Paddle wheel feeder with normal force optimization and blade control

摘要

A paddle wheel feeder includes a paddle wheel having a foam hub with at least three blades molded therein. The paddle wheel is mounted to be rotatably driven by a shaft having a Geneva mechanism attached thereto which causes the paddle wheel to stop just before one of the blades contacts the top sheet in a stack and then accelerate to drive the sheet forward. For normal force optimization, internal springs are located inside each paddle of the wheel is one embodiment and a thick bladed foam paddle wheel is utilized in another embodiment with each blade having a coating of high friction material.