Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
913,293
SHEET DISPENSING DEVICE FOR USE WITH COPYING MACHINES
The invention relates to a sheet dispensing device
in particular for use with copying machines, comprising a space
defined inside a housing by lateral guides for inserting
a container containing a stack of sheets, further comprising
a conveyor designed to take along the uppermost sheet, and
further comprising a separator designed to retain all sheets
with the exception of the uppermost sheet, wherein conveyor
and separator can be raised and lowered for adaptation to the
height of the stack of sheets. Sheet dispensing devices
of this kind can be used in addition to their use with
copying machines for instance also with microfilm appara-
tuses, daylight projectors and other apparatuses which
use up or use sheets, films or the like, fed individually
from a stack.
The container for such a sheet dispensing device
has one of its end faces and an adjacent portion of the
upper side parallel with respect to the sheets and
corresponding at least to the space needed for the conveyor and
the separator, removable. The container may for example be made
of carton board, wherein removing the end face and the portion
adjacent thereto of the upper side is effected readily
by tearing it off, and the container is discarded when its
content has been used up. The container may be designed
also for repeated use and manufactured then for instance
of plastics or sheet material. In this case, its one end
face and the portion adjacent thereto of its upper side
may be connected to the main portion of the container by
means of a tear-open or tear-off strip for example.
It is essential that the container in its closed condition
protects the stack of sheets contained in it against damage
being caused e.g., by light or moisture, and that when
the container is opened and inserted into the sheet dis-
pensing device the stack of sheets and the separator
can cooperate and the uppermost sheet can in each case be
gripped by the conveyor.
It is therefore an object-of this invention to
design a sheet dispensing device for utilizing a container of the
kind specified, in such a manner that only a few mani-
pulations, preferably by one hand only, are necessary toinsert a container with its content into the sheet dis-
pensing device and to make the sheet dispensing device
operative.
According to one aspect of the invention, an
upward movement of the conveyor and the separator which
takes place when the container is inserted, from a lower
end position into an upper position, as well as a sub-
sequent lowering into an operative position, in which both
support at the uppermost sheet, is controlled by at least
one projection of the container.
Apart from inserting the container the user
has nothing to do to bring the conveyor and the separator
into their operative positions and to thereby make the
sheet dispensing device operative. The user can thus
center his entire attention on inserting the container
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and in doing so easily avoid damaging the uppermost sheet
for instance by prints or by an inadmissibly long exposure
to light.
The sheet dispensing device according to the
invention can be constructed in that at least one lifting
device, each, being guided or journalled in the housing is
associated with the conveyor and with the separator for
the upward movement. The lifting device is lifted by
the action of the projection or projections of said con-
tainer, upon insertion of the container. The lifting deviceis released as soon as the container has reached an end
position in the housing. The action of the projection or
of the projections onto the lifting devices can be a direct
one or an indirect one via intermediately connected
elements. When here and in the following description
reference is made to the lifting device for the conveyor,
this refers to at least the one lifting device being associ-
ated with the conveyor. For reasons of stability it is
useful to arrange at each side of the space for the con-
tainer in the housing of the sheet dispensing device onelifting device, each, for the conveyor and accordingly
one lifting device, each, for the separator.
The lifting devices may for instance be guided
parallel with respect to each other and movable in upward
direction in the housing of the sheet dispensing device.
In one embodiment of the invention that is preferred because
of the simplicity of construction and troublefree operation,
each of the lifting devices is however pivotally supported
on a substantially horizontally and transversely extending
transverse pin.
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Accordlng ~ another aspect of the invention a
rocker is associated to each of the lifting devices.
The rocker comprises a ramp extending in the rest position
in a direction obliquely to the direction lr insertion
for causing an upward movementof the associated lifting
device upon insertion of the container due to the action
thereof, but yielding upon withdrawal of the container
from the housing without forcing the associated lifting
device to move.
The rocker associated with the lifting device
for the conveyor is preferably pivotally supported at the
said lifting device and is biased such that its ramp
rises in the rest position in a direction opposite to
the direction of insertion, namely to the rear, and inter-
sects the path on which the, or a, projection of the
container moves upon insertion. The respective projection
of the container in this case acts directly on the rocker.
It is furthermore of advantage for the lirting
device associated with the conveyor to have a detent for
a traverse Or the conveyor so that the conveyor cannot
be moved forwardly as long as it is supported by the said
lifting device and not by the stacks Or sheets. In this
way incorrect operation of the sheet dispensing device
and Or the copying machine or the like having been set
into operation possibly by the said device, is avoided.
Whenever the conveyor cannot be moved forwardly the user
at once sees that he has to insert a container with a
stack of sheets into the sheet dispensing device, or that
a container already having been inserted has not reached
its end position.
The traverse is appropriately mounted to a yoke
at which at least one roller is journalled adapted to be
rolled off on the uppermost sheet upon rearward movement
of the conveyor, and locking upon forward movement, whereby
5 the uppermost sheet is displaced.
The construction described in the foregoing can
be further improved in that the yoke is supported on a
carrier arm so as to be pivotable about a median shaft
arranged parallel with respect to the direction of insert;on,
10 approximately in the middle between the lateral guides. A
carrier arm is in turn supported so as to be pivotable
about a lateral shaft extending parallel with respect to the
direction of insertion on a conveyor slide being recipro-
cable along the lateral shaft and biased to the rear.
15 This ensures that the, or each, roller rests evenly on
the uppermost sheet and consequently upon the forward
movement of the conveyor can exert a uniform thrust onto
the uppermost sheet; hence there is no danger that the
uppermost sheet is turned upon its being moved forwardly.
Furthermore, it is useful for the described
lateral shaft to project through an opening in the housing
upon forward movement of the conveyor and to be provided
for operating a copying machine or the like. This cor-
relates readily the actuation of the conveyor and the
25 thereby caused purshing out of the sheet from the sheet
dispensing device and the actuation of the device con-
nected downstream. The user can thus for instance ini-
tiate a copying operation simply by actuating the conveyor
of the sheet dispensing device. It is actually of no
30 importance in what manner the mentioned lateral shaft
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of the sheet dispenslng device actuates the devlce con-
nected downstream; it can act for example on a push button
of an electric switch.
The rocker associated with the lifting device
for the separator is preferably supported at an abutment
slide reciprocable parallel with respect to the direction
of insertion and is biased such that its ramp rises in
the rest position in the direction of insertion, i.e. in
forward direction. The abutment slide is preferably biased
in the rearward direction and has an abutment by means
of which it is taken along in the forward direction, upon
insertion of the container, by the proJection thereof.
Moreover, the lifting device for the separator is prefer-
ab'y a two-armed lever which supports the separator with
its front arm and at its rear arm has a follower member
which is pressed down by the ramp upon forward movement
Or the abutment slide and is again released from the
ramp in the end position of the container. This embodi-
ment is particularly useful for a corner separator and
ensures that said separator reaches its operative posi-
tion by an insertion of the container, in which the corners
of the separator rest on the front corners of the uppermost
sheet.
In the last described embodiment the front arm
of the lifting device for the separator is preferably
biased downwardly and is connected to the separator only
loosely. Thereby it is ensured that said lifting device
does not have any influence on the pressure with which
the separator rests on the uppermost sheet when the container
3 is completely inserted. This pressure is dependent
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pre~erahly only on the weight o the separator~ in other words the pressure
is independent o the height of the stack of sheets.
In all of the embodiments of the sheet dispensing device according
to the invention, as described so far, it is useful for the lateral guides
in the housing each to have an upper edge along which the projection disposed
at the respecti~e side of the container may move. This is, above all, of
advantage in case the container is made of carton and its projections are
therefore not partiGularly resistant to bending so that they need to be
supported on the upper edges of the guides, in order not to be bent by the
elements of the sheet dispensing device with which they cooperate, in
particular the rockers.
The projections of the container can prinicpally be arranged at
any place at the upper side, at the under side, at one side wall or at both
side walls of the container. For the cooperation with the sheet dispensing
device according to the invention a container is however particularly useful
in which flange-like enlargements of the upper side of the container are
provided as projections.
In this case the projections extend preferably alongside of the
entire removable portion and alongside of approximately half of the remaining
port,on of the upper side of the container.
According to a broad aspect of the present invention) there is
provided a sheet dispensing device for dispensing sheets from a container
exposing the upper sheet in a stack, comprising spaced lateral guides inside
a housing defining a space for receiving the container, conveyor means for
advancing the uppermost sheet, a separator adapted to retain all the sheets
with the exception of the uppermost sheet, means supporting said conveyor and
said separator for them to be raised and lowered for adaption to the height of
the stack of sheets, and means for lifting the conveyor and the separator upon
insertion of the container along said guides, said lifting means comprising
at least one lifting device supported in said housing which is actuated by
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the container a~s it is inserted intc said space and which is released again
as soon as the container has reached an end position in said housing, at
which position said conveyor and said separator fall downward against the
uppermost sheet.
The container is a box-like structure having an upper side, a
bottom side, two longitudinal sides, a front end face and a rear face. The
front face as well as part of the upper side and of the two longitudinal
sides can be removed along a perforated tear line to expose the upper sheet.
The upper side or the bottom side of the container also has at least one
flange-like projection extending laterally beyond one longitudinal side.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described in more
detail with reference to the attached drawing, in which
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a container with a stack of
sheets;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet dispensing
6~
device before inserting the container;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet dispensing
device with the container being partly inserted;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the sheet dispensing
5 device with a container inserted up to an end position;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view corresponding to that
of Fig. 4 of the sheet dispensing device and the container
upon pushing the uppermost sheet forwardly,
Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the sheet
10 dispensing device without container;
Fig. 7 appearing on the same drawing sheet as Fig. 1,
is a vertical section along line VII-VII of Fig. 6; and
Fig. 8 appearing on the same drawing sheet as Fig. 1,
is a part view in the direction of the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 6.
Fig. 1 shows a container 11 of carton board
containing a stack of sheets 12. The uppermost sheet 12'
of the stack of sheets 12 is partly exposed since the
originally completely closed container 11 has been torn
open along a prepared tear line 13, whereby its front
20 end face 14 as well as the front part 16' of its longi-
tudinal sides 16 as well as a front part 17' of its
upper side 17 have been removed. The removed parts are
indicated in Fig. 1 by dash-dotted lines. The container 11
has at each of its two longitudinal sides 16 one lateral
25 projection 18. The projection 18 is formed by a flange-like
enlargement of the upper side 17. Each of the projections
18 has in the closed condition of the container 11 a front
part 18' which extends from the front end face
14 to the tear line 13 and is removed when the container
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is torn open. The remaining projections 18 are a little
shorter than the region without projections adjacent there-
to to the rear, i.e. to the right in Fig. 1.
The container 11 can be inserted into a sheet
5 dispensing device in the direction of arrow 19, the dir-
ection being termed in the following as direction of
insertion. The sheet dispensing device as illustrated in
Figs. 2 to 8 comprises a housing 21 with a box-shaped upper
part 22 and a plate-shaped bottom part 23 fastened by screws to
10 said upper part. On the side of the housing 21 which is the
rear one, to the right, in Figs. 2 to 7, an insertion
opening 24 is provided in the upper part 22, the cross
section of which is adapted to that of container 11.
At the left-hand, front side an outlet slot 26 being funnel-
15 shaped in cross section is provided between the upper part22 and the bottom part 23, for the respective uppermost
sheet 12' of the stack of sheets 12. At the bottom part 23
which can be molded from plastic by injection, as the upper
part 22, lateral guides 27 are formed defining a space 28
20 for the container. The lateral guides each have an upper
edge 29 on which one of the projections 18, of the container
11 may slide along.
Inside the housing 21 a conveyor 31 is accommo-
dated having as stationary elements a folded strip 32 of
25 sheet material, being screwed laterally outside the space
28 to the bottom part 23, and has furthermore two guide
rods 33 mounted to said strip 32. The guide rods 33 are
disposed vertically in superposed relationship and extend
in horizontal direction and parallel with respect to the
30 direction of insertion 19. A conveyor slide 34 is guided
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on the guide rods 33. The conveyor slide 34 is biased
to the rear by a compression spring 36 and has a handle
37 extending outwardly through a longitudinal slot 38
provided in the housing 21 and serving to move the conveyor
slide 34 in forward direction.
Vertically above the two guide rods 33 and in
parallel to the same a lateral shaft 39 is fixed to the
conveyor slide 34. The shaft 39 extends outwardly in the
forward direction through an opening 41 in the upper part
22 of the housing 21 when the conveyor slide is moved
forwardly in order to actuate a switch 40 indicated in
Fig. 5. The switch 40 is positioned in a circuit of a
nonillustrated device to be provided with sheets from the
sheet dispensing device and switched on by the lateral
shaft 39 in its front end position. The switch 40 is
preferably installed in the said device. However, the switch
40 can also be mounted to the housing 21 of the sheet
dispensing device.
A carrier arm 42 is pivotally mounted on the lateral
shaft 39. As shown in Fig. 6 the carrier arm 42 extends
up to the middle of the space 28 between the two lateral
guides 27 and has there a median shaft 43 which extends
parallel to the lateral shaft 39 and parallel with respect
to the direction of insertion 19. On the median shaft
43 a yoke 44 is pivotally supported. At the underside of
the yoke 44 two rollers 46 are jointly journalled on a
common bearing shaft 47 such that they can roll off on the
uppermost sheet 12' of the stack of sheets 12 upon rear-
ward movements of the conveyor slide 34 only, but lock
upon forward movements and take along the uppermost sheet
1 1
12'. In order to enhance this effect the rollers 46 have
a saw-toothed profile the steep flanks of which face in
the direction of insertion lg. The common bearing shaft
47 of the rollers 46 is held in side walls 48 of the yoke
44. A traverse 49 is mounted at the side walls 48 parallel
with respect to the bearing axis at the upper side of the
yoke 44, and extends towards both sides beyond the lateral
guides 24.
Outside of each of the two lateral guides
27 is one lifting device 51 each having a detent 52 for
the traverse 49. Each device Sl is supported pivotally
about a transverse pin 53 at a side plate 54. In the
embodiment as illustrated the two side plates 54 consist
of folded sheet metal and are in screw connection with the
bottom part 23, as illustrated in Fig. 7. The transverse
pin 53 are formed by rivets. A rocker 57 is pivotally
supported on each lifting device 51 by means of another
rivet 56. Each one of the two rockers 57 has a ramp 58
formed by canting which commences in the rest position as
illustrated in Figs. 2 and 7, at a point below the upper
edge 29 of the adjacent lateral guide 27 and rises from
there obliquely in a direction opposite to the direction
of insertion 19, i.e. to the rear. Each rocker 57 is
connected with the associated lifting device 51 by means
of a spring 59 tending to maintain the said rising of
the ramp 58, in other words preventing a swivelling down
of the rocker 57 about the rivet 56.
In the front region of the housing 21 a separator
61 in the form of a horizontal beam is slidably guided in
a vertical plane. The separator 61 has two corners 62
disposed in a common horizontal plane, as well as two
side parts 63 each having a laterally outwardly extending
projection 64. Two lifting devices 66 are associated with
the separater 61. The devices 66 are supported outside
of the space 28 for the container ll so as to be pivotable
about a horizontal transverse 67 supported by a canted
sheet metal element 68 which is screwed to the bottom
part 23. Each one of the two lifting devices 66 is designed
as a two-armed lever and grips with its front arm below
the associated lateral projection 64 of the separator 61.
The front arm of each lifting device 66 is connected to the
sheet metal element 6~ by means of a spring 69 and is there-
by biased in downward direction. The rear arm if each
lifting device 66 has a follower member 71 formed in the
illustrated embodiment by a pin projecting laterally out-
wardly,
Two guide rods 72 extending parallel with respect
to the direction of insertion are mounted side-by-
side in each of the two sheet metal elements 68. An abut-
ment slide 73 is slidably guided on each pair of guiderods 72. Each one of the two abutment slides 73 has on its
inner side facing the space 28 an upwardly projecting, hook-
shaped abutment 74 extending transversly to the direction
of insertion l9, and has furthermore at its outer side an
upwardly extending si~de plate 76, parallel to the direction
of insertion l9. A rocker 78 is pivotally supported at the
side plate 76 of each abutment slide 73 by means of a hori-
zontal rivet 77 extending transversely to the direction of
insertion l9. Each of these rockers 78 has a ramp 79 at
its lower edge formed by folding which rises in the
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direction of insertlon 19, i.eO in forward direction,
when the rocker is ln the rest position. Each rocker 78
has an elongated hole 81 to limit its pivotal range,
which hole extends along a circular arc about rivet 77
5 and receives an additional rivet 82 mounted to the side
plate 76. Above the rivet 77, one end of a tension spring
83 is attached to each rocker 78, the other end of the
spring being attached to the side plate 54 of the associate
lifting device 51. The two tension springs 83 tend on the
one hand to maintain the two rockers 78 in the position
as illustrated above all in Figs. 2 and 7, in which the
front end o~ the associated ramp 79 is disposed higher than
the follower member 71 of the associated lifting device
66. On the other hand, each of the tension springs 83
tends to keep the abutment slide 73 associated thereto in
its rear end position which is also illustrated in Figs. 2
and 7.
In order to make the sheet dispensing device
operative the container 11, torn open as illustrated in
Fig. 1, is moved through the insertion opening 24 into the
housing 21, in the direction of insertion 19. The two
pro~ections 18 slide on the upper edges 29 of the lateral
guides 27 while the front edges of said proJections are
pushed from below against the ramps 58, and upon a con-
tinued insertion movement of the container 11 press therockers 57 and together with the same the lifting devices
51 upwardly.
The lifting devices 51 lift the traverse 49
together with the yoke 44 and the carrier arm 42 of the
conveyor 31 from the lower end position, illustrated in
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Fig. 2. into an upper end position, as illustrated in
Figo 3. Consequently, the entire space 28 between the
lateral guides 27 is made free ror rurther insertion
movement of the container 11 containing a stack Or sheets
12,
During the insertion movement of the container
11 the lateral proJections 18 thereof abut with their
rront edges against one of the hook-shaped abutments 74
each such that the container 11 takes along the abutment
slides 73 upon a further insertion movement. The ramps
79 of the rockers 78 slide onto the rollower members 71
and press them downwardly. As a result, the rront arms
of the lifting devices 66 are pivoted upwardly and via
the lateral abutments 64 take along the separator 61
from its lower end position illustrated in Fig. 2, into
its upper end position illustrated in Fig. 3. In the mean-
time the lateral pro~ections 13 move away from below the
rockers 57 so that the lifting devices 51 pivot downward-
ly again. The carrier arm 42 together with the parts
Or the conveyor 31 that are mounted to it partakes in the
downward movement of the lifting devices 51 untll the
rollers rest on the uppermost sheet 12'. The lifting
devices 51 pivot downwardly still further so that they
release the traverse 49, as illustrated in Fig. 4O
In the front end position Or the abutment slides
73, the rollower members 71 reach the rear ends of the
ramps 79, in other words, they are no longer pressed
downwardly. Thereby separator 61 is released and is lower-
ed due to lts own weight to a point until its two corners
62 rest on the two ~ront corners Or the uppermost sheet 12'
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as illustrated in Fig. 4.
The sheet dispensing device is now operative.
The handle 37 is moved in forward direction each time a
sheet is needed and the rollers 6 which cannot rotate in
forward direction exert a thrust onto the uppermost
sheet 12'. At the beginning of the forward movement the
separator 61 retains the front edge of the uppermost sheet
12' so that the same is bent upwardly in its front region
in which the upper side 17 of the container 11 is torn
open across the entire width, and finally jumps over the
corners 62. When the handle 67 is moved further in forward
direction the uppermost sheet 12' leaves the outlet slot
26. At the same time, or shortly thereafter, the front
part of the lateral shaft 39 passes through the opening
41 outwardly in order to actuate a switch 40 of a copying
machine, or the like, so that this machine can draw inside
the sheet 12' in a per se known manner and process it for
instance by exposure.
As soon as the handle 37 is released the conveyor
31 returns into its starting position, as illustrated in
Fig. 4, and is prepared to move out the next following
upper sheet when the handle 37 is again operated.
~ Ihen the stack of sheets has been used up the
empty container is withdrawn to the rear. Simultaneously
the lateral projections 18 of the container 11 slide onto
the ramps 58 from above and press the rockers 57 down-
wardly thus overcoming the action of the springs 59 acting
on the same.
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