Sheet accumulator having a circular feed path
AssigneePitney Bowes Inc.
InventorThomas M. Lyga
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sheet accumulator of compact design has a circular paper path. Individual sheets moving along a main (linear) path enter the accumulator one by one, and each sheet is then diverted onto and around the perimeter of a set of driven disks. The disks are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the paper sheets. The disks then urge each sheet against a set of stops. Each subsequent sheet enters the circular path between the disks and the previous sheet, so that it too is urged and registered against the stops. When the accumulation is complete, the stops are retracted and a set of rolls is engaged to exit the sheets out of the accumulator. The accumulated stack of sheets is then diverted back into the main (linear) paper path.
Claims11
A sheet accumulator comprising:
- (a) a rotatable circular device having an outer perimeter;
- (b) a circular guide having an inner periphery, proximate to the outer perimeter of the circular device, for forming a substantially circular channel;
- (c) a set of one or more rollers, adjacent to the outer perimeter of the circular device, for forming a nip with the circular device that urges sheets of paper to enter the channel one by one, and for causing the entered sheets to move in a circular motion when the circular device is caused to rotate;
- and
- (d) a set of one or more stops, adjacent to the circular channel and remote from the nip, movable from a first position, blocking the circular channel so as to stop the circular motion of the entered sheets thus forming a stack, to a second position removed from the circular channel so as to allow the stack of sheets to exit the accumulator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.