Apparatus for stacking and sorting printed documents and feeding them to a finishing machine
OwnerKurt Runziinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The apparatus comprises a conveyor (2) for feeding paper sheets into a cassette (4) in a stacker (2). The conveyor (2) can be switched between two positions such that successive documents are separated from one another by a lateral shift. The cassette (4) is lowered in the stacker (3) as the stack builds up. After the stack is completed the cassette (4) is turned by 180°, removed from the stacker (3) and inserted into a sorter (6). The sorter (6) picks up the documents one by one and pushes them onto a conveyor (7) which transports them to a finishing machine (8).
Claims11
An apparatus for stacking printed documents consisting of at least one sheet of paper, the apparatus comprising:
- a conveying means for conveying the sheets from an input end to an output end;
- deflecting means associated with the conveying means for laterally deflecting the sheets as they pass from the input end to the output end, the deflecting means being switchable between two positions;
- a stacker at the output end containing a sled vertically displaceable in vertical guide rails of a stand;
- a first motor for lifting and lowering the sled;
- a carriage pivotably mounted on the sled for pivoting about a horizontal axis;
- a second motor for pivoting the carriage;
- an exchangeable cassette inserted into the carriage, the cassette having a first removable horizontal plate, a rear wall and two opposite side walls;
- a removable second horizontal plate insertable into the cassette and arrestable against the side walls at a plurality of levels;
- and
- a pusher mounted on the stand for pushing the inserted second plate against a stack of documents formed in said cassette.
An apparatus for sorting printed documents consisting of at least one sheet of paper;
- the apparatus comprising:
- a conveying means for conveying the documents;
- a holder upstream of the conveying means;
- a sled displaceably mounted in said holder for movement in a vertical direction;
- a first motor for moving the sled;
- an exchangeable cassette mounted in said sled, said cassette containing a stack of documents, the documents being separated from one another by a lateral shift between each successive document, successive shifts alternating such that the stack of documents within the cassette is substantially vertical;
- lifting means with lifters that are movable on one side of the stack between the topmost document and the next lower document and thereby lift the topmost document;
- a second motor for the lifting means for moving the lifters;
- at least one pusher for pushing a lifted document to the conveying means;
- a sensor connected to a controller for controlling the height position of the stack relative to the lifters.
An apparatus for sorting printed documents consisting of at least one sheet of paper, the apparatus comprising:
- a conveyor for conveying the documents;
- a holder upstream of the conveyor;
- a sled displaceably mounted in said holder for movement in a vertical direction;
- a first motor for moving the sled;
- an exchangeable cassette mounted in said sled, said cassette being adapted to contain a stack of documents, the documents being separated from one another by a lateral shift between each successive document when said cassette is in use, successive shifts alternating such that the stack of documents within the cassette is substantially vertical;
- a lifter element which in operation is movable on one side of the stack of documents from a first position outside of the topmost document to a second position in a first direction between the topmost document and the next lower document and thereby lift the topmost document;
- a second motor for moving the lifter element;
- at least one pusher for pushing a lifted document to the conveyor in a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction;
- and
- a sensor connected to a controller for controlling the height position of the stack of documents relative to the lifter element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.