US3083014A - Signature jogging and stacking mechanism - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm'm QMWAXW March 26, 1963 F. HOWDLE Em. 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 3w X 'MW March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND smcxmc MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5. 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 26, 19 63 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 AIR PESEEI/O/E g MAN/FOLD Marhh 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL' 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND $TACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 SKW March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed May 5, 1960 ma id hwm %e?w 81mm 3 March 26, 1963 F. E. HOWDLE ETAL 3,083,014

SIGNATURE JOGGING AND STACKING MECHANISM Filed May 5, 1960 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 ITT) s'awAaf d z" X'WMW United States Patent 3,083,014 SIGNATURE JOGGENG AND STAQKING MECHANISM Frederic E. Howdle, Wauwatosa, and John Rauenbuehler, Milwaukee, Wis., assi nors to Cutler-Hammer, Inc., Milwaukee, Win, a corporation of. Delaware Filed May 5,1960, Ser. No. 26996 21 Claims. (Cl. 271-39) This invention relates to mechanism for horizontallystacking magazine signatures deliveredv 'in an over-lapped stream from a press, and particularly to improved means for jogging the signatures into edge aligned stacks.

In modern machines for selecting and assembling signatures for binding it is essential, that the stacks of signatures be edge aligned to feed inthe bins and be properly aligned for binding.

The main object of this invention is to provide an efficient, high speedsautomaticv signature stacker and jogger which will accurately align magazine signatures horizontally superimposed in stacks.

Another object is to provide automatic means formaking such stacks of uniform predetermined height and for starting one stack while a preceding stack is discharged to an output conveyor.

These objects are accomplished by delivering the stream of overlapped signatures to be jogged and stacked between resilient bladed rotating paddle wheels which contact and lightly impact the opposite edges of the signatures to impart a jogging or vibratory action to the signatures as they are stacked. The paddle wheels rotate in' synchroniz ation at a peripheral speed slightly in excess of the speed of the. incoming signatures. This draws the signatures away from the delivery conveyor after release thereby and urges each signature against aback plate to align the leading edges of the signatures. as they are stacked. These paddles are inclined to provide a downward component of force on the sigatures as they are urged against such stop thuskeeping the signatures under slight compression as the stacking table drops during the forming of the stack. The paddle blades extend far enough below the incoming stream so that the vibratory action continues to operate on the upper signatures in the stack until enough signatures have been aligned toprovide enough weight to prevent shifting of the signatures in the stack after release from the jogging action of the paddle wheels. While the top. few signatures will-V give and momentarily warp under the compression force. of the blades, the signatures below being held by the weight of signatures on them will not readily warp. Hence, it is desirable to have the blades of resilient material so that there will be some flexing of that part of the blade which engages such lower signatures.

As the stack builds, up the stacking table is lowered until a stack of a desired size is-accumulated. Automaticv mechanism then simultaneously lowers the stacking table to discharge position and places an intercept blade in position to receive the incoming signatures until the stack has been discharged from the table and the table re turned to normal position. Such mechanism thenv withdraws the intercept blade dropping the signatures stacked" on it on the stacking table. During this intercept period thepaddle wheels have aligned the signatures on the intercept blade in the same manner as when stacked on the stacking table.

Other objects and advantages Will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims, as will obvious modifications of the two embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a magazine signature stacker and jogger for side folded signatures embodying the inice vention, part being broken away for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 2" is a front or receiving end view of the stacker and jogger of FIG. 1 with portions broken away, thestacking table being shown in its discharge position in broken lines;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of such stacker and jogger with the parts shown in initial operating position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of such stacker and jogger similar to FIG. 3 showing the stacking table in a lower position and the intercept blade in intercept position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a stacker FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic view of the stacker andjogger showing; the positions of the table, and intercept blade at the instant before the table is lowered to discharge position;

Referring to the drawings; signatures. tobe jogged intoedge aligned stacks; are" delivered from the press to the stacker and jogger in an overlapped stream on a wire;

belt conveyon The frame. of the stacker and joggerisof standard. design: and its structural elements are not identifiediby reference numerals; Rubber toothed roller 10; the last roller in the delivery conveyor (not shown), is: mounted onftlie, frame and driven by the conveyor wires: 11'to inject. the signatures into' the stacker and. jogger. Forming fingers 12 are pivotally mounted. on: the frame and normally: occupy an advanced. or downwardly angled position (see FIG. 3') to divert thestreanr of signatures downward between. a pair of opposed front paddle wheels 14. to the top of a stacking table. The paddle wheels 14 as Well as a. similar pair of paddle wheels 2'4 are mounted on shafts rotatably connected to the frame and simultaneously driven atthe same speed by a chain and sprocket transmission 18 connected to a motor 16. A linkage (not. shown) may interconnect movably mounted bearings for the shafts so that the paddl'e'. wheels. may be relatively' adjusted to accommodate different width signatures. In operation the paddle wheel spacing is adjusted to slightly less than the width of the signatures to be jogged. The paddle wheels have vanes 19, FIGS. 4, 5 and 8, which are resilient enough to flex as they engage the edges of the. stream of signatures. The peripheral speed of the paddle wheels is about ten percent greater than thevelocity of the incoming signatures" Thus the signatures are given a multilicity of slight impacts on opposite edges. These im-. pacts. also have acomponent force urging the signatures forward and into engagement with a stop wall consisting of stop members 26, 27, and 29- (see FIG 8).. Thus as the signatures are piled up one on another in a horizontal layerized stack the upper ones. are continually vibrated by these impacts which align their edges from, three sides as the stack grows in height. Once a suflicient number of signatures have been stacked their weight is suflicient to maintain the stack in the evenalignment impartedby the jogging action.

The stack of signatures builds up on a stacking table consisting of a plurality of spaced parallel bars 21, FIG.

3 1 mounted on a transverse plate 13; carried on the end of piston rod 90. One of these bars :21a, FIGS. 8 and 9, has a slotted end which travels on a guide 20 to maintain the proper alignment of the table during the up and down movement of the table which occurs in the stack forming and discharge operation described below.

An important feature of this invention is the inclining of the axis of rotation of the paddle wheels 14 and 24 about 15 to provide a downward thrust in the direction of the forward thrust. As the paddle wheels engage the signatures and thrust them forward they will also thrust them downwardly. Since the stacking table is continually dropping, those topmost signatures which are still contacted by the paddle wheels would be held up and might not readily lower with the stack unless the paddle wheels were inclined as shown. Furthermore, during a stack discharge period when the intercept blade 46 shown in FIGS. 4, 8 and is in operative position and the forming fingers 12 raised, the stream of signatures due to their speed would tend to unduly rise to sail up and not properly stack on the intercept blade if it were not for'the action of the inclined paddle wheels. To provide further protection against such sailing, the vanes 19 have enlarged areas or wings 22 at the top.

The back paddle wheels 24 perform an additional jogging an aligning action on the signatures in the same manner as paddle wheels 14. With large size signatures the use of both sets of paddle wheels is advisable because the aligning impacts occur at spaced points on the sides of the signatures thereby improving the evenness of the stack.

The signatures finally come to rest on the stacking table with their leading edges against a central stop wall 26 and side stop walls 27. Table bars 21!) and 21d extend beyond wall 26 to prevent signatures from getting caught between the bars and the wall, as viewed in FIG. 9. Bar 21e serves to actuate limit switch 70 having a function described below. Stop walls 26, 27, 27 extend downwardly below the top table position shown in FIG. 1 to maintain alignment of the leading edges of the stacked signatures as'the table is lowered prior to stack discharge.

Rather than removing a stack of signatures from the table manually and in stacks of various heights according to the workmans whim, as is common in several signature joggers currently on the market, it is desirable to fully automatize the stacking procedure so that stacks of uniform height are accumulated in the stacker and jogger and then discharged onto a conveyor for delivery to the next work station. The way these stacks are accumulated in the stacker and jogger and discharged therefrom is next described. In order for the stacker and jogger both to continuously receive signatures and to discharge uniform jogged stacks of signatures it is necessary to provide means for lowering the table out of its normal signature receiving position to deliver the stacks to an output or discharge conveyor 28 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and at the same time an intercept mechanism must be provided to receive the signatures delivered to the jogger. These operations are controlled by several limit switches having control levers located for actuation by movement of various jogger components. The limit switches control solenoid valves which in turn control fluid cylinders which move the jogger parts in the desired sequence. For the sake of clarity, the sequential actuation of the limit switches and the efiect of such actuation on the position of the jogger parts will be described without explaining the particular valve and pressure cylinder cooperation necessary to accomplish the stated result. The general description will be followed by a detailed description of limit switch, valve, and fluid cylinder cooperation.

*When the intercept blade 46 is inthe retracted position, shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, actuating lever 30 of limit switch 32 shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6 energizes the switch thereby keeping the forming fingers 12 in the advanced position for diverting signatures down to the paddle wheels and supplying air pressure to the table lowering mecha nism. The table does not lower, however, until the next described cycle occurs. As the stack of signatures builds up on the table one of the control arms 34 shown in FIGS. 3 and 8, which normally rides on actuating lever 36 of limit switch 38, is lifted oh the arm. Control arms 34 serve to guide the signatures to the top of the stack as well as sensing stack height. This closes switch 38 which permits the pressure in air and oil cylinder 86 to lower the table slowly until lever 36 is again contacted by the arm. The table lowers at a speed slightly in excess of the rate of stack buildup at maximum jogger speed. Limit switch 38 is intermittently opened and closed in this manner until the stack height control 40 contacts lever 42 of limit switch 44 shown in FIG. 3. Actuation of switch 44 causes intercept blade 46 to advance to a position overlying the top of the signatures stacked on the table. The intercept blade side edges each are captured between spaced guide plates 47 which guide the blade between retracted and extended positions. When side folded signatures are being jogged the blade tip 48 is located to one side of the jogger as shown in FIG. 4. When the intercept blade reaches the intercept position it actuates lever 50 of limit switch 52 shown in FIG. 4 which actuates air cylin-- der 124 thereby moving side blade 54 to overlap tip 48 of the intercept blade. This side blade is only necessary when side folded signatures are being stacked and serves to prevent the intercept blade from slipping between the signature body and folded flap which would disrupt the stacking operation. Advance of side blade '54 into intercept position actuates lever 56 of limit switch 58 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 which actuates air cylinder 102 thereby causing the forming fingers 12 to retract out of the way of the intercept blade to the position shown in FIG. 4. Incoming signatures then begin a stack on the intercept blade and the leading edges of these signatures are arrested and aligned by stop wall 29. Switch 58 also energizes timer solenoid 60 shown in FIG. 6 which times out in about 2 seconds, which is time enough for the paddles to pull the last signature into position on the table, as shown in FIG. 10, and then actuates air and oil cylinder 86 which quickly lowers the table toward the discharge position. When the table reaches the fully lowered position, the rollers 62 of the discharge conveyor 28 extend upward between the table parallel bars, shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, so that the stack of signatures (shown in broken lines) is picked up and carried away to the side on the discharge conveyor 28. When the stack clears the jogger it trips lever 64 of limit switch 66 which actuates the table raising mechanism.

When the table has returned to its top position it actuates lever 68 of limit switch 70 shown in FIG. 3 which actuates air cylinder 116 shown in FIG. 1 which retracts the intercept blade by means of rod 118 connected to the blade through bracket 119 shovm in FIGS. 4 and 5. When the intercept blade is retracted stop wall 29'wipes the stack on the blade off the blade causing the stack to drop on the table which has returned to its top position. Limit switch 70 also actuates a control panel relay 72 which retracts the side blade and drops out the mechanism which returned the table to its top position. When the intercept blade is retracted it again bears against lever 30 of limit switch 32 and the jogger is ready for another cycle of operation.

When the jogger is to be used for leading edge folded signatures, the side blade assembly is omitted and an intercept blade is substituted which has its tip 51 behind the center forming linger as shown in FIG. 5. Operation of this type machine is the same as that described above except that limit switch 52 shown in FIG. 1 is omitted and limit switch 58 shown in FIG. 3 is repositioned for actuation by the intercept blade when it reaches the intercept position. The operation ofswitch 58 remains the same. In this modification limit switch 70 is still acluated when the table is returned to top position, but the circuit for retracting the side blade is omitted, the other circuits connected to switch 70 remaining the same.

The paddle motor 16 and conveyor motor are connected in a conventional manner, shown in FIG. 6, for control by contactor solenoids 17- and 23, respectively.

The valves of the jogger are illustrated schematically in FIG. 7. The system includes four. 4-way valves each having'two control solenoids associated therewith. Each 4-way valve is shown twice, once in each fiow condition. The solenoid which produces the illustrated flow condition is shown connected to the box representing that fiow condition. For example, when solenoid 74 is described hereafter as being actuated the flow condition of valve 76 is as illustrated in box A and the valve should be imagined as having outlet ports 80 and 78 connected to oil reservoirline 82 and to air cylinder line 84, respectively. The air lines have been broken away in all views to avoidcluttering the drawings.

The table is supported in. its top position by an air andoil cylinder 86 having a piston88 connected through red 90 to the table. When the intercept blade is retracted (as shown in FIG. 1), actuating lever. is, moved; to close limit switch 32,. FIG. 4, which causes solenoid 74 to actuate valve. 76 to the .flow condition shown in box A. This exerts air pressure on. the top of piston 88 and exhausts the oil reservoir pressure thereby tending to lower the table. However, the table is maintained in its top position because 2- way valves 92 and 94, controlled by solenoids 9.6 and 98, respectively, are in. their normally closed positions thereby maintaining sufficient pressure beneath piston. 88 to overcome the pressure exerted above the piston. When limit switch 32. is closed it energizes solenoid 100, which actuates valve 131 to admitpressurc to-forming fingersv cylinder 102 to the left of piston 104 and. ashaft 106 is connected through a linkage to the forming fingers to hold. them in advance position. When limit switch 38 is closed by abuild-up'in stack height, solenoid 98 actuates valve 94 to. openposition thereby exhausting pressure from under piston 88 to the extent permitted by needle type flow control valve 108. Valve 108 is adjusted to pass a. small flow so that the piston is lowered slowly. As soon, as the table lowers a short distance limit switch 38. is again opened and this deenergizes solenoid. '98. thereby closing valve 94 and arresting the downward movement of the table. The intermittent table lowering continues until stack height control shown in FIG. 3 trips lever 42 to close limit switch 44. When lever 42 is tripped, solenoid 110. is energized which actuates valve 112 to the position shown in box B. thereby building presure to the. right (asviewed in FIG. 7) of piston 114 of the intercept blade cylinder 116'which movesrod 1 18 thereby advancing the intercept blade into the extended position shown in FIG. 4. When the intercept blade is'fully extended it actuates limit switch- 52 which energizes. solenoid 120. which actuates valve 122 to. the position shown in box B. thereby admitting air pressure into side blade cylinder 124. to the right of piston 126. Piston 126 is connected. through rod 128 to the side. blade to move the side blade into intercept position. When the side blade reaches its extended position, it trips limit switch 58 which closes and energizes solenoid 130 whichmoves valve 131 to the position shown in box B thereby admitting air' to cylinder 102 to the right of piston 104 so that the forming fingers are moved to intercept position. Limit switch'58 also energizes. a timer solenoid- 60 which times out and then closes contact 61 to energize solenoid. 96 which opens valve 92 which exhausts thepressure below piston 88 thereby quickly lowering the table. When the stack of signatures isdischarged and limit switch 66 is closed, solenoid 132 is energized and actuates valve 76- to the position shown in box B. Limit switch 66 also energizes control relay 134 which maintains itself through contact 136 and energizes solenoid 98 and solenoid 96 by closing contacts 138 and 14.0,- respectively, so that fluidpressure freely passes through the valves associatedtherewith into cylina der 86 thereby raising the table. When the table-reaches the top of its travelit closes limit switch 70 which energizes solenoid 142 which actuates valve 112 to the.posi-. tion. shown in box A, thereby moving piston. 114m the right to retract the intercept blade.. Limit switch 70- also energizes control relay 72 which closes contact 73 to energizesolenoid 144 which moves valve 122 to the box A position to supply air pressure to theleft of piston 126 to retract the side blade. Control relay 72 also. opens contact 75 to drop out control. relay 134 and to deenergize solenoid 132, solenoid '98'and solenoid- 96. which seals off the table cylinder below the piston thereby maintaining suificient pressure therein to hold. the table in elevated position. When the intercept blade returns to retracted position, it closes limit switch 32 thereby energizing solenoid 74 which returns valve 76 to the position. shown in box A. Limit switch. 32 also energizes solenoid to actuate valve 131 to the position shown in box B in which air is admitted to the right of piston 104 to advance the forming fingers to normal position. The abovedescribed cycle will then be repeated.

Although but two embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes-and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope ofthe appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a machine for receiving an incoming stream of sheets and for stacking and aligning the edges of said sheets as they are stacked, a stacking table on which the sheets are received from the incoming stream andon which the sheets are stacked in layers parallel to" the plane of the table, a plurality of rotatable members for contacting opposite sides of the sheets, means for sup? porting said rotatable members for rotation on axes nearly transverse to the plane of said table, means for rotating said members at a predetermined speed whereby portions of said members contact opposite edges of said sheets as the latter arrive over the table to advance and jog saidsheets to align the edges thereof, and stop means against which the leading edges of the sheets are stopped as, the sheets are advanced by the rotatable members to. align the leading edges thereof as the sheets are stacked on the table.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, where; said means for rotating said members comprises. means for driving said members at uniform peripheral speeds slightly in excess of the speed of the incoming stream of sheets.

3. The invention defined in claim 1, together with means operative for lowering said stacking table'as said sheets are stacked thereon.

4. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said supporting means comprises means for supporting said rotatable members whereby their axes of rotation are at an angle to the plane of said table to provide a downward thrust on said sheets as they are advanced and jogged and stacked on said table.

5. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein said rotatablemembers comprise paddle wheels having angularly spaced resilient vanes with edges of said vanes contacting the edges of the sheets in the stream.

6. The invention defined in claim 1 together withguide means, means for supporting said guide means for automatic movement to deflect the stream downwardly toward said stacking table or to allow said stream to enter without such deflection, an intercept blade, means for supporting said intercept blade for movement into a stream receiving position, and means for controlling movement of said intercept blade in synchronism with said guide means.

7. The invention defined in claim 6, wherein said rotatable members comprise paddle wheels having radial vanes for engaging the opposite edges of the sheets, the upper portions of said vanes having wings of longer radial length than the lower portions thereof whereby said sheets while undefiected by said guide means are prevented from riding upwardly on said paddle wheels.

8. The invention defined in claim 7, wherein said supportingmeans comprises means for supporting said rotatable members so that their axes of rotation are at an angle less than ninety degrees to the plane of said stacking table to impart a downward thrust on said stream of sheets as advanced onto said intercept blade;

9. In a machine for stacking and aligning the edges of an incoming stream of sheets,,at least one pair of spaced resilient rotatable members, means for supporting said members so that the axes of rotation thereof are at a small angle to a plane perpendicular to the plane of a sheet delivered between said members, said supporting means also spacing said members lightly to contact the opposite side edges of each sheet passing therebetween, means for rotating said members so that opposed portions thereof advance said sheets, receiving means for collecting sheets passing between said members, means for aligning the leading edges of said sheets collected on said receiving means whereby 'an even edged stack of sheets is collected on said receiving means, stack discharge means operable to remove a stack of sheets from said receiving means, and intercept means operable to receive sheets advanced by said members during operation of said discharge means.

10. The invention defined in claim 9, whereinsaid stack discharge means comprises means for retracting said receiving means from its normal position, and conveyor means for cooperation with said receiving means in its fully retracted position to carry away the sheets stacked on said receiving means. a 11. The invention defined in claim 10, wherein said intercept means is normally retracted from its sheet receiving position when said receiving means is in its sheet receiving position, and means for operating said intercept means comprising means for extending said intercept means into sheet receiving position when said receiving means is retracted from its normal position.

12. The invention defined in claim 11, wherein said intercept means comprises :an intercept blade which is extendable into sheet receiving position above the normal position of said receiving means, said blade having an elongated tip adjacent one longitudinal edge thereof, a side blade extendable to overlap said tip of said intercept blade whereby side folded sheets are guided to the top of :said intercept blade thereby preventingimpaling such sheets, and means responsive to extension of said intercept blade for controlling extension of said side blade.

13. The invention defined in claim 11, wherein said intercept means comprisesan intercept blade which is extendable into sheet receiving position above the normal position of said receiving means, and said interceptblade having an elongated tip at the center of the leading edge thereof for guiding leading edge folded sheets on top of said intercept blade.

14. The invent-ion defined in claim 9, together with guide means normally extended when said receiving means .is in its normal position and being effective to direct sheets between said rotatable members, and means for retracting .said guide means during operation of said discharge'means whereby said guide means does not interfere with said intercept means.

15. The invention defined in claim 10, together with means for gradually retracting said receiving means in .response to stacking'of'sheets thereon, and sensing means .for controlling full retraction of said receiving means .when the sheets stacked on said receiving means attain a predetermined height.

16. In a sheet stacker, a d jogger;

(a) a supporting frame;

(b) a stacking table mounted on said frame for receivin g sheets in a horizontal plane;

(c) means for moving a stream of sheets onto said stacking table;

(d) a pair of rotatable jogger members;

(6) means mounting said members at opposite sides of said table so that said stream of sheets is moved therebetween and each said member havingits axis of rotation in a vertical plane;

(3) means for rotating said jogger members in syn chronism in respectively opposite directions;

(g) and means on said jogger members operative when rotated to engage concurrently and intermittently opposite edges of each incoming sheet to advance and jog the same thereby to aline the edges thereof with the edges of the preceding sheets in the stack.

17.The invention defined in claim 16, wherein said mounting. means comprises means maintaining the axes of rotation of said jogger members leaning downstream so that they are at an acute angle to the surface of said table whereby said jogger members impart to the sheets a downward thrust.

'18. The invention defined in claim 16, wherein said means for rotating said jogger members comprises means for imparting thereto peripheral speeds slightly greater than the speed of the sheets whereby to impart to said sheets forward thrusts.

19. The invention defined in claim 16, wherein said means for moving said stream of sheets comprises a driven roller journaled in said frame for rotation on a horizontal axis for receiving a stream of sheets and for injecting said stream of sheets between said jogger members.

20. The invention defined in claim 16, together with a second pair of rotatable jogger members like said first pair thereof, said mounting means comprising means similarly mounting said second pair of jogger members spaced in the direction of said stream from said first pair of jogger members a distance whereby both pairs of members are effective to engage a single sheet, and said means for rotating said first pair of jogger members comprises means for rotating said second pair of jogger members in synchronism with said first pair thereof whereby additional jogging and sheet edge alinement are obtained.

' 21. The invention defined in claim 16, together with: (a) means responsive to increase in the height of the Y stack on said table for causing slow lowering of the table;

(b) means responsive to predetermined lowering of the table indicating a full stack for causing interception of the stream of sheets and fast lowering of the table;

(c) means responsive to lowering of the table fully for conveying the stack away therefrom;

(0.) means responsive to said stack being conveyed away for causing fast raising of the table;

(e) and means responsive to the table being raised for terminating interception of the stream of sheets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kile et al., Apr.

Claims (1)

1. IN A MACHINE FOR RECEIVING AN INCOMING STREAM OF SHEETS AND FOR STACKING AND ALIGNING THE EDGES OF SAID SHEETS AS THEY ARE STACKED, A STACKING TABLE ON WHICH THE SHEETS ARE RECEIVED FROM THE INCOMING STREAM AND ON WHICH THE SHEETS ARE STACKED IN LAYERS PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF THE TABLE, A PLURALITY OF ROTATABLE MEMBERS FOR CONTACTING OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE SHEETS, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID ROTATABLE MEMBERS FOR ROTATION ON AXES NEARLY TRANSVERSE TO THE PLANE OF SAID TABLE, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID MEMBERS AT A PREDETERMINED SPEED WHEREBY PORTIONS OF SAID MEMBERS CONTACT OPPOSITE EDGES OF SAID SHEETS AS THE LATTER ARRIVE OVER THE TABLE TO ADVANCE AND JOG SAID SHEETS TO ALIGN THE EDGES THEREOF, AND STOP MEANS AGAINST WHICH THE LEADING EDGES OF THE SHEETS ARE STOPPED AS THE SHEETS ARE ADVANCED BY THE ROTATABLE MEMBERS TO ALIGN THE LEADING EDGES THEREOF AS THE SHEETS ARE STACKED ON THE TABLE.

Images