DOCUMENT STACKER WITH WEIGHT SENSOR

Abstract

A document stacker (1) for receiving documents from a document processing device (3), wherein the document stacker comprises: a document support (4), and a frame (5), wherein the document support is attached to the frame by a linear guide means configured such that the document support is linearly movable with respect to the frame along a predetermined path of movement (7) inclined to a horizontal plane, and wherein the document stacker further comprises a load cell (14) configured to resist relative movement between the frame and the document support along said predetermined path and to emit an output signal representative of the load applied to the load cell by the document support.

Claims

1. A document stacker for receiving documents from a document processing device, wherein the document stacker comprises: a document support, and a frame, wherein the document support is attached to the frame by a linear guide means configured such that the document support is linearly movable with respect to the frame along a non-horizontal predetermined path of movement, and wherein the document stacker further comprises a load cell configured to resist relative movement between the frame and the document support along said path of movement and to emit an output signal representative of the load applied to the load cell by the document support.

2. The document stacker according to claim 1, wherein the linear guide means is configured such that the predetermined path of movement extends within the range of 0-15 degrees from vertical, or extends within the range of 0-5 degrees from vertical, or extends vertically.

3. The document stacker according to claim 1, wherein the linear guide means comprises a rail portion and a corresponding bearing system configured to guide the rail portion for movement along said predetermined path of movement, said rail portion and said bearing system respectively being attached to a respective one of the document support and the frame.

4. The document stacker (according to claim 3, wherein the bearing system comprises a plurality of opposing wheels between which the rail portion (9) extends, wherein said plurality of wheels are spaced apart along at least a portion of the predetermined path of movement.

5. The document stacker according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of wheels comprises at least one pair of wheels between which the rail portion extends, said pair of wheel opposing each other on opposite sides of the rail portion.

6. The document stacker according to claim 1, wherein the document support comprises an endless belt extending from an input portion of the document stacker.

7. The document stacker according to claim 1, wherein the document stacker comprises an end stop provided at the outer end portion of the document stacker.

8. The document stacker according to claim 7, wherein the end stop is attached to the document support.

9. The document stacker according to claim 7, wherein the end stop extends obliquely to the document support to prevent documents to be fed past the end stop.

10. The document stacker according to claim 7, wherein the document stacker comprises a controller configured: to receive the output signal of the load cell and derive a load value indicative of the weight applied to the document support, to compare the load value to a capacity value indicative of the maximum load of documents the document support is able to carry before being full, and to emit a capacity signal once the load parameter exceeds a predetermined fraction of the capacity value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] A first embodiment of the document stacker 1 will hereinafter be described with reference to the appended drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are schematic and not drawn to scale.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 1, the document stacker 1 is positioned after a document processing device 3 for receiving and storing the documents 2 processed by the document processing device 4. In this example, the document processing device 3 is a booklet folding device but it could alternatively be a printer or any other suitable type of document processing device capable of outputting documents 2 such as booklets, and books.

[0030] The document stacker 1 comprises an input portion 12 at which the document stacker 1 receives documents 2 from the booklet folding device 3. Documents 2 received by the document stacker 1 are forced from the input portion 12 onto a document support 4 comprising an endless belt 11. In other embodiments, the endless belt 11 may alternatively be omitted wherein some other supporting structure, such as a table, could be used instead.

[0031] The endless belt 11 moves the documents 2 received from the inlet portion 12 towards the opposite end of the document support 4.

[0032] The document support 4 comprises an outer portion 6 which is downwardly inclined with respect to the endless belt 11 which is horizontal. In other embodiments, the outer portion could be omitted, or it could be otherwise oriented, such as horizontal. The downwards inclination of the outer portion 6 helps the documents 2 received to move by the force of gravity along the outer portion as shown in FIG. 1.

[0033] In order to prevent documents 2 from being fed past and off the outer portion 6 of the document support 4, the document stacker 1 comprises an end stop 13. The end stop 13 is in this embodiment attached to the outer portion 6 of the document support 4, but could in other embodiments be attached to some other portion of the document stacker 1. The end stop 13 extends perpendicularly to the outer portion 6 such that documents 2 cannot slide past the end stop 13. In other embodiments, an angle other than perpendicular could be chosen as long as the end stop in its normal use position is able to prevent documents 2 from moving past the end stop 13.

[0034] The document support 4 is attached to the frame 5 by a linear guide means 9, 10 configured such that the document support 4 is linearly movable with respect to the frame 5 along a predetermined path of movement 7 inclined to the horizontal plane 8. The term ‘inclined’ is to be understood as comprising all directions giving a degree of vertical extent, i.e. non-horizontal, including fully vertical. Another wording than ‘inclined’ which could be used interchangeably is thus ‘non-horizontal’. The document stacker 1 further comprises a load cell 14 configured to resist relative movement between the frame 5 and the document support 4 along said path of movement 7 and to emit an output signal representative of the load applied to the load cell 14 by the document support 4. The term ‘resist relative movement.’ is to be understood as allowing the load cell 14 to deform slightly to allow it to output various readings. Hence, the movable document support 4 moves towards the load cell 14 and presses the load cell 14, which in turn could be supported by any suitable means, such as attached to the frame 5 of the document stacker 1, or configured to bear directly against the floor on which the document stacker 1 is placed.

[0035] The linear guide means is configured such that the predetermined path of movement 7 extends vertically, but could in other embodiments alternatively extend within the range of 0-15 degrees from vertical, such as 0-5 degrees to vertical.

[0036] The linear guide means comprises a rail portion 9 provided in the form of the left and right vertically extending tubes of the document support 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The rail portion 9 provides a surface along which the a corresponding bearing system of the linear guide means guides the rail portion 9 for movement along said predetermined path of movement 7.

[0037] Accordingly, the bearing system is attached to the frame 5 which stands on the floor (floor not shown). In other embodiments, the bearing system could instead be attached to / comprised in the document support 4 and the rail portion 9 accordingly attached to / comprised in the frame 5.

[0038] In this embodiment, the bearing system comprises a plurality of opposing wheels 10 between which the rail portion 9 extends, wherein said plurality of wheels 10 are spaced apart along a portion of the predetermined path of movement 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of wheels 10 comprise at least one pair of wheels 10 between which the rail portion 9 extends, said pair of wheels 10 opposing each other on opposite sides of the rail portion 9. In other embodiments, the wheels 10 could alternatively be otherwise arranged, such as with the opposing wheels distributed along the predetermined path of movement 7 but not on the same vertical level. Also, it should be understood that rotary bearings or any other suitable type of bearing could be used instead of the wheels.

[0039] The document stacker 1 comprises a controller configured to receive the output signal of the load cell 14 and derive a load value indicative of the weight applied to the document support 4. The controller is also configured to compare the load value to a capacity value indicative of the maximum load of documents 2 the document support 4 is able to carry before being full. Further, the controller is configured to emit a capacity signal once the load parameter exceeds a predetermined fraction of 80% of the capacity value, although the fraction could alternatively be any suitable fraction such as 70%, 0%, 90% or 100% of the capacity value depending on the circumstances such as the spin-down time and processing rate of the preceding document processing device 3. By weighing the documents 2 carried by the document support 4, an accurate count of documents 2 is enabled, accounting for any documents 2 removed from the document support 4.