Card item stacker capable of readily taking out card items

Claim 1

In a card item stacker comprising a base member having a substantially horizontal and upwardly directed principal surface, a first conveyor for successively supplying card items onto said principal surface with each card item directed substantially vertically, a second conveyor comprising an endless belt and teeth which have substantially planar tooth surfaces which are spaced apart on said endless belt and are movable parallel to said principal surface with the tooth surface at least partly projected upwardly from said principal surface, a guide plate which has an edge portion and is guided along a horizontal axis above said principal surface to be movable around said horizontal axis until said edge portion is positioned between two adjacent ones of said teeth, and means for feeding said endless belt so that the teeth having the tooth surfaces projected at least partly upwardly from said principal surface move in a predetermined sense to urge the card items to said guide plate and to make the card items form a stack of the card items received by cooperation of said principal surface and the tooth surfaces of the teeth moving in said predetermined sense, the improvement wherein: said base member comprises a pair of longitudinal members on both sides of said endless belt with said principal surface defined by said longitudinal members above said endless belt; each of said tooth surfaces having a first and a second end portion, said first end portion leading said second end portion and being more protruded than said second end portion when said endless belt of said second conveyor moves in said predetermined sense; said edge portion comprising a protrusion and two continuous portions on both sides of said protrusion, said protrusion being urged by said stack of card items to one of said two adjacent ones of said teeth with said continuous portions slidably received by said longitudinal members.