Copying apparatus with slidably attached sorter bin

Claim 1

In a copying apparatus equipped with a sorter consisting of a bin supported for sliding up and down movement relative to a main frame, a feeding screw vertically supported on the main frame, a nut on said feeding screw, a first coupling extension attached at one end to said bin and at its other end slidably mounted on said feeding screw, a second coupling extension attached at one end to said bin and it its other end to said nut, and means for rotating said feeding screw to cause movement of said nut and up and down movement of said bin attached thereto, the improvement comprising a U-shaped guide rail vertically mounted on said main frame parallel to said feeding screw with the arms of said U extending toward said feeding screw and said second coupling extension, guide means intermediate said second coupling extension and said guide rail, said guide means having two faces projecting toward said U-shaped guide rail with one face slidably contacting the main inner vertical face of said U-shaped guide rail and the other face slidably contacting the inner face of one of the arms of said U-shaped guide rail, and an elastic shock-absorbing means intermediate said nut and said second coupling extension, whereby imbalance of the bin caused by the weight of stacked copies and vibrations caused by movement of said feeding screw are avoided by the cushioning effect of said shock-absorbing means and the regulated contact between said second coupling extension and said U-shaped guide rail through said guide means.