Card collator with bottom hole pneumatic puller extractor
OwnerThomas Gutierrezinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A collator for flexible cards which includes a tray for supporting cards which are fed into a chute by action of a pneumatic puller. Pairs of opposed chutes angularly oriented toward linearly movable bins such that bins can collect cards from opposed chutes and then be indexed to an adjacent pair of opposed, fixed chutes. The pullers are carried by reciprocating arms associated with opposed chutes. A hole in each chute allows a puller to pull a card and then be withdrawn from the card stack, but has a size such that a card is freed from the puller and falls in the chute. Cards are supported in the stack by rubs in a card tray such that the bottommost card is accessible to a puller. First a card drops into a bin from one side, then the other side.
Claims15
A collator for cards comprising,
- means for supporting a stack of flexible cards in a manner such that the bottom of the stack is at least partially accessible,
- a pair of opposed chutes, each with an associated means for supporting a stack of flexible cards, each chute having a lower end and an upper end, each upper end near an associated stack of cards, each chute mounted in spaced relation relative to the bottom of the stack, each chute defining a hole therein below the card stack,
- a pair of opposed movable pneumatic pullers comprising low pressure tubes, each puller extendable through said hole in an associated chute for contacting the bottommost card in a card stack, the dimensions of each hole being less than the dimensions of a card whereby a hole stops a card when a puller is retracted through the hold,
- reciprocating arm means for moving opposed pullers into and out of contact with the accessible bottom of an associated stack of cards through respective holes in said associated chutes,
- means for providing motion to said reciprocating arm means, and
- bin means in card receiving relation relative to the lower end of each chute, said bin means having associated indexing means for indexing said bin means a predetermined distance relative to said chutes.
A collator for cards comprising
- means for supporting a stack of flexible cards in a manner such that the bottom of the stack is at least partially accessible,
- a series of parallel chutes, each with an associated means for supporting a stack of cards,
- each chute having a lower end and an upper end, each upper end near an associated stack of cards, each chute mounted in spaced relation relative to the bottom of the stack, each chute defining a hole therein below the card stack,
- a series of parallel movable pneumatic pullers comprising low pressure tubes, each puller extendable through said hole in associated chute for contacting the bottommost card in a card stack, each puller supported by an arm means for moving the puller into and out of contact with the accessible bottom said stack, the dimensions of each hole being less than the dimensions of a card whereby said hole stops a card when a puller is retracted through the hole, and
- a series of bins, one bin in card receiving relation relative to each chute, said bins having indexing means for indexing said bins a predetermined distance relative to said chutes.
A collator for cards comprising,
- a plurality of movable bins driven by a conveyor, said bins for holding collated cards,
- a pair of opposed chutes having lower and upper ends mounted at angles above the bins opposite each other, the chutes having dimensions for accommodating cards therein, with said angles arranged for providing a card trajectory from a lower end of each chute into one of said bins, thereby feeding cards along the chutes to the bins,
- a card holder tray mounted near an upper end of each chute at an upright angle thereto, said tray having opposite walls with ribs projecting inwardly therefrom, said ribs supporting a card stack, each chute defining a hole therein immediately below the card stack,
- pair of pneumatic pullers, comprising low pressure tubes, each puller extendable through the hole in each chute for contacting the lowermost card on a card stack, the dimensions of each hole being less than the dimensions of a card so that an associated chute will detatch a card from a puller as the puller is retracted through the hole,
- a pair of bent rocking arms, each arm supporting a puller for alternating contact with the card stack through respective holes, and
- means for providing motion to said rocking arms.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.