A recording-material-transporting device includes a suction unit that suctions a recording material included in a recording-material stack from above, the suction unit including a movable member that moves upward when pushed from below by the recording material moving upward with the suction, the suction unit being movable in an intersecting direction intersecting a vertical direction and moving the suctioned recording material in the intersecting direction, at least a part of the movable member serving as an outside advancing part that advances to an outside of a perimeter of the recording-material stack with the movement of the suction unit in the intersecting direction; and a restricting part that restricts a downward movement of the outside advancing part when the outside advancing part is free of support by the recording material from below.

A movement unit for moving a blank includes a drum, a blank with central and lateral panels, and a retention device for retaining the blank. The lateral panel has an end secured to the central panel by a folding zone and an opposite free end. The retention device is secured to the drum and includes a support, a first gripping portion secured to the support and having first retention elements configured to retain the central panel, and a second gripping portion secured to the support or to the first gripping portion and having second retention elements configured to retain the lateral panel.

A gripping apparatus includes an impermeable layer defining a vacuum port, a first flow media layer associated with the impermeable layer, and a second flow media layer opposed from the first flow media layer to define a receiving space therebetween.

A retention device for retaining blanks includes: a support, a first gripping portion secured to the support and provided with first retention elements of a blank, a second gripping portion secured to the support or to the first gripping portion and provided with second retention elements of the blank, and a movement mechanism for the second gripping portion with respect to the first gripping portion. The movement mechanism is configured to perform a pure rotation of the second gripping portion about a virtual rotation axis defined outside the retention device.

A vacuum lifter apparatus for lifting sheet material articles, comprises an upper chassis joined to a substantially planar lower suction plate and an airflow suction system for conveying vacuum air pressure to the suction plate. The suction plate comprises a lower side and an upper side, the upper side of the suction plate being affixed to the chassis, and the suction plate lower side providing a downwardly oriented and substantially planar suction lifting surface for making contact with the upper surface of said articles, said suction lifting surface comprising a plurality of laterally adjacent portions, each of said portions comprising a plurality of orifices through which, in use, air is drawn along airflow paths by the airflow suction system to provide a suction lifting pressure. The airflow suction system comprises at least one air outlet for connection to a source of vacuum air pressure, and between said outlet and the suction plate at least one airflow manifold, said manifold comprising a plurality of branched ends, said ends being configured to convey said vacuum air pressure from said outlet to corresponding portions of the suction plate.

There is provided an automated removal apparatus for selectively removing one or more trimmed portions of a laminated ply in a ply-by-ply fabrication process. The automated removal apparatus includes a rotatable reel having a plurality of retractable vacuum panels attached around the rotatable reel. Each retractable vacuum panel has one or more retractable vacuum pad assemblies, and each retractable vacuum pad assembly has a vacuum pad with a vacuum port and a self-sealing valve. The automated removal apparatus further includes actuator assemblies attached to the plurality of retractable vacuum panels, friction reducing elements attached around the rotatable reel, a drive assembly attached to the rotatable reel, and a pneumatic system attached to the rotatable reel and including a valve manifold operable to control an air flow to the actuator assemblies and to one or more vacuum generators to generate a vacuum flow.

A gripper assembly for recovering a layout (22) from a sheet material (12) is presented. It comprises a vacuum gripper (26) with a gripper body (32) on which an array of air flow openings (34a, 34b) is arranged. Air flow openings (34a) associated with one or more blanks (20) of the layout (22) are selectively open and air flow openings (34b) associated to waste (28) of the sheet material (12) are selectively closed. Additionally, an apparatus for recovering a layout (22) from a sheet material (12) comprising such a gripper assembly is described. Furthermore, a method for separating a layout (22) from waste (28) of a sheet material (12) is explained.

According to the present embodiment, a control device of a conveyor system controls a moving device and a suction device to suction the transport target article so that an approximate center of an opening of at least one suction unit is located on a first imaginary line, and remaining suction unit is located on one end side in a longitudinal direction of the transport target article with respect to the first imaginary line, controls a turning-over section to be in a front-back reversing orientation, and performs control so that suction of the transport target article by the suction units is released after the suction device is in the front-back reversing orientation.

A pick-up device picking up stacked sheet-shaped workpieces from the top, the device includes a nozzle mechanism that includes a pick-up nozzle pulling up a first workpiece from the top of the stacked workpieces by air blowing, and a holding mechanism that holds the first workpiece from the top. The pick-up nozzle includes a ventilation groove provided on a bottom surface opposite to an upper surface of the first workpiece from the top and passing through to an air blowing side end part of the bottom surface, and a nozzle port blowing air toward the air blowing side end part of the bottom surface along the inside of the ventilation groove, and the air blowing side end part of a groove inner bottom surface of the ventilation groove is formed in a shape directed in a direction of being separated from the workpiece.

A method of grouping sheet units, which belong together in sheet groups, a sheet stream comprising two superposed sheet units each by means of a grouping unit, a grouping unit for a sheet handling system, and a sheet handling system that allow a high processing speed and a high cycle efficiency of a sheet handling system are disclosed. A sheet unit can be held back in the grouping unit. Depending on whether the downstream subsequent sheet units transferred into the grouping unit belong to a sheet group, the held-back sheet unit can be released by itself and together with one or together with both downstream subsequent sheet units.