the lowermost tag so as to retain all but the lowermost tag in the hopper during a feed stroke.

Abstract: The corrugated boards contained in a hopper are individually kicked out onto conveyor belts on which each board firmly sticks thereto under suction from below, and are fed to a subsequent processing station, such as a printing station, thereby enabling the individual boards be fed in their right posture to a right place in the processing station.

Abstract: A complete advertising and card dispensing module for insertion into a housing, having electrical connections for the module, includes a front face, for securing to the housing by a key lock for removing the entire module, with the front face having an advertising window and a card display window, and a push button switch for actuating a single card ejector. The card ejector includes a housing for a stack of cards with a smooth floor member with a card width and thickness card pusher gliding on the smooth floor to push a single card out an adjustable slot adjusted to the thickness of the individual card. The smooth floor being mounted generally horizontally but at a slight angle toward the slot. A solenoid actuator moves the card ejector from a position at the rear of the stack of cards to a position to push a card so as to partially extend out the slot for manual retrieve.

Abstract: Conductor plates are fed to a conductor plate tester from a stack by a reciprocating feeder which removes the lowermost plate only of the stack and propels it forwardly to a transport path. The transport path is inclined downwardly toward said tester, the feeder is also inclined at the same angle, with the stack perpendicular thereto. As a result, the conductor plates are moved along the transport path by the force of gravity.

Abstract: A feed mechanism for packing material such as carton blanks is disclosed. Blanks are arranged in a hopper where they are stacked between a pair of vertical members having their lower edges spaced above a support table for advancement of the bottommost blank by a shuttle into the feeding means. The spacing between one of the vertical members above the support is greater than the thickness of the blank and less than twice the thickness thereof and during feed movement a roller is biased against the feed blank to urge it against the bottom of a member. Thus a gate is provided between the bottom of a vertical member and the support.

Abstract: A method and apparatus adapted for processing tags, cards, or the like are disclosed herein. The apparatus preferably comprises a magazine for storing a predetermined quantity of tags and an associated slotted gate, feed dispensing system for automatically moving tags out of the magazine. In one form of the invention a swinging arm for moving tags outputted from the feed gate to a desired external station is provided. The feed gate preferably comprises a slidable push plate which reciprocally, slidably moves within an elongated channel provided adjacent the magazine. Each time the push plate goes through a cycle a single tag (or group of tags) is outputted from the magazine through the feed gate dispensing apparatus to a position external of the tag feeder. In one form of the invention a printing device is associated with the feed gate for printing information on tags before delivery to the desired external station.

Abstract: Apparatus for feeding data processing record cards seriatim from the bottom of a stack to a data sensing station or the like including a pair of oscillating picker members for displacing a record card from the bottom of the stack, and a pair of sector rollers for intermittently gripping the displaced card and moving it at right angles to the direction of displacement to the nip of a set of feed rollers. Both the picker members and sector rollers are driven from a common source, the picker members being harmonically driven through a unique coupling device including a pair of flexural elements mounted at right angles to each other to give a universal action.