Sheet feed and sorting mechanism for e.g. photocopier - has belt conveyor pivoted into alignment with reception pockets lying along arc

摘要

The feed and sorting mechanism uses a conveyor (30) and a number of reception packets (31) arranged around a circular arc. The conveyor (30) is varied in position to allow each sheet (15) to be fed into a selected reception pocket (31). Pref. the conveyor (30) comprises a pair of endless belts (21,22) with facing surfaces extending parallel to one another to define the feed path for the sheets (15). The conveyor (30) is pivoted at the opposite end to the reception pockets (31) to allow its free end to move around the arc along which the pockets lie via a motor directly coupled to the pivot axis of the conveyor (30). The mechanism is compact and the weight and inertia of the moving parts remains small. It can operate at a relatively high speed.