Abstract: A paper feeder system inclusive of a paper feed table for placing paper thereon, a transport roller, a first shaft for supporting the transport roller thereon, feed rollers, a first arm pivotably supported by the first shaft and extending toward the feed table, a delivery roller mounted on the first arm for delivering the paper from the feed table to the transport roller. A second arm pivotably supported between the delivery roller and the transport roller, and a shutter is attached to the second arm for preventing delivery of the paper to the transport roller. A first cam and a first cam shift therefor are provided for pivotally moving the first arm to thereby shift the delivery roller to an operative position, and a second cam and a second cam shaft therefor for pivotally moving the second arm to thereby shift the shutter to an operative position when the first arm is not pivotally moved, the first cam shaft and the second cam shaft being combined together in the form of a single rotary shaft.

Abstract: A sheet containing member releasably attachable to a main body of a sheet feed device is provided with a member arranged to limit a movement of the sheets from the sheet containing member so that the sheets do not drop out of the sheet containing member when the sheet containing member is detached from the main body, and another member arranged to release the limiting of the movement when the sheet containing member is attached to the main body.

Abstract: This paper feeding mechanism comprises a first spring for biasing a stack of paper against a belt for driving one or two sheets of paper from the stack toward a gap which is slightly larger than the width of one sheet of paper, and a second spring for flattening the selected sheet or sheets against the belt just prior to entering the gap. The belt is held solidly in position by a backing Teflon block to form one side of the gap, and a sharp edge that is positionally adjustable forms the other side. The sharp edge is rounded slightly to compensate for the possibility of mechanical inaccuracies, and the second spring presses the paper against the belt just prior to the knife edge for more reliable operation with stiff paper.

Abstract: Each interfaced loader and metering hopper combination of a newspaper assembling system includes improvements for producing ridges in the newspapers at various states where separation of the newspapers from one another is required. The ridges enhance separation by stiffening the newspaper and reducing the area of contact and thereby the friction between them. At the receiving region of the loader, an arrangement of parallel side and central conveyors, wherein the central one is at a higher level than the side conveyors, produces ridges when the newspapers in a stack are fanned back into a stream. A pair of superimposed center conveyors and inclined laterally located arms produce ridges in the newspapers as they are discharged one at a time from a discharge region of the loader into a receiving zone in the hopper.

Abstract: A paper transport system for supplying papers such as manuscripts separately one by one along a paper transport passage through the gap between a paper feed roller and a separation rubber plate pressed by a separation leaf spring against the paper feed roller. When no papers are set, a pair of relatively shorter paper feed leaf springs on either side of the separation plate and leaf spring contacts the paper feed roller upstream of the paper transport passage forward of a contact line between the rubber separation plate and the paper feed roller.

Abstract: Apparatus for the seriatim separation and feeding of garment parts from a shingled stack of the parts to a predetermined destination. Comprising the apparatus is a picker head containing a depending array of needles adapted to positively engage the leading edge of the uppermost part on the stack. The picker head is supported for arcuate motion in the course of effecting separation of the engaged first part, and is arcuately displaced at a high rate of acceleration to aid in overcoming the resistance to separation between the first and second parts in the stack. Following separation, the separated part is transferred to a second location at which the head is withdrawn from the transferred part. Operable concomitantly with part separation by the picker head is a hold down clamp for applying a predetermined downward force on the remaining stacked parts while a vacuum force is being applied from underneath for retarding this displacement in the course of the engaged part being separated.

Abstract: An improved sheet supply cassette for a compact printer of the kind having a housing, a sheet feed assembly for moving a sheet from a sheet supply region to, and through, a print zone and a device for printing on sheet media at the print zone. The sheet supply cassette is coupled to the bottom of the printer and includes top, bottom and side walls forming a sheet supply region. The bottom wall of the cassette has a hinge-type construction wherein cantilever spring means couple and upwardly bias a movable wall segment with respect to a fixed rear segment of the bottom wall so as to urge sheets into a feed position.

Abstract: A position controlling member for controlling the leading ends of paper sheets housed in a paper receiving member is provided at a free end thereof with an auxiliary double feed preventing member having large friction factor or force and engaging with a lower side of a paper sheet during return movement thereof to a position controlling position thereof, thereby preventing double feeding of paper sheets without interfering with the paper feeding operation.

Abstract: A device for feeding successive sheets without overlapping the sheets includes a loading chute having a recess formed therein at the exit end for guiding individual sheets, a pivotally mounted retractable gate at the exit end of the chute which when in the closed position extends into the chute recess, means to retract the gate so that a sheet may be fed from the chute including means to release the gate from the retracted position after the leading edge of the sheet has passed the closed position of the gate and before the trailing edge of the sheet has passed the closed position of the gate. The release permits the gate to float against the sheet in the recessed portion of the chute so that when the trailing edge of the sheet being fed passes under the gate, the gate drops of its own weight into the recess thereby blocking passage of the next sheet. In a preferred embodiment the loading chute is inclined to the horizontal.

Abstract: A stack stop assembly is on a sheet feeder of a printing press having an impression cylinder with grippers disposed thereon formed with respective sheet stops. A row of suckers and a pair of conveyor rollers are disposed between the sheet feeder and the impression cylinder. An uppermost sheet of a stack of sheets is liftable at a leading edge thereof by the row of suckers over and beyond stack stops of the stack stop assembly and being feedable to the pair of conveyor rollers for advancing the uppermost sheet to the sheet stops formed on the impression-cylinder grippers. The stack stop assembly includes swivel bearings supporting the stack stops, respectively, at both sides thereof, each of the stack stops having a journal pin to which a pivot arm is secured.

Abstract: Stacked fabric parts are separated and fed seriatim by apparatus having an endless conveyor which feeds the stack into position for separating the uppermost part from the stack. A mechanism having a knife edge bar or opposed fabric engaging needles is lowered and engages the part for dragging the part to be separated off of the stack. The second part on the stack is held with the stack by a pressure force by a series of vacuum providing orifices or recesses in a horizontally disposed support surface and/or by retractable fabric piercing needles. The part separating and translating bar is connected to a support plate which may be vibrated in a generally horizontal plane to assist in breaking the frictional connection between the part to be separated and the remaining parts in the stack as they are separated from each other. The separated parts are presented seriatim to a guide surface which guides the part under the conveyance of an air jet stream along a feed path to another work station.

Abstract: A paper feeding apparatus includes a combination of feeding roller and paper separating member for feeding a plurality of papers on the paper holding board one by one and a combination of transferring roller and thrusting member for receiving paper from the combination of feeding roller and paper separating member and transferring it further. To separate the foregoing paper away from the subsequent one the peripheral speed of the transferring roller is determined higher than that of the paper feeding roller. Both the paper feeding roller and the transferring roller are arranged on a single shaft and thereby the apparatus is constructed in smaller dimensions.

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: An envelope feeder for mounting on a computer printer, electronic typewriter, word processor or other programmable printer. The envelope feeder uses a centrally located drive separator roller and separating tongue to effect envelope separation.

Abstract: A sheet feeder for feeding and separating individual sheets from a stack of sheets includes a sheet feeding member mounted for sheet feeding engagement with the stack of sheets and a peeling member for preventing double-feeding of sheets. The peeling member is arranged to be movable from an operative position to an inoperative position corresponding to an insertion of the stack of sheets so as to be brought into pressure contact with the sheet feeding member in a state of the insertion of the stack of sheets.

Abstract: An automatic sheet feeding apparatus permits a choice between an automatic feed mode in which sheets disposed in a stack on a sheet receiving table can be sequentially separated and fed one by one from the bottom of the stack, and a manual feed mode in which a single sheet is manually fed. The sheet separation from the stack occurs by utilizing a separating roller which rotates in a direction in which the sheet is fed, and brake device which is disposed in abutment against the separating roller. The manual feed mode is enabled when the brake device is moved away from the separating roller.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to an improved paper sheet feeding arrangement for use in a copying apparatus or the like, which is capable of positively preventing paper sheets from wrinkling, bending, etc. during withdrawal of a paper sheet cassette by returning the paper sheet having a projecting leading edge, back into the paper sheet cassette in association with a multi-sheet feeding prevention mechanism when the cassette is released from a paper feeding section.

Abstract: A paper sheet supplying system including a paper sheet attracting unit for attracting a paper sheet for feeding purposes, and a piled sheet feeding prevention unit which confronts the paper sheet attracting unit at a preselected position. When more than one sheet is attracted by the paper sheet attracting unit, the piled sheet feeding preventing unit removes the paper sheet or sheets from the sheet attracted by the paper sheet attracting unit so that only one sheet is accurately fed.

Abstract: A sheet feeding device for separating a single sheet from a stack of sheets and forwarding the separated sheet away from the stack is disclosed which employs an endless friction belt cantilevered about a drive pulley such that the unsupported end of the belt floats freely on a stack of documents or paper sheets when the belt is in the feeding position. As the belt is driven about the pulley the unsupported end of the belt pulls and advances the foremost sheet from the stack and advances it over a retard member on which the unsupported end of the belt also floats. Because the belt floats freely on the stack of sheets, the normal force is evenly distributed over the surface of the belt, intersheet coupling is minimized, and the belt is able to conform to changes in the paper and stack condition.

Abstract: A removable paper cassette for feeding different lengths of cut paper sheets seriatim to a machine operatively associated with the cassette. The cassette includes a chutelike base having a bottom panel, and a pair of sidewalls contiguous with the front wall and extending only along a portion of the bottom panel. The cassette further includes an upwardly biased paper elevating plate pivotably secured at its rearward section to the base, the plate having a pair of detents situated in the forward section thereof adjacent the sidewalls, and a cassette cover pivotably secured to the sidewalls of the base. The cover includes a pair of inwardly projecting camming fingers integral therewith, one on each side of the forward section thereof. The detents engage the fingers when the cover is raised to the open position whereby the cover is held in the open position and the elevating pate is maintained in a depressed position ready for paper loading.

Abstract: A static charge discharge device for an electrostatic copying machine comprises a set of spaced, bowed, resilient, sheet metal straps which straddle across and engage the uppermost sheet of the stack. The bowed portion of the straps discharge static charges on the uppermost sheet during the feeding of the paper into the corona device.

Abstract: A machine for feeding sheets of paper or the like one after another, wherein until a sheet is nipped between a front feed roller and a friction plate, a sufficiently great pressure is maintained between the roller and the plate so as to prevent simultaneous nipping of two or more piled sheets, and once the sheet is nipped between the roller and the friction plate, the pressure therebetween is reduced so as to prevent the sheet from being wrinkled, ruptured or otherwise damaged while effecting smooth feeding of the sheet.

Abstract: The bottommost sheet of a stack is withdrawn for the feeding of original copy single sheets to a copying apparatus so that the stack lies in the same sequence after copying. Preliminary separating mechanisms (5, 12) and subsequent downstream separating mechanism (6, 22) are provided. These separating mechanisms each comprise a separating plate (12, 22) provided with a friction facing (20, 24) as well as a rotating separating roller (5, 6). The two rollers (5, 6) are driven by a motor (8) when a single sheet is to be transported.

Abstract: A ticket shingling process and an apparatus for performing the process by which tickets are serially stripped from the bottom of a stack of tickets by means of a reciprocating suction means which, in conjunction with rotable feed means, transfers the stripped ticket to a longitudinally extending first conveyor. Suction means is provided above the downstream end of the first conveyor to lift each ticket into engagement with ticket aligning means on a second, laterally extending conveyor where glue is applied to the ticket. The second conveyor is advanced a predetermined increment whereupon a succeeding ticket is mated with the first ticket in adhesive offset or shingled manner. The process is repeated until a predetermined number of tickets comprise the ticket assembly. Means is provided for alternative movement of the second conveyor to accomplish desired ticket placement within a bank.

Abstract: A holder for a stack of fluted, cup-shaped coffee filter papers having a cover including a reciprocable, single paper dispenser arm secured in the cover, and a filter contact on the dispenser arm.

Abstract: Apparatus for receiving a stack of case blank sheets from a source of supply and delivering the sheets in shingled arrangement, for further processing, by receiving the stack at a first level, elevating the stack intact vertically to a second level above the first level, where the stack is transferred to a feeder located at the second level for operation in association with a stripper to feed the sheets forward in shingled arrangement from the bottom of the stack, while stabilizing the stack against toppling backward during feeding of the sheets forward from the bottom of the stack.

Abstract: Improved sheet separating and feeding apparatus that opens or partially opens the retard nip after the sheet has partially passed through the retard nip.

Abstract: A device for holding down sheets which are stacked on a support has a vertical cylinder mounted above the support and provided with a piston and a piston rod extending from the piston through and to the outside of the cylinder where it carries a sheet-engaging member which exerts pressure on sheets resting on the support. A pair of conduits communicates with the cylinder chambers above and below the piston and a valve is provided which can either connect both conduits with a channel supplying compressed air or which can connect the conduit for the lower chamber with a suction channel. The positive or negative pressure in the respective conduits can be regulated.

Abstract: A discriminator supporting assembly for a discriminator plate which is mounted above a conveyor belt course. The assembly includes a lengthwise adjustment screw for moving the discriminator plate lengthwise of the conveyor belt toward and away from patter members, an upright adjustment screw for moving the discriminator plate toward and away from the conveyor belt course, and a plate swinging adjustment screw for swinging the discriminator plate with relation to the plane of the conveyor belt course.

Abstract: A combination sheet-feed and utilization machine wherein the sheet feeder comprises an endless belt, or series of belts. The belt is driven in a path which is normally out of contact with a paper sheet stack and when a sheet is to be fed, the run of the belt between end supports is distended toward the sheet stack until contact is made and frictional engagement picks up the top sheet and begins it on its feed path. A retard mechanism prevents double feeding. The feed cycle is initiated by whatever means is convenient for the particular use, such as manual feed button or a machine cycle controller requesting another master, for example. The sheet travels to the utilization device, whatever type is being supplied, and when the sheet arrives at the utilization device in-feed, it triggers a sensor to initiate a circuit which ends the paper feed cycle and begins the utilization device cycle to pick up the paper from the feeder.

Abstract: Document handling device for placement onto an existing reciprocating document carriage of a photocopy machine to provide support for photocopying documents such as billing statement ledger cards. The document handling device is of one piece construction having a recessed inclined staging tray for storage of documents prior to photocopying, a steeply inclined surface portion with document retainer surface projections for separating and feeding of documents, a transparent document exposure access to coincide with a transport window of the reciprocating document carriage, and a recessed inclined stacker tray for storing documents which have been photocopied. The document handling device has two bottom projections to fit into existing indentations of the reciprocating document carriage and a cutout portion to accommodate a copy sheet length selector knob located on the reciprocating document carriage.

Abstract: A cassette type sheet handling mechanism for a reproduction machine wherein the sheet separator utilized to remove sheets singly from the cassette has a portion thereof permanently mounted in the cassette for removal from the machine when the cassette is removed therefrom, the bottom of the cassette being pivotally mounted and biased in a direction toward the sheet separator to maintain the top sheet in the stack against the sheet separator.

Abstract: A paper anti-skew device for maintaining alignment and preventing skewing of sheets fed from a stack into a copy sheet mass in an electrostatic copying machine for producing copies of documents. Sheets are fed from lead edge by a top feeding pneumatic device in seriatim. The anti-skew device rests on top of the stack of sheets along the trailing edge of the stack and is longitudinally coextensive with the trailing edge thereof. Corner portions extend from the longitudinal portion of the member at an angle of 90.degree. for a predetermined distance to maintain alignment of the trailing corners of the topmost sheets as they are fed and which may stick and skew relative to the direction of the copy sheet path in the absence of the anti-skew device.

Abstract: An air floatation bottom feeder employing a whip or paddle/impact feeder to positively separate single sheets from the bottom of the sheet stack and prevent multifeeds or mis-feeds, the air floatation feature being utilized to provide air bearings above and below the sheet being fed while at the same time, a portion of the air floatation jets which are canted move the bottom sheet toward side and rear registration edges for accurate positioning of the sheet.

Abstract: A document feed mechanism is disclosed for feeding documents from the bottom of a stack. Sheet separating rolls prevent the feeding of more than one sheet at a time through a nip formed by the separating rolls and feed rolls. Wear compensation means functions to uniformly distribute wear about the cicumference of the separation rolls. The wear compensation means additionally provides for axial shifting of the separator rolls relative to the feed rolls so that a constant gap or nip is maintained. Simplified means for adjusting the gap are also disclosed. The feed mechanism will accept documents having a relatively wide range of thicknesses without adjustment.

Abstract: A feeding device for card counting machines has a guide wall member fixed at a distance apart from a feed drum for forwarding sheets of card frictionally and tangentially. In operation, double sheets feeding can decisively be prevented.

Abstract: In card reading apparatus of the type for reading data processing type cards, an improved picking arrangement for picking and feeding cards from a contained stack in a predetermined manner. The picking arrangement comprises a throat through which the picked cards pass, the throat having an improved toothing design to optimize picking bad cards thereto. The apparatus incorporates an integrated system design for minimizing contact with the information bearing portions of the cards as they are picked and processed.

Abstract: A sheet feeding and separating apparatus is provided for separating individual sheets from a stack. The apparatus includes sheet feeding means and retard means engaging the feeding means to form a nip for sheet advancement therebetween. A means is provided for adjusting the nip force between the retard means and the feeding means which is responsive to the direction in which a sheet is being advanced. A first nip force is provided when a sheet is advanced in a first direction and a second and different nip force is provided when the sheet is advanced in a different direction.

Abstract: Disclosed is a document handler and feeder device for performing high speed separating and transporting of documents, such as business forms. The document handling unit is equipped with friction type feed rollers and a lipped contour plate over which documents must pass. The feed rollers contact and transport a foremost document from a gravity-feed document hopper. High speed tracking belts, are mounted over grooves or tracks, which extend along a track plate and through the lip of the contour plate. The feed rolls force the leading edge of the foremost document into the lip where the document engages the bottom side of the belts so that it is nipped between the belts and the contour plate causing the document to move into the tracking grooves.The contour plate has a transition radius between its lip and the base of the document hopper upon which the foremost document rests.

Abstract: Disclosed is a document handler and feeder device for performing high speed separating and transporting of documents, such as business forms. The document handling unit is equipped with friction type feed rollers and a lipped contour plate over which documents must pass. The feed rollers contact and transport a foremost document from a gravity-feed document hopper. High speed tracking belts are mounted over grooves or tracks, which extend along a track plate and through the lip of the contour plate. The feed rolls force the leading edge of the foremost document into the lip where the document engages the bottom side of the belts so that it is nipped between the belts and the contour plate causing the document to move into the tracking grooves. In order to provide ready access to the tracking plate area, the entire tracking belt drive assembly is pivotable upwards about a pivot pin located adjacent the feed roller shaft.