US3463481A - Collator - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 26, 1969 w, THQMAS ETAL 3,463,481

COLLATOR Filed Jan. 31, 1967 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS WILBUR E. THOMAS ARTHUR T. NICKOLAUS .PQW, PM 15% ATTORNEY Aug. 26, 1969 w, THOMAS ETAL 3,463,481

COLLATOR Filed Jan. 31, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS WILBUR E. THOMAS BY ARTHUR T. NICKOLAUS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,463,481 COLLATOR Wilbur E. Thomas, 165 Hillcrest Drive, Wayne, NJ.

07470, and Arthur T. Nickolaus, 212 Colfax Ave.,

Pomptou Lakes, NJ. 07442 1 Filed Jan. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 612,984 Int. Cl. B65h 39/04 US. Cl. 270-58 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A collating device wherein the collating arms are linked together, and pivot collectively from the paper trays to a latched position, whereby paper may be loaded intothe trays.

This invention relates generally to collators, and specifically to collators in which the ejector arms and ejector feet may'be collectively raised out of engagement with the paper in the paper trays, and retained in that disengaged position, for convenience reloading the paper trays.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a collator in which the paper trays may be easily reloaded without individually manipulating the ejector arms out of the way of the stack of paper being placed in the trays.

It is another object of the invention to provide an ejector arm assembly which is automatically set for an ejection operation after the trays are loaded.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an extension track in a collator for ejector feet fingers to ride up on so that shorter than normal sheets of paper may be collated; in collating shorter sheets, the fingers ride off the short sheet onto the extension track.

In collating devices, the trays have to be periodically replenished with paper sheets, and the arms carrying the feed feet have to be manually raised so that the insertion of the paper is not obstructed by the ejector foot. It has been found that a construction may be devised wherein the arms carrying the ejector feet are simultaneously raised to permit the unobstructed deposit of additional sheets in each tray.

In collators, adaptability for various sizes of paper is highlyjdesirable but is not always an available feature, because the feed stroke of the ejector foot may ride beyond the paper stop when shorter than normal sheets are collated. It has been found that ,a movablepaper stop can be applied to the feed tray, and the paper stop can be provided with a'pivotable stroke, when shorter sheets are being fed.

In collating devices, sheets of paper sometimes tend to deform and twist while they are being fed by the feed foot. This becomes a special problem when narrower full-width sheets are being fed, since the feed finger would normally ride in the center of the tray, but would bedisposed off center with respect to the narrower sheets of paper. It has been found that a feed .ar-m may be used which is adjustable to the right or left of the center, thereby to accommodate narrower sheets of paper depending on whether they are positioned to right or left of the center. In this manner, any tendency of the paper to move out of the tray askew may be overcome by the proper repositioning of the feed arm and the feed .foot. This permits the paper to be moved out of the tray in linear fashion.

It is yet anotherobject of the invention to provide an of variant lengths of paper, and off center for use with narrower sheets of paper.

These objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages may be attained by the device shown by way of illustration in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of :a collating device with the side wall exploded away;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of an adjustable paper tray with the paper stop in place; I

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a paper stop with a pivotable track for an ejector foot;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of a paper stop;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of an undercarriage, a cross arm and motor drive;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a vertical ejector arm support;

FIGURE 7 is a view of the pivot arm for the ejector arm support;

FIGURE 8 is a view of the ejector arm support mounted on the square ejector arm cross shaft; and

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of the engagement of the ejector arm with the ejector arm support to provide the lift for the ejector arm when the ejector arm support is rotated with the square ejector arm shaft.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the collator provides a housing 11 generally rectangular in form. A plurality of tracks 12 are disposed in superposed relation, one to the other, attached to the side wall in the housing 11, and extending longitudinally therein from the open front of the housing to the rear. On these tracks 12, paper trays 13 are disposed. The tracks slant downwardly toward the rear at an angle of approximately 10 degrees, although this angle is not critical. Into each track, a paper tray 13 is inserted. The paper tray 13 is provided with a thin central sheet 14 of high friction material which serves to keep the lowest sheet in the stack within the confines of the tray 13, and, likewise, the superposed sheets are frictionally engaged with each other and are kept in the tray 13. A paper stop 15 is located in the tray to maintain the sheets lying in the tray with their front edges in general registration with the outer edge 16 of the tray. This paper stop 15 is provided with upwardly extending flanges 17 against which the rear edges of the sheet to be collated are arranged in abut ment. As will be seen from FIGURE 4 the bottom of the paper stop 15 has L-shaped, struck-out fingers 18 which engage the holes 19 in the paper tray 13 for positioning the paper stop. The paper stop 15 has a pivotable track 20. The track 20 may be lifted so that its forward end 21 will lie on top of the stack of papers. In this manner, when a short sheet is to be positioned in the tray and ejected therefrom, the conventional feedfoot (not shown) will ride up on the track and not be damaged by contact with the paper stop. A plurality of holes 19 are provided in the tray 13 so that the paper stop may be adjusted to accommodate sheets of paper of varying lengths. It is also noted that some of the holes 22 are provided offset from the center of the tray 13 so that, when a narrower sheet of, paper is positioned in the tray 13 for ejection, the paper stop 15 may be offset from the center of the tray 13 and the track 21 on the paper stop 15 may be similarly offset. This feature is desirable since the ejector arms are adjustable and may also be offset, as will hereinafter be described.

On the opposite sides of the housing 11, there are provided undercarriage tracks 23. These tracks 23 provide surfaces for an undercarriage .24 to reciprocate on. The undercarriages 24 is is made of a pair of generally vertically disposed members 25 arranged at opposite sides of the housing 11 and interconnected by a transverse member 26. Mounted on the vertical members 25, there are brackets 29. The brackets 29 mount roller bearings 27 rotating in a vertical plane and roller bearings 28 rtating in a horizontal plane. The transverse member 26 interconnecting the brackets 29 functions as a track for rotary cam 30. A motor (not shown) in the base of the housing 11 rotates an arm 31 which is connected to the cam and in this manner, the undercarriage 25 is caused to move back and forth longitudinally within the housing 11. Vertical cross-arm holders 32 are mounted on the undercarriage 24 and are provided with a plurality of holes through which are passed square shafts 33 which pass between the trays. The shafts 33 are connected to the holders 32 by C-washers 34 and are free to rotate in round holes in the holders 32. Each square shaft 33 has attaced thereto, :at one end adjacent to the cross-arm holder a link 35. The opposite end of these links are pivotably attached to a general vertical control rod 36. Thus, when the control rod 36 is raised, all of the links have square holes 37 and rotate the square shafts 33. Ejector arm supports 38 mounted on the square shafts 33 are thereby raised. Generally at the center of the vertical control rod 36, a pivotable lift lever 58 is attached and is similarly pivotably attached to the vertical crossarm holder 32. At the end of this lift lever 38, a pivotable detent 39 is mounted, and a spring 40 is attached to the upper end of the detent 39. The spring 40 normally urges the lower end of the detent 39 in a forward and upward direction (see FIGURE 7). The lower end of this detent is normally positioned below a shoulder 41 in the housing 11 which defines a seat for the detent. At the front of the housing, a vertically slidable lifter 42 engages and raises the lifter lever 58. This permits the detent 39 to ride over the seat 41; in passing the seat 41, the spring 40 is overcome as the seat deflects the detent 39. When the detent 39 rises above the seat 41, the spring 40 restores the detent 39 to normal position, and the detent 39 now rests upon the seat 41. In this position, all of the square shafts 33 have been rotated by the links 35 and the ejector arms 45 have thereby been raised and held in raised position, so that the ejector feet (not shown) :are raised from contact with the paper in the trays. The raising of the ejector arms 45 and the ejector feet above the top surface of the paper in the trays 13 permits the replenishment of the stack of paper sheets in each of the trays 13 without the need for manually lifting each of the ejector arms 45 and ejector feet out of the way. When the drive motor is reactivated, the movement of the undercarriage 24 draws the detent 39 off the seat 41, and permits the square shafts 33 to rotate back to their normal position. Thus, the ejector arms 45 are automatically reset for the ejection operation.

The elevation of the ejector arms 45 and the ejector feet out of contact with the top sheet of the stack of papers in each tray 13 is accomplished in the following manner. Each square shaft 33 is provided with an ejector arm support 38 which is a generally square bracket having a rear end wall 46 which is vertical and side walls 47, 47 which are vertical. The side walls have square holes 37 to receive the square shafts 33. It will be seen that the rotation of the square shafts 33 will accomplish the rotation of the ejector arms 45. At the end of the ejector arm 45, there is provided an ejector arm axle 48. The ejector arm 45 has a generally vertical end wall 49 which impinges upon the generally horizontal bottom 50 of the ejector arm support 58. The bottom wall 50 of the ejector arm support 38 and the vertical end wall 49 of the ejector arm 45 are dimensioned (as will be seen in FIGURE 9) to engage each other so that the ejector arm 45 will be raised from the top of the stack of papers in the tray 13 when the ejector :arm support 38 is ivoted upwardly as shown by the solid lines in FIG- URE 9. In this manner, all of the ejector arms 45 and ejector feet are simultaneously raised from contact with the top sheet of paper, and great convenience in loading trays is accomplished. Furthermore, the ejector arms 45 are automatically lowered when the motor is restarted.

It is noted that the adjustability of the paper stop is for shorter or longer sheets and the provision of a track 20 upon which ejector feet may ride, without damage, accomplishes a collator of exceptional versatility for use with sheets of many lengths and widths.

It is also noted that the positioning of the paper stop for narrow sheets of paper considerably enhances the versatility of the collar for use not only with long and short sheets but also with wide and narrow sheets. Likewise, the offset positioning of the ejector arm 45 and ejector feet accomplishes the ejection of paper in a linear manner in spite of the use of sheets of paper which are narrower than the width of the tray. The ejector arm support 58 is provided with square holes which fit the square shafts 33 with very close tolerances so that the supports 58 may be frictionally positioned at any point along the shafts 33 which the supports 58 may he slid along the shafts 33.

The ejector foot may be any one of a number of ejector feet in general use, such as the foot referred to in US. Patent No. 2,844,370.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being within the scope of the appended claims, although they are not specifically catalogued herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A collator comprising (a) a plurality of trays for supporting stacks of sheets,

(b) a reciprocatable carriage,

(c) a driving means for the carriage,

(d) sheet ejectors connected to the carriage and normally engaging the top sheet of each stack in each tray,

(e) control means mounted on the carriage and connected to the ejectors to simultaneously disengage each ejector from the top sheet of the stack in each tray,

(f) a detent pivotably attached to the control means,

(g) an elevated seat positioned to receive the detent when the control means is lifted, and the ejectors are disengaged from the top sheets and to hold the ejectors elevated in that position,

(h) the detent riding off the seat when the carriage is reciprocated, whereby the control means falls, and the ejectors are returned to engagement with the top sheet of each stack,

(i) paper stops engageable at selected positions in the trays, wherein the improvement also comprises,

(j) tracks for the ejectors to ride upon, pivotably attached to the paper stops, and extending forwardly therefrom over the top of the stacks of papers in each tray.

2. A collator comprising (a) the device according to claim 1, and

(b) pairs of upstanding flanges on either side of the tracks.

3. A collator comprising (a) the device according to claim 1, and

(b) fingers on the bottom of the paper stops engageable and disengageable with variously located holes in the trays.

4. A collator comprising the device according to claim 1,

and in which the control means comprises (a) a generally vertical member,

(b) a plurality of shafts rotatably attached to the vertical member,

(0) links rigidly attached to the shafts,

(d) ejector arm supports rigidly attached to the shafts,

(c) ejector arms pivotably attached to the ejector arm supports,

5 6 (f) the ejectors attached to the ejector arms, 2,993,692 7/ 1961 Thomas 270-58 (g) portions of the ejector arm supports engaging por- 3,152,801 10/ 1964 Quinn et a1. 270-58 tions of the ejector arms as the ejector arms com- 3,193,278 7/1965 Ullberg 27058 Inence to pivot upwardly, to prevent the ejector arms 3,269,721 8/ 1966 Taylor et a1. 270-5 8 from pivoting downwardly- 5 3,353,324 11/1967 Pierson et a1 271 42 X References Cited EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,314,243 3/1943 Potter 271 42 2,770,456 11/1956 Magarinos et a1. 27058 10 U.S. c1. X.R. 2,844,370 7/1958 Thomas 271-42 271-42 PAUL V. WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner

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