ROTARY COLLATOR WITH SHEET CLAMP ACTUATOR

摘要

ROTARY COLLATOR WITH SHEET CLAMP ACTUATOR A rotary collator having a rotatable drum with a plurality of radially extending partitions or bins in which sheets to be collated are held by a sheet clamp mounted in each bin. The sheet clamp for each bin has a solenoid-based activating device which releases the sheet clamp during the sheet ejecting portion of the collating cycle. The sheet clamp is released a short time before the rotatable drum brings the associated bin into a sheet ejecting position. A toggle structure and a relatively high compression spring are used to hold the sheets in the bin when in clamping position. The sheet clamp of any empty bin is programmed not to release, thereby greatly reducing noise and extending the life of the mechanism.