FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a conventional apparatus for stacking sheets, such as sheets of corrugated paperboard. The stacking system 100 generally comprises a layboy section 102 which receives a stream of sheets, such as those produced by a rotary die cut machine 103, and discharges the sheets onto a transfer conveyor 104. The transfer conveyor 104 receives the sheets and transports them to a main conveyor 106. The main conveyor 106 has an intake end 108 and a discharge end 110, and the transfer conveyor has an intake end 112 and a discharge end 114. At the main conveyor intake end 108, the main conveyor 106 is mounted to a base 116 at a pivot point 118 so that the main conveyor 106 may be pivoted to raise its discharge end 110. At the discharge end 110 of main conveyor 106, an accumulator section 120 receives discharged sheets.
In operation, the main conveyor 106 is pivoted about the pivot point 118 to lower the discharge end 110 of the main conveyor 106 to an initial or lowered position, illustrated in FIG. 2. Sheets are fed onto the main conveyor 106 at its intake end 108, transported along the conveyor to its discharge end 110, and discharged from the conveyor toward a backstop 122 in am accumulator section 120. The sheets in the accumulator section 120 settle down, typically onto a discharge conveyor 132, to form a stack of sheets.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds