Discharging and stacking device for flat articles

Abstract

The device is of the type having a stacking drum with openings in its cylindrical periphery by means of which the articles to be conveyed can be adhered by suction to the drum and accumulated in an orderly stack, with the suction air being effective only within a predetermined circumferential range of the stacking drum. The stacking drum is so arranged in the conveying system that the articles to be conveyed are fed tangentially to the drum, and the stacking drum has only a single row of openings in its circumference, with the row extending parallel to the axis of the drum. The openings may be selectively connected either to vacuum or to a source of air under pressure so that, with suction being effective in the openings, the articles are grasped by the stacking drum at the leading edge, discharged around the stacking drum and fed to the stack while, with compressed air being supplied to the openings, the articles pass by the stacking drum and move on to a following conveying system. A blowing nozzle is provided to divert the trailing portions of the articles away from the drum, and the drum may be rotated either continuously or intermittently depending on whether the articles are fed to the drum either continuously or intermittently. The drum is in the form of a rotor surrounding a non-rotatable stator acting as a rotary air valve.