Stacker, especially for an offset plate transporter

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a stacker of the type mentioned above which is especially suited to stacking rigid printing plates, and in particular, rigid offset plates.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a stacker of this general type which further has an increased stacking density.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a stacker of this general type which is also simple in operation.
These and other objects are achieved in accordance with the present invention by providing a stacker which is especially suitable for use with an offset plate transporter or the like and which generally includes a feed device which individually feeds the plates to one or more storage units (preferably one or more rotatable storage drums having open cells for receiving the plates), and at least one loader which operates to receive the plates from the feed device for insertion into an available storage unit.
The present invention is preferably employed in conjunction with storage drums which are rotatable about a horizontal axis to permit a simple, yet very careful insertion of the printing plates into their assigned cells.
In so doing, the printing plates are not bent, but rather are inserted into the cells by vertically and horizontally rectilinear movements.
A desired number of cells can be developed by proper selection of the drum diameter, and the number of drums used.
An especially simple and space-saving arrangement is obtained when, further in accordance with the present invention, several storage drums are arranged one above the other.
An especially rapid feeding of the printing plates to the storage drums is obtained if two such units (with several drums) are arranged next to one another.
In either case, with a minimum of movement, an empty cell can be guided into a position suitable for loading by rotating the appropriate drum.
As a rule, unloading is at the same time made possible for the other storage drums which are provided