Documotion, Inc.

Accent Color Sciences, Inc.

Stefan G Golicz

Roman M Golicz

Norman L Milliard

Richard J Coburn

An apparatus and method for forming a stream of shingled fanfold sheet device into a vertical stack comprises a first table having lengthwise belts which receive and push the shingled sheet against a stop, causing the sheet to form into a horizontal stack. The first table has powered transfer rollers positioned in the spaces between the belts. Upon command, the belts lower beneath the table surface, so that the transfer rollers engage the stack and move it sideways onto an adjacent pivotable second table. The second table pivots about an axis transverse to the lengths of the first table and second table. Preferably, the second table has a stop at one end and a detachable pallet at the other end. When the second table is rotated, the stack is made vertical so it rests on the pallet. The pallet with stack are then withdrawn from engagement with the second table for transport elsewhere. A third conveyor belt table may be positioned between the source device and the first table. Preferably, the pallet and stop may be attached interchangeably to opposing ends of the tilting table, to enable the rotational direction of the table to be reversed, and as a result, the top to bottom sequence of fanfold pages within the vertical stack is reversed.

Tilting stacker for fanfold sheet

A singulator adapted for feeding articles of varying thickness is comprised of a driver with a movable and resiliently biased retarder, called a dancer. The dancer moves back and forth along the article flow path, in response to the passage through the nip of the articles being singulated, to automatically set the gap at the singulator nip. A dancer body motion may be linear or pivoting. The path of article travel through the singulator nip is at an angle to the downstream article flow path. Thus, when a takeaway device pulls on the article, the dancer moves to open the singulator gap slightly to enable the article to more freely be taken away. A preferred dancer has an endless belt and is spring biased to lightly contact the driver at the nip in the absence of an article; and, periodic reversal of driver direction engages the dancer belt surface at the nip and moves it upstream, thereby exposing a new surface. A takeaway device comprises a friction roller directly driven by a motor, where the combination has a particularly low moment of inertia. Thus, when the roller engages a slow moving article issuing from an upstream device, motor rotational speed of the combination sharply decreases, to avoid damage to the article surfaces.

Feeder for flat articles of varying thickness

A hand cart for carrying sheets and other stacked objects has a motorized self-leveling platform, so the things being carried are kept at a constant elevation convenient to a worker, whether things are being added or removed from the platform. For carrying sheets, such as moving sheets of paper in document processing operations, the cart upright and platform are tilted, and the upright has opposing wings extending at 90 degree. Thus, sheets tend to move against the wings and their alignment is either obtained or maintained. When the cart is tilted to move it about, the cart design and load positioning system desirably keep the upward force which a worker must apply to the cart handle at low levels.

Hand cart for transporting stacked articles

A paper edge justifying conveyor has a first roller and a second roller arranged in a generally parallel position. A guide rail positioned in a position perpendicular to said rollers provides documents with edge justification. An elastomeric band around the rollers having at least one twist on a top surface provides for edge justification of documents against the guide rail.

Paper edge justifying conveyor

A printer for adding accent colors to preprinted documents includes a transport which defines a curvilinear path along which the documents move during the printing of the accent colors thereon. The printing is accomplished through the use of multiple print heads which discharge wax based ink through multiple jets. The documents to which the accent colors are to be added are edge justified and then released in timed sequence to the curved transport path which leads through a printing zone defined by the print heads.

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Essex, CT, United States of America

Stefan G Golicz