US3567217A - Method and apparatus for collating sheet copies from a duplicating device - Google Patents

Abstract

A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUALLY COLLATING SHEET COPIES FROM A REPRODUCTION MACHINE IS DISCLOSED. THE APPARATUS COMPRISES A ROTATABLE DRUM HAVING A MULTIPLICITY OF COPY-RECEIVING BINS ABOUT ITS CIRCUMFERENCE. THE DRUM IS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON A PLATFORM AND SO SIZED THAT DESIRED ONES OF THE BINS THEREIN CAN BE ALIGNED WITH THE OUTPUT STATION OF A DUPLICATING DEVICE BY MANUAL ROTATION OF THE DRUM. SPRING-BIASED DETENT MEANS ARE PROVIDED TO YIELDABLY SECURE THE DRUM IN ANY ONE OF ITS DISCRETE ANGULAR POSITIONS. THE DISCLOSED METHOD INCLUDES THE STEPS OF MANUALLY MOVING A SELECTED ONE OF A PLURALITY OF COPY RECEIVING BINS ALONG A CIRCULAR PATH INTO COPYRECEIVING RELATION TO A REPRODUCTION MACHINE DISCHARGE STATION, OPERATING THE MACHINE TO EJECT A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF COPIES INTO THE SELECTED BIN, AND TERMINATING THE PRODUCTION OF COPYING WHILE MANUALLY ROTATING THE NEXT OF A SELECTED BINS INTO COPY-RECEIVING RELATION TO THE MACHINE.

Description

March 2, 1971 J, F|NK EI'AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLATING SHEET COPIES FROM A DUPLICATING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 18, 1968 INVENTOR. PENELOPE J. FINK & BY JAMES R. WARREN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLATING SHEET COPIES FROM Filed July 18, 1968 A DUPLICAIING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EQLZ.

INVENTOR. PENELOPE J FINK &

Y JAMES R. WARREN ATTORNEY March 2,1971" ,J,F.NK ETAL Y 3,567,217

' COLLATING METHOD AND APPARA FOR LIC Filed July 18, 1968,

SHEET COPIES FROM ICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A DUP ATING DEV INVENTOR. PENELOPE J. FINK & BY JAMES R. WARREN ATTORNEY United States Patent 0 3,567,217 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLATING SHEET COPIES FROM A DUPLICATING DEVICE Penelope J. Fink, Lemon Grove, and James R. Warren, Chula Vista, Califl, assignors to Rohr Corporation, Chula Vista, Calif.

Filed July 18, 1968, Ser. No. 745,734 Int. Cl. B6511 31/00 US. Cl. 27186 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for manually collating sheet copies from a reproduction machine is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a rotatable drum having a multiplicity of copy-receiving bins about its circumference. The drum is rotatably mounted on a platform and so sized that desired ones of the bins therein can be aligned with the output station of a duplicating device by manual rotation of the drum. Spring-biased detent means are provided to yieldably secure the drum in any one of its discrete angular positions. The disclosed method includes the steps of manually moving a selected one of a plurality of copy receiving bins along a circular path into copyreceiving relation to a reproduction machine discharge station, operating the machine to eject a predetermined number of copies into the selected bin, and terminating the production of copying while manually rotating the next of a selected bins into copy-receiving relation to the machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method and apparatus for collating and more particularly to a method and apparatus for collating multiple copies from a reproduction machine.

A multitude of machines presently exist for making a plurality of reproductions from an original document, letter or the like. A minimum of etfort is necessary on the part of a human operator while operating these machines until time comes to distribute the copies according to some predetermined distribution schedule. For example, a certain document may be intended for distribution to 25 different recipients, each receiving varying numbers of copies. The time consuming collating process exists between the time of production of the total number of copies and the time when each recipient receives his designated number of same. An operator must sort the total number of copies and manually collate same to provide each designated recipient with the proper number.

It is desirable to minimize the effort required in collating such copies and therefore to shorten the time delay between production of the copies and ultimate distribution. It is further desirable to improve the collating process in such a manner that an element of human control remains for its inherent flexibility to change but yet apparatus should be provided that mimizes the human effort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION are ejected from a duplicating device into discrete groups as desired.

3,557,217 Patented Mar. 2, 1971 ice This invention achieves the above noted objects by providing a circular drum rotatably supported about its central axis and having a plurality of copy receiving bins disposed about its circumference. The drum is rotatably mounted on a base portion in such a manner that re spective ones of the copy-receiving bins may be manually positioned to align with the output station of a reproduction machine by rotation of the drum. The method of using the collating device includes the steps of aligning the bin with the output station, actuating the machine to eject the predetermined number of copies into the desired bin, stopping the machine and repositioning said drum so that a diiferent copy-receiving bin is in alignemnt with the noted output station.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will be better understood from the following detailed description and appended claims in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view in elevation of one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view in elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial view of a portion of the apparatus in FIGS. 1 and 2 taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing in detail the spring-biased detent mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of a bin wall for the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 5 is a pictorial illustration showing the arrangement of one embodiment of this invention with a duplicating machine and further showing the method in which the apparatus is manipulated by a human operator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In considering in detail the apparatus and method of this invention it should be first noted that throughout the drawings and description, the same numerals have been used to indicate the same elements or parts.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 the details of construction of one embodiment of this invention may be readily understood. The collating apparatus in its preferred embodiment includes a drum generally designated as 11 having side walls 12 and 13. The side walls are maintained in spaced relationship by the plurality of radially disposed bin walls such as 14. The spacing of the side walls, and hence the width of the bin and bin walls, is determined by the particular size of material such as paper with which the apparatus is to be used. Similarly, the number of bin Walls and hence the number of bins may be varied to suit the particular needs of the user. If for example the number of distributees is not extensive, but each is to receive numerous copies, then the bins would be low in number but each being relatively wide, in a circumferential sense, to accomodate a number of copies. On the other hand, if the number of distributees is extensive but each is only to receive a few copies than many bins and necessarily many bin walls would be provided.

The side walls 12 and 13 are, preferably, circular plates of a suitable rigid material such as steel, aluminum, etc. Similarly, the bin walls 14 should be constructed of a similarly rigid material. The exact manner by which the side walls are secured to the bin walls is not important, however, one technique for doing same can be best seen in FIG. 4. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 each bin wall 14 is provided with an upturned lip portion 15 on each of its sides. The lips such as 15 provide surfaces through which rivets may be used for attachment to the side walls of the drum. The bin walls could also be secured to the side walls by welding techniques or the like. Referring still to FIG. 4 it can be noted that one end of the bin wall 14 may be provided with a right angle extension thereto such as end or inner wall 16 for limiting the depth of the respective bins. Without the inner wall portion 16 copies received in the various bins might pass too far into the center of the drums to be readily removable by hand. Once again, whether or not such an end wall is provided and, if it is, what the dimensions of same would be are determined by the sizes of copy material such as paper with which the apparatus is to be utilized. Each bin wall may also be provided with a cutout area 17 which permits paper in the bin to be readily removed by the hand.

A pair of mounting or support blocks 18 are attached to respective sides of the drum and in alignment with the central axis thereof. The blocks are so aligned and arranged to receive a shaft 19 which passes through the center of the drum 11 coaxially to the central axis thereof. The blocks 18 are rigidly secured to the shaft 19 by a suitable pin or bolt arrangement. The length of the shaft 19 is suflicient to permit the ends thereof to be received in suitable bearings or bushings of the support structure to be described.

The support structure generally designated 20 comprises a pair of rigid side walls 21 and 22 secured in a rigid spaced relationship by suitable spacers and reinforcing members such as shown at 23, 24, 25, and 26. As shown in FIG. 2, and partially in phantom in FIG. 1, the reinforcing members typically are suitable lengths of angle iron or the like. Reinforcement along the length of the support structure may be provided by angle iron such as at 27. The noted structural details do not form a part of this invention and therefore it is not considered necessary to describe in full the manner in which they are arranged and secured to the side walls. It is sufiicient at this point to state that the side walls are maintained in a rigid spaced relationship by suitable structural members. For ease in using the finished apparatus, the side walls of the support structure may be contoured as shown best in FIG. 1, i.e., they are provided with an upwardly extending arcuate portion 28 on which the bearing blocks to be de scribed are mounted.

As noted previously suitable bearings for supporting drum shaft 19 in a freely rotatable manner are provided on the base side walls 21 and 22. The hearings or bearing blocks can best be seen in FIG. 2 and are designated by the numerals 29 and 30. Each is so sized as to mate with the respective end of the shaft 19 and receive same in a freely rotatable manner. The bearing blocks are rigidly attached to the base side walls by suitable means such as bolts 51 or other rigid type fastening devices or methods. At this point it should be apparent that the drum and base structure as described results in an arrangement where the respective bins of the drum may be freely rotated to any angular position.

If copies are placed in a particular bin, and the bin then rotated, the copies will tend to fall out of the bin by reason of gravitational force as the bin is rotated through the lower 180 of travel of the drum. Accordingly, copyretaining means are provided to prevent any copies from sliding out of the bins during the noted 180 of drum travel. The copy-retaining means comprises a rigid plate 32 formed in an arcuate manner to conform to the shape of the drum. Plate 32 is supported within the base 20 by a suitable mounting bracket or plate 33. Plates 32 and 33 can be best understood from FIG. 1 wherein they are shown in phantom. The width of copy-retaining plate 32 need only be sutficient to prevent the normal size of copies from escaping from the bins.

For ease in manipulation of the drum by an operator a handrail is provided around the perimeter of the drum on at least one side thereof. The handrail comprises a tubular member 34 formed in a circular manner as best seen in FIG. 1. The tubular member 34 is spaced apart from the sidewall 12 by suitable mounting brackets such as 35. The spacing between the tubular handle 34 and the sidewall 12 should be sufiicient to permit human fingers to be inserted therebetween. By grasping the handle or rail 34 the 4 drum may be readily rotated into a desired position by the operator in a manner to be described.

To improve the alignment of particular copy receiving bins with the output station of the duplicating device, spring-biased detent means are provided for yieldably holding the drum in a desired angular position. Each such angular position corresponds to alignment of a particular copy receiving bin with the noted output station.

The detent means comprises a circular plate or locating wheel 34 having a plurality of notches about its outer periphery. The number of notches 35 is equal to the desired number of discrete angular positions. Wheel 34 is integral with or rigidly attached to a mounting block 36. Block 36 is in turn rigidly secured to shaft 19 in a manner such that it rotates with the shaft. As noted in FIG. 3, block 36 could be secured to the wheel 34 by suitable mounting bolts or screws such as 37. A spring-biased ball or plunger 38 supported by housing 39 is aligned with the wheel 34 in a manner such that the ball or plunger 38 will engage with the recesses 35 in the locating wheel 34 and prevent the wheel 34 from rotating until a rotational force in excess of some minimum is applied thereto. Housing 39 is suitably attached to the side wall 22 of the base structure by suitable means such as bolts 40. Ball or plunger 38 is biased by a spring, located within the housing 39, which exerts a force on the ball or plunger which tends to force same towards the center of the wheel. The shape of the notches or grooves 35 and the shape of the ball or plunger 38 should be so chosen that the detent means securely prevents rotation of the wheel 34 but yet responds to a reasonable degree of force to yield and permit rotation of the wheel 34. Since both wheel 34 and drum 11 are rigidly affixed to shaft 19 it follows that the drum is therefor secured in the same yieldable manner as the wheel.

As may be noted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base 20 of the collating apparatus may be provided with lockable casters such as at 41 to permit the apparatus to be easily transported to and aligned with a duplicating device with which it is to be utilized.

Having thus described the structural details of the invention reference should now be made to FIG. 5 by which the method of this invention can be best understood.

In practising the method of this invention the steps to be described below should be followed. It can first be assumed that a master from which copies are to be made has been loaded into the duplicating machine and hence the latter is prepared for operation. It can also be assumed that in accordance with normal distribution or collating schedules of the user of the method, appropriate notations have been made on the various copy-receiving bins to indicate the name of the recipient, number of copies to be received, etc. This latter information, when readily available to the operator of this method, permits increased efficiency and speed of operation. Typically, suitable labels or the like can be attached to the sides of the bins in a manner visible to the operator and yet readily removable to incorporate changes.

With the above in mind, the operator begins operation of the method by aligning a particular one of the row of adjacently disposed bins into registering and copyreceiving relationship with the discharge station of the duplicator by manually moving the bin along a circular path. The duplicator is then turned on and copies are allowed to discharge or eject from same and into the bin. The operator notes when the desired number of copies have been ejected and then either stops the duplicator or manually positions a second bin, removed from the first bin, into copy-receiving relationship. The second bin can be positioned within the time between copies from the duplcator when it is not too far removed from the first bin. For example, if the second bin is six away from the first on a drum containing 36 bins, the required repositioning can be achieved between copies from a medium speed duplicator. If the second bin were 18 away from the first in the above noted example then repositioning between copies would be unlikely. In such a case the duplicator is stopped, the bins repositioned and the duplicator started again.

The further step of yieldably and mechanically retaining a selected bin in registering relation to the discharge station aids in the efiicient practice of the method. The latter step greatly simplifies the repositioning of bins by providing an indication of when each is aligned and then maintaining such alignment.

An additional step of retaining collated copies when their respective holding bins are inverted further improves the method.

A suitable apparatus for practicing the method of this invention is that shown in the drawings. In particular, referring to FIG. 5, the operator 42 is shown grasping handle 34, readly to change bin positions, while visually monitoring the number of copies such as 43 being ejected from the discharge station 44 of duplicator 45. In the illustrated arrangement, the operator is ready to align a new bin with the duplicator merely by rotating drum 11 by exerting the proper force through handle 35. Furthermore the duplicator is in easy reach of the operator and therefore may be turned on or off as desired without necessitating movement of the operator from the collating apparatus.

It has been found that through use of the apparatus and method of this invention, the collating of great numbers of copies from duplicators can be made into an efficient and streamlined operation. It should be apparent from the preceding description that this invention greatly remedies the problems which existed heretofor.

Although this invention has been described with relationship to a particular embodiment of same it should not be limited thereto for various changes and modifications could be made by one having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A manually operated collating mechanis comprising:

a supporting frame,

a rotary, generally cylindrical drum having a plurality of radially open, document receiving pockets dis- 6 posed symmetrically about a central axis of the drum,

bearing means rotatably mounting the drum on the supporting frame for rotation about its central axis with said axis in a horizontal position,

a stationary band carried by the support and closely enclosing the pocket openings about the lower portion of the drum for retaining documents in the pockets against gravitating therefrom when such pockets are directed downwardly during rotation of the drum about its axis,

a circular hand wheel for rotatively adjusting the drum in either direction and having a radius corresponding substantially to that of the drum fixedly secured-coaxially to and laterally adjacent the drum for manual rotative movement of the drum about itsaxis, and

an indexing Wheel having detent means co-ordinated with each drum pocket upon rotative movement of the drum for yieldably anchoring the drum with any selected pocket positionedin a selected angular position, said indexing means having a drum restraining strength sufficient to be overcome by a positive manual rotative force exerted in either direction on the handwheel.

2. A manually operated collating machine as defined in claim 1 wherein the support frame has a pair of side frame portions located one on each side of the drum, and the hand wheel is attached to a side of the drum and is located between the drum and one of the side frame members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,922,640 1/1960 Fornell et al 271-64X 3,031,189 4/1962 Fornell et al 27186 3,076,647 2/1963 Lowe et al 27186X HARVEY C. HORNSBY, Primary Examiner D. D. WATTS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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