An apparatus for separating battery plates comprising a work surface for receiving a stack of battery plates, and an alignment mechanism for aligning the battery plates on the work surface. The work surface is movable between a first position in which it is angled with respect to a horizontal plane and a second position in which it is substantially aligned with the horizontal plane. When the work surface moves between the first and second position adjacent battery plates of the stack are displaced relative to each other.

The present invention provides automated systems and methods of loading finished mail within the trays for subsequent processing. The systems and methods of the present invention result in economic and operational efficiency to increase the process of loading the mail in the trays.

A transfer system for transferring a stack (101) of flat elements to a processing device includes a delivery ramp (103) with a receiving surface (104) for receiving the stack (101), a first comb structure (121) having at least one first supporting platform (123) on which at least an edge portion (115) of the stack (101) is supportable, wherein the first comb structure (121) is mounted to the delivery ramp (103), and a second comb structure (122) having at least two second supporting platforms (124) on which at least the edge portion (115) of the stack (101) is supportable, wherein the second comb structure (122) is configured for supplying the stack (101) to the processing device. The first supporting platform (123) and the second supporting platforms (124) are arranged along a first direction (109), one after another, in an interleaved manner such that the edge portion (115) is supportable on the first supporting platform (123) and the second supporting platforms (124). The first comb structure (121) and the second comb structure (122) are movable along a lifting direction (110) with respect to each other such that the edge portion (115) of the stack (101) is supportable selectively by the first supporting platform (123) or by the second supporting platforms (124), wherein the two second supporting platforms (124) are spaced along the first direction (109) such that the first supporting platform (123) is movable along the lifting direction (110) through a space between the two second supporting platforms (124).

An automated system for transferring articles from a container. An item transfer system includes a rotatable tray rotary assembly, a translatable and rotatable intermediate rotary assembly, and a translatable and rotatable output rotary assembly. The system is configured to transfer articles from the tray to processing equipment by an automated process including rotationally transferring the articles from the tray to the intermediate rotary assembly and rotationally transferring the articles from the intermediate rotary assembly to the output rotary assembly. The output rotary assembly can move to align with a shelf or other input of the processing equipment and a paddle assembly can slide the items from the output rotary assembly onto the shelf or other input of the processing equipment.

A reject storage box is provided with a sufficiently thick cover body above a second storage space that stores banknote bundles W that a user has forgotten to take, and a guide space is provided penetrating the cover body in an oblique direction. In the reject storage box, when a banknote bundle falls into an intake hole from above, a lower face of the banknote bundle immediately contacts a position toward the top of a main guide face, and the banknote bundle W travels downward through the guide space with the lower face of the banknote bundle W sliding against the main guide face. The reject storage box thereby enables the banknote bundle dropping downward through the guide space to be maintained in a substantially uniform orientation, and ultimately enables the banknote bundle to be stacked neatly inside the second storage space.

A paper sheet handling apparatus (for example, a banknote handling apparatus (10)) includes a first transporting unit (30) configured to transport a plurality of paper sheets in a stacked state in a horizontal state, a feeding unit (40) configured to feed the paper sheets one by one, and a second transporting unit (50) configured to transport to the feeding unit (40) the stacked paper sheets transported by the first transporting unit (30). The second transporting unit (50) causes the stacked paper sheets being in the horizontal state to be inclined at angle to a horizontal plane.

A container and a system for the processing of bank notes which are present as separate units. Beginning with a container for the processing of bank notes which are present as separate units, having a housing, open on one side, for the receiving of bank notes standing on their longitudinal edges, the container can be subdivided by means of separator elements, and the separator elements have free gaps toward the interstices formed therebetween.

A reject storage box is provided with a sufficiently thick cover body above a second storage space that stores banknote bundles W that a user has forgotten to take, and a guide space is provided penetrating the cover body in an oblique direction. In the reject storage box, when a banknote bundle falls into an intake hole from above, a lower face of the banknote bundle immediately contacts a position toward the top of a main guide face, and the banknote bundle W travels downward through the guide space with the lower face of the banknote bundle W sliding against the main guide face. The reject storage box thereby enables the banknote bundle dropping downward through the guide space to be maintained in a substantially uniform orientation, and ultimately enables the banknote bundle to be stacked neatly inside the second storage space.

The filling of value documents cassettes involves a cassette receiving device for receiving a value document cassette and a gripping device for transporting a value document stack from a value document container into the value document cassette. The apparatus optionally has a formatting device for the automatic alignment of a value document stack removed from the value document container before the stack is inserted in the value document cassette. A finger element is attached to the transport device of the gripping device, and besides the gripping device, the finger element is guided into the value document cassette before the value documents are inserted.

A loading device to supply successively with cardboard sheets a station for handling the sheets by folding to form from them boxes for packaging, the handling station having a storage area to receive the successive sheets, optionally grouped in bundles, the device itself having a manipulator that includes: a gripping tool to pick up the sheets; an actuator to move the tool between an inventory of sheets and the receiving storage area of the station; a detection unit for detecting the status of filling of the storage area; and a control unit that directs the action of the device and that receives detection information from the detection unit to do this, the control unit being independent of the control of the handling station and programmable to adapt the operation of the loading device to the type of sheets handled. A corresponding process is also described.