Apparatus for stacking sections of developed photographic films or the like

Abstract

Apparatus for stacking sections of photographic films on top of each other in an elongated receptacle having a bottom panel and two side walls flanking an open top of the receptacle has two guide rails which are mounted on springs supported by the side walls and allowing each guide rail to pivot relative to the corresponding side wall. The guide rails have normally coplanar grooves for the marginal portions of a section which is supplied by a conveyor so that it overlies the open top of the receptacle. Two pivotable hold-down devices are mounted on the receptacle, and each hold-down device has a cushioned arm which is normally located at a level above the common plane of the two grooves. When a strip has been inserted into the grooves, the hold-down devices are pivoted to move their cushioned arms between the two guide rails and into the receptacle whereby the cushioned arms pivot the guide rails and simultaneously expel the marginal portions of the strip between the guide rails from the respective grooves so that the strip enters the receptacle. Retainers are provided on the side walls to prevent stacked strips which exhibit a pronounced tendency to curl from rising into the space between the grooves of the guide rails.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.