GB1062118A - Stacking mechanism for sheet material - Google Patents

Abstract

1,062,118. Delivering sheets. FMC CORPORATION. April 20, 1964 [May 8, 1963], No. 16367/64. Heading B6H. Bags are delivered in counted batches and arranged in overlapping stacks on an intermittently movable conveyer. The bags are delivered from a bag-making machine by co-operating belts 12, 13 and deposited on a stack B in a hopper 11. The front plate 31 of the hopper is supported between upstanding members 25 adjustable in position according to the length of the bags. The stack B is supported at its rear end on a ledge 35 and at its front end on the preceding stack. The completed stacks are received on an endless belt 16 passing around rollers 48, 49. The upstanding members 25 support two parallel endless chains 37 passing around gears 39, 40. Pivoted between the chains are two bars 46, 46a. The chains are rotated intermittently through 180 degrees by a drive shaft 70. The latter is driven through a one-revolution clutch after a predetermined number of bags have been fed to the stack. The shaft 70 also reciprocates a rack 85 co-operating with a gearwheel 96 loose on the shaft 51 of the roller 48. The gear-wheel 96 carries a pawl engaging a gear-wheel fast on the shaft 51. Thus drive is transmitted to the shaft 51 during the downward stroke of the rack only. In operation, the first 180 degrees of rotation of the shaft 70 causes the bar 46 or 46a to descend and compact the stack B. In the second 180 degrees of rotation, the bar 46 or 46a moves through a semicircle about the gear 40 and the belt 16 moves forward an equal amount. Thus the stack is maintained in a compact state and fed forwards a short distance beneath the front plate 31. During this movement, the belt is depressed to the position shown at 16<SP>1</SP>, undue stretching of the belt being prevented by movement of the roller 49 in slots 56. The one revolution clutch driving the shaft 70 is operated when a switch 77 is closed, Fig. 7. The operating arm of said switch has a roller 78 running on a disc 74 and is actuated whenever the roller engages a notch 75 in the periphery of the disc. The disc has a plurality of notches 75 with removable cover plates 76 and is rotated stepby-step for each bag produced. The number of bags in each stack may be varied by adjusting the number of notches exposed.