SHEET FEEDER WITH DUAL DISCHARGE

摘要

A sheet feeder feeds product, one at a time, from the bottom of a stack onto a second stage discharge conveyor in which the serialized products are brought into precise registration prior to being deposited onto a moving web. To achieve registration, the products are transported at a higher rate than the speed of a pair of timing belts having regularly spaced lugs projecting therefrom. The lug timing belts are positioned beneath the belts transporting the product with the lugs projecting into the product's path of travel. The speed deference is that a leading edge of the products is brought into engagement with the trailing edge of a laterally aligned pair of lugs before the product arrives at the discharge point of the second stage discharge conveyor. The transport rate on the second stage discharge conveyor is controlled to match the speed of the moving web.

主权项

1. Apparatus for accurately depositing sheet articles on a moving web comprising:
(a) a sheet friction feeder for feeding sheet articles from the bottom of a stack of such articles, said friction sheet feeder including a first discharge conveyor having upper and lower vertically aligned endless belts with adjacent flights moving in the same direction and at the same speed for transporting sheets therebetween to a discharge pinch point; and (b) a second discharge conveyor having upper and lower endless transport belts with adjacent flights adapted to be driven in the same direction at a predetermined speed and positioned downstream of the pinch point of the first discharge conveyor for receiving sheets leaving the first discharge conveyor between the adjacent flights of the belts of the second discharge conveyor, the second discharge conveyor further including a set of endless belts having regularly spaced lugs projecting normally from a surface thereof and located beneath the adjacent flights of the upper and lower endless belts of the second discharge conveyor, the set of endless lugged belts adapted to be driven at a speed that is a predetermined ratio less than said predetermined speed.