US3139278A - Document stacking device - Google Patents

Description

June 30, 1964 E. P. MAIDMENT DOCUMENT STACKING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 3, 1961 lllll INVENTOR. EARL I? MAIDMENTI A T TORNE Y.

June 30, 1964 E. P. MAIDMENT 3,139,273

DOCUMENT STACKING DEVICE Filed July 3. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 36 2 I 3- & :7

82 INVENTOR.

. EARL F? MAIDMENI II 80 BY ATTORNEY June 30, 1964 E. P. MAIDMENT DOCUMENT STACKING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 3. 1961 Fig. 6.

IN VEN TOR. EARL P. MAIDMENT.

M w l w a ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,139,278 DOQIJMENT STACKING DEVICE Earl P. Maidment, Royal Oak, Mich, assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed July 3, 1961, Ser. No. 121,418 '2 Claims. (Cl. 271--71) This invention relates generally to sheet transporting apparatus and particularly to a sheet stacking device therefor.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide in a paper sheet stacking device to which sheets are singly fed on edge and at high velocity, an improved sheet stacking bin so constructed that the components thereof function to successfully stack sheets that vary widely with respect to size, thickness, rigidity and grade of paper.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a paper sheet stacking device to which a sheet is fed on edge and at high velocity, an improved sheet stacking bin construction for effecting positive control of the travel of the sheet from the entrance of the sheet into the bin to the final stacked position of the sheet.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved sheet stacking device of the above mentioned character in which the danger of a sheet passing behind the trailing edge of the next preceding check in the bin is eliminated by the particular construction of the bin.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of an improved sheet stacking bin, the construction of which efiects a change in direction of travel of a sheet from one side of the bin to the other to insure proper stacking of the sheets.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet stacking device embodying features of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a view shown substantially in plan;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is another vertical sectional view, taken along the line 66 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a modification of the sheet stacking device.

In the drawings there is shown a portion of a sheet or check sorting apparatus which comprises, in general, a supporting structure, including base structural members 10, a plurality of sheet or check stacking devices 12, of which only one is shown, and a raceway 14 to guide a sheet or check to the stacking device 12. The raceway 14 and the check stacking device 12 are mounted on the base 10 with the raceway extending longitudinally of the base along what may be termed the back of the base, and the stacking device 12 arranged to extend laterally of the raceway toward the front of the base. Any suitable means may be employed to propel checks along the raceway 14, such as a high speed belt (not shown). For a detail description of the sheet or check sorting apparatus, reference may be had to the patents of John W. Smith, Numbers 2,970,836 and 2,944,813.

3,139,278 Patented June 30., 1964 "ice Mounted on the base 10 there is a bed which is preferably inclined downwardly from the rear to the front of the base and is constructed of a rear plate 16 and a front plate 18. In the present construction, the bed plate 18 is offset upwardly from the bed plate 16, providing a step between the front and rear plates as best shown in FIG. 3.

The card stacking device 12 is mounted on the bed and includes a bin 22 having an upper or rear inlet 23 to which checks, as at 24, are fed singly on edge from the raceway 14 at high velocity. As shown, the raceway 14 guides a check to the bight of a pair of check feeding rollers including a pressure roller 25 and a driven roller 26 and then curves partially about the periphery of roller 26 having an outlet or check discharge end 27 directed toward the bin inlet 23. Anterior to the raceway outlet 27, a pressure roller 28 forms a bight with and is driven by roller 26 and from the bight of the rollers 26, 28 the check is fed to the bight of a second pair of rollers including a pressure roller 29 and a driving roller 30, located adjacent the bin inlet 23. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a pair of vertically spaced apart check guide members or plates 33 and 34 extend between the bights of the pairs of rollers 26, 28 and 29, 30 and project into the bin 22, forming in part the bin inlet 23. Transversely thereof, the guide plates 33 and 34 are arcuately formed or rounded and are arranged to present their convex surfaces broadside to the check, the purpose being to induce the check, particularly thin flexible checks to assume the rounded shape of the guide members so as to increase the rigidity of the paper.

With respect to the driving connections between the several check feeding rollers, the rollers 25, 28 and 29 are similar in that the periphery of each is provided with a rubber facing or tire 36 to increase driving friction with rollers 26 and 30 and with the checks. A driving pulley 38 beneath the bed plate 18 at the forward edge thereof drives the roller 30 through a belt drive 40 and a suitable pulley 41, the roller 30 in turn driving the pressure roller 29. The pressure roller 29 drives the pressure roller 28 through a suitable driving belt 42 and the roller 28 drives the roller 26 which in turn drives the pressure roller 25. Insofar as the present invention is affected, any suitable driving arrangement may be employed to drive the several rollers. The pressure rollers 28 and 29 may be rotatably mounted respectively on a pair of arms 44 and 46, pivoted on a common support 48 and be yieldably urged toward their respective rollers 26 and 30 by tension springs 50.

In accordance with my invention, I construct the bin 22 such that its structural components perform the functions of feeding, guiding and manipulating checks and thus constitute the check stacking device. The bin comprises an end wall 52, abin side wall including a stationary guide ,wall portion 54 plus a check feeding portion or feeding belts 56, and an opposite side wall or moveable backup plate 58. The end wall 52, side wall portions 54, 56, and the back-up plate 58 are all mounted on the bed plate 18 which forms the bottom wall of the bin 22. The stationary side wall portion 54 of the bin 22 extends from the bin inlet 23 downwardly toward the bin end wall 52 and curved upper end to a flat lower end 55. This flat lower end 55 is disposed adjacent the belt where the belts travel about the pulleys 6%, the end 55 being substantially tangent to the belts. From the terminus of the stationary side wall portion 54-, the trailing sides of the feed belts 56 extend substantially to the bin end wall 52, thus forming a composite side wall of bin 22 comprising stationary and moving portions. These wall portions are relatively angularly disposed with the stationary portion 54 arranged at an obtuse angle to end wall 52 and wall portion 56 arranged at an acute angle to the end wall such that these wall portions have an apex 57 on the bin side of the structure to effect a change in the direction of travel of the checks as they proceed in the bin to the bin end wall. The check back-up plate 58 is mounted for movement broadside away from the side wall portions 54 and 56 and the back-up plate proper is parallel to the belt trailing sides, as shown and forms a V-shaped throat, as at 6i) with the stationary Wall portion 54;. The apex of the V-shaped throat directs a check into a bight formed by the curvature of the belts 56 where they travel about the pulleys 68 and by the back-up plate 53 or last card on the stack, as the case may be. Integral with the lower edge of the back-up plate 58, a laterally extending check supporting tab 61 is preferably provided for carrying the sheet stack with the back-up plate.

Overlying the discharge ends of the belts 56 there is a channel-shape retainer 62 for a resilient bumper 64 against which the leading edges of each check strikes so as to avoid damage to the check. The retainer 62 is mounted on and interposed in the bin end wall 52 and has an extended side, as at 66, to form a corner of the bin 22.

The belts 56 are of the endless type and travel respectively about driven pulleys 68 that are located at the apex of the wall portion 54 and belts 56, and about similar corresponding idler pulleys '76 that are located adjacent the bumper 64. As shown in FIG. 6, the driven pulleys 68 are fixed onto an upright driven shaft 72, above the bed plate 18 and are spaced apart by tubular spacer members 7 as shown in FIG. 6. A sheet metal belt guard 76 is preferably provided and has slotlike clearance apertures for receiving the belts 56 and pulleys 68 and 70. Below the bed plate 18, a pulley 78 is fixed onto the shaft 72 and is driven from a pulley S ll through a suitable belt drive 2-32, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 6. The idler pulleys 70 are similar to the driven pulleys 68 and rotate on an upright shaft 84, suitably mounted on the bed plate 18. In order to avoid undue rebounding of a check from the resilient bumper 64, the surface speed of the feed belts 56 is made less than the surface speed of the feed rollers 29, 30, the difierential between the speeds effecting a braking action on the check.

The back-up plate 53 preferably carries a roller 86 on its upper end thatis guided in a channel-shape guide member 88 and at its lower end is attached by a bracket 99 to a sleeve92 which is slidably guided on a fixed rod 94. A bracket 95 is mounted on the lower edge of the bed plate 18 and an upturned flange thereof provides the end wall 52 of the bin 22. End flanges of the bracket $6 are provided to support the guide rod 94 which has its opposite ends respectively fixed to the flanges. A yieldable member in the form of a weight 98 urges the backup plate 58 toward the belts 56, the weight being con nected to the back-up plate by a cord Mil which preferably passes over a guide pulley 102.

In operation, checks are fed singly along the raceway 14 to the rollers 25, 26, 28, 29 and 30 which then feed the check into the bin 22 along the guide plates 33 and 34, the high speed of the check and sudden change in its direction of travel toward the bin inlet 23 causing the check to be forced broadside against the guide plates. As a consequence, the check wraps about and conforms to the curvature of the plates 33, 34 to increase the rigidity of the check. From the plates 53, 34, the check proceeds along the stationary bin wall portion 54, the progressively changing curvature of which straightens the check such that at the end 55 of the wall portion 54, the leading end of the check has been straightened for proper presentation to the bight formed by rollers 68 and the back-up plate 58. At the bight of rollers 68 with the back-up plate 58, the direction of the. check travel is altered by the angular position of the back-up plate 58 and the feed belts 56 feed the check downwardly in the bin 52 until the leading edge of the check engages the face of the bumper 64., Any tendency of the check to rebound from the bumper 64 is opposed by the belts 56. In this check stacking device, the check, enroute to its stacked position in bin 22, is always in contact with at least one of the several check feed means as opposed to free flight so as to lessen the danger of check jams at the stacking bin 22. Also in this check stacking device, the check is decelerated as it comes into contact with the belts 56 which, as previously mentioned, have a lower surface speed than the surface speed of the feed rollers whereby to effect a braking action against the check.

Referring now to the modification of FIG. 7, this check stacking device is similar to the device of FIGS. 1 to 6 and therefore like parts are designated by like reference characters to avoid unnecessary repetitious description. The modification diiiers from the previously described check stacking device in the construction of the bin side wall which is formed entirely by the lead sides of the plurality of parallel check feed belts 55. In addition to the belt pulleys 6?: and 7% there is provided a similar group of guide pulleys 104 which are in spaced relation on an upright shaft 166 adjacent the inlet 23 to the bin. The check feed belts 55 travel about the pulleys 70 and 1426 in contact with the intermediate pulleys 68. As shown, the groups of pulleys 7t), 68, and 104 are arranged such that the lead sides of the belts 55 between pulleys 194 and 68 travel a path in a vertical plane which is at an obtuse angle less than to the bin end wall 52 and then change direction at pulleys d8 and travel in a vertical plane to pulleys 763 at an acute angle to bin end wall 52. Thus, the belts 55 form a moving or check feeding side wall of bin 22 which carries the check from the bin inlet 23 to the back-up plate 58 where the direction of check travel is changed and the check is fed by the belts 55 downwardly to the bumper at the corner of the bin.

While I have shown and described my check stacking devices in considerable detail, it will be understood that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a paper sheet handling apparatus having means to feed sheets singly along a guided path of travel, a sheet stacking bin comprising a sheet guide member positioned along the path of travel forming in part one side of the bin and an inlet thereto, an end wall, a sheet teed roller positioned between and closer to the bin inlet than to said bin end wall, said guide member having a configuration on the bin side diminishing from a convex surface adjacent said inlet to a flat surface tangential to said roller in a vertical plane disposed on an acute angle to and intersecting a second vertical plane normal to said end wall and tangential to said roller, a second sheet guide member on the same side of said second vertical plane as said first guide member and'said roller, said second guide member tangential to said roller and extending therefrom toward said end wall at an acute angle to said second-mentioned plane, and a movable back-up member substantially parallel to said second guide member.

2. In a paper sheet handling apparatus having means to feed sheets singly along a guided path of travel, a sheet stacking bin comprising a first sheet guide member positioned along the path of travel forming in part one side of the bin and an inlet thereto, a bin end wall, a sheet feed roller positioned between and closer to said inlet than to said end wall, said guide member having a configuration on the bin side theerof, diminishing at a uni form rate of change as a continuous surface from one end References Cited in the file of this patent thereof adjacent said inlet to a flat end tangential to the UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,856,187 Burckhardt et a1. Oct. '14, 1958 tangential to said roller and extending therefrom substan- 5 2,884,243 Stobb Apr. 28, 1959 tlally to said bin end wall at an acute angle to said plane, 2,933,313 Stobb Apr. 19, 1960 send first and second guide members and said roller co- 2,944,813 Smith July 12 1960 operating in the forming of the said one side of the bin, 2 970 Smith 7 19 1 and a movable back-up member substantially parallel to 3,051,332 Richer: et a1, Aug. 28, 1962 7 said second guide member and forming the other side of 10 3,078,089 Maidment Feb. 19, 1963 the bin. 3,079,151 Maidment Feb. 26, 1963

Claims (1)

1. IN A PAPER SHEET HANDLING APPARATUS HAVING MEANS TO FEED SHEETS SINGLY ALONG A GUIDED PATH OF TRAVEL, A SHEET STACKING BIN COMPRISING A SHEET GUIDE MEMBERS POSITIONED ALONG THE PATH OF TRAVEL FORMING IN PART ONE SIDE OF THE BIN AND AN INLET THERETO, AN END WALL, A SHEET FEED ROLLER POSITIONED BETWEEN AND CLOSER TO THE BIN INLET THAN TO SAID BIN END WALL, SAID GUIDE MEMBER HAVING A CONFIGURATION ON THE BIN SIDE DIMINISHING FROM A CONVEX SURFACE ADJACENT SAID INLET TO A FLAT SURFACE TANGENTIAL TO SAID ROLLER IN VERTICAL PLANE DISPOSED ON AN ACUTE ANGLE TO AND IN-

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