Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Separators
Patent
1985-01-15
1987-01-06
Schacher, Richard A.
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Separators
271148, 271150, B65H 304
Patent
active
046341110
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FRICTION SEPARATOR
Background of the Invention
The invention relates to a friction separator. Such a friction separator is known, for example, from German Pat. No. 2,736,337. Other comparable prior art is disclosed in German laid-open application No. 2,354,107, and German Pat. Nos. 2,613,261 and 2,712,907.
It is the object of the invention to provide a friction separator for letters of all types up to a given size and thickness so as to improve the state of the art to the effect that the removal device operates with less susceptibility to malfunction even with pieces of mail of uneven thickness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a friction separator for separating letters and similar flat items from a stack of such items. It comprises a base belt for supporting the stack of items and conveying them in a first direction, a guide wall extending along one side of the belt and a removal member for withdrawing the foremost items in the stack through a gap between the guide wall and the removal member. A first support member is positioned in a plane defined by the leading edge of the stack at the trailing portion of the shortest item withdrawn by the removal member, the first support member supporting the stack at a point spaced from the guide wall by a distance which is less than the length of the shortest item to be processed. A second support member is positioned at a location between the plane and the trailing edge of the stack of items supported by the belt, and is further positioned at a distance from the guide wall which is less than the length of the longest item to be processed. Means are provided for resiliently pressing at least one of the first and second support members against the stack.
Separation of mail can be effected advantageously and without malfunctions even if these pieces of mail have differences in thickness of several millimeters between their upper and lower longitudinal edges and, when seen in the direction of advance of the piece of mail, between its front and rear transverse edges. In the separation process, pieces of mail which are thicker at their rear transverse edges than at their front transverse edges are particularly critical because in these pieces of mail, the stack pressure builds up between the supporting rollers and the stack and not--as needed for proper operation--between the stack and the removal belts, so that the friction force drops between the pieces of mail and the removal belts with the result that the slip produced thereby increases the size of the gaps between the pieces of mail and, consequently, the removal rate is reduced. In extreme cases, no pieces of mail are removed at all so that the removal device is blocked.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified top plan view of a friction separator;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a friction separator showing one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a friction separator showing a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the embodiments of the invention shown in FIGS. 2 and 3; and
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIGS. 1-6, 1 designates a removal rocker, 2 a stripper, 3 a continuously running conveyor belt, 4 the abutment edge of a stack of mail 8, 5 a resilient support roller I, 6 a resilient support roller II, 7 a base belt, 9 a pair of tension springs, 10 a pair of microswitches S.sub.2 and S.sub.3, 11 an eccentric adjusting disc, 12 a tension spring, 13 a resilient rocker and roller, 14 a tension spring, 16 an adjustable base, 17 a base plate, 19 a drive motor with gears, 20 a circular belt, 21 a roller, 22 a free wheeling mechanism and 23 a suspension.
The basic structure of the friction separator according to FIG. 2 essentially correponds, except for its additions which are significant to the invention, to that shown in the drawing of German Pat. No. 2,736,337. A significant in
REFERENCES:
patent: 3952183 (1976-04-01), Abe
patent: 4219192 (1980-08-01), Burke
patent: 4302000 (1981-11-01), Frank
patent: 4405122 (1983-09-01), Faltin
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 19, No. 2, published Jul. 1976.
Licentia Patent-Verwaltungs-GmbH
Schacher Richard A,.
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