Articulating sheet material conveyor

摘要

A method and apparatus are disclosed for transporting sheet materials from a source location to a stacking workstation. A lower conveyor is positioned between the source location and the stacking work station. An upper conveyor having a first conveyor section and a second conveyor section is positioned above the lower conveyor such that the first conveyor section is above an end portion of the lower conveyor and the second conveyor section extends beyond the the downstream end of the lower conveyor. The first conveyor section is pivotably fixed at an upstream end. The upstream end of the second conveyor section is pivotably attached adjacent the downstream end of the first conveyor section. The downstream end of the second conveyor section is adapted to be operatively coupled to the top of the stack of sheet materials being stacked on a movable support of the stacking workstation. When sheet materials enter between the lower conveyor and the first conveyor section, the first conveyor section pivots because of the profile of the sheet materials. The second conveyor section pivots with respect to the first conveyor section keeping the downstream end of the second conveyor section operatively coupled to the top of the stack of sheet materials being stacked. A sensor is provided to sense vertical position of the top of the stack of sheet materials being stack on the movable stacking support. The movement of the movable support of the stacking workstation is controlled responsive to the sensed vertical position of the top of the stack of sheet materials being stacked.