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US 4,697,486 AGranted
Book counter
OwnerVincent Vulcanoinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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OwnerVincent Vulcanoinventor
Estimating the term…
Paperback books are fed one by one from a supply hopper to a stripper which separates the cover from the rest of the book and directs the book cover to a sorter; while directing the rest of the book for other disposition. A feed device receive each cover from the stripper and moves it to a sorter so that covers are spaced from each other a distance equal to the size of a bin of the cover sorter. Computer and electronic controls interconnect the supply feed, stripper and sorter, and include: a trigger, in the form of a notched wheel cooperating with a photocell circuit, to trigger required cover spacing; a senser to read UPC markings carried by the cover; and control and computer components to divert covers to appropriate sorting bins while counting the covers so sorted. Feed controls are provided to maintain cover feed through the sorter until all covers are sorted, even though feed of books from the supply hopper has ceased. A book pusher moves from the hopper into the path of a chain driven flight which pushes the book along the stripper path. A suction device separates the cover from the rest of the book and as the cover moves up a ramp and into a horizontal position a cutter wheel severs the cover from the rest of the book.
A book counter;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.