Method and apparatus for determining the number of sheets in a stack

摘要

A method and apparatus are disclosed for determining the quantity of sheets of material in a stack containing an unknown quantity. The method can be practiced with existing machines which perform various operations on the sheets of material while they are stacked in the machine. An apparatus is disclosed which includes a position sensor in electrical communication with a counter. The position sensor includes a pulse generator to accurately estimate the thickness of a single sheet of material and the height of the stack of material containing an unknown quantity of sheets. The counter includes a processor to perform mathematical calculations using the values measured by the pulse generator and a display for displaying the results.