Inventors:
Harold D. Poag - Naperville IL
Assignee:
Rockwell International Corporation - Pittsburgh PA
International Classification:
B65H 308
B65H 340
Abstract:
An apparatus for withdrawing single newspapers from the bottom of a stack and presenting them in an overlapped stream to a conveyor for additional processing. The apparatus includes a plurality of gripper members mounted in first and second groups for opposed linear reciprocation on individual rotatably driven stem valves disposed in spaced and parallel relation. The stem valves are operatively connected to a vacuum source and are effective in causing first one group of gripper members and then the other to grip and remove the bottom paper from the stack. To facilitate removal of each paper the apparatus includes a device for effecting a floating action on the individual papers within the stack and vacuum controlled fingers for initiating partial separation of the bottom paper from the stack immediately prior to its withdrawal by the gripper members.
