Card stacking mechanism

Claim 1

A stacking mechanism useful for forming a stack of cards from a plurality of cards fed seriatim to said mechanism, comprising: a frame; a drum rotatably mounted on said frame said drum being formed with at least two axially spaced radially extending flanges each having a peripheral surface adapted to frictionally engage a said card; guide means adaPted for maintaining frictional driving force between the periphery of said flanges and a said card positioned between said guide means and said drum, said guide means extending around the periphery of said drum from an inlet end of said guide means formed to direct cards between said guide means and said drum, to a discharge end spaced about the periphery of said drum; means for driving said drum for rotation from said inlet to said discharge end of said guide means; forming means for forming a stack of said cards on said mechanism, comprising a stacking surface intersecting at an angle of less than 45* an imaginary plane tangent to the periphery of said drum at said discharge end of said guide means, with said intersection spaced less than the length of a said card from said discharge end, and stop means mounted along said stacking surface adapted for stopping movement of cards along said stacking surface, and spaced less than the length of a said card from said intersection; and means for driving cards discharged from said discharge end of said guide means into a stacked relationship on said stacking surface with an end of said cards abutting said stop means, comprising; a pulley; a belt extending around said pulley and around said drum between said flanges; an arm having a first end rotatably mounting said pulley and a second end spaced from said first end and mounted for pivotable motion about the axis of said drum to afford movement from a first position with a portion of the belt on said pulley contacting said stacking surface toward a second position to afford a stack of said cards between said belt and said stacking surface; and biasing means for biasing said arm toward said first position.