Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Multiple supplies
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-18
2002-12-24
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Multiple supplies
C271S258010, C271S103000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06497404
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus and particularly to a sheet feeding apparatus adapted for feeding and placing a front cover received from a transfer path over a specific number of sheets (for example, bound as a booklet) or stacks of sheets supplied from a printing machine or a sorter.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 13
is a side view showing a schematic arrangement of a conventional sheet feeder for a bookbinding machine. In
FIG. 13
, a side panel of the sheet feeding apparatus is removed for ease of the description.
As shown in
FIG. 13
, the sheet feeding apparatus
1
comprises a sheet reception inlet
2
a
for receiving sheets of paper, a tray
4
for storage of a stack of front covers P, a sheet stack-feed station S for stacking up the sheets and placing a front cover P on a stack of the sheets, a first conveying path
2
extending from the sheet reception inlet
2
a
to the sheet stack-feed station S, and a sheet conveying mechanism for conveying in a sequence the sheets received at the sheet reception inlet
2
a
to the sheet stack-feed station S along the first conveying path
2
. The sheet conveying mechanism consists mainly of a conveyor belt
2
b
, transfer rollers
2
c
to
2
g
, and a discharge roller
2
h.
The sheet feeding apparatus
1
also includes a second conveying path
8
extending from the tray
4
to the first conveying path
2
for joining with the first conveying path
2
and a sheet feeding mechanism for conveying the front cover P along the second conveying path
8
up to the first conveying path
2
. The sheet feeding mechanism comprises a feed roller
5
, a transfer roller
6
, a drive motor
7
, and a pair of feed rollers
8
a
and
8
b.
The sheet feeding apparatus
1
further includes a sheet transfer mechanism for transferring the front cover P from the tray
4
to the sheet feeding mechanism. The sheet transfer mechanism comprises a pneumatic pump
14
and a drive motor
13
for driving the pneumatic pump
14
. A first pulley
13
a
is mounted on the output shaft of the drive motor
13
while a second pulley
14
a
is mounted on the rotary shaft of the pneumatic pump
14
. A belt
13
b
is mounted between the first pulley
13
a
and the second pulley
14
a
for transmitting the power of the drive motor
13
to the pneumatic pump
14
.
The sheet transfer mechanism also includes a blow outlet
18
provided in the tray
4
for communicating via a first conduit
17
to the air outlet of the pneumatic pump
14
to blow up the front cover P in the tray
4
, a sucker
10
communicated via a second conduit
11
to the air inlet of the pneumatic pump
14
and arranged for movement between the first position for sucking the front cover P blown up and the second position for transferring the front cover P to the sheet feeding mechanism, a sucker driving mechanism
10
a
for moving the sucker
10
between the first position and the second position, and a couple of first and second air valves,
12
and
16
, for controlling the air intake and the air discharge of the pneumatic pump
14
, respectively.
As the pneumatic pump
14
is actuated, a flow of air runs along the first conduit
17
in a direction denoted by the arrow Bb and exits at the blow outlet
18
. This action effects an upper region of the stack of the front covers P in the tray
4
and more specifically, lifts up the uppermost front cover P. Simultaneously, a flow of air runs along the second conduit
11
in a direction denoted by the arrow Ba. This action causes the sucker
10
to suck up at its first position the uppermost front cover P lifted up. The sucker
10
is then moved to its second position for transferring the uppermost front cover P to the sheet feeder mechanism. The front cover P received by the sheet feeder mechanism is passed through the feed roller
5
and the transfer roller
6
and between the two feed rollers
8
a
and
8
b
as conveyed along the second conveying path
8
to the first conveying path
2
.
The transfer of the front cover P to the sheet feeding mechanism by the sucker
10
is continuously carried out as synchronized with the conveying of the sheets along the first conveying path
2
. Particularly in case that the sheet feeding apparatus is linked with an advanced digital printing machine, a given number of sheets for one book volume may be received in the order of page at the sheet reception inlet
2
a
of the first conveying path
2
, conveyed along the first conveying path
2
, and stacked up in the sheet stack-feed station S. During the conveying of the sheets, the pneumatic pump
14
remains actuated for releasing a blow of air from the blow outlet
18
to lift up the uppermost one of front covers. Before the transfer of the succeeding front cover is initiated, the first air valve
12
remains closed to allow the sucker
10
to suck up no front cover.
In the conventional sheet feeding apparatus, the transfer of a front cover from the second conveying path
8
to the first conveying path
2
, and thus to the sheet feeding mechanism, is continuously carried out as synchronized with the timing of conveying the sheets along the first conveying path
2
. If a feeding error of the front cover (no transfer of a front cover from the second conveying path
8
or transfer of multiple front covers at one time) occurs in a lot, the reaction is that the movement of the first conveying path
2
is halted and the error is eliminated by adding a front cover to, or removing the excessive front covers from, the lot. This will thus decline the operational efficiency of the apparatus.
Also, as the pneumatic pump
14
is continuously driven to blow a jet of air against the upper ones of the stacked front covers P in the tray
4
, its temperature may increase and so the temperature of the jet of air. Accordingly, the front covers P are exposed to the hot air and may deform or curl up at their edges, hence lowering the quality and making their handling difficult at the succeeding step.
The pneumatic pump
14
remains actuated while no transfer of the front covers P is performed. This will increase the power consumption and thus the overall production cost while shortening the life of the pneumatic pump
14
. Moreover, the pneumatic pump
14
constantly emits running noises and may cause environmental disruption.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding apparatus capable of, if a feeding error of a front cover occurs, readily eliminating the cause of error without halting the main operation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding apparatus which can improve the environmental conditions of a pneumatic pump.
For achievement of the object of the present invention, a sheet feeding apparatus is provided comprising: a sheet reception inlet for receiving a set of first sheets; a tray for storing a stack of second sheets; a sheet set discharge outlet for releasing out a set of the sheets where the second sheet is placed over the first sheets; a first conveying path extending from the sheet reception inlet to the sheet set discharge outlet; a sheet conveying means for conveying the first sheets received at the sheet reception inlet in a sequence along the first conveying path to the sheet set discharge outlet; a second conveying path extending from the tray to the first conveying path and communicated at a junction with the first conveying path; a sheet feeding means for conveying the second sheet along the second conveying path to the junction with the first conveying path and placing the second sheet over the first sheets; a sheet transferring means for transferring each second sheet from the tray to the sheet feeding means; and a controlling means for controlling the action of the sheet conveying means, the sheet feeding means, and the sheet transferring means, wherein the sheet feeding means is changed to its standby mode when the second sheet is transferred from the sheet transferring means to the sheet feeding means and, upon the first s
Horii Yoshiyuki
Katayama Eiji
Oe Yoshihiro
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Ellis Christopher P.
Horizon International Inc.
Ridley Richard
LandOfFree
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