Transferring newspapers or the like from a moving belt to a series of clamps

摘要

Shingled precisely spaced papers are carried off a first conveyance path on a moving belt at a first speed into a further conveyance path along which a set of spaced clamps which individually grasp each paper flow at a substantially constant lower transit speed. By gradually inserting a paper into an open clamp travelling alongside in a parallel path over a predetermined transfer zone length overlapping a plurality of successive clamps, the instantaneous nature of feeding a paper into a clamp is changed so that a higher paper feed speed can be tolerated. By inclining the shingled paper feed path downwardly over the transfer zone, the drag of the papers off the shingled array is reduced to prevent any tendency to misalign the papers from a seated position in the clamps.