Stacking and compacting device for photographic prints

A device for stacking and compacting photographic prints, and inserting stacks of prints into envelopes, includes a selector for directing individual prints along separate paths, according to their characterisitcs, toward a multiple stacking chamber at the end of the print paths, where the prints are formed into separate stacks. A compactor for compacting then compresses the stacks against a portion of the stacking chamber, and a pusher ejects the packs from the compactor in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which they entered.

This invention relates to a stacking and compacting device for sheets, 
particularly photographic prints. 
In photographic laboratories the negatives are printed in succession on a 
continuos strip of photosensitive paper. This is then cut into individual 
prints which are then stacked to form a pack for insertion into a wallet, 
in which they are returned to the customer. This succession of operations 
has been effected for some time with automatic equipment enabling the 
photographic laboratory to process the orders at a high speed of up to 
36,000 prints per hour. 
However the ever increasing requirements of photographic laboratories mean 
that this known equipment must provide ever better performance in terms of 
both its rate of operation and the arrangement of the prints in the pack 
independently of the order in which they are present in the continuous 
strip leaving the printing station. 
Thus for example as each order could contain some prints which have to be 
reprinted, there is already a requirement for grouping the good prints in 
the bottom of the wallet stack, and the prints to be reprinted in the top 
to facilitate the manual work of the operator responsible for reprinting. 
Again, if two prints are required for each negative, these prints then 
being adjacent in the continuous strip, two packs must be formed each with 
a complete set of prints, for insertion into two different wallets, as it 
is generally not possible to insert them all into a single wallet because 
of its limited capacity. 
An object of the invention is to provide a device which can take the prints 
arranged in the order in which they are separated from a continuos strip 
and form them into more than one pack in which they are grouped and 
stacked according to the required criteria. 
Moreover, the prints are generally deformed with the result that the 
overall size of the pack formed from them is increased unacceptably in 
view of the limited capacity of the wallets which are to receive them, to 
result in increased difficulty in inserting them, and therefore a further 
object of the invention is to provide compacting of the stacked prints 
before they are inserted into the wallet. 
A further object of the invention is to effect this compacting outside the 
zone reserved for print stacking, so as to be able to handle two different 
orders simultaneously and thus reduce the average handling time per order. 
A further object of the invention is to be able to convey the pack or packs 
of prints orthogonally to their major side, i.e. orthogonally to the 
direction along which the individual prints arrive from the cutting 
station, in order to be able to use wallets with pockets having their 
opening along their major side. 
These and further objects which will be apparent from the description given 
hereinafter are attained according to the invention by a stacking and 
compacting device for sheets, particularly photographic prints, 
characterised by comprising: 
a selector for the various sheets, by which said sheets for forming 
different packs are conveyed along a number of vertically superposed 
paths, 
a multiple stacking chamber formed from two lateral walls disposed along 
the prolongation of the different paths, and provided in correspondence 
with each of these latter with pairs of downwardly rotatable ledges, the 
lower pair of said ledges being disposed in correspondence with the lower 
edge of said walls, 
a compacting member acting in the sense of pressing the pack of sheets from 
below against the lower pair of said ledges, 
a pusher interposed between said lower pair of ledges and said compacting 
member and acting in the sense of transferring the compacted pack of 
sheets orthogonally to the direction in which they enter the stacking 
chamber.

As can be seen from the drawing the device according to the invention 
comprises a conveyor member 1 disposed at the outlet of a conventional 
cutter (not shown on the drawing) and formed from an endless belt 2 
extending between two rollers 3, 3', one of which is motorized. On the 
upper surface of the endless belt 2 there are provided a plurality of 
presser rollers 4 which are mounted idly on respective shafts and are kept 
with their lateral surface elastically in contact with said belt 2. 
At the outlet end of said belt conveyor 2, i.e. at the end distant from the 
cutter, there is provided a selector device of known type, consisting 
essentially of hinged blades 5, 5' which according to their angular 
position provide said belt 2 with a different exit in order to convey the 
individual prints 32 towards a different path. In the illustrated example 
the two blades enable three different exits to be obtained, with three 
corresponding different paths for the prints. The lower path 6 is the 
rejects path and deviates the prints 32 towards a collection bin, the 
middle (horizontal) path 8 is the path for good prints, and the upper path 
9 is the path for prints to be reprinted. After a short divergent portion 
the two paths 8 and 9 become parallel and lead to a multiple stacking 
chamber indicated overall by 10. It comprises a pair of lateral walls 11 
mounted on transverse guides 12 and coupled to an electric motor 13 by a 
system of threaded pins 14 to enable said walls 11 to slide transversely 
in opposing directions to adapt the chamber 10 to the transverse 
dimensions of the prints to be handled, as described hereinafter. 
Two pairs of ledges 16, 17 are hinged to the walls 11 to rotate between two 
extreme positions, one horizontal and the other rotated vertically 
downwards, under the control of magnets 18 fixed to their hinging shafts 
19. The lower pair 17 is disposed at the same level as the middle path 8 
for the prints 32 and is hinged to the lower edge of the walls 11, whereas 
the upper pair 16 is disposed at the same level as the upper path 9 for 
the prints. 
The lower surface of the upper ledges 16 is perfectly smooth, while the 
lower surface of the lower ledges 17 comprises a plurality of equidistant 
transverse grooves the purpose of which will be apparent hereinafter. 
A compacting member is provided below the chamber 10. It consists 
essentially of a plate 22 provided on its upper surface with a plurality 
of transverse grooves 23 facing the transverse grooves of the lower ledges 
17. The plate 22 is mobile between a lower rest position and an upper 
working position, at which its distance from the ledges 17 is equal to the 
maximun thickness which the pack of prints 32 can assume when compacted, 
to be able to be inserted into the wallet. 
Said plate 22 is driven vertically by an electric motor and a screw 
coupling 25. 
A transverse pusher member is provided external to the stacking chamber 10 
at a level just below the lower shelves 17, and consists essentially of a 
bar disposed parallel to the walls 11 and having one end slidable along a 
transverse guide 27. The same end of the bar 26 is connected to a belt 28 
extending between two deviation rollers 29 and driven in both directions 
by an electric motor 30 connected to the shaft of one of them. Grippers 31 
with arms having a thickness equal to the depth of the grooves 23 and a 
distance apart equal to the minimun distance between the plate 22 and 
ledges 17 are fitted to the bar 26 at a pitch equal to the pitch of said 
grooves. 
The device according to the invention also comprises a plurality of 
sensors, automatic controls and servomechanisms which overall ensure 
implementation of the correct operating cycle and are mentioned in the 
operating description given hereinafter as the need arises. The operation 
will be described on the assumption that those prints 32 arriving from the 
cutter which are not discarded are to be stacked into two overlying packs, 
a lower one formed from good prints and an upper one formed from prints to 
be reprinted. 
As the prints from the cutter reach the blades 5, 5', these are operated 
under the control of a computer (not shown) which has previously memorized 
in accordance with conventional criteria the information relative to the 
manner in which the individual prints are to be handled, so as to deviate 
them along the corresponding path. For example in the case of a print to 
be discarded, the lower blade 5' is raised to deviate an arriving print 
along the path 6. In the case of a good print the blades are not operated 
whereas in the case of a print to be reprinted the upper plate 5 is 
lowered to deviate the print along the path 9. 
In this manner the good prints which pass along the middle path 8 are 
deposited on each other on the lower ledges 17, which at this stage are 
horizontal, whereas the prints to be reprinted, which pass along the path 
9, are deposited on each other on the upper ledges 16 which are also 
horizontal. 
Before the prints of that particular order are handled, the computer which 
controls the print selector adjusts the distance between the two walls 11 
by means of the motor 13 to correspond to the width of those particular 
prints. 
When the prints 32 of that order have all passed through, a subsequent 
automatic command is fed by the computer to cause the two magnets 18 of 
the upper ledges 16 to rotate through 90.degree. so that these turn 
downwards to allow those prints which have to be reprinted to fall onto 
the underlying good prints. A further command to the two magnets 18 of the 
lower ledges 17 causes the thus formed pack of prints to fall onto the 
underlying plate 22 after which a further command to the magnets 18 of the 
two pairs of ledges 16 and 17 returns them to their horizontal position, 
to enable the cycle to be repeated for a new order. 
In the meantime, a command to the motor 24 causes the plate 22 to rise to 
compact the pack of prints 32 between said plate 22 and the lower surface 
of the pair of lower ledges 17. When compacting is complete, a command is 
fed to the electric motor 30 which then causes the bar 26 to traverse. 
As a result of this traversing movement, the grippers 31, which slide with 
their arms in the lower grooves 23 and in the grooves on the underside of 
the ledges 17, grip the compacted pack of prints and transfer it outside 
the compacting zone, for example to a wallet-filling station. 
The bar and plate 22 then undergo return travel so that the machine is 
ready for repeating the operating cycle, which could in fact already have 
been started by sorting the prints 32 of the new order. 
The aforegoing description relates, as stated, to the format of a single 
pack in which the good prints are disposed at the bottom and any prints to 
be reprinted are disposed at the top. 
The device according to the invention is also suitable for other uses, such 
as for forming two identical packs of prints for insertion into two 
different wallets. 
In this case, each negative is printed twice successively during printing, 
and consequently the continuous strip of prints comprises a succession of 
pairs of identical photographs, which remain identical after passage 
through the cutter. The prints leaving the cutter encounter the selector 
which, except for the discards, is operated alternately with the upper 
blade " to feed one print along the middle path 8 and the next identical 
print along the upper path 9, to form two identical packs in the stacking 
chamber 10, one supported by the lower ledges 17 and the other supported 
by the upper ledges 16. 
After the two packs have been formed, an automatic command is fed by the 
computer to turn the two lower ledges 17 downwards and cause the pack of 
prints supported by it to fall onto the underlying plate 22, which then 
compacts them in the manner previously described to then transfer them 
into the wallet-filling station. In the meantime a command has opened the 
upper ledges 16 to cause the pack of prints supported thereby to fall onto 
the lower ledges 17 already returned to their horizontal configuration. 
After the plate 22 has returned to its lower position, a subsequent 
command again opens the lower ledges 17 to cause the second pack to also 
fall onto the plate 22, to be compacted and then transferred to the 
wallet-filling station. 
The description given in relation to a stacking chamber 10 with two pairs 
of ledges is also valid for stacking chamber with N pairs of ledges for 
the formation of up to N packs of prints to be inserted into wallets 
simultaneously or successively, according to the particular requirements. 
The only expedient to follow is that, especially in the case of successive 
wallet insertion of the individual piles of prints, the order in which 
they are to be disposed at the various levels in the stacking chamber 10 
must obviously correspond, from the bottom upwards, to the order in which 
they are to be inserted into wallets. 
From the aforegoing it is apparent that the stacking and compacting device 
for photographic prints according to the invention has numerous 
advantages, and in particular: 
it enables packs of prints to be formed in accordance with the required 
print grouping criteria within each pack, 
it enables the pack of prints to be compacted outside the stacking zone, to 
enable these two operations to be performed simultaneously on two 
different orders and thus reduce the overall average handling time for 
each order, 
it enables standard wallets to be used directly in the successive wallet 
filling station, these being wallets which because they contain 
side-opening pockets require the pack of prints to be transferred parallel 
to their shorter side, i.e. orthogonal to the direction in which they 
arrive from the cutting station, 
it enables the prints to be compacted before they are transferred into the 
wallet-filling station, so preventing in particular any resistance to the 
feed of the pack and any deformation thereof, especially if formed of only 
a few prints, and thus avoiding the difficulty which occurs in all those 
cases in which an uncompacted pack of prints is fed between wedge guides 
for its compaction.