US PATENT SUBCLASS 271 / 226
.~ With means to align sheet

Current as of: June, 1999
Click HD for Main Headings
Click for All Classes

Internet Version by PATENTEC © 1999      Terms of Use


271 /   HD   SHEET FEEDING OR DELIVERING

8.1  DF  FEEDING {8}
226.~ With means to align sheet {11}
227  DF  .~.~> Responsive to sheet-sensor {1}
229  DF  .~.~> With means to retard sheet before alignment {1}
232  DF  .~.~> Against aligner entering hole in sheet
233  DF  .~.~> Against rear-edge aligner
234  DF  .~.~> Against plural aligning assemblages {4}
241  DF  .~.~> By aligning a sheet-holder and its sheets
242  DF  .~.~> Against temporarily-stopped conveyer
243  DF  .~.~> Against front-edge aligner moved in direction of sheet travel {1}
245  DF  .~.~> Against front-edge aligner interposed into sheet path {1}
248  DF  .~.~> Against aligner adjacent side edge of sheet {2}
253  DF  .~.~> With means to adjust position of aligner {2}

DEFINITION

Classification: 271/226

(under subclass 8.1) Device provided with means for positioning or locating a sheet with respect to some part of the device or with respect to some part of a mechanism that will operate on the sheet.

(1) Note. The term "positioning" may include the act of partially turning the sheet about an axis that passes through the surface of the sheet so that an edge thereof is accurately aligned if that edge was previously misaligned. Such turning is sometimes termed "orienting" in other classes if applied to articles conveyed in the device of that other class. In class (271) it is clear from the total disclosure that the alignment is applied to a sheet and that the sheet will be operated upon by some further mechanism (which mechanism, if claimed, is recited only by its name). If partial turning occurs, it is incidental to alignment, but

the purpose is to synchronize the feeding of the sheet to the operation to be performed on that sheet by locating the sheet precisely prior to feeding.

(2) Note. Implicit in a device for the subclasses indented herebelow is the concept of sheet movement along a direction of sheet travel. The movement is caused by one or more conveyors which move the successive sheets to an aligner and move the sheets away from an aligner. The conveyor structure is different from the aligner structure, except in the following subclasses: 233, where a rear-edge aligner may also serve to push a sheet by its rear-edge; and 242, where a conveyor includes an aligner (usually for the front edge) therewith.

(3) Note. For purpose of facilitating the definition of the subclasses indented herebelow, the following discussion and definition of terms used is herein presented. A "sheet" is a thin, usually flexible object having length and width dimensions. The boundary of these dimensions is the "edge" of the sheet. The sheet is moved along a direction of travel, and the term "side-edge" is applied to that edge which is generally parallel to the direction of travel, while the terms "front edge" and "rear edge" are applied to those edges which are generally perpendicular to the direction of travel, at the leading and trailing ends respectively. The term "gripper-couple" is applied to a mechanism comprising two elements having opposed surfaces, between which surfaces a sheet is placed; whereby as the elements are urged toward one another the sheet is firmly contacted by the surfaces so that as the surfaces move together in any direction the sheet will be moved correspondingly, until the elements are urged apart to release sheet. The surface may be on the peripheries of roller which rotate in opposite directions.

SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS:

13, 15, and 17, for a side-edge aligner combined with a conveyor as indicated in the title.