The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 24, 1979
Filed:
Jan. 23, 1978
Robert J Laybourn, San Jose, CA (US);
John J Lynott, Los Gatos, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Increased reliability is afforded with this simplified apparatus for assembling and transporting a loose stack of documents. The documents are stacked on edge upon a pair of pinch rolls, normally stationary. A back plate is provided for supporting the documents in a loose stack, and preferably a foot plate is included for reliability in accepting documents and in forming the stack. Documents from a plurality of asynchronous sources as well as a single source of documents are readily assembled in the desired stack, for example, with the use of a conventional tined stacking or loading mechanism. The apparatus is readily adaptive to operation by computer for determining the particular documents to be stacked and, upon completion of the stacking, for applying a driving force to the rolls for transporting the assembled loose stack of documents between the rolls to the desired destination. Mechanism is disclosed for transporting the stack to a predetermined destination or diverting it to another destination, normally the ultimate using destination. Alternately a gate, synchronized with the diverting mechanism, is arranged at the end of the transport path to prohibit intrusion into the apparatus until the desired delivery is in order.