Cassette stacking device

A cassette stacking apparatus for automatically providing a stack of selectively oriented cassettes comprising:

• conveying means including cassette input port and an operating station, said conveying means comprising a downwardly oriented first chute with said operating station being located at the lower end thereof and being adapted to convey a cassette received at said input port to said operating station;
• operating means for applying selected indicia to a cassette located at said operating station;
• means for applying a locking tab to the reels of a cassette located at said operating station;
• removal means adjacent said operating station for removing a cassette from said operating station, said removal means including orienting means for selectively orienting the cassette being removed;
• stacking means attached to said removal means, said stacking means being adapted to stack the cassettes selectively oriented by said orienting means;
• and
• control means connected to at least said operating means and said removal means, said control means being adapted to sequentially (a) energize said operating means to operate on a cassette located at said operating station, (b) energize said removal means to move the cassette from said operating station, (c) energize said orienting means to selectively orient the cassette for stacking, and (d) energize said stacking means to stack the selectively oriented cassette.

A cassette stacking apparatus for use with a cassette loading machine, said apparatus comprising:

• (a) transport means adapted to receive a cassette from said loading machine at a first location and convey said cassette from said first location past a second location to a third location, said transport means comprising a first chute having first and second opposite ends, with said first end of said first chute being positioned at said first location and said second end of said first chute being positioned at said second location, with said first chute being inclined so that a cassette admitted into said first chute at said first location will gravity feed along said first chute to said second location, and said first chute including movable stop means at said second end of said first chute so that cassettes feeding along said first chute may be selectively maintained at said second location, and said transport means further comprising a second chute having first and second opposite ends and disposed with said first end of said second chute positioned adjacent said second location, so that a cassette being maintained in said first chute at said second location will enter said first end of said second chute by selective movement of said stop means, and said second end of said second chute being positioned at said third location, with said second chute being inclined so that a cassette admitted into said second chute's first end will move by gravity along said second chute to said third location, and said transport means further comprising cassette orientation control means for selectively interfering with a cassette as it passes from said first chute to said second chute so as to reverse the orientation of the cassette in said second chute;
• (b) lifting means adapted to lift a cassette against the force of gravity from said third location to a fourth location;
• (c) a rigid frame;
• and
• (d) supprting means attached to said frame between said third location and said fourth location and arranged to pass a cassette being lifted from said third location towards said fourth location by said lifting means and to support said passed cassette as said lifting means retreats from said fourth location back towards said third location.

In combination with an automatic cassette loading machine adapted to repetitively load cassettes of the type having a first relatively thick side section and a second opposite relatively thin side section and to discharge the cassettes with a uniform orientation in the sequence in which they are loaded, apparatus for receiving the discharged cassettes and stacking them with selected orientation, said apparatus comprising:

• a first chute having first and second opposite ends, said first chute being inclined with said second end lower than said first end and being disposed so that a cassette discharged from said cassette loading machine will enter the upper end of said first chute and will move by gravity to the second end of said first chute, and said first chute also being arranged so that each cassette received from said loading machine will be received and will fall along said first chute with its relatively thick side section facing downward and its relatively thin side section facing upward;
• selectively removable cassette retention means disposed at the second end of said first chute, said retention means being capable of alternatively (a) retaining a cassette at said second end of said first chute or (b) releasing a cassette from said first chute without any change in cassette orientation;
• stacking means disposed at said second end of said first chute and adapted to receive cassettes discharged from said first chute and stack said cassettes with a selected orientation, said stacking means comprising a second inclined chute having first and second opposite ends, said second chute being mounted so that said second end is lower than said first end, and said second chute being mounted proximate to said first chute so that a cassette released from said second end of said first chute will enter said first end of said second chute and move by gravity towards said second end of said second chute, and said first chute and said retention means being arranged so that a cassette released from said first chute will have its first relatively thick side section facing downward as it enters said second chute, and said second chute including orientation means for selectively causing a cassette to (a) reverse its orientation on said second chute, or (b) maintain its existing orientation on said second chute;
• and
• control means including means adapted to detect the presence of a cassette at said second end of said first chute, means for moving said retention means so as to cause the release of the detected cassette from said second end of said first chute, and means for operating said stacking means so that the said detected cassette will be stacked with said selected orientation.

A method of stacking cassettes with a selected orientation, where the cassettes have a first relatively thick side section and a second relatively thin side section, comprising the steps of:

• (1) discharging the cassettes one at a time onto the upper end of a first inclined chute so that each cassette is oriented with its relatively thick side section resting on the floor of said first chute;
• (2) sliding each cassette downwardly along said first chute to a first station without changing the orientation of said cassettes;
• (3) discharging each cassette from said first station by gravity onto the upper end of a second inclined chute so that said relatively thick side section engages the floor of said second chute;
• (4) selectively placing a deflecting member in the path of each cassette received from said first chute, while the relatively thick side section of the cassette is engaged with the floor of said second chute, so as to cause the cassette to be deflected and fall flat on said second chute with the relatively thin side section of the cassette leading the opposite relatively thick side section of the cassette downwardly along said second chute;
• (5) stopping each cassette at the bottom end of said second chute;
• (6) lifting each cassette after it has reached the bottom end of said second chute away from the floor of said second chute without changing the orientation of said cassette;
• and
• (7) placing each lifted cassette in turn at the bottom of a stack of cassettes supported above said second chute.