US 4,145,037 AGranted

Vertical collator-sorter

AssigneePitney Bowes Inc.

InventorHans C. Mol

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Abstract

A sheet handling machine having the dual capability of either collating or sorting sheet material into individual booklets or collations. The machine has a plurality of sheet receiving bins operatively associated with infeed and outfeed locations of the machine, and a conveyor system for moving sheets between the infeed and outfeed locations in a predetermined sequence. The machine includes movable deflectors for deflecting sheets from the conveyor means into the bins, and feeding means located in the bins for feeding sheets from the bins back into the conveyor system. Appropriate controls are provided to cause the deflecting means or the feeding means to be selectively operable in a predetermined sequence. In a sorting mode of operation, successive copies of the first page of a booklet are fed into successive bins until each bin contains one copy. Thereafter, successive copies of each successive page of the booklet are fed into each bin until each bin contains a completed booklet. Thus, as many booklets are simultaneously formed as there are bins. In the collating mode, each bin is automatically loaded with a predetermined number of the same page of the booklet, and a single sheet from each bin is ejected and conveyed to a receiving station to form a single completed booklet.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A combined sorting and collating machine selectively operable in a plurality of modes of operation in which a plurality of copy sheets are assembled into booklets, said machine comprising:

a. means defining an infeed location and an outfeed location;
b. means defining a plurality of adjacent bins for storing copy sheets, said bins being relatively movable to, and operatively associated with said means defining said infeed and outfeed locations, said bins arranged in a substantially vertical array of substantially horizontally oriented trays disposed one above another;
c. conveying means operatively associated with said plurality of bins for conveying copy sheets seriatim from said infeed location to each respective bin of said plurality of bins and for conveying copy sheets from each respective bin of said plurality of bins to said outfeed location;
d. positioning means operatively associated with said bin array for causing relative movement between the bins and said conveying means whereby copy sheets can be fed into, and out of, each respective bin;
e. a copy sheet ejecting means operatively associated with said bins for ejecting copy sheets from said bins to said conveying means for delivery to said outfeed end of said machine;
f. a first control means for actuating said positioning means in a sequantial manner to cause a preselected number of said bins to assume a relative position for receiving copy sheets from said conveyor means in order to assemble in each preselected bin a booklet thereby defining a machine sorting mode in which the number of booklets corresponds to said number of preselected bins;
g. a second control means for actuating said positioning means and said sheet ejecting means in a sequential manner to cause said sheet ejecting means to eject copy sheets from a preselected number of said bins to said conveying means in order to successively assemble booklets comprising one copy sheet from each of said preselected bins, thereby defining a machine collating mode in which the number of copy sheets in each booklet corresponds to said preselected number of bins;
and
h. selector means operatively associated with both said first and second control means, respectively, for selecting which of said first or second control means is operable, whereby said machine is selectively operable in either said sorting mode or said collating mode of operation.

6 more elements

A combined sorting and collating machine selectively operable in a plurality of modes of operation in which a plurality of copy sheets are assembled into booklets, said machine comprising:

a. means defining an infeed location and an outfeed location;
b. means defining a plurality of adjacent bins for storing copy sheets said bins being operatively associated with said means defining said infeed and outfeed locations, said bins arranged in a substantially vertical array of substantially horizontally oriented trays disposed one above another;
c. conveying means operatively associated with said plurality of bins for conveying copy sheets seriatim from said infeed location to each bin of said plurality of bins and for conveying sheets from each bin of said plurality of bins to said outfeed location;
d. movable copy sheet deflecting means disposed intermediate said conveying means and said bins for deflecting copy sheets from the conveying means into said bins;
e. a copy sheet ejecting means operatively associated with said bins for ejecting copy sheets from said bins to said conveying means for delivery to said outfeed location;
f. a first control means for actuating said deflecting means to cause the deflecting means to deflect copy sheets in a sequential manner from said conveying means into a preselected number of bins in order to assemble in each preselected bin a booklet, thereby defining a machine sorting mode in which the number of booklets corresponds to the number of preselected bins;
g. a second control means for actuating said copy sheet ejecting means in a sequential manner to cause said copy sheet ejecting means to eject copy sheets from a preselected number of said bins to said conveying means in order to successively assemble booklets comprising one copy sheet from each of said preselected bins, thereby defining a machine collating mode in which the number of copy sheets in each booklet corresponds to said preselected number of bins;
and
h. selector means operatively associated with both said first and second control means, respectively, for selecting which of said first or second control means is operable, whereby said machine is selectively operable in either said sorting mode of said sorting mode or said collating mode of operation.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 05/790,349Filed 25 Apr 1977
Granted: 20 Mar 1979
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

B65H 3/446
Simultaneously, alternately, or selectively separating articles from two or more piles: alternatively, i.e. according to a fixed sequence
B65H 39/05
From piles: by collecting in superposed carriers
B65H 39/11
Associating articles from a single source, to form, e.g. a writing-pad: in superposed carriers
B65H 2408/113
Sorters or machines for sorting articles: with variable location in space of the bins relative to a stationary in-feed path