Claims
- 1. An apparatus for sorting and distributing sheet-like items having address codes thereon, said apparatus comprising:a feeder unit for feeding a plurality of the sheet-like items in standing positions; a separator unit for separating and taking up the sheet-like items in the feeder unit; an address code reader for reading the address codes on the sheet-like items within the separator unit; a stacker unit arranged above the feeder unit and including a plurality of sorting sections in which the sheet-like items are stacked in the standing positions, the stacker unit further including a bottom surface; a conveyor unit for the sheet-like items, the conveyor unit connecting the separator unit and the stacker unit; and a distributor unit for sorting the sheet-like items into selected ones of the sorting sections in accordance with the address codes which have been read by the address code reader; wherein the stacker unit includes a bottom surface moving mechanism movable between a first position in which the sheet-like items can be stacked in the sorting sections and a second position in which the bottom surface of the stacker unit is retracted as one piece to thereby allow the sheet-like items in the stacker unit to fall down into the feeder unit.
- 2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the stacker unit bottom surface has a slit; and the bottom surface moving mechanism includes:a cam having a periphery and supported rotatably about a rotational axis, and a pin supported on the cam adjacent the cam periphery and movable in the slit such that a half rotation of the cam causes the stacker unit bottom surface to move from the first position to the second position to allow the sheet-like items in the stacker unit to fall down into the feeder unit, and a further half rotation of the cam causes the bottom surface to return to the first position from the second position to return the stacker unit to a state in which the sheet-like items can be stacked therein.
- 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stacker unit bottom surface has a plurality of slits; and the bottom surface moving mechanism includes a like plurality of said cams and a like plurality of said pins.
- 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stacker unit sorting sections stack the sheet-like items in standing positions with a surface of each sheet-like item contacting a surface of an adjacent sheet-like item.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
5-334947 |
Dec 1993 |
JP |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/373,738, filed Aug. 13, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,346 which is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/030,766, filed Feb. 26, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,438 which is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 08/734,128, filed Oct. 21, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,473, which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/362,877 filed Dec. 23, 1994 and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,044.
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Oct 1993 |
EP |
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JP |
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Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/362877 |
Dec 1994 |
US |
Child |
08/734128 |
|
US |