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:
Feb. 17, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 05, 2001
Hermann Wursthorn, Eichstetten, DE;
Nikko Materials USA, Inc., Chandler, AZ (US);
Abstract
A sheet stacking device, comprised of a sheet support bed having a plurality of side-by-side rollers that are freely rotatable about an associated roller axis. A drive assembly moves the sheet support bed in a predetermined direction along a closed path. The path has a horizontal upper run and a horizontal lower run, and is dimensioned such that a space exists between the first end and the second end of the sheet support bed as the sheet support bed moves along the path. A roller control assembly for selectively and sequentially controls rotation of select ones of the rollers at select intervals during a stacking operation, wherein the stacking device is operable to: receive a sheet to be stacked on the sheet support bed when the support bed is disposed along the upper run; convey the sheet along the upper run on the support bed to a “stacking position” on the upper run; and cause the roller control assembly to drop the sheet through the space between the first and the second end of the sheet support bed to a stacking location below the upper horizontal run.