US3006639A - Document stacking mechanism - Google Patents

Description

31, 1961 A. R. SPALDING ETAL 3,

DOCUMENT STACKING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26, 1958 I 1 $72 flldl 'fzzr K Wu 0 (5 0! Oct. 31, 1961 Filed May 26, 1958 A. R. SPALDING EI'AL DOCUMENT STACKING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q a Q N N .fiwwiors: @Yrf/zurli. @baldz'n y (1/2570 SoZZner wzwwy Oct. 31, 1961 A. R. SPALDING ETAL DOCUMENT STACKING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 26, 1958 .7126 la?" a; 0 2221557 06L 1961 A. R. SPALDING ETAL 3,

DOCUMENT STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 26, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 .Z92 eiztora:

65 v @(rlkurli. 5 ald'in y dfzz o 6 0! He?" Oct. 31, 1961 A. R. SPALDING ETI'AL 3,006,639

DOCUMENT STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 26, 1958 5 Sheets$heet 5 United States Patent 3,006,639 DOCUMENT STACKING MECHANISM Arthur R. Spalding, Chicago, and Hugo Sollner, Evanston, Ill., assignors to Bell & Howell Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed May 26, 1958, Ser. No. 737,685 11 Claims. (Cl. 27168) This invention relates, generally, to feeding mechanisms for documents, such as checks, and it has particular relation to stacking means therefor.

Among the objects of this invention are: To provide for stacking documents, such as checks, in new and improved manner; to stack the documents in the order in which they are received; to receive a document, such as a check, for stacking centrally of its ends; to convey the check away at a higher speed than it is fed to the check stacking mechanism; to hold each document or check against the underside of a feed belt for movement therewith; to accomplish this by a second belt that is biased upwardly against the feed belt and is driven thereby with the checks being held and moved, one by one, from a feeding position to a delivery position in spaced relation; to receive the document or check in the delivery position on an upwardly biased table; to hold the delivered documents or checks in a convex upward configuration; to provide the table with an upwardly convexly curved surface; to guide and feed the documents or checks onto the table by guide wheels on opposite sides of the feed belt, the wheels having friction surfaces tangent to the surface of the table; to limit the extent of movement of the checks past the table and guide wheels; to detect the presence of a distorted or crumpled document or check; to operate a switch in response to the feeding of such a distorted document or check; and to removably mount the second belt with its support and the table as a unit.

Other objects of this invention will, in part, be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

This invention is disclosed in the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings and it comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of this invention reference can be had to the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view, partly in vertical section and partly in side elevation, showing a portion of a document recording apparatus with which the present invention arranged to stack the documents after they are recorded is arranged to cooperate;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the stacking mechanism shown in detached relation with respect to the document recording apparatus;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 66 of FIGURE 1; 1

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 7-7 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 8 is a view, somewhat similar to FIGURE 1, and showing how the check stacking mechanism can be modified by removal of a portion of it to permit the recorded documents to be collected in a basket;

FIGURE 9 is a view, in side elevation, of the lower "ice portion of a depending side of the frame that is employed for the document stacking mechanism and showing how the flat plate forming a part thereof is removably mounted thereon;

FIGURE 10 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 10-10 of FIGURE 9; and

FIGURE 11 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 11-11 of FIGURE 8.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, it will be observed that the reference character 10 designates, generally, document recording apparatus which is arranged for use, principally in banks, for photograph ing both sides of documents, such as checks. Since the document recording apparatus 10, per se, forms no part of the present invention, it is unnecessary to describe it further other than to point out that the documents or checks are fed sidewise to the document recording apparatus 10 and provision is made for making a photographic record of what appears on each side. The documents or checks are moved downwardly along a generally vertically extending curved guide plate 11. One of the documents is indicated at 12 and it is shown moving downwardly and rearwardly sidewise along the curved guide plate 11 between a driven feed roller 13 and a cooperating idler roller 14. The documents or checks 12 are fed singly, as shown, to document stacking means or mechanism indicated, generally, at 15 in FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings. As will be pointed out in more detail herein after, the checks 12 are fed singly and in spaced relation by the rollers 13 and 14 along the curved guide plate 11 to the document stacking mechanism 15. The speed at which they are removed from the lower edge of the curved guide plate 11 by the stacking mechanism 15 is greater than the speed at which they are fed thereto. Consequently, the separate checks 12 are maintained in proper spaced relation as they pass through the document stacking mechanism 15 and there is no likelihood that one will overlie the other until they are deposited in the final stack in the same order that they were fed to the stacking mechanism 15.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the document stacking mechanism 15 includes a frame that is indicated, generally, at 16. The frame 16 includes a frame plate 17 which is arranged to extend between side frame members of the document recording apparatus 10, one of which is indicated at 18 in FIGURE 1. At the ends of the frame plate 17 there are depending sides 21 which form a part of the frame 16. As shown more clearly in FIGURES 9 and 10 of the drawings the depending sides 21 have inturned ends 22 for a purpose that will be apparent presently. As shown in FIGURE 2 the depending sides 21 are secured at their upper ends by screws 23 to the frame plate 17.

Intermediate the ends of the frame plate 17 is a U-shaped bracket 24. It is secured in place on the frame plate 17 by screws 25 as shown in FIGURE 3. The depending sides of the U-shaped bracket 24 overlie an inverted channel shaped housing 26 and are secured thereto for supporting the same.

For driving the document stacking mechanism 15 a shaft 27 is employed. The shaft 27 is referred to in the claims as a first shaft and it is journaled at one end, as shown in FIGURE 2, at the feed end of the inverted channel shaped housing 26. The shaft 27 extends parallel to the frame plate 17 and at its other end it is journaled in a bearing bracket 28 which is secured to the front side of the frame plate 17. At this same end of the shaft 27 there is a sprocket 29 which is driven by a chain 30 from a sprocket 31, FIGURE 1, which is mounted on the same shaft as and rotates with the driven feed roller 13. It will be understood that the feed roller 13 is driven by the drive mechanism for the document recording apparatus 10.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that a pulley 32, in the claims called a first pulley, is secured to the "shaft 27 at the feed end of the channel shaped housing'26. The pulley 32 has a toothed periphery 33 and a feed belt '34 is trained thereover. The feed belt 34 has a smooth outer side 35 and a toothed inner side 36 with the teeth thereof interfitting with the teeth of the toothedperiphery33 to prevent slippage. It will be observed that the inverted channel shaped housing 26 extends downwardly and rearwardly toward the discharge end of the document stacking mechanism 15 at a slightangle away from the hon'z'ontaL At the lower end thereisa pulley 39, called the second pulley in the claims, which is secured to a shaft 40, the second shaft in the claims, which is journaled in the depending'sides of the channel shaped housing 26 and projects beyond the same for a purpose that will be apparent presently. The arrangement is shown more clearly in FIGURE 6. The b'elt 34 with the toothed inner side 36 is trained over the toothed periphery '41 of the pulley 39. a

Intermediate the pulleys 32 and 39 there is aguide pulley 42 which is mounted on a shaft 4'3 that is journaled in the depending sides of the channel shaped housing 26. The shaft 43 is located slightly below afline adjoining the axes of rotation of the shafts 27 and '40 and. it has a toothed periphery 44 for'engaging the toothed inner side 36 of the feed belt 34. Between the pulley 32 and the guide pulley 42 there is a section or lower pass 45 of the feed belt 34 which is located at a slight angle to theportion between the guide pulley 42 and the second pulley 39.. It is against this section '45 of the feed belt 34 that the checks 12 are held by retaining means to be described.

Removably mounted on the inturned ends 22 of the depending sides 21 which form a part of the frame 16 is a flat plate 46. The arrangement is shown more clearly in FIGURES 1 and 3. of the'drawings. The ends of the flat plate 46 are located underneath the outstanding arms of angle brackets 47, FIGURES 9 and 10, which are secured to the lower ends of the depending sides 21.

' Leaf springs 48, secured by rivets 49 to the undersid'es of the inturned ends 22, are provided with shoulders 50 for retaining the flat plate 46 in position. Handles 51 extend from the ends of the springs 48 to facilitate moving the same downwardly to permit removal of the flat plate 46 and parts mounted thereon. V

Movably mounted above the flat plate 46 is a pulley frame which is indicated, generally, at 53 FIGURE 7 of 'thed rawings. The pulleyframe 53includes an elon- "gated U-shaped pulley support 54 that is secured by screws 55, FIGURE 3, to the upper side of an L-shaped bracket 56 whichhas a depending arm 57 that bears againstihe'upper "edge of the fiat plate 46 and thus holds the pulley support 54 against downward movement.

Upward movement of the pulley support 54 is prevented by lugs 57 which extend upwardly from the other end of the L-shaped bracket 56 and bear against the adjacent ends of Z-shaped brackets 52 which are secured by screws '52 to the fiat plate 46. The edges of the L-shaped bracket '56 underlie the flanges of the Z-"shaped brackets 52 which are spaced from the flat plate 46 and they are held inthis position by a leaf spring 59, FIGURE 3, which has bifurcated ends and which is secured by screws '60 to the "upper side of the fiat plate 46. Near the ends of the U-shaped pulley support 54 shafts 61 are journaled for receiving high center pulleys 62. The arrangement is shown more clearly in FIGURE 7. A belt 63 is "trained over the high center pulleys 62 and the upper pass portion between the pulleys 62 is coextensive with the section 45 of the feed belt 34 as shown in FIGURE 3. It will be understood that the belt 63 is resiliently urged toward the section 45 of the feed belt 34 by the leaf spring 59. The checks 12 are fed one by one between the'section 45 of the feed belt 34 and the belt 63 and thus are held in spaced relation. The speed at which they are fed is arranged to be higher than the speed at which they are receivedfrom the curved guide plate 11, as previously pointed out. This insures that the checks 12 will be properly spaced apart.

Since the checks 12 may be relatively long and they are fed at the center, guide means in the form of U-shaped guides, shown generally at 64, are provided. The arrangement is shown more clearly in FIGURE 7. One arm 65 of each of the guides 64 underlies the fiat plate 46 and is secured thereto by screws 66, The otherarm 67 of each guide 64 is spaced above the flat plate 46 and, as shown, serves to hold the respective end or side edge of the check 12 as it is moved between the feed belt 34 and the belt 63. Additional guiding means for the check 12 is provided by Z-shaped guides 68 which are secured by screws 69 to opposite sides. of the U-shaped bracket 24.

The checks 12 are fed one by one onto a document receiving table 72 which, as shown inFIGURE6, is .provided with a convex upward document receiving surface. The table 72 has apertured downturned ends 74 and 75 which are rockably mounted on one end 76 of a support arm that is shown generally at 77. In order to accommodate checks 12 of difierent widths,it isdesirable to provide for adjustably positioning the table 72 onthe end 76 of the support arm 77. For this purpose an index member 78 is secured to the table 72 and it has an index tooth 79 that is arranged to interfit with one of several notches 80 on the underside of the end. 76. The table 72 is held in any desired position along theend 76 by means of collars 81 which are positioned on opposite sides of the dowuturned end 75 of the table 72, and held in position by set screws 82. A transverse pin 83, extending through the end 76 of the support arm 77, serves to limit the extent of rocking movement of the table 72. An intermediate portion 84 of the support arm 77 extends at right angles to the'end 76 and generally parallel to the rear edge of flat plate 46. This relationship is shown more clearly in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. The other end 85 of the support arm 77 extends at right angles to the intermediate portion 84 underneath the fiat plate 46, as shown in FIGURE 1, where it is journaled at its ends in a bracket 86 which is secured by. screws 87 to the under side of the fiat plate 46. Coil springs 88 surrounding the other end 85 of the support arm 77 act to bias it in such'a direction as to hold the document receiving table 72 in the position as shown in FIGURE 3. As the checks 12 are received on the table 72, it moves progressively lower and -lowcr against the biasing action of the springs 88. a V I With a view to insuring that the checks 12 will be moved one by one onto the upper surface of the document receiving table 72 a first pair of guide wheels 91 is provided as shown more clearly in FIGURE 6. The guide wheels 91 have integrally formed hubs .92 through which the shaft 40 extends and to which they are secured by 'set screws 93. Tires 94' of rubber like material provide friction surfaces for the guide wheels 91. It will be observed that the diameter of. the guide wheels 91 extending to the friction surfaces provided by the tires 94 is greater than the diameter of the puiley 39 and two thicknesses of the feed belt 34. In the absence of any of the checks 12, shown in FIGURE 6, the friction surfaces provided by the tires 94 are tangent to the document receiving surface of the table 72. The curvature of the table 72 follows the natural curvature of the checks 12.

Outwardly of the first pair of guide wheels 91 there is another or second pair of-guide wheels 95 which are provided with hubs 96 through which the ends of the shaft 40 extends. Set screws 97 serve to hold the hubs 96 in place on the shaft 40. Tires 98, similar to the tires 94, are provided around theperipheries of the guide wheels 95. It will be observed that the diameters of the guide wheels 95 to the surfaces of the tires 98 are greater than the diameters of the guide wheels 91. However, the arrangement is such that the tires 98 also are tangent to the convex upward check receiving surface of the table 72.

It is desirable to limit the extent of movement of the checks 12 as they are stacked on the table 72. For this purpose a U-shaped bracket 99, FIGURE 4, is employed. It has bifurcated arms 100 which overlie the outer sides of the inverted channel shaped housing 26 at the discharge end. Slots 101 are provided for receiving the shaft 40 and permitting adjustment with respect thereto. Longitudinal slots 102 are arranged to receive screws 103 which serve to hold the bracket 99 in desired location. A cover 104 is secured by a screw 105 to the bracket 99. By thus mounting the cover 104 on the adjustable bracket 99, the position of the cover 104 can be shifted within the limits of the slots 102. Guide arms 106 project forwardly from the cover 104, as shown in FIGURE 5, between the respective pairs of guide wheels 91-95 to make certain that no part of a check 12 enters therebetween.

The extent of movement of a check 12 along the document receiving table 72 or on top of the immediately preceding check is limited by the location of a stop lip 107 which depends from the rear wall of the cover 104. The relationship is shown more clearly in FIGURE 3 of the drawings.

It is desirable that there be some means provided for detecting the presence of a crumpled or distorted check 12. For this purpose a bifurcated switch arm, shown generally at 109, can be employed. As shown in FIG- URE 3 the switch arm 109 is provided with downwardly inclined lugs 110 which are pivoted at 111 on the U- shaped bracket 24. The arrangement also is shown in FIGURE 1. Extending outwardly from the central portion of the switch'arm 109 is an arm 112 that carries an adjusting screw 113. The position of the switch arm 109 is determined, in part, by the adjustment of thescrew 113. Arms 114, FIGURE 2, extend downwardly along opposite sides of the discharge end of the inverted channel shaped housing 26 and overlie the checks 12 as they are received at the discharge end and are stacked on the table 72. The arrangement is such that, as long as the checks 12 remain flat and are fed normally and stacked one above the other as shown in FIGURE 6, none of them contacts the arms 114 of the switch arm 109. However, should one of the checks 12 be crumpled or distorted and come in contact with one or the other of the arms 114, the switch arm 109 will be rocked in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 3. This is accompanied by movement of an operating mm 115 at the upper end of the switch mm 109. At the extreme upper end the operating arm 115 carries an adjusting screw 116 which engages a switch operating arm 117 of a control switch 118. Theswitch 118 is mounted on the U-shaped bracket 24 and is provided with suitable contacts :as will be understood readily.

The switch 118 can be arranged to efiect any desired control function. For example, conductors 119 can be connected thereto for connection to an indicating lamp 120, FIGURE 2. Additional conductors 121 also are connected to the switch 118 and may be connected, as will be understood, to a suitable current source. Also, one or more of the conductors 121 can be connected to control the operation of the recording apparatus and may function to stop it upon the detection of a crumpled or distorted check.

In some instances it may be desirable to dispense with the document receiving table 72. It, together with the support arm 77 and the belt 63 with the parts associated therewith, can be removed as a unit by depressing the handles 51 on the springs 48 and sliding the flat plate 46 out of position between the inturned ends 22 of the depending sides 21 and the inturned arms of the angle brackets 47.

In order to provide for catching the checks 12 as they are fed from the document recording apparatus 10 basket slides 124 are provided as-shown in FIGURES 8 and 11 of the drawings. They are held by screws 125 to discs 126 which are secured to a shaft 127. Cooperating with the discs 126 are discs 128 which are secured to the lower ends of brackets 129 which depend from the side frame members 18 of the document recording apparatus 10. It will be observed that the discs 126 and 128 are serrated as indicated at 130 to hold the inner discs 128 in any position to which they may be adjusted. A hand wheel 131 is secured to one end of the shaft 127 to permit rotation thereof. A basket 132 provided with outstanding lips 133 is slidably mounted on the basket slides 124. An angle 134 underlying each lip 133 provides therewith a slot for receiving the inwardly extending flange or the respective basket slide 124. It will be understood that the basket 132 can be positioned as shown in FIGURE 8 of the drawings for receiving the checks after they have been recorded by the document recording apparatus. If desired, instead of removing the basket 132, it can be tilted out of the horizontal position so as to permit the replacement of the flat plate 46 and parts associated therewith for stacking the checks 12 one by one in the manner previously described.

Since certain changes can be made in the foregoing construction and difierent embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter shown in the accompanying drawings and described hereinbefore shall be interrupted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed as new is:

1. Document stacking means including a frame, a first shaft journaled on said frame and extending horizontally above a document as it enters the stacking means, a first pulley secured to said first shaft at a location midway the side edges of a document, means including a second shaft non-rotatably mounting thereon a second pulley disposed in aligned spaced relation with and slightly below said first pulley for rotation on said frame about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said first pulley, a first belt trained at a slight angle from the horizontal over said pulleys, a pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft on opposite sides of said second pulley each having a diameter greater than the diameter of said second pulley plus two thicknesses of said belt and having friction surfaces, a plate mounted on said frame below said belt, a pulley frame movably mounted upon said plate, spring means reacting between said pulley frame and said plate and urging said pulley frame upwardly, a pair of high center pulleys rotatably mounted in spaced relation on said pulley frame a distance apart substantially less than the distance between said first and second pulleys, a belt trained over said high center pulleys with the upper pass being juxtaposed to the lower pass of said first belt for engaging documents singly therebetween for movement toward said second pulley, support means movably mounted on said plate having a portion disposed underneath said pair of guide wheels, spring means biasing said support means to urge said portion thereof up:- wardly, and a document receiving table mounted on said portion of said support means and having a convex upper document receiving surface to which said pair of guide wheels are tangent in the absence of a document and between which documents are stacked one above the other in the order in which they are received.

2. Document stacking means including a frame, a first shaft journaled on said frame and extending horizontally above a document as it enters the stacking means, a first pulley secured to said first shaft at a location midway the ends of a document, means including a second shaft non-rotatably mounting thereon a second pulley disposed in aligned spaced relation with and slightly below said 7 first pulley for rotation on said frame about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said first pulley, a first belt trained at a slight angle from the horizontal over said pulleys, a pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft on opposite sides of said second pulley each having a diameter greater than the diameter of said second pulley plus two thicknesses of said belt and having friction surfaces, a plate mounted on said frame below said belt, 'a'pulley frame movably mounted upon said plate, spring means reacting between said pulley frame and said plate and urging said pulley frame upwardly, a pair of high center pulleys rotatably mounted in spaced relation on said pulley frame a distance apart substantially less than the distance between said first and second pulleys, a belt trained over said high center pulleys with the 7 upper pass being juxtaposed to the lower pass of said first belt for engaging documents singly therebetween for movement toward said second pulley, a support arm 'journaled at one end to the under side of and extending transversely of one end of said plate with the intermediate portion extending along one edge of said plate and the other end extending at right angles to said plate and centrally underneath said pair of guide wheels, spring means biasing said support arm to urge said other end thereof upwardly, and a document receiving table journaled at its under side to and located above said other end of said support arm and having a convex upper document receiving surface to which said pair of guide wheels aretangent in the absence of a document and between which documents are stacked one above the other in the order in which they are received.

3. Document stacking means including a frame, a first shaft journaled on said flame and extending horizontally above a document as it enters the stacking means, a first pulley secured to said first shaft at a location midway the ends of a document and having a toothed periphery, means including a second shaft non-rotatably mounting thereon a second pulley having a toothed periphery and disposed in aligned spaced relation with and slightly below said first pulley for rotation on said frame about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said first pulley, a belt trained at a slight angle from the horizontal over said toothed pulleys and having a smooth outer side and a toothed inner side whereby no slippage takes place between said belt and said toothed pulleys, a pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft on opposite sides of said second pulley each having a diameter greater than the diameter of said second pulley plus two thicknesses of said belt and having friction surfaces, 21 plate mounted on said frame below said toothed belt, a pulley frame movably mounted upon and extending transversely of said plate, spring means reacting between said pulley frame and said plate and urging said pulley frame up wardly, a pair of high center pulleys rotatably mounted on said pulleyt-frame a distance apart substantially less than the distance between said first and second pulleys, a belt trained over said high center pulleys with the upper pass being juxtaposed to the lower pass of said toothed belt for engaging documents singly therebetween for movement toward said second toothed pulley, support means movably mounted on said flat plate having a portion disposed underneath said guide wheels, spring means biasing said support means to urge said portion thereof upwardly,;and a document receiving table mounted on said portion of said support means and having a convex ,upper document receiving surface to which said pair of guide wheels are tangent in the absence of a document and between whichdocuments are stacked one above the other in the order in which they are received.

4. Document stacking means including a frame, afirst shaft journaled on said arm and extending horizontally above a document as it enters the stacking means, a'first pulley secured to said first'shaft at a location midway the ends of a document and having a toothed periphery,

means including'a second shaft 'non-rotatably mounting thereon a second pulley having a toothed periphery and disposed in aligned spaced relation with and slightly below said first pulley for rotation on said frame about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said first pulley, a belt trained at a slight angle from the horizontal over said toothed pulleys and having a smooth outer side and a toothed inner side whereby no slippage takes place between said belt and said toothed pulleys, a pair of guide Wheels fastened to said second shaft on opposite sides of said second pulley each having a diameter greater than the diameter of said second pulley plus two thicknesses of said belt and having friction surfaces, a plate mounted on said frame below said toothed belt, a pulley frame movably mounted upon and extending transversely of said plate, spring means reacting between said pulley frame and said plate and urging said pulley frame upwardly, a pair of high center pulleys rotatably mounted on said pulley frame a distance apart substantially less than the distance between said first and second pulleys, a belt trained over said high center pulleys with the upper pass being juxtaposed to the lower 'pass of said toothed belt for engaging documents singly therebetween for movement toward said second toothed pulley, support means movably mounted on said flat plate having a portion disposed vunderneath said guide wheels, spring means biasing said support means to urge said portion thereof upwardly, a document receiving table mounted on said portion of said support means and having a convex upper document receiving surface to which said pair of guide wheels are tangent in the absence of a document and between which documents are stacked one above the other in the order in which they are received, a bifurcated switch arm pivoted to said frame with the arms extending downwardly along opposite sides of said toothed belt and along and slightly above and biased toward the document path therebelow and movable upwardly in the event that a document extends thereabove, and switch means operated by said switch arm when the latter is engaged by a document as aforesaid.

5. Document stacking means including a frame, a first shaft journaled on said frame and extending horizontally above a document as it enters the stacking means, a first pulley secured to said first shaftat a location midway the ends :of a document'and having a toothed periphery, means including a second shaft non-rotatably mounting thereon a second pulley having 'a toothed periphery and disposed in aligned spaced relation with and slightly below said first pulley for rotation on said frame about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said first pulley,

'a belt trained at a slight angle from the horizontal over said toothed pulleys and having a smooth outer side and a toothed inner side whereby no slippage takes place between said belt and said toothed pulleys, a first pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft on opposite sides of said second pulley each having a diameter greater than the diameter of said second pulley plus two thicknesses of said, belt and having friction surfaces, a second pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft outwardly of and having diameters greater than the diameters of said first pair of guide wheels and having friction surfaces, a plate mounted on said frame 'below said toothed belt, a pulley frame movably mounted upon and extending transversely of said plate, spring means reacting between said pulley frame and said flat plate and urging said pulley frame upwardly, a pair of high center pulleys rotatably mounted on said pulley frame a distance apart substantially less than the distance between said first and second pulleys, a belt trained over said high center pulleys with the upper pass being juxtaposed to the lower pass of said toothed belt for engaging documents singly therebetween for movement toward said seco'ndtoothed pulley, support means movably mounted on said plate having a portion disposed underneath said guide wheels, spring means biasing said support means to urge said portion thereof upwardly, and a document receiving table mounted on said portion of said support means and having a convex upper document receiving surface to which said first and second pairs of guide wheels are tangent in the absence of a document and between which documents are stacked one above the other in the order in which they are received.

6. In combination with document recording apparatus having document feeding means including a pair of feed rollers one of which is driven and between which and a generally vertically extending curved guide plate along which elongated documents are fed singly sidewise; document stacking means including a frame, a first shaft journaled on said frame and extending horizontally above a document as it leaves the lower edge of said guide plate and driven together with said driven roller, a first pulley secured to said first shaft at a location midway the ends of a document and having a toothed periphery, means including a second shaft non-rotatably mounting thereon a second pulley having a toothed periphery and disposed in aligned spaced relation with and slightly below said first pulley for rotation on said frame about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said first pulley, a belt trained at a slight angle from the horizontal over said toothed pulleys and having a smooth outer side and a toothed inner side whereby no slippage takes place between said belt and said toothed pulleys, a first pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft on opposite sides of said second pulley each having a diameter greater than the diameter of said second pulley plus two thicknesses of said belt and having friction surfaces, a second pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft outwardly of and having diameters greater than the diameters of said first pair of guide wheels and having friction surfaces, a flat plate mounted on said frame below and parallel to said toothed belt between said first pulley and said guide pulley, a pulley frame movably mounted upon and extending transversely of said fiat plate, spring means reacting between said pulley frame and said fiat plate and urging said pulley frame upwardly, a pair of high center pulleys rotatably mounted on said pulley frame a distance apart substantially the same as the distance between said first toothed roller and said guide roller and aligned therewith, a belt trained over said high center pulleys with the upper pass being juxtaposed to the lower pass of said toothed belt for engaging documents singly therebetween for movement toward said second toothed pulley, said toothed belt being driven at a speed such that a document is moved thereby at a speed higher than it is fed to said belts by said feed rollers, support means movably mounted on said flat plate having a portion disposed underneath said guide wheels, spring means biasing said support means to urge said portion thereof upwardly, and a document receiving table mounted on said portion of said support means and having a convex upper document receiving surface to which said first and second pairs of guide wheels are tangent in the absence of a document and between which documents are stacked one above the other in the order in which they are received from said feed rollers.

7. In combination with document recording apparatus having document feeding means including a pair of feed rollers one of which is driven and between which and a generally vertically extending curved guide plate along which elongated documents are fed singly sidewise; document stacking means including a frame, a first shaft journaled on said frame and extending horizontally above pulley, a belt trained at a slight angle from the horizontal over said toothed pulleys and having a smooth outer side and a toothed inner side whereby no slippage takes place between said belt and said toothed pulleys, means rotatably mounting a toothed guide pulley on said frame midway between said first and second toothed pulleys in engagement with the lower pass of said belt and redirecting it at a slight angle away from the direction it is directed by said first and second pulleys, a first pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft on opposite sides of said second pulley each having a diameter greater than the diameter of said second pulley plus two thicknesses of said belt and having friction surfaces, a second pair of guide wheels fastened to said second shaft outwardly of and having diameters greater than the diameters of said first pair of guide wheels and having friction surfaces, a flat plate removab'ly mounted on said frame below and parallel to said toothed belt between said first pulley and said guide pulley, a pulley frame removably mounted upon and extending transversely of said flat plate, spring means reacting between said pulley frame and said fiat plate and urging said pulley frame upwardly, a pair of high center pulleys rotatably mounted on said pulley frame a distance apart substantially the same as the distance between said first toothed pulley and said guide pulley and aligned therewith, a belt trained over said high center pulleys with the upper pass being juxtaposed to the lower pass of said toothed belt for engaging documents singly therebetween for movement toward said second toothed pulley, said toothed belt being driven at a speed such that a document is moved thereby at a speed higher than it is fed to said belts by said feed rollers, a support arm journaled at one end to the under side of and extending transversely of one end of said fiat plate with the intermediate portion extending along one edge of said flat plate and the other end extending at right angles to said flat plate and centrally underneath said guide wheels, spring means biasing said support arm to urge said other end thereof upward, a document receiving table journaled at its under side to and located above said other end of said support arm and having a convex upper document receiving surface to which said first and second pairs of guide wheels are tangent in the absence of a document and between which documents are stacked one above the other in the order in which they are received from said feed rollers, a bifurcated switch arm pivoted to said frame with the arms extending dolwnwardly along opposite sides of said toothed belt and along and slightly above and biased toward the document path therebelow and movable upwardly in the event that a document extends thereabove, and switch means operated by said switch arm when the latter is engaged by a document as aforesaid.

8. In a device for stacking flexible documents, means for receiving documents and supporting the documents in a generally horizontal stack in which two opposite side edges of the document hang downwardly and the central portion between said two opposed side edges projects convexly upwardly relative to said side edges and extends from the front edge of the stack to the rear edge thereof, means positioned above the stack for engaging each document to be fed to the stack and pushing said document in a direction generally parallel to the side edges of the stack from a point to the rear of the stack at an acute angle against the central portion of the upper face of the stack at a point between the front and rear edges of the stack, and means for holding the portion of each document being pushed into engagement with the stack against the stack so that the front edge portion of each document is flexed along a line transverse to the direction of travel to stiffen the document and raise the front corner portions of the document above the stack as the central portion of the document engages the stack.

9. In a device for stacking flexible documents, a receiving table having a raised central portion for forming the central portion of a document supported thereby into a generally cylindrical projection raised above the two side edges of the document, means positioned above and behind the table for pushing a second document toward and generally parallel to the cylindrical projection at an acute angle relative thereto, and pressing means at a point along the cylindrical projection for holding the front edge of document against the projection and flexing the document transversely of the direction of movement thereof to raise the front corner portions of the document as the document is pushed into contact with and along the cylindrical projection.

10. In a document stacking device, a table member having a central ridge portion extending slightly upwardly from the rear end thereof to the front end thereof, a stop positioned at the front end of the table member, a feed member above the table member in a position juxtaposed to a portion of the ridge portion between the front and rear ends of the ridge portion and serving to advance each document fed thereto into engagement with the stop, resilient means urging the table member toward the feed member and permitting the V 7 table member to move downwardly as the stack of docuwardly and forwardly toward the point of engagement of the feed member and the stack, and means for holding the portions of the central document at opposite sides of the central portion of the document and at the pushing means depressed relative to the central portion of the document to stifien the document as it is pushed toward the stack.

11. In a document stacking device, means for supporting a stack of documents in a generally horizontal position, means for advancing a document from a position to the rear of and above the stack so that the front edge of the document engages the central portion of the top of the stack acutely and slides to the front edge of the stack, means for holding the document being fed onto the stack against the stack near the point at which the front edge of the document first engages the stack, and means for bowing along a line parallel to the direction of advance of the document the document being advanced toward the stack to'keep the side edges of the document and stack separate as the document approaches the stack.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,101,328 Broadmeyer Dec. 7, 1937 2,157,228 Buccicone et al May 9, 1939 2,772,880 Garrett Dec. 4, 1956 2,805,858 Hayes Sept. 10, 1957

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