Appeal No. 2004-2315
Application No. 09/348,155
34 to slow down and gently release the sheet to the pile 38. In
order to accomplish this, the grippers 36 and 44 are articulated
to their respect supports so that they undergo a coordinated
series of motions wherein they pivot away from their respective
supporting structures to define an elongated path of movement
that results in the sheet slowing down relative to the peripheral
speed of the transfer cylinder and chain (Carricato, column 4,
line 31, through column 5, line 2). This motion can be seen in
Figure 9 where the tail edge gripper 44 has pivoted out and away
from the surface of the cylinder 26 at the 10 o’clock position
and in Figure 17 where the front edge gripper 36 likewise has
pivoted out and away from the path of the chain 34 at the point
of release of the sheet in order to slow down the sheet as it is
deposited on the pile. Thus, the tail end gripper 44 of
Carricato is specifically targeted to stacking sheets on the pile
in a way that will not cause a disturbance to previously
deposited sheets.
In contrast to the above, the brush guide 81 of Rahe is
situated at a place where signatures are merely transferred from
one location where they are held between a first set of tapes
(tapes 13 and 15) to a second adjacent location where they are
7
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