GB1483469A - Sorter mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

1483469 Delivering sheets EASTMAN KODAK CO 23 Jan 1975 [23 Jan 1974] 2977/75 Heading B8R A sorter 10, Fig. 2, for collating and stacking copy sheets delivered from a xerographic copying machine 12 comprises three arrays 16, 16a, 16b of bins 52, and movable diflectors 26, 34 and belts 30, 32, 36 for directing sheets to the requisite array. Each array, as 16, Figs. 2 and 3, comprises perforated belts 48, 50, Figs. 2, 3 and 4, passing under vacuum chambers 42, 44 and a plurality of movable vanes 88 settable to direct a sheet into the requisite bin. Each bin 52 comprises two potentially sheet-supporting walls 54, 56 and is pivoted on pins 62. All the bins are pivotable into either the full line or broken line position of Fig. 3 by means of a slide 66 movable by a rotary solenoid 72. In operation, when the copying machine is set to make a plurality of simplex copies of an original document, the copies being fed into the sorter through a throat 20 with the printed sides downwards, the bins are set in the full line position so that the sheets are supported on the walls 54. One of the plurality of copies of an original is fed successively into each bin of the array 16, then into each bin of the array 16a and so on until all the copies have been delivered to a bin. For the next original, the copies are again deposited successively starting from the first bin, so that in each bin the copies are collated in the correct order. When the copying machine is set for duplex operation, the sides first printed are upwards and the bins are set in the broken line position so that the sheets are supported on the walls 56 and once again are collated in the correct order.