Sheet collating deflector
US4315621A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 7, 1979 |
| Grant date | Feb 16, 1982 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 7, 1999 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB65H29/58
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A collator mechanism for transporting and feeding sheets of material such as paper, microfiche film or the like to individual bins. The sheets are carried by an apertured conveyor tape which slides along an apertured vacuum manifold so that the sheet is maintained in contact with the tape by the vacuum. The conveyor tape delivers the sheet to a deflector assembly which is progressively stepped through a plurality of indexed positions adjacent the bins. The deflector assembly includes upper and lower deflector rollers which bend the tape and sheet sufficiently to feed it toward the adjacent bin, release the sheet from the tape and then bend the tape away from the sheet being conveyed and the adjacent bin. The momentum and rigidity of the sheet carries the sheet, after its release from the tape, into the adjacent bin. An idler roller receives the tape from the lower deflector roller and presses the tape against the manifold to maintain the length of the conveyor tape path constant as the deflector assembly is stepped adjacent the bins.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.