Blueprint copy collating apparatus

A blueprint copy collating apparatus for use with a blueprint copying machine comprising a plurality of blueprint receiving bins which are adapted for vertical movement relative to a support frame. A conveyor means is provided for transporting blueprint copies to the blueprint receiving bins and a drive means provided for raising and lowering the bins relative to the conveyor according to a predetermined sequence which is determined by a control circuit and corresponds to user selection. A vibrator table is secured to the apparatus for aligning sets of blueprint copies which are removed from individual bins subsequent to completion of the sorting or stacking function.

DESCRIPTION 
1. Technical Field 
This invention relates to a novel blueprint copy sorting apparatus, and 
more particularly, to a blueprint copy collator suitable for use with or 
as a part of a conventional blueprint copying machine. 
2. Background Art 
In the operation of blueprint copying or reproduction machines it is 
necessary to collate the blueprint copies when they are removed from the 
copying machine. Up until now this has been a labor intensive project 
requiring two or more persons working at a large table behind the 
blueprint copying machine in order to collate the blueprint copies by 
hand. It is not uncommon that the manual collation would require that 100 
stacks of blueprint copies of 100 sheets per stack would be required to be 
collated by hand into 100 sets of blueprint copies or prints. Thus, a 
sorting table of 100 feet or more in length is commonly used behind a 
blueprint copying machine in order to provide sufficient space for manual 
collation by up to four or more persons. Therefore, it can be fully 
appreciated that at the present time the collating of blueprint copies 
made on conventional blueprint reproduction machines is a costly and slow 
manual operation. 
Applicant is not aware of any apparatus for automating the blueprint copy 
collating process described hereinbefore. A variety of collating apparatus 
are known for use with plain paper photocopying machines such as those 
manufactured by Xerox Corporation, Pitney-Bowes and Canon. However, all of 
the prior art presently known to applicant relates to collators for use 
with plain paper photocopying machines and is not believed to be relevant 
to the blueprint copying art and the problems peculiarly inherent thereto. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, applicant provides a novel 
blueprint copy collating apparatus designed specifically for use with 
existing blueprint copying machines in order to obviate the need for 
manual collation techniques presently practiced by those in the blueprint 
copying business. The instant blueprint copy collating apparatus comprises 
a print tray or bin array with a plurality of spaced-apart blueprint 
receiving bins which are vertically movable relative to the frame of the 
apparatus. A conveyor secured to one side of the apparatus transports 
blueprint copies from a blueprint copying machine to the blueprint 
receiving side of the bin array, and drive means is provided for 
vertically raising and lowering the bin array relative to the conveyor in 
order that the bins may receive the blueprint copies from the conveyor 
according to a predetermined sequence determined by an electrically 
connected control means. A vibrator table is secured to the frame of the 
collating apparatus to facilitate alignment of blueprint copy sets which 
are removed from the bin array. 
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a 
blueprint copy collating apparatus for use with conventional blueprint 
copying machines in order to reduce the manual labor now required for 
sorting and stacking. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated 
blueprint copy collating apparatus which is faster than manual sorting and 
requires significantly less floor space than sorting tables previously 
used. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an automated 
blueprint copy collating apparatus which will greatly reduce the time 
previously required for manual sorting. 
Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will 
become evident as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with 
the accompanying drawings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
Referring now more specifically to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 
1-3, the blueprint copy collating apparatus of the present invention is 
shown and designated generally by the numeral 10. Collating apparatus 10 
is intended to be positioned immediately behind a rear delivery blueprint 
copying machine. Typical but certainly not inclusive of the blueprint 
copying machines (or dry diazo whiteprinters) with which apparatus 10 may 
be used are the AM Bruning 748 manufactured by A.M. Bruning of Illinois, 
the DIETZGEN reproduction machine manufactured by Dietzgen Corporation of 
Illinois, and the OCE 230-Series diazo printers manufactured by 
Oce-Industries, Inc. of Illinois. These representative blueprint 
reproduction or copying machines typically operate at speeds between 30 
feet per minute and 75 feet per minute and make blueprint copies in the 
general size range of 8.5 inches by 11 inches up to 30 inches by 42 
inches. 
The preferred embodiment of apparatus 10 comprises a frame 12 including 
rollers 14 secured to the bottom thereof to facilitate portable movement 
from one blueprint copying machine to another as may be necessary. A 
vertically stacked array of blueprint receiving bins, generally designated 
15, is adapted to be vertically movable within frame 12 in order to 
receive blueprints from a blueprint copying machine in selected bins 16 
according to a predetermined sequence. Bin array 15 includes 30 blueprint 
receiving bins 16 which are most suitably spaced-apart approximately one 
inch from each other and are each inclined approximately 3-5 degrees from 
the blueprint receiving side to the opposing blueprint removal side 
thereof in order to facilitate retention of blueprint copies deposited 
therein. Bin array 15 is raised and lowered with a drive means comprising 
electric motor 18 operatively connected to clutch 20 and double reduction 
gear assembly 22. A drive shaft 24 extends from gear assembly 22 and is 
supported by drive shaft bearings 26. A sprocket gear 28 and chain 30 is 
provided at each end of drive shaft 24 with each chain secured to bin 
array 15. In this fashion, bin array 15 may be selectively raised or 
lowered by proper actuation of electric motor 18. 
The vertical movement of bin array 15 within frame 12 is guided by guide 
bars 32a-32d. As best seen in FIG. 1, opposing sides of apparatus 10 
(which are adjacent to the blueprint copy receiving and copy removal 
sides) are each provided with a pair of vertically extending guide bars 
secured at the top and bottom thereof to frame 12 of the collating 
apparatus. Four nylon sleeves 36 are secured at both the top and at the 
bottom of bin array 15 in order to slidably receive guide bars 32a-32d and 
to both guide and stabilize bin array 15 while it is being raised or 
lowered by electric motor 18. 
With specific reference now to FIGS. 4 and 5, bin 16 can be seen to include 
a lip 16a and a pair of spaced-apart indentations 16b along the blueprint 
copy removal side thereof in order to facilitate receipt and removal of 
blueprint copies from bin 16. Although any suitably rigid and strong 
material could be utilized, applicant's preferred embodiment of the 
present invention contemplates that bin array 15 will be constructed of 
lightweight plastic so as to minimize the load on electric motor 18. Also, 
each bin 16 will measure 32 inches by 48 inches in order to accommodate 
all standard blueprint copy sizes. 
Referring now to FIG. 6 with reference as needed to FIG. 1, the preferred 
embodiment of collating apparatus 10 further comprises a conveyor 40 which 
is pivotably mounted to frame 12 on the blueprint copy receiving side of 
collating apparatus 10. Conveyor 40 comprises top conveyor belts 42a, 42b 
which are vertically opposed along substantially the entire length thereof 
by lower conveyor belt 44. An electric drive motor 46 through any suitable 
conventional type belt and pulley arrangement 48 drives conveyor belts 
42a, 42b and 44 in the direction of movement indicated by the arrows in 
order to transport blueprint copies from the remote end of conveyor 40 and 
between top conveyor belts 42a, 42b and lower conveyor belt 44 to a 
blueprint receiving bin 16 within bin array 15. The remote end of conveyor 
40 may be vertically adjusted with turnbuckles 50a-50d on support arms 
52a-52d in order to assure that the remote end of conveyor 40 is in proper 
position behind a rear delivery blueprint copying machine so as to engage 
the blueprint copy as it exits the blueprint copying machine. The speed of 
conveyor drive motor 46 may be adjusted as necessary to control the linear 
speed of conveyor belts 42a, 42b and 44 in order to accommodate a 
blueprint copying machine speed range of about 10 feet to 75 feet per 
minute. A photo electric sensor 54 is secured to the frame of conveyor 40 
adjacent the blueprint copy exit end thereof (see FIG. 6c) and positioned 
so as to count the trailing edge of each blueprint copy as it departs 
conveyor 40 and is received by a bin 16 of bin array 15. Sensor 54 is 
electrically connected to the control circuit which will be discussed in 
more detail below. 
Collating apparatus 10 also includes an attached vibrator table 60 (see 
FIG. 7). Vibrator table 60 comprises two support arms 62a, 62b which 
include turnbuckles 64a, 64b, respectively. An electric motor 66 and 
conventional type eccentric pin vibrator assembly 68 is operatively 
secured to the surface of vibrator table 60 to provide the necessary 
vibratory action. The vibrator table surface 61 is movably secured to 
frame 63 of vibrator table 60 with slots 65 and corresponding guide pins 
67. The angle of inclination of the surface of vibrator table 60 may be 
adjusted with turnbuckles 64a, 64b as is desired for the convenience of 
the user in aligning blueprint copy sets for stapling or other subsequent 
processing. 
A remote control panel 70 is shown in FIG. 1, but it should be appreciated 
that this panel may also be secured to collating apparatus 10 as a matter 
of design choice. Control panel 70 is electrically connected to 
conventional electrical control circuitry (not shown) and to photo 
electric sensor 54. Control panel 70 allows the user to independently vary 
the linear speed of conveyor 40 and the vertical movement speed of bin 
array 15. Three digital counters and a sort/stack button are provided for 
sorting or stacking as will be described hereinafter. A forth digital 
counter is provided which will provide the cumulative number of copies 
received by bin array 15 and includes a key reset. Finally, a bin array 
reset button and automatic versus manual control switch for the apparatus 
are provided. It will be appreciated, of course, that other control 
systems could be utilized by the instant invention. 
In operation, conveyor 40 of blueprint copy collating apparatus 10 is 
positioned immediately behind the rear delivery of a blueprint copying 
machine. This is easy to accomplish in view of the portability provided to 
apparatus 10 by rollers 14. The power to apparatus 10 is turned on at 
control panel 70 and either the sort or stack function selected. Assuming 
that the sort function has been selected and the automatic switch 
activated, the user will then select a number on counter one to correspond 
to the number of sets of blueprint copies to be created. Then another 
number is selected on counter two to indicate the total number of copies 
per set. For purposes of example, assume 10 sets is selected for counter 
one (which can accommodate up to 30 sets in bin array 15) and 20 blueprint 
copies per set is selected on counter two. Bin array 15 will be driven 
vertically downwardly to its starting position by electric motor 18 so 
that the uppermost blueprint copy receiving bin 16 is positioned adjacent 
the exit end of conveyor 40 in order to receive the first blueprint copy 
therein. As the blueprint copy exits conveyor 40 and enters bin 16 it is 
counted by photo electric sensor 54 which causes counter one to count down 
from 10 to 9 while counter two still indicates 1. Electric motor 18 now 
elevates bin array 15 so that the second blueprint copy is received in the 
second bin 16 of bin array 15. Counter one now indicates 8 and counter two 
still indicates 1. This process will be repeated until counter one is down 
to its lowest digit 0 and at this time bin array 15 will be returned to 
its starting position and counter one will again read 10 and counter two 
will now read 2. This process will be repeated until counter two is 
satisfied by a reading of 20 which indicates that each of the top 10 bins 
of bin array 15 contains a collated or sorted set of 20 copies. If 
necessary, the speed of electric motor 18 which drives bin array 15 may be 
adjusted so as to better correspond to the linear speed of conveyor 40. 
When all copies have been collated, a print set is removed from one of the 
10 bins and individually placed on vibrator table 60 which is being 
agitated by electric motor 66 in order to bring the 20 prints of the set 
into alignment. Then the print set may be stapled or otherwise secured 
together and the next set removed from the bin array for alignment and 
stapling. In this fashion, a sorting job which may have previously 
required several workers a number of hours to accomplish may now be 
performed by the operator of the copying machine in only a matter of 
minutes. 
The stacking function of apparatus 10 operates in a similar fashion. For 
example, if 5 sets containing 5 copies per set are required, the select 
switch of control panel 70 is set to stack and counter one set to 5 and 
counter three set to 5. Bin array 15 will again be driven to the starting 
position at the bottom of its vertical pathway with uppermost bin 16 in 
registration with the exit end of conveyor 40. For this function, 5 sheets 
will be placed into the first bin of print tray 15 as they are counted by 
photo electric sensor 54 and counter one counts down from 5 to 0. Print 
tray 15 will then be elevated one space by electric motor 18 in order that 
the second blueprint receiving bin be readied to receive blueprint copies. 
Counter three, of course, now registers 2. This process will be repeated 
until 5 sets show on counter three. 
Although the sort and stack functions have been described generally 
hereinabove, it should be appreciated that they are performed while the 
automatic/manual switch on control panel 70 indicates automatic. When the 
control switch is set in the manual position, bin array 15 may now be 
controlled by an up/down switch which provides for movement of bin array 
15 up or down one space each time the switch is actuated. 
The digital totalizer on control panel 70 keeps an aggregate count of each 
blueprint copy which has been counted by photo electric sensor 54 and is 
provided with a key reset. It is contemplated that the totalizer counter 
will have a 40 day memory function. 
While the invention has been described with reference to the structure 
disclosed, it is not confined to the details set forth, but is intended to 
cover such modifications or changes as may come within the scope of the 
following claims.