Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Separators
Patent
1986-05-02
1988-01-05
Rolla, Joseph J.
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Separators
271107, B65H 308
Patent
active
047171383
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to valve mechanisms, and is particularly concerned with a pneumatic valve mechanism which incorporates a bellows or like mechanism and which can be used especially for the controlled movement of sheets of paper, card or like material.
Various types of suction mechanism are known for use in moving sheets of paper or like material. More particularly, valved suction mechanisms are known, but these generally tend to be complex either in their construction, their manner of operation or their control.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pneumatic valve mechanism which is extremely simple in its construction and manner of operation, yet by means of which one can achieve various desirable results in terms of the way in which sheets of material such as paper are controllably moved.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a pneumatic valve mechanism comprising a mouthpiece which defines an air intake; an extensible and retractable sleeve coupled to the mouthpiece to cause the mouthpiece to move therewith; passage means to connect the interior of the sleeve to suction means such that when the sleeve is not fully retracted suction is created at the air intake; a seal between the mouthpiece and a valve body within the sleeve which is efective when the sleeve is fully retracted, following closure of the air intake, to seal the air intake from the suction means; venting means permitting air to enter the mouthpiece in the retracted position of the sleeve but without breaking the seal, whereby the sleeve is maintained in its retracted position; and actuating means arranged upon operation to break the seal and cause the sleeve to extend.
Preferably, the sleeve is a bellows.
The mouthpiece preferably comprises a suction cup. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the mouthpiece comprises a sucker which collapses eccentrically when it makes contact with a sheet of paper, thereby to enable one to lift an edge or corner of the sheet and initiate a peeling action instead of exerting a direct pull on the sheet.
Although the valve mechanism of the present invention preferably uses a straight sleeve, e.g. bellows, which is extensible and retractable along a rectilinear axis, the valve mechanism of the invention can alternatively use a sleeve mechanism which is designed to move or is constrained to move in an arcuate direction.
With the valve mechanism of the present invention, when a sheet of paper comes to overlie the air intake, the mouthpiece grips the paper and the cutting off of the air flow through the intake causes the sleeve to be retracted. Retraction of the sleeve causes the mouthpiece also to retract towards the valve body, creating the seal, whereupon the venting means is effective to cause the paper to be released from the intake, although the suction means continues to hold the sleeve in the retracted state.
The mode of operation of this mechanism means that a sheet of paper or like material is grasped by the mouthpiece, movement is imparted to it in a predetermined direction for a short time, and thereafter the grip on the paper is released with the valve mechanism remaining retracted, i.e. out of the way. It is only upon an interruption of the effect created by the suction means that the sleeve can extend again to seek another sheet of paper. This interrupting can be achieved for example by switching the suction means off and on, or, preferably, by breaking the seal electromechanically, for example by the use of a solenoid and mechanical linkage. The latter offers greater flexibility and ease of control, particularly if the valve mechanism is part of a computer-controlled system.
Depending upon how the mouthpiece, or indeed mouthpieces, is/are positioned in relation to the sleeve, one can exert different forms of control on the movement of the paper which is grasped at the air intake. For example, one can use the valve mechanism simply to move a sheet of paper substantially linearly in a flowing manner, moving the paper either from a stack to another lo
REFERENCES:
patent: 2995359 (1961-08-01), Gulick
patent: 3084928 (1963-04-01), Opita
patent: 4327906 (1982-05-01), Frohlich et al.
Noland Kenneth
Rolla Joseph J.
Watkiss Automation Limited
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