APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING BLANKS FROM A STACK OF BLANKS

Abstract

An apparatus for separating blanks from a stack of blanks includes a drive shaft that interacts with the drive unit and that drives a belt arranged in a cassette. The drive shaft is neither enclosed nor carried by the cassette. A reversible securing means secures the cassette to a carrying structure of the apparatus in a detachable manner in such a way that the cassette can be repeatedly removed or detached and then refitted.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. An apparatus for separating blanks from a stack of blanks, said apparatus comprising a drive unit, a drive shaft, a belt, reversible securing means, and a cassette, wherein said belt is an ejecting belt, wherein said cassette is a belt cassette, wherein said drive shaft interacts with said drive unit, wherein said belt is arranged in said cassette, wherein, when said cassette is attached to a carrying structure of said apparatus, said drive shaft drives said belt, wherein said drive shaft is neither enclosed nor carried by said cassette, wherein said reversible securing means is configured to secure said cassette to said carrying structure in a detachable manner in such a way that said cassette can be repeatedly removed or detached and then refitted.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said cassette is one of a plurality of identical cassettes and said reversible securing means is one of a plurality of identical securing means, all of which secure a corresponding one of said cassettes to said carrying structure in a detachable manner in such a way that said cassette can be repeatedly removed or detached and then refitted.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said securing means secures said cassette to said carrying structure in such a way that a positive fit exists between said carrying structure and said cassette.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said securing means secures said cassette to said carrying structure in such a way that there exists an absence of a positive fit between said carrying structure and said cassette.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said carrying structure comprises first and second rails that run along an axial direction that is parallel to said drive shaft, wherein said cassettes are securable to said rails at any position along said axial direction.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a pair of holding elements, wherein each of said holding elements engages both said cassette and a rail that extends along an axial direction parallel to said drive shaft, wherein said holding elements enable said cassette to be secured to said first and second rails.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a first holding element and a second holding element, wherein said first holding element causes a positive fit to exist between a first rail and said cassette, wherein said second holding element causes a positive fit to exist between a second rail and said cassette, wherein said cassette is securable to said rails at any position along an axial direction along which said first and second rails extend parallel to said drive shaft.

20. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising first and second wheels configured to transfer rotation of said drive shift to said belt, wherein said first wheel engages said drive shaft and said second wheel, and wherein said first and second wheels are toothed wheels.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said first wheel is freely displaceable axially on said drive shaft and can be secured in any position along said drive shaft.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said cassette comprises a toothed belt disk that drives said belt, wherein said toothed belt disk is connected in a torsion-resistant manner to said second wheel.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said belt extends between first and second sides of said cassette, said first and second sides being opposite sides of said cassette, wherein said belt disk and said second wheel deflect said belt, wherein said belt disk is secured to a first bearing plate and said second wheel is secured to a second bearing plate, wherein said first bearing plate is on first side of said cassette, and wherein said second bearing plate is on said second side of said cassette.

24. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said cassette is detached from said carrying structure, wherein, as a result, said drive unit fails to drive said belt.

25. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said cassette is one of a plurality of identical cassettes and wherein belts of said cassettes are drivable independently of each other.

26. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said belt comprises ribs.

27. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said cassette is a modular exchangeable cassette that is removable from the apparatus as a unit, wherein said modular exchangeable cassette remains functionally viable after removal from said apparatus, wherein said modular exchangeable cassette can be secured to said apparatus with no structural changes being made to said apparatus other than securing of said modular exchangeable cassette thereto, wherein said modular exchangeable cassette is removable from said apparatus with no structural changes being made to said apparatus other than removal of said modular exchangeable cassette therefrom, wherein said modular exchangeable cassette is detachable from a drive axle of said apparatus as a complete and unchanged component, and wherein said modular exchangeable cassette retains its structural integrity after removal from said apparatus.

28. A method comprising adjusting an apparatus for destacking and separating blanks, said method comprising aligning a toothed drive-wheel at an axial position of a drive shaft and securing a cassette to a pair of rails such that said toothed drive-wheel interacts with a toothed transfer wheel for driving a belt in said cassette, wherein said belt is an ejecting belt, and wherein said cassette is a belt cassette.

29. The method of claim 31, wherein, prior to securing said cassette, securing a pair of accommodation elements to said pair of rails to align said toothed drive-wheel.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0064] FIG. 1 shows an apparatus for separating blanks from a stack of similar blanks;

[0065] FIG. 2a shows a side view of a set of cassettes from the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 arranged on accommodation rails;

[0066] FIG. 2b shows a plan view of the cassettes shown in FIG. 2a;

[0067] FIG. 2c is a perspective view of the cassettes shown in FIG. 2a;

[0068] FIG. 3a shows a perspective view of a cassette from FIG. 2c;

[0069] FIG. 3b shows a top view of the cassette shown in FIG. 3a; and

[0070] FIG. 4 is a side view of the cassette shown in FIG. 3a but with only a partial representation of a bearing plate that closes the cassette.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] FIG. 1 shows an apparatus 1 for separating a cardboard blank from a magazine that stores a stack of similar blanks. The apparatus includes a plurality of cassettes 5 that are arranged parallel to each other on a carrying structure 6. Each cassette 5 has a rubber belt 4. As it rotates, the belt 4 engages an underside of a piece of cardboard and removes it from the stack.

[0072] Each cassette 5 has holding elements 8, 9 on opposite sides thereof. As shown in FIGS. 2b and 2c, a screw secures a holding element 8, 9 to an accommodation element 10 and thus secures the holding element 8, 9 to a corresponding accommodation rail 7a, 7b on the carrying structure 6. In the illustrated embodiment, there is one screw per holding element 8, 9.

[0073] A pair of bearing plates 15a, 15b defines a lateral housing for the cassette 5, as shown in FIG. 3a. A pair of screws couples each holding element 8, 9 to a corresponding one of the bearing plates 15a, 15b. Each of the accommodation elements 10 is formed as two parts. The two parts of the accommodation element 10 are arranged on opposing sides of the accommodation rails 7a, 7b, as shown FIGS. 2a, 2c, and 3a.

[0074] A drive unit 2 having toothed wheels drives a drive shaft 3 that is secured to the carrying structure 6 in such a way that it is free to rotate relative to the carrying structure 6. The drive unit 2 comprises a countershaft 20, which is best seen in FIGS. 2a-2c.

[0075] FIG. 3a shows a driving wheel 11, a transfer wheel 12, and a belt disk 13, all of which intermesh with respective teeth. The transfer wheel 11 engages the drive shaft 3 in a torsion-resistant manner. Similarly, the toothed transfer wheel 12 engages the belt disk 13 in a torsion-resistant manner. The belt disk 13 is disposed to the side of the belt 4 as shown in FIG. 3b so that the belt 4 runs between the transfer wheel 12 and the belt disk 13.

[0076] As the drive shaft 3 turns, it turns the driving wheel 11. The driving wheel 11 turns the transfer wheel 12, which then turns the belt disk 13 that ultimately drives the belt 4 as shown in FIGS. 2b and 3b.

[0077] The belt 4 forms a loop that extends along the length of the cassette 5 as shown in FIG. 4. The belt disk 13 deflects the belt 4 at one end of the cassette 5 and a belt wheel 14 deflects the belt 4 at the other end of the cassette 5, as can be seen in FIG. 3b and FIG. 4. A section of the belt 4 runs above an upper edge of the bearing plates 15a, 15b for engaging a blank and separating it from a stack of similar blanks.

[0078] Referring to FIGS. 3a and 3b, the cassette 5 has an upper side that faces the blank and a lower side opposite the upper side. At the upper side, a contact element 19 supports that section of the belt 4 that engages the blank. This permits the belt 4 to accommodate pressure from the blank without being deflected towards the interior of the cassette 5.

[0079] On the lower side of the cassette 5, a tensioning roller 16 mounted to a distal end of a pivot arm 17 controls how much tension the belt 4 experiences. It does so by deflecting the belt 4. In the illustrated embodiment, the pivot arm 17 pivots about an axle about which the belt wheel 14 rotates.

[0080] As can be seen in FIG. 4, a tensioning screw 18 controls how much the pivot arm 17 rotates about a bearing plate 15a, 15b and thus the extent to which the tensioning roller 16 deflects the belt 4. The tensioning screw 18 contacts a portion of the arm 17 such that rotating the screw 18 governs the extent to which the tensioning roller 16 deflects the belt 4.