Apparatus and method for stacking sheets

Apparatus for stacking sheets of paper, comprising a conveyor for supporting sheets of paper in end-to-end spaced-apart relation and with said conveyor having a terminal end where the sheets are released from said conveyor along a path extending from said conveyor, two rotatably mounted sheet holders disposed adjacent said terminal end and each having a sheet engager for individually releasably receiving the sheets from said conveyor and moving the sheets away from said conveyor and being arranged to drop the sheets into a stack when said holders are rotated, said holders being disposed on opposite sides of said path of the sheets released by said conveyor and being rotatably driven in opposite directions, a rotation drive operatively associated with said holders and a sheet movement detector arranged to monitor the sheets moving toward said holders and with said driver and said detector being operatively associated together for the control of rotation of said holders in synchronization with the movement of the sheets, a receiver operatively disposed relative to said holders and including a stripper member for guiding the dropping of said sheets from said holders and including a vertically movable carrier for receiving the sheets from said holders and in a stack when the sheets are released by said engagers, an interceptor movably disposed adjacent said receiver and being movable to a position immediately beneath said stripper members and into the path of the sheets dropping from said holders for temporarily supporting the sheets at a time when said carrier is moving up and down, said driver and said detector being electrical members, and additional electrical members operatively connected with said carrier and with said interceptor, all said electrical members being electrically connected together for synchronized operation of said driver and said carrier and said interceptor in the sequential dropping of the sheets and the intercepting of the dropped sheets to form a stack and the carrying of the stack away from said holders.

Apparatus for stacking sheets of paper, comprising a conveyor for supporting sheets of folded paper in end-to-end spaced-apart relation and with said conveyor having a terminal end where the sheets are released from said conveyor along a path extending from said conveyor and with said path being transverse to the length of the fold in said sheets, two rotatably mounted sheet holders disposed adjacent said terminal end and each having a sheet engager for individually releasably receiving the sheets from said conveyor and moving the sheets away from said conveyor and being arranged to drop the sheets into a stack when said holders are rotated, said holders being disposed on opposite sides of said path of the sheets released by said conveyor and being rotatably driven in opposite directions, each of said holders having at least two said engagers equi-distant spaced around said holders extending therefrom and across said path of said sheets and with said engagers presenting sheet-receiving pockets and with said holders being rotatably driven in synchronization to have said pockets in staggered relation to alternately cross said path of said sheets to alternate in receiving said sheets and thereby being arranged to release said sheets into a stack with the folds of adjacent sheets on alternate sides of the stack, a rotation drive operatively associated with said holders and a sheet movement detector arranged to monitor the sheets moving toward said holders and with said driver and said detector being operatively associated together for the control of rotation of said holders in synchronization with the movement of the sheets, an additional control for the rotation of said holders and arranged to interrupt holder rotation when said pockets cross said path of said sheets and thereby have said sheets fall into said pockets, and a receiver operatively disposed relative to said holders for receiving the sheets from said holders and in a stack when the sheets are released by said engagers.

Means for stacking sheets of paper, comprising means for supporting sheets of paper in end-to-end spaced-apart relation and with said means having a terminal end where the sheets are released from said means along a path extending from said means, two rotatably mounted means disposed adjacent said terminal end and each having sheet engager means for individually releasably receiving the sheets from the first said means and moving the sheets away from the first said means and being arranged to drop the sheets into a stack when the second said means are rotated, the second said means being disposed on opposite sides of said path of the sheets released by the first said means and being rotatably driven in opposite directions, rotation driver means operatively associated with the second said means and a sheet movement means arranged to monitor the sheets moving toward the second said means and with said driver means and said sheet movement means being operatively associated together for the control of rotation of the second said means in synchronization with the movement of the sheets, an additional control means for rotation of said rotatably mounted means and arranged to interrupt rotation every one-quarter revolution thereof, and said control means and said sheet movement means being operatively associated together for respectively stopping and starting of rotation of said rotatably mounted means for receiving and releasing of the sheets, and receiver means operatively disposed relative to the second said means for receiving the sheets from the second said means and in a stack when the sheets are released by said sheet engage means.