Document deflecting and stacking apparatus for use in document sorting

Claim 1

A document-sorting apparatus comprising: guide means defining a path for documents to be sorted traveling along said path with a leading edge in a forwardly direction; deflecting means for intercepting documents displaced along said path and deflecting same out of said path, said deflecting means comprising a first flat flexible and resilient arm and a second flat flexible and resilient arm including with said first arm an acute angle with the vertex turned in the direction opposite the direction of travel of said documents; drive means engaging one of said arms for swinging said vertex transversely to said path whereby an arm of said deflecting means intercepts said path to guide an oncoming document, engaging the latter arm with its leading edge, downwardly along this latter arm, one of said arms being fixed at its end remote from said vertex; a document-receiving platform spaced below said path and said latter arm and parallel to said path to dEfine with said path a free-fall space traversed by a downwardly deflected document for receiving the downwardly deflected documents in succession; an upstanding abutment disposed at said platform for engagement with the leading edges of the deflected documents as they deposit on said platform; a roller juxtaposed with an upper surface of said platform adjacent said abutment and engageable with the documents deposited thereon for advancing same into engagement with said abutment, both of said arms being formed from strip-spring material, said drive means including an electromagnet for displacing the nonfixed arm, said roller being mounted for vertical displacement upon accumulation of documents in a stack on said platform; and means for vertically displacing said platform downwardly with growth of said stack in response to the position of said roller, said platform being provided with a vertical supporting column, a lock member preventing downward displacement of said column in one position and permitting such displacement in another position, electromagnet means cooperating with said member for shifting same between said positions, an arm supporting said roller, and switch means operable by the arm supporting said roller for controlling said electromagnet means.