Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H3/00—Separating articles from piles
  • B65H3/02—Separating articles from piles using friction forces between articles and separator
  • B65H3/04—Endless-belt separators
  • B65H3/042—Endless-belt separators separating from the bottom of the pile

Definitions

• This invention is concerned with improvements relating to sheet feeding mechanism.
• Difficulty is encountered in feeding sheet material from a stack thereof, particularly where it is desired to fed more than one sheet at a time, and/or where it is desired that the mechanism used is simple in its construction and relatively inexpensive.
• the number of sheets which it may be desired to feed at a time will be dependent upon the capacity of the shredding machine being used. For example, single sheet feeding will lead to an under utilisation of the shredding machine, whilst if the number of sheets which are fed exceeds a certain value, the shredding machine will tend to jam.
• Difficulties are encountered in conventional feeding mechanisms for such operations, particularly in the ability of the sheet feeding mechanism to cope with a number of sheets which may be stapled together.
• a sheet feeding mechanism comprising first and second spaced rollers, a flexible belt around the rollers, drive means to rotate the belt around the rollers, a support means to support an upper stretch of the belt as it moves from the first to the second roller, and a control member disposed above the upper stretch of the belt to provide with the belt a gap through which paper placed on the belt may be fed, the control member being disposed adjacent to a portion of the belt which is downwardly flexible.
• the belt is downwardly flexible to a specific extent, preferably downward flexibility being effected against a restraint of increasing force.
• the control member is disposed above a portion of the belt where the belt passes from the support means and prior to the belt passing onto the second roller.
• Preferably means is provided to vary the size of the gap.
• paper placed on the belt will be transferred through the gap, conveniently being fed to chute means for conveying the paper into a shredding machine, the size of the gap controlling the number of pages fed simultaneously by the sheet feeding mechanism.
• the belt will be flexed downwardly to increase the effective size of the gap, permitting passage through the gap of an increased number of pages.
• Increased forward force on the belt as is necessary to cause the belt to flex in this manner, will increase the frictional forces between the belt and the lowermost sheet, increasing the force available for stripping the paper from (eg) a staple as may be causing the increased quantity.
• control member is mounted for movement towards and away from the belt, preferably being urged (such as by a spring means) towards the belt into a position in which it is close to the belt, e.g. being spaced therefrom by a small distance.
• clamping means is provided to urge a stack of paper downwardly against the belt, the belt picking up the lowermost sheet from such stack, and conveying it towards the gap, and towards the shredding machine.
• the clamping means comprises a member which is mounted for movement, so as to retain a disposition substantially parallel to the upper stretch of the belt, notwithstanding variation in the height of the stack of paper on the belt.
• the clamping member is pivotally mounted, such as at a central region thereof, to a cover of the sheet feeding mechanism, which may be pulled down to enclose moving parts of the feeding mechanism, enabling safe operation thereof.
• the lid may be effective to operate an enabling switch, to cause or allow the drive means to operate.
• the belt comprises a plurality of sections, spaced apart in the widthwise direction (i.e. at rights angles to the direction of travel).
• FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective view of the preferred embodiment
• FIGURE 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view thereof; and FIGURE 3 is a more detailed perspective view of the preferred embodiment.
• the sheet feeding mechanism which is the preferred embodiment of the invention is specifically for the feer g of sheets of documentary material such as paper into a chute 11, from which me sheet material will enter a shredding machine 40, schematically shown in Figure 2, of conventional manufacture.
• the sheet feeding mechanism comprises a housing 12 within which there is mounted a pair of rollers 14a, 14 ⁇ around which a belt 16 of flexible material such as rubber or elastomer, is located.
• Drive mechanism 10 is provided for rotating one of the rollers 14, to cause the belt to rotate within the housing 16 in the direction shown.
• Spring means 42 may be provided to urge the rollers apart to maintain tension in the belt.
• the belt 16 comprises three sections 16a, 16b, 16c. spaced widthwise of the machine, a central portion of the upper reach of said sections passing over a support plate 18 carried by side plates of the housing 12 to support the belt against movement in a downward direction.
• a support plate 18 carried by side plates of the housing 12 to support the belt against movement in a downward direction.
• the belt passes beneath a control member in the form of a plate 19, which is urged by a strong spring 30 acting between the plate 19 and a bar 31 extending from the housing on each side thereof, into engagement with a stop 32, so that the lower edge of the plate is spaced a short distance X from the upper reach of the belt, the stop 32 being adjustable to enable the distance X to be varied.
• a cover 22 Pivotally mounted on a shaft 20 towards the rear end of the machine is a cover 22, the cover carrying a presser plate 26 in a manner such that the presser plate is free for pivotal movement relative to the cover 22.
• the presser plate 26 may be carried on a pivotal mounting 24, but preferably, as is shown in Figure 3, the presser plate 26 carries spaced, parallel bars 36, which are receivable in slots 38 in the cover, springs being provided to urge the bars 36 into engagement with stops, allowing the presser plate 26 to float in either direction in a pivot-like upward movement against the action of the springs.
• the presser plate 26 may adopt a position in which it is substantially parallel to the upper reach of the belt 16, independent of the thickness of a stack of documentary material which may be placed with the machine.
• a stack of documentary material will be placed within a receiving area 28, defined by the side walls of the housing, in engagement with the belt 16, and the lid 22 will be lowered allowing the presser plate 26 to rest on the documentary material.
• Such lowering of the lid may depress a micro-switch, causing a control circuit to be facilitated.
• driving of the belt 16 will withdraw by frictional forces a sheet from the lowermost face of the stack, and convey the sheet through the gap X, to pass between the nip between the roller 14b and a further roller 15 into the chute 11 towards shredding mechanism 40, to be shredded.
• driving of the belt 16 will withdraw by frictional forces a sheet from the lowermost face of the stack, and convey the sheet through the gap X, to pass between the nip between the roller 14b and a further roller 15 into the chute 11 towards shredding mechanism 40, to be shredded.
• shredding mechanism 40 to be shredded.
• control member 19 In the event that an unduly large number of sheets is stapled together, which are incapable of being stripped apart, subsequent to the achieval of maximum deflection of the belt, the control member 19 is free to lift to a small extent against the action of the springs 30, the force requiring to overcome the strong spring being greater than the force required initially to deflect the belt 16 in the direction Y.
• Such lifting of the control member 19 may be such as immediately to effect a termination operation, in which operation of the sheet feeding mechanism is terminated, together with (if desired) operation of the shredding mechanism, to prevent the shredding mechanism becoming jammed.
• control device 29 comprising an arm 42 projecting laterally from the plate 19 on its outer side, against which a spring loaded plunger 44 of a microswitch 46 is urged.
• a control device 29 comprising an arm 42 projecting laterally from the plate 19 on its outer side, against which a spring loaded plunger 44 of a microswitch 46 is urged.
• the control plate 19 rises to the maximum desired height, the permitted movement of the plunger 44 will open the microswitch 46, in turn causing the drive motor 10 to cease operation.
• the sheet feeding mechanism will operate automatically to feed paper at a fairly high rate but the machine will automatically terminate operation prior to a jam within the shredding machine occurring.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Crushing And Pulverization Processes (AREA)
• Sheets, Magazines, And Separation Thereof (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=10705871

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 1991
  • 1991-12-07 GB GB919126042A patent/GB9126042D0/en active Pending
• 1992
  • 1992-12-07 WO PCT/GB1992/002264 patent/WO1993012022A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1992-12-07 JP JP5510697A patent/JPH07501777A/ja active Pending
  • 1992-12-07 EP EP92924795A patent/EP0615514B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1992-12-07 DE DE69220578T patent/DE69220578T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1992-12-07 AU AU30904/92A patent/AU3090492A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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