| 摘要 |
Apparatus for temporary storage of articles, particularly thin flat articles such as letters, the apparatus having a helical shelf rotatable about its vertical axis, and conveying means for the letters which accept the letters from a fixed delivery point and stack them as a row along the shelf, the letters being orientated in vertical planes radial to the shelf axis. The conveyor means preferably includes a feeder/stacker adjacent the shelf capable of operating either to feed letters from a stack on the shelf and to convey them to another machine, or to deliver the letters to the shelf and stack them. In the preferred embodiment, the shelf rotates about its vertical axis, without vertical movement, during the feeding or stacking operations, and the feeder/stacker moves vertically to maintain a constant relationship with the surface of the shelf.
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