US 4,767,115 AGranted

Adjustable accumulator for paper sheets

AssigneeBell & Howell Company

InventorMatthias Garthe

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Abstract

Disclosed is an accumulator for paper sheets which are conveyed by conveyor belts to a receiving area comprised of parallel support members having spaces therebetween. The conveyor belts are mounted on rollers, at least one set of which is mounted on a first track-mounted movable carriage, and at least one other set of which is mounted on a second track-mounted movable carriage. The two carriages are linked so that motion of said first carriage to adjust the length of the receiving areas causes motion of said second carriage in a direction opposite to the motion of said first carriage to thereby maintain the conveyor belts under constant tension. The support members may be constituted of either plastic or metallic strips or rods. At least one set of rollers also has bristle means to aid in the conveyance of the paper sheets.

Claims15

Dependent claims

In an adjustable accumulator for accumulating paper sheets, including a plurality of movable carriages and a plurality of supporting rollers and at least one conveyor belt, at least one of the supporting rollers of which is rotatably mounted on a first movable carriage, said first carriage movable in a direction that is parallel to the direction of conveyance of said paper sheets so that the distance between said first carriage and a stop is variable, the improvement comprising:

at least one additional supporting roller supporting said conveyor belt mounted rotatably on a second movable carriage, said first and second movable carriages being adapted to move in parallel, but opposite directions;
and,
means interconnecting said first and second carriages so that, when said first carriage moves in a way to shorten the distance between said stop and said first carriage, said second carriage moves in a direction parallel, but opposite to, the direction of motion of said first carriage.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.