CA1161292A - Data card and mailer data match/inserter system - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
DATA CARD AND MAILER DATA MATCH/INSERTER SYSTEM

Thw present invention relates generally to systems for attaching data cards to pre- addressed mailing forms.

Despite the massive volume of mailing of credit, identification and like cards in today's economy there has yet to have been provided an effective and efficient means for attaching such cards to mailing forms.

The present invention provides an automated system for inserting data cards, e.g., charge, credit, identification and similar type cards, into preprinted and addressed mail-ing forms. A computer, with suitable operator intervention controls the automatic asynchronous operation of the overall system. Each mailing form bears the account number and mailing address of the intended card recipient, and a designation of the number of cards to be inserted. The cards are pre-embossed and encoded, and supplied in number and sequence corresponding to the requirements of the succession of forms. The forms advance in succession from a fan-fold continuous strip through a read station and into an insert station. cards are picked from the supply in individual succession and transported past a read station at which account number data is read from the card for comparison with the data of the form currently positioned in the insert station. The insert station includes a number of bins corresponding to the card insert positions on the form and is controlled to receive the proper number of -1a-correctly matched cards in the appropriate bins for the form. Should a no-match condition occur or if the corresponding number of proper cards is not satisfied, the card transport terminates to permit a visual operator check. Operator controls permit selectively rejecting cards and form where matching requirements are not met and manual overrides for correction of same and for re-initiating automated operation. Forms with the proper inserted cards are automatically burst from the strip and proceed through a folder to an output transport for stacking in sequence into an output hopper. Sensors monitor various critical functions to assure accuracy in the automated operations.

Description

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. .
. . .
~ie.d of the Invention - -- . . .:
- This in~ention relates generally to systems for attaching ..
da~a cards to pre-addressed mailing forms and, more particu- ..
larly, to such a system wherein data read from the cards and ..
forms, respectively, is compared to assure attachment of the ..
card to the proper ~orm, such attachment bei~g performed ¦-.
au~omatically and in an Lmproved matter assuring secure at~achment while affording ease of removal of ~he card from the fonm by the intended recipient.

.. . .
Prior art patents which may be per~inent to this invention .l are as follows~

ShermanU.S. Patent 2,440,302~ . ~.
Jor~U.S. Patent 3,484,097- :.
Blow, Jr. .U.S~ Patent 3,537,703- .
RuppU.S. Patent 3,804,39g- .
Zaccogino, Jr. U.S. Patent 3,951,241i .
FunkU.S. Patent 3,961,241. .
Stocker U.S.. Patent 3,965,644 :.
Goldman . U.S. Patent 3,982,102- .
Torok U.S. Patent 4,004,136. -The patent to Stocker, No. 3,965,644 shows an apparatus ~or stuffing envelopes and specifically for stuffing a c~rd into a pocket formed on a particular type of mailins form ~-designed for use with the apparatus. However, there i5 no .-auto~ated matching ~f credit card information with similar .
in~ormation on the IOrmS.
The patent to ~ory; No. 3,484,097, teaches the m~chine a-tt~chment of cards onto a carrie- webb wherein slots 18 and 22 are provided in the webb structure for reception of an insert card.

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6~2~

,, -The ?atents to She~an, No. 2,440,302 and Blow, Jr., No. 3,537,703, show form ~ursting and separating machines. . ...
The patents to Torok, No. 4,004,136 and Goldman, No. ..
3,982,103, disclose matching credit information on a credit card with information of a sLmilar nature stored in the , apparatus. __........... ...... ~..... . .... . . t ~he oate~t to Funk, ~o. 3 ~ g61 r 781 shows a system for .- . . .
performing a plurality of functions including sheet recognition, -.
marking, folding, sor~ing, discharging an~ stacking~ etc.
together with a progra~ed control for ~he system; manual ..
o~errides of automatic controls are also provided.
The patent to Zaccagnino, Jr., No. 3,951,~51, teaches L~
~he use of a plurality of light emitt.ing diodes tLED's~ ! !
together with photosensors for scanning the LED's in a I ...
. ..
document positioning apparatus.
None o the ~nown prior ast de~i--es inc?uding those ¦ ~.
represented by the above prior art patents o fers the unique ' `
features and advantages of the syst~m of the invention dis~
closed herein ...
Despite the massive volume of mailing of credit, identi-fication and like type cards in today's economy, there has .
yèt to have been provided an effective and efficient means for attaching such cards to mailing forms. The mechanical `~
function of attaching the cards to the form frequently is performed manually, a slow and laborious process. The ..
structure of the mailing forms themselves frequently does not assure secure attachment, with the ris~ that cards can ..
become detached during subsequent handling, either pre-liminary to or during mailing or upon opening o~ the mailins - l 16129-2 _ 4 _ . . ..
... . ......

, . . .

~orm by the recipient, in every case increasing the possibility.
of ;oss of the cards. Forms which assure secure attachment ~requently use an adhesive surface to which the card is . .
attached, increasing ~he cost of the mailing forms as well `
as in~roducins handling problems in processing rards and ..
forms. Moreover, subsequen~, intended removal of cards from orms is made clifficult and frequently the surface of the ca~d, after re~oval, is contaminated, with adhesive residue.
This is both objectionable to the cardholder and detrLmental ~o subsequent in~ended use of the caxd. . .:
Mailing forms in common use are of various different -- c~igurations; for example, one:part form~ simply have the . ¦ r~
~ard attached thereto an~ are inserted into an envelope ¦ .
whereas two-part and three-part forms are ~olded into reduced size before insertion into an envelope, these forms wrappins .
about the card and affording greater security agai~st a card det2ched from the form being lost. One type of ~olded form includes a window aligned with the window in the mailing envelope, i~ those cases where he credit card itself bears ..
~he mailang address of the recipient and serves as the ....
address visible rom the ou~side en~elope.. This form is e~ficient, but increases the likelihood of theft, since it reveals that the en~elope contains c~edit caras. Other such forms may be pre-addressed such that the address on the form is visible throu~h an envelope window, concealing thereby more ef fectively the cDntentS. s The use o~ pre-addressed mailing forms, while desirable, has introduced additLonal problems of a~suring proper matching . . .

8 ~ 2 .
,. ......
.. .
.
.....
_. - . .-. : .
of the pre-embassed and pre-encoded cards with the ccrrec~
mailing ~orm, wi~h the undesired result ~hat the ad~ressee ..
receives the wrong cards if a mis-match has been made~ .....
The manual assembly of cards with pre-addressed mailing .....
fo~ms is fraugh~ with human error both as to assembly of the :.
...
cor~ec~ cards wi.th the proper p-e-addressed form and, . -.
moreover, of the correc~ nu~ber of cards intended to be sent to the addressee of the form -- i.e., especially where the .....
account holder may designate the number of cards which he is ..
;
-to receive. - ~ ... ;.
Prior automated systems have been i~sufficient or ~ ..... `
~nadequate in satisfying the many necessary functions indicated ¦ ...
above. ~or example, they have failed t:o provide adequate means to match the correct credit cartls r as to addressee and . .....
re~uired number thereof, with the proper fo~m in a fully ....
reliable and suf~iciently rapid manner... ~ypically, prior .....
art systems cannot accommodate dif~erent types of mailing t'~
for~s -- e.g., one-, two- or three-part orms. Many require precut and presized for~s and hence lack the reliability, ! `
speed and efficiency achieved by us~ o forms of a con~inuous ~ -. ~an fold strip variety. The latter assure that the proper ...
seguence of successive forms is maintained and ~Oias feed .. `
proble~s, e.g., feeding two sheets at one time, which occu~
wi~h precut individual forms. In general, prior art mailing ... ~
systems lack the necessary control and auto~ated handling ... `

.
functions as are essential to overall effective and efficient ` ...

oper~tions.
.~..

2 9 2 Accordingly, it is an object of an aspect of the present invention to overcome these and other defects and deficiencies of the prior art systems.
More particularly, it is an object of an aspect of the present invention to provide an effective and efficient sy~tem for automatically inserting cards into mailing forms whereby the cards are securely retained for transmittal~ yet easily and quickly removed by the recipient. Further, it is an object of an aspect of the invention to afford such secure attachment without the use of adhesivesl thus avoid-ing problems of adhesive handling in the assembly operation and contamination of the card surface by the adhesive when subsequently removed.
An object o an aspect of the invention is to provide fast, yet accurate matching of information pre~printed on mailing forms with the respective data card or cards to be attached thereto and to afford immediate termination of system operation when the required matching conditions are not met, while further affording convenient operator in-ter-action and intervention to correct the deect.
An object of an aspect of the invention is to permit u~e of mailing forms variously of one-, two-, or three-part types and particularly to provide handling apparatus of suficient flexibility to accommodate any of these types.
An object of an aspect of the invention is to afford an automated system wherein the number of cards to be inserted in a given mailing form may be preselected -- e.g., from one (l) to four (4) thereof -- which number may vary from form to form, yet wherein automated matching and inserting functions are performed in a con-tinuous

3 ~2~2 and uninterrupted manner, regardless of variations in the number of cards required for successive forms.
An object of an aspect of the invention is to permit use of a double, or side-b~-side form supply, the combined width being convenient from the standpoint of conventional printing equipment used in printing such forms as to the width of paper handled thereby, and with regard to efec-tively doubling the throughput rate for any given operating speed of the system of the invention.
An object of an aspect of the invention is to provide automated bursting of individual forms from a continuous supply thereo and automated trimming of transport boarders from the forms, after insertion of the cards and prior to folding.
An object of an aspect of the invention is to provide for selective folding of forms of ~:wo or more parts and ~\ transport thereof to an output stacker in olded form for ) convenient, subsequent insertion into mailing envelopes.
/ An object of an aspect o~ the invention is to provide / 20 error sensing and detecting apparatus for all critical system functions with automated controls upon de'ection of error, to assure accuxate operation at all times.
An object of an aspect of the invention is ~o provide visual inspection stations for operator intervention and inspection when errors are detected, and manual overrides for operator intervention to correct such errors as occur and are detected.
An object of an aspect of the invention is to provide automated reading o data rom pre-addressed forms and from credit cards, whether encoded or embossed thereon, or supply to the computer control for the data matching functions.

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Arl object of an aspect of the invention is to provide computer control for the entire system to permit asynchronous operation maximizing system speed and eficiency and enabling proper shut down of the equipment upon detection of errors or at completion of a given run.
An object of an aspect of the invention is to provide a ully automated operation of attachment of cards to mailing forms and, where such forms are pre-addressed, of matching the card and form data to assure supply and attachment of the correct cards of the number required to the respective forms.
An object of an aspect of thi.s invention is to provide computer control structure for the entire system which ap-propriately will coordinate the proper activities of the various subcomponent structures in their overall inter-relationship with the entire system. An object of an aspect of the invention is to provide continuous overall operation of the system while permitting certain of the subsystems to be in a state of hold, or temporarily suspended from operation because of errors or other operations, without affecting the continuing function of other portions of the overall system.
The above and other objects and advantages of the system of the invention will become apparent from the follow-ing detailed description thereof.

t ~6~92 -8a-Various aspects of the invention are as follows:
An inserter system for au~omatically attaching pre-coded cards of generally planar, rectangular configura-tion to respectively corresponding, pre-coded mailer forms at predetermined card at~achment locations on each said mailer orm, by inserting first and second diagonally opposite corners of each card associated with the form into corresponding first and second card-corner receiving apertures provided in the associated form and defining the said card attaching location of said form, said apertures being spaced apart by a distance less than the diagonal dimension of the card between the said first and second diagonally opposite corners thereof, successive said mailer forms being supplied in a continuous an-fold strip with each said mailer form pre-coded in accordance with the code of cards to be received therein and the number of such common~coded cards to be attached to said form and said cards being provided in sequence as to code and number thereof, in accordance with the succession of mailer forms~ comprising: a card suppy station con-taining a supply of plural cards arranged in sequence in accordance with the card code number and number of cards of a common code number to comply with the pre-printed code and number of coded cards of said successive pre-printed mailer forms, a pick station for picking cards from said supply station, in succession, a trans-port station and an inserter station, said transport station transporting cards from said pick station to said inserter station, a form supply and transport -8b-station for transporting the forms o~ said fan-fold strip individually and in succession into an aligned position at said inserter station, means for reading a code on each said card, said card transport station 5 transporting each card in succession past said reading means, said form supply and transport station including maans for reading the card code and number of cards pre-printed on each said form, an inserter station for attaching cards to a form aligned therewith at the 10 inserter station, and control means for selectively controlling the operations Oe said pick station, said.
transport station, said form supply and transport station, and said inserter station to permit operation of each thereof in asynchronous relationship with lS respect to the others, said controliling means comparing the card code and number of cards read from each said form, in succession, with the code and number of common-ly coded cards read by said card reading means for the successive cards to determine compliance of the se~uence 20 of cards with the re~uirements of each of the se~uence of forms, in succession and for supplying the cards in individual succession to said inserter station for each card which satisfies the re~uirements of a correspond-ing form, and for actuating said inserter station to 25 insert said cards into the corresponding form when said orm is positioned at said inserter station, said inserter station including an inserter mechanism for receiving the cards supplied thereto and ~or deflecting diagonally opposite corners o~ the cards supplied to and 30 received by said inserter mechanism into said receiving apertures of said form thereby to attach the appropriate cards to the corresponding form.

~ 18i 292 -8c~
A method for automatically attaching pre-coded cards of generally planar, rectangular configuration to respectively corresponding, pre-coded mailer forms at pre-determined card attachment locations on each said mailer form, by inserting first and second diagonally opposite corners of each card associated with the form into corresponding first and s~cond card-corner receiving apertures provided in the associated form and defining the said card attaching location of said form, said apertures being spaced apart by a distance less than the diagonal dimension of the card between the said first and second dia~onally opposite corners thereof, said mailer forms being supplied in a continuous fan-fold strip with each said maiier form pre-coded in accordance with the code o cards to be received the.rein and the number of such common-coded cards t:o be attached to said form and said cards being provided in succession as to code and number thereof, in accordance with the succes-sion of mailer forms, comprising: supplying plural cards in sequence in accordance with the card code number and number of cards of a common code number to comply with the preprinted code and number of coded cards of each of said sequence of preprinted mailer forms, pick-ing cards from said supply station, in succession, transporting the forms of said Ean-fold strip individual-ly and in succession into an aligned position for card insertion, reading a code on each said card, reading the card code and number of cards pre-printed on each said form, comparin~ the card code and number of cards read from each said form, in succession, with the code and ~ ~1292 8d-number of commonly coded cards, as read from the succes-sive cards to determine compliance of the sequence of cards with the requirements of the successive forms, placing the cards in individual succession in aligned positions for card insertion, for each card which satis-fies the requirements of a corresponding form, inserting said cards into the corresponding form when said form is positioned in aligned position for card insertion b~
deflecting diagonally opposite corners of the placed cards into said receiving apertures of said form thereby -to attach the appropriate cards to the corresponding form, and selectively controlling said pick, said form supply and transport, and said inserter operations to occur in asynchronous relationship.
To summarize, the system of the invention provides for fully automatic, rapid and effective attachment of data cards9 i.e., credit or identification cards, or elements of like . _ . . _ _ _ . _ . ........ . . . . . ......... . . . . . ..
g ......
..'-'~

sort, t~ mailing forms. While the term "credit carQ" is .
used predominately throughout, it is to be unde-stco~ that B~y type card (preferably of plastic, though of any type flexi~le, resilient material) may be used with this autom~ted system. In a preferred embodiment, the m2iling forms are pre-printed, typically with the addresc o~ the intended .. . .. . - : .
recipient, the credit card account number~ and the number of cards to be attached to the gi~en form. The in~ention will b~ described in a preferred embodiment wherein cards are to be. attached to such pre-addressed forms, necessitating proper matching of data read from each c~rd with its respec-tive form and the supply of the ~e~uisite number of cards ~or the gi~en, respective form. It s;~ould be appreciated.
that the inserting apparatus may ~e employed solely for the mechanical function of automatically attaching cards to forms, i.e., where data matching requirements are not present and, as wili la~er ~ecome apparent, many other of the indi-vidual s~ruc~u~es and operating cont-ols of the system are useful in many different environments and applications apart from ~he speci~ic, preferred embodiment to be described.
The sys~em of the in~ention in its preferred em~odiment herein described includes a number o~ diferent "stations", so-characterized to correspond to certain basic functions performed by the system. The system operates in an asynchronous manner in that each ~station" and its related function is optimized as to speed, ef~iciency and effectiveness, while maintaining proper general coordination between the various successive individual stations/functions.

The pre-printed forms ~re supplied in a fan-fold o~

6~2g2 ! ......
......
, .......
. . . :. .
~a~ifold continuous strip configuration, successive forms t.-.
being delineated by per~orations afforded to facili~ate ...
subsequent ~ur~ting of the strip into indi~idual forms. The .......
supply strips, moreover~ include edge or marginal portions ...
ha~ing sprocket holes for transport of the forms in a positive, , precision manner into the various successive operating -.
stations. Preferahly, the forms are double-width and thus -contain two separate mailing ~orms in side-by-side relationship.
Each form prefera~ly contains two separate credit card ...
attachment positions for attaching, selec~ively, either one ..
cr two credit cards each. The forms feature a unique attach- ...
~ent s~ructure ~herein apertures of speci~ic configuration a~d location are formed adjacent the two, preselecSed, ~ ~.
diagonally opposite corners of a card of the size to be ~. .
attache~ to a given ~orm, at each o~ ~le card attachment positions. The inser~ing function, t~ be d~scribed, provides for bending the card ab~ut a ~iagonal axis of the card to a ....
~lexed, configur~tion, c~nca~e relati~ely to the form surface.
The card then is lowered. t~ insert the corners ~nto those corresponding ap~rtures. P nally, while maintaining the .-corners in their inserted positions, the card is permittea ...
to return to it~ normal flat or planar configuration wh~reby --.
the corners projec~ fully into the respec~iva apertures and thus loc~ the card to the form. :.
The continuous form supply strip is advanced by timing ....
sprocket chains initially to a read.station at which transpoxt . .~
termi~ates while an optical character reader (OCR) reads the ``
necessary inform.ltion ~rom each of the side-by~side forms -- ~-typicallv, the information read being the account number and î ~6~2~
.. . _ _ .. . .. ; I
~ tl ~
. . ....
.-. . -. .
. .
the number of cards for ~,at account number to be inserted on the given form. This infor~ation is ~ransmi~ted to the compu~er.
After reading, the form then is ad~anced into the insert --station. This assumes, of course, that any prior orm there-- tofore p~si.ioned in the insert station has received the . . -.
requisite nu~ber o~ cards and has been transported out of -~
the insert station. ~, ~ he cards are pre-embossed and/or pre-encoded a~d provided in edge stacked relationship in the same sequence of account numbers and with the requisite number of cards per account, corresponding to the res??ecti~e ~orms and the ~equence thereof presented in thc continuous fan-fold strip supply of those forms. Two such trays of cards are accommodated in the card input stacker station; this system automatically selects a given one of those trays as the first tray for ~eed supply of cards. Sensors determine an empty condition t`
of each tray and thus upon depletion of the card supply in one tray, the eed will auto~atically be~in from the other tray. Thus, continuous operation can be achieved by replacing `
each ~ray as it becomes emp~y. Alternative~ly, either tray ~ay be selected first by manual override.
A picker mechanism picks a card from the selected tray and ~eeds it into a card transport, implemented by a belt engagement system which grasps the card longitudinally therealorg and moves i~ ~rom the input stacker station to a , . .
card read station. Either embossed characters on the card, -magnetic encoding or other types of encoding or combinations of one or more of the above m2~ be read at the card read station and the information transmitted to the computer.

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: `

_ 12 .:

.
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The card is transported continuo~sly to and throl~gh the read station and progresses into an inspection station, the _ .. ~ :
transport conveniently re-orienting the card from a vertical to an incl~ned horizontal position. Should the data read from l~he card not correspond, or ~match", the data read from the form in~ended ~o receive ~1at card, the card transport . . .. .... . . ...... . . l ter~inates and the card remains in the inspection station f~r observation by the operator. This error condition can t -......
arise for various reasons. For example~ if the required -number of cards for a siven form are not present, but other~
wise the sequence of cards is correct, the card which stops at the inspection station due to a data match errox will ..
actually be a card bearing an account numb~r corresponding to the next form to be supplied. If that is the case, the operator intervention will involve indicating to the system by the control panel "skip card" switch that a card is missing.
The operator may also designate that the incorrect form be r~uted to form reject hopper. The system completes the card insertion function and resumes automatic operation. Assuming . .
that the se~uence and required number of c~rds for the form now advanced into ~he insert station are ava~lable, automatic operation will resume~
Other errors would include the more simple circumstanc~

o~ a card simply being out of sequence or containing some -other error. Error of embossed character reading itself may occur in which case if the operator determines that the account number is correct for the forn, manual override of ~he error condition can be accomplished and the card ad~anced into the inserter station. I~ the card is in error, alternatively, .....

a manual control provides ~or passing ~he card directly -through he insext stat.ion ~nd in~o a card reject hopper.
The insert mechanis~ of the insert station includes mo~able fingers defining a number of bins corresponding to -the number of card positions on the ~orms. As before speci~ied, double width forms are employed, ea~h having two a~tachment positions for a ~otal of four card positions and he~c~ four bins. The insert mechanism moves in a vertical reciprocating manner so as to receive the cards from the card transport in an upper position and to per~orm the card insertion into the ~orms in a l~wer p~sition directly super-posed on the forms. The insert ~echanism includes a card transpo~t path extending along the top of the bins. A --deflecting element associated with each bin i5 selectively ~ontrolled either to a normal "up" position to transport the card over, and beyond its associated bin, or to an activated, ~down" position to deflect the card illtO the bin. The card reject hopper is positioned at the exit from the card transport mechanism of the insert station; whe~ an error occurs requiring reject of a card, the deflecting elements remain in the up position so that the card is transported fully through the lnsert station into the reject bin.
Where a data match is satisfied, the card is transported through the insert station and, under computer control, the appropriate deflecting element i5 actuated ~o deflect the card into the proper bin, with regard o the total cards per form required. After the bins have received the necessary caxds ,or the associated forms then at the insert station, the insert mechanism i5 actuated to perform the insertion - ~ ~6~2~ I
_ 14 -.........
... :.
function. - -Specifically, the insert station includes a support .
finger which extends ce~trally underneath each card transverse ~o the greater longitudinal dimension thereof, and extending ~rom the trailing longitudinal edge of the card as respects the eventual transport path of ~he card and its associatea ~::
~orm rrom the insert station. Fur~her, two pairs of fingèrs t. .''.'.'.' ext~nd under the card at displaced positions along the oppo5ite longitudinal edges o~ the card, adjacent the card end edges. Thes~ ~fingers" define the initial,-longitudinal ~,ides of the normal bin configuration corresponding closely ~o the nor~al dimension of the card. Other structures -de~ine the ends of the bin.
When the bins have received the appropriate number of cards, the insert function is performed. The bin defining ~ing~rs are pi~oted away from the card, the underlying central suppo~t finger ~emains stationary and a pair of pins are lowered to ensage the card adjacent the diagonally opposite corners which are to be recei~ed in the apertures of the form. The card is flex~d in this manner, the pins -~`
are lowered with the central support finger remaining up `-maintaining the flexed cDndi~ion of ~he card and therebv ~nserting ~he diagonally opposite card corners into the respective apertures in the form. The ce~tral support finser then is lowered into close proximity with the form, permitting the card to flex to its normal flat or planar condition, the diagonally pFosite corners projecting ~ully into the xespective apertures and locking the card into position Thereafter, the paper transport mechanism is 2~ 3 15 ~ ...... -.~
.:
.

,~
act~ated to advance the form with its attached, inser~ed .-car~s out of the insert station an~ into a bursting station. .--.
After removal f-om the insert station and speci~ically when .-t~e trailing longitudinal edges o the attached cards have ..
passed ~eyond the ce~tral support fingers, the latter are rais~d, and the suppor~ fingers are pivoted back into their .--- ~
bin-defining positions, thus preparing ~he bins for receiving the necessary cards for the next successive (double) mailing --orms to be positioned in the insert station.
....
As the form exits ~rom the insert station, it enters a I ....
bursting and trimming station wherein th~ side-~y-side ..... -forms are burst from the next suecessive form of the st~ip, which has now enter2d the insert stati~n along a delineating per~oration therebetween; the burst ~orms are separated into :~
two forms and substantially simultaneou.sly the margins with ..... :
sprocket h~les therein are sllt from their respective ......
fonms. The transport mechanism of the folder station advances : ~
the burst ~orms for the slitting operations and directly I .`
into the folding station~ ..
In ~he folding stationr depen~ing on the type of th~
.......
form, a system o~ rollers and baffle plates directs the form . '-~
so as to fold it, where required, and a folded form then exits from tne folder int~ an outfePd transport mechanism.
The outfeed transport mechanism of the output station receives the ~olded forms, transports same to an output . -stacker station and a further mechanism conveys the foldedforms in separated relationship into a se~ected one of two adjacent output stacker trays.
At this juncture, the asynchronous o~eration o~ the system ''',' 2~2 .
.
- - . -will be re2dily appreciated as necesary to its maximum speed and efficiency of opera~ion. For example, since different nuGbe~s of card~ may be required for adjacent or successive formsl the time re~uired for transporting cards into the insert s'a~ion will vary. Conversely, the insert operation LS performed at the same speed regardless of the number of - `-cards to be inserted in the ad~acent forms. Moreover, the --number o~ folds will affect the speed of throughput of ~he forms through the folder station and to the output hopper. i~ `
....
~ence, separate monitoring of the stages of operation of the respective stations and thus asynchronous control of the r~specti~e stations permits maximizing the total system through-put rate while assuring maintenance of coordination oE the respective stations' operations. Further, where error conditions exist, whether it be the depletion of cards ,--in ~he input stackers or an error in the reading of a card or a data mat~h operation, ~am or other error conditions in the ~eeding o~ the forms, inse~t operations, or et~ he ,;
operation of the involved station should be suspended, but previously completed for~s should be permitted to be trans- j ported through tD the output stacker. Again, asynchronous operation is essential to a~hieve this desirable mode of operation. The logic arrangement whereby this asynchronous operation of these multiple operating stations is achieved `
is a sig~ificant contri~ution to the efficiencv and effective-., ., . ~
ness of the system of the invention.
The present i~vention will now be de~cirbed 1~ more detall by way of example, w~th ~eference to the acoompa~rin~ drawing~

in which:~

1 2 ~ 2 . . ..
. . _ .
.
~ Fig. 1 is a perspectiv~ of the entire credit card data match and inserte~ system of ~his invention, Fig. 2 is a bloc~ diagram of the work station of ~he systém af this invention;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a single input tray for holding a plurality of pre-embossed credit cards;
. ~ig~ 4 ~s a per~pective view of the pic~ mechanism ~o~

o~ car~ t-ay; -(third sheet of drawlngs) Fi~s. S~-SD/are diagra~matic views show~ng successive :.
steps i~ the operatio~ of the card pick mecha~ism, .
::~
Fig ~ 6 is a par-~; 21 schematic, partial flow diagram of the card transport and rotate mechanism;
Fig. 7 i~ a perspective diagrammatic view of the mail~r fo~m su~ply and transport mechanism, optical. card reader, ~orm buxster and slitter, form folder, foxm receiver and ..
..
ou~ ed flow pa~h; :
.:
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of tAe overall drive arrange~
ment for the mailer ~orm transp~rt mechanism, the form burster a~d slitter rollers, and the folder rollers.
~is. ~ is a ~ront ele~ational view o~ the mailer form '`
transpor. mechanism. ~ .

Fig~ 10 is a top plan view of the mailer form transport mechanism.
~iy. 11 is a perspective view of the left side portion of ..
the mailer f orm transfer me~hanism.
Fig. 12 is a perspectiYe view of the mailer form transpcrt motor together with the associated timing and control discs.
~ ig. 13 is a front view of the OCR reader.

......

~: . - . .....

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of the OCR reader.

Fig. lS is a diagr~mmatic front elevational ~iew of the ..:
inserter module, . .
Pig. 16 is a diasra~matic, rear elevational view of the inser~er m~dule; -Pigs. 17A and 17B are perspec~ive views of ~ card support- '-ing finger and deflector pins o~ the inserter module; ---Fig. 18 i~ a perspective view, partly broken-away, of --the basic compvnents o~ the insert module;
~ig~ 19 is a perspecti~e view of the i~sert module, -par ly broken-away to illustsate card deflecting elements includ~ng rotary solenoids and de~lect:ing rollers thereof;
Fig. 2~ is an exploded perspective view of the basic , component parts associated with one bin of the card insert , ~-apparatus of the insert module;
~ ig. 21 is a perspective view of card support fingers, and associa~ed drive elements therefore, of the insert modul~;
Figs. 2~ 23, 24 and 25 are cross-sectiona~ elevational ~iews taken across the central portion of the stru~t~re of .
~ig. 18, showing successive stages of operation of the card - :
insert apparatus for a single one of the bins;
Fig. ~6 is a perspecti~e view o the ~ursting structure for separating serially connected, successive fan-fold ~orms into individual forms.

Fig. 27 is a right side elevational view of the form slitter, taken partly in cr~ss section generally alon~ lines -`-27-27 o~ ~ig~ 26.
Fig. 28 is a top plan ~iew of the slitter, taken partly in cross sec_ion along line 28-2S o Fig. 27 - 1 lB1~92 1l . . ~ , g . .. .
........

._ ~ .
Fig. 29 is a side clev2 ional view of the slitter; ''-,-.,'',' . ~is. 30 is a fron, ele-~-atio~al view taken generally along ...
line 30-30 of Fig. 29; .. '`' Pig. 31 is a top plan view taken partly in CX055 section ,,,.,,',' ,~nd generally along line 3~-31 o Fig. 2g; .' Fig. 32 is a side elevational view in schematic form.of , ~he ~older me~hanism of this invention, illustrating pivotal '-.''.'' doors which are selectively positioned for accommodating .. ''' fo~s of different fold-types; . ''',.
, ~ig. 33 is a side elevational view in schematic fo,rm ,'',, wi~h the pivotal doors p~sitioned for folding thrèe-par~ . .
~orms at the two fold lines thereof; . , '''' Fig. 34 is a fragmentary portion of Pig, 33, showing the '.'`' completion of the first fold;
Fig.. 35 is a fra~mentary portion oi-' ~ig. 33 ~howing the ~ ,.
first step in making the second fold; , Pig. 36 is a fragmentary portion of Fig. 33, showing .......
the comple~ed, iolded form being fed to the output feed; - ...
Fig. 37 is a right elevational ~iew in schematic form, of '''''`
the reception,guide of the folder outfeed in the "up'~ position, ''.
ready to r~ceive ~olded forms from the ~older station; ,','''' ' Fig. 38 is a ~iew similar to Fig. 37, but with the ~:-reception guide i~ the down position ready to feed the folded ' fo~ms to the outfeed transport;
Pig. 39 is a perspective ~ie* of the folder outfeed; .`-'.','~
Fig. 40 is a top plan, schematic diagram of the folder -outfeed and the outfeed transport which carries folded forms to the output ejectors and stackers;

Fig. 41 is a rear elevational view o~ the ejector feed ....

- ~6~2~2 - 20 ~
:::::: :::
.:: ..
~ . . ..... ..

which receives folded for~s from the outfeed transpo-t and ejec~s same into the output stackers as viewed from the left ..
of }?ig. 44; -~ig. 42 is a perspecti~e, exploded ~iew of the actuating ..
..:.:. ..:
machanism of the folded form ejector;
Fig. 43 is a schematic showing of the drive arrangement ..

for the folder outfeed and the outfeed transport; l. .

Fig. 44 is a side elevational ~iew, partly in cross section, -of the ejector ~eed and output stacker as viewed from the right :
- ... .
G~ Fig. 41;
. . .
Fig. 45 is an enlarged view of the photoelectric sensor . .
and wî~dow strueture of Fig. 44;, ...
Fig. 46 is a perspe~tiYe, schematic ~iew of the drive arrangement for the ejector feed;
Fig. 47 îs a pers~ective, broken-away view o the output stacker tray form advance mechanism.
Fig. 48 is a detailed, pla~ ~iew o the control panel ! :
.. .
1500;

~ig. 49 is a chart of the major modes of the system ~
:::::::::
operations;
Pig. 50 is a detailed block diagr~m of the system e}ectronics, computer, control, and sensor de~ices and . `-su~systems;
-Fig. 51 is a flow chart of the main system loop;
. :::::
~ig. 52 is a logic flow chart of the PICK routine;

Figs. 53 and 54 are logic flow charts of the A~VANCE

and ~URST ~outines; ...

Fis. 5~ is a losic :Elow chart of the OCR routine; ~

....

21 - ;

(28th sheet of drawings) ~igs. 56A and 56~, t2~en together, are a logic flow chart of the O~TFEED rou .ine; .
~igs. 57A and 57B, take~ together, are a logic flow chart ..
of the INSER~ routine;
~ig. 58 is a logic flow chart of the PLACE routine: -Figs~ 59A a~d 59~, taken together, are a losic flow chax~ o4 the CR routine; and Fiys. 60A, 60B, and 60C, taken together, ~re a logic flow chsrt o~ the R~N mode o~ the systsm.

.. , '' ' , ' ', ' ~

~.
..

....
......

.

6~2 - I
, 22 - ~
...
-'.

....:
_,, _ . .
With concurren re~erence to Figures 1 and 7, c2binet ::
lO houses the entirety of the mechanical and electrical apparatus and contrsl computer of the data match inserter system of the invention. Colmmercial acceptability of equip ment of this type requires that it be of dimensions to permit passage through con~entional office doorways, lLmitiny dep~h to appro~imately 31 inches; this imposes stringent ~esign requirementst with close interrelationship of the various mechanical operating modules; this important design . . . ; .
requirement has been ach~eved in accorda~ce with ~he teach- -inys of this in~ention.
The card input hopper, or statio~, 100 for the pre- I ~-~ossed and encoded cards 10~ aooommodates two trays 110 and 112 in which the cards are stac~ed vertically on edge in .-pxedetermined se~uence corresponding to their intended ~:
match~ing as to card account number and number of cards with the sequence of forms into which the cards are to be inserted. Accordingly, the trays 110 and 112 are necessarily positioned with that sequencing function taken into account, and the systemr as will be discussed, aut~matically selects a ~irst of the trays ~or initial supply of cards and when --~
~he tray i5 empty, automatically switches to the second ~-;
tray. As a matter of convenience tray 110 is selected first, initially. The card input hopper 100 includes spring biased mechanisms 130 and 13~ for urging the cards toward -~he ~ront end of the trays.

The automated selection, moreover, ma~ be overridden by manual control~ For example, it may for some reason be 1 ~6~292 _, ' '''' .'~;
p_eferable to use a tray in position 112 and, accordingly, -;
......
t~a~ tray may be manually selected first. Moreover, whan .......
tha system automatically switches from a de~leted tray 110 ......
tQ tray 112 and is shut down during operation on tray 112, ~,he autom~tic selection would return to ~ray 110 a~d this -i~stead can be overridden by manual selection of tray 112.
1..
P~otosensors 242 and 240 detect the presence or absence o~ cards in the respective trays 110 and 11~; ~he resul.ing sensor outputs to the control system accordingly provide the ,---~.:
au omated switching irom a depleted tray to a full tray and as well to recognize the condition of bo~h trays being depleted so as to shut do~n the ~eed mechanisms and, even-~ually, the system operation.
A card pick statio~ 200 receives the ront ends of the ~rays and includes corresponding picking mechanisms, selec- I
kively enabled into operation for the sele~ted tray, as I -aforedescribed, for picking individual cards in succession from the selected tray. ~he pic~ mechanisms direct the .-:. .-~ick`ed card to a transport mechanism 300 which receives the picked card and.transports it past a card read st tion 400 and a visual observation station 450. The card trans~
po~t mechanism 300 rotates the cards during trans~ort about a longitudinal axis aligned with the direction of transport to a re~rwardly inclined, substantially ho`riz~ntal position, to facilitate viewing thereof at the observation station 450r and alignment with the insert station.
For continuity of nomenclatura, each individual mailer form is referred to by reference numeral 502, each i~divldual - ~ ~6~2~2 . I
_ _ - 24~
....

_- 1 . . .
plastic card is reférred to by reference numexal 102 and once combined, i.e., the plastic card~s~ has (ha~e~ been inserted into the form, reference numeral 522 is used. ,-~igure 3 shows a single input tray 110 for holding a plurality (e.g., minLmum 350 cards eachj of pre-encoded :
and/or pre-embossed credit cardsO The overall tray 110 is of generally rectangular cDnfiyuration and si~ed according to ~-the particular size and type of credit cards to be pro~essed (e.g., typical types CR80, 50 and 60, ea~h of di~ferent dLmensions requiring corresponding, differen trays).
~ ..
I~wardly extending guide lip5 111 restrain the cards from Yertical displacement. ~ longitudinal recess or channel 120 receives a conventional clip spring bias mechanism shown in L
outline form at 122 mai~taining a forward bias on the -cards. Retentio~ lips 116 and lla pre~ent the cards ~rom beLng pushed out of the front of the tray inadvertently.
Recesses 114 and 115 permit engagement of the front-most card by the pick mechanism. -A foxm transport station 500 receives a supply of successi~e, double width forms 502 in a co~tinuous, fan- ~t''' old strip 510; it incremently advances the strip 510 to position a gi~en pair of double-width forms 502 at a form reader station 600 and the next preceding pair of forms 502 at ~he insert station 7000~ An optical character reader (OCR) 602 scans a selected line of data on the forms 502 at station 600 for supply of form data to the comput2r for com?arison with data read from the plastic cards. As seen in ~igure 7, the spacing of the stations 600 and 700 2~2 - 25 ~
.-., permits simultaneous card inser~ion and scanning ope~ations, respectively on the successive pairs of foxms 502.
A burster~slitter module 800 provides for bursting the perforation line between successi~e forms 502 and is position- -.
ed to engage the pexforated line t~elineating between the bottom edge of the form already advanced partly into the folder module 900, and at the top of the next successive form currently in khe insert module 700, theréby to release the former f~om the ...
. ~
latter. The slitter mechanism is structurally com~on, in paxt, ...
to input portions of the folder module, and functions to slit ...
the double-~tidth, burst forms into two separate forms, and to . . :
slit away the longit~dinal margins ~thich engage the tractor I -drive of the form transport.
Folder module 900 folds the burst and slit, card-fillet~ individual forms 5~2 and deposits the ~olded forms into .::
.'..-.
a folder outfeed module, or receiver, 1000. The ~older m~dule 900 is selectively adjustable to accommodate the ....
di~ erent lengths and fold requirements of one- or tw~
or ~hree-part forms, in the first case merely transporting s2me and in the second and third cases selectively olding the forms once or twice, respectively. A folder output feed --~
transport 2000 transports the folded forms to a stacker outfeed module 2100 at ~hich output ejector mechanisms eject the folded forms in sequence into the output stacker station 1100. The ...
station 1100 includes a pair of t-avs 1101 and 1102 and a .
corresponding pair of output ejectors 2100 which are select- `
ively enabled ,or ejectins the ~olded forms, in sequence, :-into a selected one o~ the. trays 1101 and 1102 and, when that selected tray is full, automatically swit.ches to the othe~ thereof. This permi~s continuous operation, the full - ~ 16~g2 ~ . .

tray being removed and replaced when the second tray is selected.
Retaininy arms 1111 and 1112 are associated with ~rays 1101 and 1102, respectively, and carry at their rear mount-ing portion a plate as seen at 1150 for arm 1111. When tray 1101 is properly po~ tionedj arm 1111 is moved to a down -position contiguous with the top edge of the vertically stacked, ~olded forms therein. Arm 1111 is spring biased to the down position shown and as well to an up position for r~moval o~ the tray. Arm 1111 actuates a microswitch, later shown, to indicate its down or up position. The tray 1101 ....
or 1102 pushes the associated plate 1150 to the rear of the machine when the tray is positioned properly. Arms 11~1 and 1~12 are independent of each of the pivotally mounted plates 1150. Each plate 1150 has a window aperture 1152 therein.

With a tray in position, the apertur~ 1152 exposes a photosensor ... . , I
1154 which receives re~lectea l~g~t from a forw adjacent the rear of the tray 1111 such tha~ reflected light ~rom ~hat , . .:
~orm will be detected and the photosensor thereupon provides an output indicating that the tray is full. When the tray i~ removed, the plate 1150 swinys up and the back surface thereo~ having a reflec~ive surface there~n is exposed to ~
~he photosensor providing a ~alse indication of a full ~-output tray, ser~ing, along with the microswitch output, to indicate that ~he associated tray 1111 of the output stacker 1100 is not available for receiving forms.
The blocX diasra~ of Figure 2 provides an overview of the system operation~ A computer 1600 having an associated displayfcontrol panel 1500 provides for a general autQmated system control and receives inputs from v~rious de~ectors, 2~2 ~ - 27~ l . _ . . _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ . _ .. . . _ _ . . . . . . .... , . ~ I
.......
"' , _ ~ .'.'' ~

typically photosensor outputs, for both timing and error ' -chacking functions; the significant functions of matching data read ~rom a for,m and ~rom cards beiny picked for trans~
port to and insertion into that form is indicated. Cards ''''' 102 are supplied in hopper 100 by one or ~wo trays 110, 112 which are selectively employed as the supply by manual/auto~
m~tic select of the pic~i~g mechanism 200, the latter trans- ''-'' porting the selectively picked cards, taken in sequence from ,,, . ~
the selected tray, to a c2rd transport 300. ~he latter ....
transports the cards to the card reader 400, the output of '' which is supplied to the computer 1600. various error con- '''' ditions produce an automatic operation or manual controls m~y - --be employed'for terminating card transport with a card '' positioned at the card inspection station 450 for operator i ''' inspection.
, ~or,ms 502 supplied as a fan-fold strip 510 are trans~
ported by form transport mechanism 500 to a form IOCR) reader "''''' s~ation 600 which supplies the account'number and number of - '''' cards required for that fo~m, as read therefrom, to the . ..: .
computer 1600. If the data matches, the form 502 is advanced to the insert station 70C and the card~, as transported and ~,-read, if satisfying the required data (account number) and '''' number thereof defined by the ~orm, advance to the insert ~
station 700 or insertion into the associated orm. If '',''' :::::::
the match i5 not satisfied, the card is stopped at inspection '' station 450 and if in e_ror following operator inspection,'',','', is transported to the card reject hopper 280. hat trans- '''-'' port function ac~ually occurs through the inserter structure o~ station 700 thus functionally bypassing the insertion operation o the insert mechanism of station 700. The error ','';
match condition as well results in the form heino ad~n~

' ' ' ' ''.'.

to a fo~m inspection station 720. ~he inspection station 720 i~ physically beyond insert station 700 in the path of travel of the forms; hence, if the form is usable for the .:
given card seque~ce (i.e., the error is not that of in~
eorrect card arcount numbers or required number of cards for .
~he gi~en form) the form is retracted to the insert s,~tion for receiving the cards. Erxors in the form or failure of data matchi~g between the a~ailable cards for the given form result.i~ the form being transported to the form reject .
(error) bin 1200 after passing through the folder 900/outfeeu 1000 a~d out~eed form transport 2000. Proper forms, on the other hand,.are transported by the outfeed form transport 2000 to the stacker ~eed ejectoxs 2100 and from thence into ..
the selected one of the trays 1101 and 1102 of the output . ..
stacker 1100. Porms which are in error or for which the xe~uire number o~ cards is not present, or ~he account of .the card is in error, result in the form proceeding by the outfeed form transport 2000 to the form ~eject (error) bin ~`
2~0.
If de~ired, a printer interace as seen in Figure 2 may direc ly print the mailing orms and provide thereby a continuous in-line operation of supply of ~orms to the .
~ystem. Similarly, an in-line interface may ~e provided where~y automated çard embossing/encoding equipment may .. -directly emboss and encode cards for direct supply to the -inserter of the invention.
Pigure 4 is a perspective view o~ the pick me~hanism and Figures 5~ to 5D, inclusive, show successive stayes of its operation. The mechanism o the card pick station 200 ....
. . .
_. ...

. . .
se~ves to pick an individual card from a selected one of ~he two trays 110 and 112; since the pick mechanisms are ` .
substantially the same for the two, only a singl e one ~here- .
of is shown. A rotarv solenoid 202.is mounted on a ~racket ....
220 secured to a structural support 230 of the main housing ..
10 (Figure 1~. R~a~y s~.lenoid 202 has a rotatable out- ~.
put shaft 204 to which lever arm 20Ç is rigidly secured. 1.:
~ever arm 20Ç is pivQtally co~nected to link chain 210 -.:
e~gaglng gear 212-secured to shaft 214 suitably mounted ::
-i~ support 230, and the chain 210 is secured by spring ....
.215 to s'.ud 216 secured in bracket 220. ~Energization of solenoid 202 rotates shaft 204 i~ the dlrection of arrow ~ .
against the bias of spring 215 and upon de-energization . - .
thereof, spring 215 withdraws the chain 210 and in turn ~
causes rotation of shaft 214 and solenoid shaft 204 in the direction o~ arrow B to the normal position indicated. .`
~ ... .
~here results a partial rotation o the sha~t 214 in the ~
rotary direction A upon energization o~ solenoid 202 and ~ .`
B upo~ its ~e-energization. ....
Credit card guides Z31 and 234 are received within the i;
.recesses 114 and 115, respectively, of the input tray 110 (Figure 3). The guides 231 and 234 are adjustably mounted ~, on support 230 and hence are movable to accommodate different ..
widths of cards, thereupon secured in position by screws ..
232 and 235. Suitable designed recesses are provided in ........ -. . .:
the lower surfaces of the guides (not shown) to accommodate the adjustment while maintaining alignment and secure `:~
position once adjusted. .
Guide 231 includes an inwardly inclined sur~ace 236 ....
. `.:

- - - l1612~

. . .
.... ..
(Fig. ~Aj f or urging the left-most vertical edges of the ..
cards ';o the aligned position.indicated wi~h the ~oremost ...
card resting on the inclined sur~ace 237 of tip 238. ....
Bracket 234 includes a recess 240 having a convex , sur~ace 241 joining inclined surfaces 242 and 244.
The operation of the pick mechanism will be clear from ' -the successi~e stages thereof shown in Fi~ure SA through SD. .. ~
The.pi~k cam 260 includes a pick edge 262 defined by the .
spiral circumferential con~iguration of _he cam 260, which ......
edge 262 i5 slightly 1DSS than the thickness of a single card ~rom guide 231. The cam 262 projects, along with guide 231, throug~ the opening 114 in the le~t edge of the card ~ray 110. Cam 260 is urged to rest position seen in Figure ' ~-5A by sprin~ 215 tFigure 4~. ~pon energization of solenoid 202, cam 260 is rotated in the directi.on A, causing the pick ,.. `
edge 262 to engage the left edge of card 102~1 znd ur~e same l:.
t~ the ~ight, the right edge o~ the card moving along inclined .....
surface 242 and engaging ~he corner defined by convex surface ...
241 of the guide 234. Surf~ce 241 serves as an abutment, ....
such that continued rotation of cam 26~ flexes card 102 into an increasingly convex co~figurati~n. The card 10~
acts as an over-center spring function to snap free of ~he cam 262 when the latter has rotated approximately to the position show.n in Figure 5C. At that time, the solenoid 202 is de-energized and the spring 215 rotates the cam 260 in ~he direction of asrow B back to the rest position. The picked card 102-1 thereby i~ deposited on double transport belts 330 o~ the card transport mechanism, to be describeA.
Roller 1260 is ~reely rotatable on sha~ 214 to kee~ the 2~2 . -`

.. . . . . .
- .
........
1' ' ' pi~ked card against the double belts.
: :::.
As already mentioned, each station is proYided wi,h .....
.-:
detectors such as photosensors ~, shown in ~ig. 5 at 240~ and 242~. Sensors 240~ and 242~ are mounted on plate 244 adjus~ably r supported on the main support by means of slot 246 engageable wi~h a reduced post~-on on suppor~ pin 243 and locked into ~:
position by means of screw 248. This adjusbment permits plate 244 and thus sensors 240~ to be moved traver~ely of :- .
the input trays and cards, or alignment purposes. Sensors ---240~ se~ses the presence of cards in the associated input .. :.
.. .:-.
tray. A slot 247 provides clearance for-a photosensor flag ¦ `
(not shown) which is engaged by a successfully picXed card, '. ..
as it is ved by-transport belts 330 out of the pick area, i -to block sensor 242 and provide an out:put to the computer I ~
:: .
indicatlve thereo~. : -.....
Referring concurrently ~o Figs. 4l~ 5 and 6, the card j ' tIansport 300 includes belts 330 carried by support pulleys I ~
~12 mou~ted on axle~ 310. The pulleys 312 may be merely ! ~ -idler or positively driven preferably, belts 330 are .-.-.. `
,..... -driv~n by pulley 372 from motor 370. In the diagramatic ~iew o~ Fig. 6, other pinch rollers, or pulleys 316 are ., r spaced apart at less than the longitudinal card length, and engage the cards against the transport bel~ 330. Also at !
least one support pulley 312 is pivotally mounted and spring biased to pro~ide tensioning of the belts 330. Fig. 4 shows a pivotal support block 370 whi.ch may pi~ot around pin 372, . -and is spring biased by the spring 37~ against the fixed stop 376. .

- ~ 16~2 - I
- 32 - ......
......
, . ........

.....
The card transpor. mechanism 300, including the belts ...
330 prPviously noted, transports the cards rrom the pick mechanis~ ~o the read sta~ion 400 and the observation station ..
450 and ultimately to the insert station 700. ..
.....
Card transpo-t 300 includes a portion 350 for rotating ~.-ea~h card in turn from t~e substantially vertical position as transpor~ed from the pick mechanism t~ a rea~7ardly incli~ed po~itionl at akout 75 from the vertical ~efore ::;
~ - p~oceeding into the embossed character reader 400. Thus, .. :.. `
, . .
the axles of drive pulleys 372, at the card ou~put end of portion 350 of the transport mechanis~, are inclined rear~
~ ......
wardly at substantially a 75 angle from the ~ertical, and the intermediate pulleys are progress:ively inclined ~etween j the Yertical and 75~ to properly support the belts 330 ¦
thereo~ and pro~ide a smooth transiti~n, or rotation~ o~ the ~....
cards ~rom ~he ~ertical to the 75 rearwardly i~clined, , .

suhctz~tially horizontal, orientation. In Fig. 6, card .-.`
. . .
102-1 is fully rotated ~o, rearwardly inclined position, re2dy to be fed into the embossed character reader 400. A ..
second card 102-~ is at the mid-porti~n o~ the path, while .-th~rd card 102-3 has just left the pick mechanis~ area. In an actual device, up to fi~e (S) cards may be accommodated `~`
in the transport mechanism.

Preferably the cards are transported past the embossed character reader 4CO by means o~ a separate drive motor and rollers which can adequately control speed, especially for ~ag stripe and OCR card readers. Photosensors H are positioned to monitor card transport progress, as indicated schematicall~
in ~i~. 6. The photosensor outputs are f ed to the~computer.

-12~2 ._ Also while only a single pick ~echanis~ is shown in Fis. 4,the actual m~chine has two such mechanisms for zssociation with thè two input ~rays as bes~ seen in the perspecti~e ~iew of Fig. 1 and schematically shown in Fig. 6.
Th~ emb~ssed character reader 400 may be of conven-tional type and has its own internal card engagement and driving structure. A furthex transport mechanism, which may be substantially of the type shown in Figure 6, is employed to rece.i~e the card emerging from ~he reader 400 for trans-port ko ~he Lnsert sta~ion 700~ ~lotor 490 drives the sement 450a of the card transport mechanism which passes through the inspection area 450 between the ECR reader 400 and the insert station 700. As a card lea~es the ECR the data comparison is done and if anexror condition exists, card transport 300 is stopped, preventing the n~ct c rd from enterin~ the EC~. Transport 450a moves the card away from ~he ECR 400 past photocell ~(1) to the inspection st tion area 450 whe_e the card OC~ account number is visi~le to the operator.
The apparatus ~mployed in the ~mbossed character reader 400 ~ay be of the type commer~ially availa~le for reading the OCR chzracters embossed on the card. ~dditionally, or alternatively, OCR e~coded and/or magneti-G~lly enclosed data asis pro~ided on some cards may be read for the pUXpO52 0~ determining the account number assigned to the card.
~ hotocells or other detectors are provided in the card trans~ort ~echanism at the output from the pic~ station a~d both in~erme~ately of and at the ou~put o~ the transpor~
path. The typical opera~ion of such photocells is to switch f_om a non-block ~-o a block state when a card passes and a - - ~lB129-2 .... _ . .. _ _ _ .. . _ .. . . _ . . . .. . . ...... . . . . . . . . . .. .... . ... .

- 34 ~ ~

p-edetermined t~me thereafter swit~h back to a~ unblock ......
state to indicate that the card both has been successfully ... ~
. .
picked and transported away from the pic~ station, with subse~uent pho~oc~lls detec~ing the successful continued ~::
tsansport of the card and successful entry into and exit ,~.
from the embossed character reader station 400. Outputs l.. -~xom the sensors are supplied to the computer which monitors ......
the state of those outputs and ~etermines whether the lnvolved ..
operations have been performed successfully, based on the ..
t~ing significance of the photosensor outputs. .
. .: .
As noted, only a single pick mechanism is shown in Fig. ....

4 whereas in reality a pair of pick mec:hanisms is provided ,-so as to accommodate the two input trays o~ cards (Fig. 1). -Manual override of the card pick and transport mechanisms ..
......
is afforded as later detailed; when operator inspection of a '~
--..-:
~ard at the inspec.~ion station 450 is necessary, the manual ...
override necessarily terminates ~urther picking and card . ... `.
transport operations so as to prevent a jam from occurring. ,-.....
.Fig~ 8 shows the basic mechanical interrelationship of .....
the mailing form tranport feed mechani.~m 500, the insert module 700~ the burster~slitter 800, and the form folder 900. ~he :::
. . . .. .

highly integra~ed and.compact-relationship of parts herein is essential to the com~ercial objective of acceptable depth .
of the equipment in consideration of its transportability, .

while accommodatins forms of di~ering lensths and yet . . .
achieving the seneral objectives of the invention. Although .
more detailed discussion of ~ig. 8 follows as to its various porti~ns in relation to the respec'ive stations, or modules ~hich are illustrated herein, certain 9~1ient features are noted at the outset.

.... . . . . .

-1 ~61292 . . . .
. - 35 ~ . ..

- Motor 501 is the driYe motor for the trans~ort ~00 and .. -serves to ad~ance the f?n-fold strip 510 of the serially .....
.....
. connected forms 502 past the read station 600 and int~ ..
,. .
the insert station 700. The motor 501 carries a timing .: .
disc 1510 (Fig. 12) which with associated photosensor structure . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. .
1510~ establishes a basic timing cycle for the system. Disc ---1~60 dri~en by a suitable gear reduction arrangement establishes second basic timing function related to the time for transport-ing one length of the type form currently in use. For ex~mple, a three part ttwo fold) ~orm re~uires six basic machirLe cycles and hence a six to one gear reduction arrange- .:
mant is used to drive disc 1560 so that upon six revolutionc .
o~ motor 501, a second output.pulse will be produced by the struct~re associated with disc 1560. The time between the two outputs from disc 1560 thus will c:orrespond to the ti~Le for ad~ancing the strip S10 by one fo~ length. More detailed dis~ussion of the timing functions follows.
Output drive shaft 1501 of motor SQl drives pulley 503.
A belt 505 connects the drive pu~ley 503 to a driven pulley 507 which in tur~ dri~es shaft 509 for`the form transpcrt.
m~chanism. ~other pulley 511 is afixed to shaft 509 ~or driving a belt 513 which in ~urn drives pulley 515 connected . ~-to the dri~e rollers 516, and idler rollers 518 for moving the mailer forms to the burster station 800. Belt 513 aiso .provides ..

a drive input to pulley 553 of a one way clutch structure 953.
The one way cl~tch g53 can be driven in a counter-clockwise direction as ~iewed in Fi~. 8 from the left by driving either of pulley 553 associated with the form transport mechanism 500 or the pulley 954 associated wi.h the ~echanism . :

~ 6-~2 9 ~ -_ 36 -_ ....
. .
' of the folder statio~ 900, to be discussed later. As will be~
come more apparent, the form transport system S00 contrvls the ..
progress of the form past the insert station 700 as well ... ,.. ,' ...:
as the burster station 800,and must serve ~o advance the form ~
int~ the folder station gO0. Due to asynchronous operation of the system and in light of need for compacting the relation- ~
ship of the various operating msdules, a form exi ing ~rom the , insert ~tation will partially enter the folder mechanism prior ,-to being burst from the new form entering the inserter station; .....
.
ne~ertheless, after the burst operation, the arive mechanism '.'.
for the form remaining in the insert station 700 - namely the I .... ' paper transport feed mechanism 500 - must remain motionless j ',' while permitting the burst form to.proceed through the folder ¦ ~-mechanism o~ station 900. Accordingly, separate c.ri~ing of .
pulley 954 by motor 901 o~ the folder mechanism,through the I :.'.. ' one way clutch 953 permits the form to be advanced through ! F
the folder station while the transport mechanism 500 is Ii stationary, maintaining a form at the insert station 700. ,.
Preferably~ the diameters of the pulley 515 ~or the ' -'''.
rollers 516 and S18 is selected so as ~o maintain a taut condition ',',.-~etween the ~rm which presently has advanced into the folder '~
statio~ 900 and that still within the insert station 700, so as ~.'' to facilitate operation of the burster 820 of the bu~ster station ',' 800. .'.'.. `
Figs. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate basic details of the form transport mechanism. Support panels 510 of the basic housing 10 ''' support ~he various components o~ the orm transport mechanism .' 500. Inwa~dly of both of the panels 510 are adjustable (A~J) ~-shaped subpanels 565 having a rotatable bearing lS65 for :

~ ~ 6~292 .. . . . . . . ... . . . .. .. _ .... . . . . .. . s - - 37 - .

:
.

ro~atably~su~porting square sha,t 509 and sproc~et 51~. -This main shaft 509 drives at each end just ou~side the subpanels 56~, spro~ets 519 which in turn drive tractor chains 569. Idler pulleys 529, at the respec~ive ends of the L-shapec subpanel .
56S, support each chai~ 569 in a triangular shaped, free chain action mannes. The idler pulleys 529 are rotatably mo~nted ~y shafts 531 to the plate 56~. ~he chains 569 ha~e ~inger members S71 with outwardly extending tractor pi~s 573~ These pins 573 cooperate with 'he trac~or holes 25 of remo~able edge ~trips 24 of the ~ai~er ~orms 50~. These mailer forms 502 have credit card holding and retention apertures 514 ~f specia.l con- ' .
figuration as elaborated on and described in detail in applica~ts' co-pending Canadian application Serial No.
318,92g,' filed on January 3, 1979................. . : .-' ' ' `~
... ~.
Fig. 11 illustrates the ope~able retention structure o~
the transport mechanism to permi~ attachment of a new foxm o~ the an-fold strip by the operator. A Z-shaped member ...
560 is attached to subpanel 565 ~y securins means ~.hrough ..
~he respecti~e, aligned holes 561t 563. ~ ~rther ~-shapea ~mber 540 is pivotally moun~ed at its extensions 544 to corresponding ~xtensions 564 of member 560, to permit pivoting the memher 540 open and thereby expose the underlying tractor pins 573. Spring 5~5 normally maintains member 540 in a closed position with the tractor edse strip o~ a orm engaged on the chain, tractors pins ~73 projec'ing .hrough ~he holes 25 and ,he elon~ated slot 1540, assuxing ~irm retention o~

the drive s~rip 74 at its apertures 25 on the tractor pins 573. The angled e~tension 1545 ~acilitates the operator's ~ 1 161292 , I
. - 38 J

opening the element 5~0.
-In ~ig. 9, the aligNment cuideline 1502 is seen at ,. .
~ .
which the oper~tor places the leading, or top edge of a form :.
:.::.. ', 502 when loa~ing a new supply of the fan-fold strip 510 of ......
~orms 502 into the transport station 500~ Proper alignment is critical to initialization and actual operation of the .`
.....

Fig~ 9 also shows the chain guard panels 589 which are appr~priately used at all exposed points of the chain with . -which the operator might inad~ertently come in contact. , ' Guide baffles 1508 with guide fingers 1510 also are provided , ..
over the top of this form transport mechanism to positively .
prevent the double.wide form ~rom coming up in the middle portion thereof between the chain tractor drive at t.he . l~
respective ends. .-~:
~ ig. 12 shows the transport motor clrive 5~1 together with ~he two photocell discs 15~0 and 1560, as previously noted. The disc 1510 has a reduced portion or slot therein which exposes th~ photocell to the activating light, indicated as 1510~, once for each re~olution of the motor, to form a basic system cyc~e timing outputO The second timing disc 1560 also is provided with a slot or reduced portion and is geared down by gears 1561 and 1566 to a ratio of six to one '~z ~rom the motor 501. The timing disc 1560 provides a unique ~orm indicating signal such that when its slot 1560S uncovers the light source of its associated photocell sensor 1560~ it indicates the circumstance in which the leading edge of the .....
paper form is in its proper aligned position, or i~itialization pasition, in the transport mechanism. Hence for each si~

- .:

- :.

revolutions of the drive motor 501, anew mailer form has adyanced to position its leading edge at the alignment, ~r [',':initialization position, and the OCR data line on [
the form is positioned for reading ~y the OC~ reader 600; I~, moxeo~er, the next preceding ~onm will have adYanced properly int~ the insert stat,ion and a ne~ for,m will,be automatically '' aligned. h'h~re f~r~s of different length, e.g., t~o or one part forms, 2re employed the gearing is changed to acc~m~odate the di~ferent length or the formO '''~
Motor 501 is secured to the machine structure 510, and ' '',',', blocks 1572 and 1576 are ~ependent on 501 for their mounting.
Support block 510B carrying thre~ded screw 1570 as well is `''' secured to the basic structure support 510 and is rotatably' mo~nted within'block lS74 which carries the photosPnsor , l, 151a~. Rotating screw 1570 pesmits movement of block 1574 and hence the photosensor structure 1510R relati~ely to the ~ , ti~i~g wheel 151~D and this permits advancing or retardlng ' ~, the electrical timing sig~al derived with respect to the ', rotation of the motor 501 and ~hus to properly phase electrical controls with ~he actual mechanical operations o~ the system.
Returning to ~ig. 8, the res~ of the drive arrangemen ~or the feed rollers will be described. The motor 901 is for the ~older portion 900 of the machine~ and by means of a pulley 903 affixed to its output shaft drives flexible belt 913. This ',,, belt 913 in turn engages with and drives the rollers 907 '' connected to the respective folder drive rollers 912. Adjustably ,', mounted idler rollers 517 and 917 provide proper driving '' tension on the belts 513 and 913 respectively.
As before.noted, the one way clutch 953, which m2y itself . . 1 161292 .....

.......
.. ...
be conventional, affords a convenient inter-relationship of the ......
driving of the roller 1874. Specifically, motor 901 may drive , pulley g54 in conjunction with advancing a form from the burster i:::
station 800 into the folder station 900 while the~ transport m~hanism 500 remains stationary during insertion of cards into l:.. `
a form still within the insert station 700. Conversely, the : .
folder mechanism 900 may be stationary while the transpo~t ,...: .
mechanism 500 advances a new form into the insert station 7~0 -.-and a prior, completed form is advanced beyond the inserter station and into the folder station 900, preparator~ to bursting .`
......
and foldins operations. This clutching arrangement is also ::::::
important to other conditions of the system ~uch as where ~.

operator intervention is required such as in inspe~:ting a form ..
. .
or a card prior to completion of insertion but wherein prior, .-.. ...
success~ully completed ~orms should be burst and folded and ~hus ~.

r~moved ~rom the system.
.....
Figures 13 and 14 show the OCR scan head and the ....
.::
arrangement o~ its drive mPchanism. The o~erall st~ucture ... -.
is mounted on 2 frame 1612 by a pivot mount 66~ on the left ~asic support structure 510 while a latch meohanism 670, . ..
. .
generally indicated, is connected to basic support panel 610 on the _ight, to per~it opening same and afford access to the form transport mechanism 500 described abo~e. In the :.
.. ~
closed, operative position, the structure of Figs. 13 and 14 is positioned directly in front of the form transport mechanism ...
to position the OCR head for reading the form, as seen in the simplified view of Fig. 7.
The OCR head 611 is mounted on a traverse moveable carriage 613 b~ bracket 615. Carriage 613 is slidably ..
supported by a lower guide rod 622 by means of low friction bearings (not shown) and by upper guide rod 612 and -cooperating rollers 614 in a ~onventional manner.
The carriage 613 moves in a back and ~orth manner as :
indic2ted by the arrows A and B in Figs. 13 and 14. The m~tor 638 dri~es a pulley 632 which recei~es several turns of a dri~e line 63~ therearound, dri~e line 630 extending ... .
over idler pulleys 634 and 636 and is secured at its free ~-ends to the carriage 613. A r2silient spring 631 maintains proper tension. Photosensor unit 610H includes a top photo-sensor T and a lower photosensor B mounted on carriage 613 to be in alignment with the blocking flags 642 and 643 1 -mounted on the panel 640 at the extremities of travel of carri2ge 613. Normally, the OCR read head is in its ~home~ I -position at the right as viewed ~rom the front o~ the machine, at which the top photocell TX is exposed and the bottom ..~
photocell B~ is blocked l~y the flag 642. Conversely, whe~

the OCR read head is at the extreme left, the top photocell '.'' T~ is blocked by flag 643 and the ~ottom phot~cell B~

exposed. The photocell outputs thus indicate to the system :
the extreme left and right positions of ~he OCR read head and the computer appropriately controls the selective energization and direction o rotation of reversible motor ~-~

638.
In actual operation, the OCR head re~ds the OCR data on . . .
forms 502 while traveling from the right to the left. The apertures 644 and 654 in the panel 2612 permit an opera~or visual observation of the OCR data on forms 502 when in th~ -`
read station. This panel 2612 also functions as a mask to prevent unwanted re1ections, data, etc~ from inter~ering with the OCR read function.
. .
......

~ lB1292 42 _ - .........

.......
. ~igures 15 to 25 show the apparatus of the insert .:.. . :
station 700. Figures 15 and 16 ~cross section) afford a .---.. :.
schematic ~iew of the card trans~ort ele~ents and the driYe therefor, ~nd Figures 17A and 17B are schematic views of the ...
card insertion process, to which reference is first made. , .
The insert module 1700 of the insert station 700 includes -......
a n~mber of bins correspondiny to the ~umber of card in-.........
s~rtion or attachment positions on the forms ~eing processed;
in the preferred embodiment, the forms are of double width ~r,'',`' and each form includes two card a~tachment positions in ...
side-by-side forms and .h~s four bins in the insert module .:
. :.
1700. In igure 15, cards enter from the right and are -.
engaged by a succession of pinch roller dri~e asse~blies including driven rollers 701 ~nd associa~ed idler rollers ~ -IR, generally positioned within each bin just adjacent the 1 --input and output, respectively of the bin. ~he rear ~iew of ~igure 16 illus~rates a dri~e motor 7~ with associated ...
pulleys and driving b~lt 4799 engag-~g a plurality of drive .. :
:
pulleys 1701 rotPtably mounted on axles secured to the drive rollers 701 of Figure 15. Appropriate idler rollers IR
serve fox proper direction o~ the belt and tension roll~rs T .-. .
are typically adjustably mounted to maintain propes tension in the belt and sufficient engagement of the belt 4799 with the drive rollers 1701 to assure positi~e driv2 conditions. ..
Rotary solenoids C, shown by hidden lines in Figure 15, carry on their respective shaf~s correspondlng deflection .

idler rollers B which are selectively movable from the -norma~, "up" positlon indicated, out o~ the path of the card passing through the bin, to a down position ~or selectively ...

1 ~12~
- 43 ........
.. . .
. _ _ de~lecting a card engaged by the input rollers of that bin into the bin. Photocells indicated at ~ are located at the ','.,, .:..:, .
entrance to each bin to detect whether the card.has passed ..
. .
into the bin, upon the photocell being bloc~ed an un~locked, '.'.'.' in succession, during the passage of the card past the ,'',' photocell. mhis output permit the computer to monitor the ~
passage of the card through the insert module and as well to ''.
.
determine, by the absence o~ the blocked/unblocked outputs '.'.. '.. ' - of a next successive photocell H, that the card was deposit~d ''.'.'.
i~ the respectively next ~receding bin. . .....
In Figure 15, the four bins are designated by Ll and L2 , ...
'to correspond to ~he two card attachment positions of the i '' left for,m of a double width ~orm and by Rl and R2 to indicate j ~' the right two cara attachment positions of the right form of ¦ '"
a double width form. ~p to two cards may be attached.in I ,''',' each position and thus u~) to four cards per form. ¦ '~.,''.'' . .
If, in operation, two successive credit cards have j '''',~
provided 2 proper match with th left-hand,form as to their ' ',',',,',',' respectively enc~ded account num~ers and assuming the form ....
. .:.
designates a requirements of two cards~ thes~ two cards will ...
progress through the insert station in the following manner. r By appropriate timing controls, the rotary solenoid for bin ---- -.
L~ will be actuated to lower its deflection r~ller B while .....
the solenoids for bins L2, .Rl and R2 remain de-acti~ated; .. ' thereby, the.first card passes through the first three bins ',,',',, and then is deflected into bin Ll. In appropriate timed '.'.'.'.'.' sequence, the solenoid for bin L2 is selectively activated, .......
lowering its roll2r for deflecting the second card in~o bin L2~ ~lthough any desired sequence of deposit of cards into bins can be established by appropriate programming, a prepared .....

- ~ - 1161292 , I
_ 44 ~

...... ..
sequence is as follows. The left-hand form ~ins Ll, T2) is ....
filled fix~t and the r~ght hand form ~bins Rl, R2~, second. . . .
For each form, e.g., the left form, if only one card is ~ ,.
required, it is deposited in the rlght~ or irst bin L2; if ~wo cards are requised, they are deposîted in setquence in bins Ll and L2 -- a third card in bin Ll and a fourth card, .......
.......
in bin L2 . Thus, f or example, if only a single card is . ... -required for the second, right form, the defle~tion roller B ..
for bin R2 will remain in its normal, raised position and deflection roller B for bin Rl will be lowered to de~lect .~ .
th~.t single card into bin Rl. i .
Figure lS also inai~ates schematically the output for .......
rejected cards; in this instance, all deflec,ion rcllers B . 1 remain in the raised position causing the entering card to .....
pxogress entirely through the ins~rt module 1700 and exit to .........
the left as seen Ln-~igure 15, a photocell H as well detecting l .....
the passage of the rejected card out of the insert moaule ¦
and ~onfirming thi~ circumstance to the com~uter i .....
Fig. 17A and 17B illustrate two basic conditions of ~he I .....
insert operation of the insert module 1700. ~ig. 17A corresponas ~ .
to the card upon being received in the bin. A pair of .. -opposed arms G are disposed along the longitudinal edges of the c2rd 102 adjacent the leading and trailing edges thereof ... -.
(i~e, as respects the card movement into the bin). The ......
inward extensions GBL of the opposed pairs of arms G define ...
a lowe~ support for the card 102 within the bin and in ...
essence serve to define the dimensions and structural support .-of the bin itselr. Additional end structure also i5 provided as ~ill be seen in later detailed views~ A support finger 9 2 - :
~ - 4~

. ! .. .

7Q3 extends transversely of the longitudinal d~tension of the card, substantially along the middle of the card length .....
and it is in a position subs~antially contiguous the lower ..
surface of the card 102. Deflectiort pins 732 are located to correspond substar.ttially to the diagonally opposite.corners ...
of the card which are to ~e received in apertures 514 of the ....

~rm 502 in that card recei~ing portion thereof underlying ....

the associated bin. . -.

The insert procedure in~olves pivotin~ the support arms ...

G to the outward position as indi~ated in Fig. 17b and .... :
:.....
simult~neously lowering the deflection pins 732 ~o engage `
and de~ress th~ corresponding diagonally opposite corners of .....
~he card 102 while retai.ning support finger 703 essentially .-~
in its original, or normal, up position, displaced from form .-502~ With the card thus urged into a deflectea or distorted ... -configuration, it follows that the diasonal distance between the diagonally opposite corners is decreased, inserting the ....
:::::`
deflected corners o the ~ard 102 into the respective apertures 514. Deflection pins 732 are at the bottom of their stroke .
and stationary, then finger 703 is lowered, substantially into contact with the surface of fornt 50~, permitting the card to rest~te its normali planar configuration whereupon th~ diagonal corners inserted into the apertures 514 extend .
outwardly and securely engage the card within the fo~m 502. ..

Pins 732 are then retracted (moved up). The for~t then is .`
advar.ced from the ir.tsert station 700 into the burster station 800, that direction of fornt advance being shown by arrow ~A ..
in Fia. 17b. The form 502 and attached card 102 thus slide away ~rom finge~ 703 and when c~ear of the finger 70~, ~ 1$129~ :

. .:-.:

tLming controls provide for finger 703 to move upwar~ly to the original position shown in Fig. 17A. Preferably, by pro~er design, pins 732 need only move between the upper position and the card deflection positions since, upon :::::
lowering of finger 703, when the card resumes its planar configuration lockea into the form 502, its upper surface then is below the bottoms~o~ the deflection pins 732. - -Alternati~ely, pins 732 would be required ~o be raised ~ertically prior to transport of the form and attached card out of the insext module.
With this ~derstandins of the general insert station structure and operation, reference is llOW had to Figs. 18 . . .
through 2S which show structural detai:Ls ther20f. ~igs. 18, --13, 20 and 21 are perspective views, substantially broken away, which illustrate the basic structural arrangement of parts-whereas Figs. 22 through 25 illustrate succe~sive , stages in thP card insertion operation~ The structure of ~he module for the insert station 700 is generally designated by numeral 1700. `
I~ Fig. 18, motor 799 dri~es pulley 1799 and through it ~ ~
the dri~e belt 4799 which passes over tension pu71ey 2799 and ~ `
dixection changing pulleys~3799 before pro~eedi~g to the various drive pulleys 1701 and associated tension pulleys T and idler pulleys IR previously seen in ~ig. 16. Edch end of the insert head has a main support plate 747 with two aper- -tures therein. The lower apertur~s 1747 are in alignme~t with the card feed-through ch~nnel. The upper central apertures 2747 are ror the guide and reciprocating plates 2704. These plates 2704 are pro~ided with suitable ~uide rollers 7704 for 2~ 2 engagetnent with ~he inner vertical edges of the ape~tures~ It --should be noted in ~ig. 18 that the card guide channel apertures 1747 may be pro~ded with adjustable ~uide elements 3747 for changing the relative width of the card channels whenever a different size card is to be used with the machine.
The card feed through rol~ers 701 may be clearly seen in .
the perspective of ~ig. 19. Also clearly shown in this ~iew --is one of the photosensor~de~ices ~ as associat~d with each o the card bins Ll, L2, ~1, and R~. Each bin also is ~, pro~ided with bin defining plates 781 and 782 with respective recess channels 783 and 784 cut from the ~pper edge thereof~ j :
I .....
Support bars 79 and 80 extend th~ entir.e width of the insert station head and support the plurality of bin separating plates 781 and 782 alterllately therefrom. That is, the --.....
leading edges or sides of all of the b:ins are defined by plates 781 supported from the bar 79, while the trailing edges or sides of all the bins are def.ined by the plurality of bi~ defining plates 782 which extend tow~rd the ~ront of . . .
the machine from the supporting bar ~O traversely of the ' rear of the inserter head. The front ~nd ~ack sides of each bin axe enclosed by front and back channel plates 774 and 775, best see~ in the crcss sectional view of Fig. 22 and the perspecti~e of ~igO 18. ~he front card guide plate 775 is suitably provided with an inwardly extending upper lip 779 to prevent cards from jumpins out of the card channel while ~uitable apertures 777 are spaced along the bottom edge of the card channels, with at least two of these recesses for each bin. The rear card channel guide 774 also is provided with an inwardly extending upper lip 778 and appropriately spaced recesses 776, as be~t seen in Flg. 22 . ..

: ~ :16~2~2 - I
4~
. .. -.
_- !
.:
. . .
. .
Card suppor~ing arms G, at least two per bin on both sides, thereof, are secured to pivotally mounted support bars 704. The lower tips GBL of these arms G will extend thxough appropriate recesses 777 of the ~ront card channel guide 2nd recesses 776 of the rear channel g~ide whe~ the support rods 704 arë moved in the direction to clo e the '~
arms G. As may be seen in Fig. 17A, four of these fingers G appropriately support a credit card when in a gi~en bin ..
~nd the arms G are positioned inwardly or together. ~`
I~ Fis. 18, several of the projecting pins 732 may be seen as mounted on the reciprocating bar 1733. Th~ recip~oca-~ing bar 1733 is appropriately fastene~ between the reciprocal plates 2704 at each end of the insert 'head. Thus, as each ¦ ~
s: '' end plate 2704 is moved up and down thle ~raversely extending ~ar 1733 will likewi~e move up and do~n and cause the tt2ched deflecting pins 732 to likewi~e mov~ up and down. E
............
Adjusting plates X support a parallel bar 1734 for mounting i :::
corresponding deflecting pins 732 therefrom. Thus a p~ir of deflecting pi~s 732 are provided for each card bin. The :..:..
adj~st~ng plates X permit appropriate adjus~ment of the ....
de~lecting pi~s 732 relative to each other for;variation -from one credit card s~ze to znother. This is most important ~ince each pair o~ pins 732 must engage a credit card oorrectly near the dizmetrically opposite corners thereof i~ or~er t~
. . .
e~fect the proper bending and bowing, or flexing, action of the cards during ~he insertion process.
Fig. 19 shows idler rollers IR which are under the bias of a spring 71S for resilient engagement thereof with respective card feed rollers 701. A pair of these associated idler and :: .

- - 1 lB1292 - . s ~9 .. .
. ...

card feed rollers 701 are provided at each bin. The card deflection roller B is mounted ~o a piYot bar PB on the end of the rotary solenoid C shaft CS, and thereby positioned .....
between these pairs of rollers. This stru~ture, as described ~:
abo~e, will deflect a card into the associated card bi~ when .~.
the roller is lowered from its normal position shown. When l the solenoid C is deenergized, the roller returns by spri~s ~ia~ o~ its energizing solenoid to its card feed-throush . ..
position as shown in solid lines o Fig. 19 to permit the ..
cr~dit cards to pass ~eyond the roll2r-associated bin. With .- ..
reference to Figs. 18 and 20, the arms G are secured to rotatable bars 704 pivotally mou~ted in support plates 712 .. --amd 713 at each end, the respective rot:ary shafts 704P i thereof being securely ~ngaged by corresponding clamps 770 by means of their respective slotted apertures 2770.and ¦ ~-tightening screws ~not s}-own). Note that clamps 770 a~e oriented 180 apart; their respecti~e actuating pins 1770 are received in corresponding apertures 2772 of a link 739.
Link 739 is adjustable in l~ngth at its connection 1739 to ..
accommodate adjustment of bin size for different card sizes. ....
Attached to ~he pin end 744P of the frontmost bar i5 a lever anm 1771. A clamping structure 2771 similar to 770 permits~
adjus able securing of this lever 1771 to the pin 704P. A bias spring 7110 is appropria,ely mounted on one end to a support structure and at the other end to a pin extending from the lower end 1776 of this lever arm. Cam follower 771 is secured to the ..
arm 1771 through the aligned apertures shown by-nut 7148.
Cam follower 771 engages cam F which is secured to the main actuatin~ shaft 734, the latter having pulley 762 secured there~
to 'or being driven in rotation by belt 760 by a drive motor ~ lC12~ 2 -'` - 5O - !
- .:
........
798. The opposite end of shaft 734 has secured thereon a coupling member 7~0 which, in similar fashion as before, is adapted ~or rota~able connection to a link and eccentric st~ucture 1794. This st:ructure include pin 1770, link 3704 with apertures F''' 6704 at ea_h end, and pin 47Q4 on~slide plate 2704. A
corresponding eccentric and link structure is pro~ided at the opposite end of the inserter head for engaging the res- -pective, corresponding slide plate 2704.
~ ig. 21 shows the actuating structure for ~he card support finger 7~3. Tne latter are secured to, or integral with, a ~",-,".--support bar 1703 which is driven in a ~ertical, reciprocatingmanner. Particularly, guide follower 714 and guide 713, the latter secured to support structure of the insert station F' 1700 by means not shown, restrict bar 1703 to ~erti~_al ~ . ...
re~iprocatory motion. DC motor 763 operates through reduction ~ear 729, 731 and 76~ which will rotate sha~t 1766 and by it the rotary-to-reciprocating motion linkage 1768 1:o achieve -the vertical reciprocatory motion of the bar 1703 and, with -.....
it, the support fingers 703. Illustratively, panel 748 is part of the support structure of the insert module 700.
Motor 763 furthermore drives timing disc 736 which interacts with the light source/photosensor device 792-1, the latter detecting the radial projection of the dis~ 736 to afford an output electrical timing signal indicative of the rotary position of the disc 736 and thus the motor 763. 792-1 detects 703 :
in the up positio~. 792-2 detects 703 in the down position.

Motor 763 rotates slightly more than 180 - it rotates slightly over top dead center to provide a locking function for 1703 in the up position. Motor 763 reverses direction to go down.
In Pigs. 22 - 25, inclusive, a credit card 102 is show~

29~ I
.. . . . . . _ .. . . . . ~ I
- 5l - !

as ha~ing been deflected into the respective bin for insertion onto the ~orm 50~, under the further assumption that the proper . . .
~ata matching has occurred as between data read from the c~rd and the form there presented. Figs. 22 - 25 comprise a common '~
sight ele~ati~n o~ the insert station 1700 taken effectively through one of the b~ns znd thus centrally of the structure as seen in Fig. 1~, looking to the left. The pivotaI`mounting of --the arms G by the finger support bar 70~ is now readily seen, --as well as the slide elements 713 and 714 associated with the central supporting finger 703. Note moreover that the linkaye 1768 which operates the ~inyers 703 is just abutting the side support wall structure 74~ tn an above-center type position. This reduces the load on the DC drive motor 763 :~
by having a direct mechanical stop function when the fingers are in the raised position. This al~o serves t~ precisely -~
positio~ the fingers 703 at the desired height relative to the form 502. In similar fashion, when driven to the lower position, in which fingers 703 are contiguous the surface of IOrm 502 as seen in Fig. 25, the linkage 1768 has now swun~
down t~ abut the wall support 748 in the opposite, under-cen~er position, again affording precise positioning of the fin~ers 703. --Each of Figs. 22 through 25 as well illustrates the operative relationship of the main drive shaft 734 and cam F
carried thereby, with the cam follower 771 and link 1771 which controls the pivoting motion of the support bars 704 for the arms G. The vertically reciprocable plate ~i04 is also seen in its various stages o movement within the rectangular guide aperture ~747, beins driven by the - ~ 1$~L2~2 .....
_, .... ..
........
eccentric crank arm structure 1704 as acutated by the end .
of shaft 734, ~s seen in ~ig. 20. .
F~amining the successi~e stages speci~ically illustrated l. ;
in ~igs. 22 - 25, Fig. 22 illustrates the normal, bin-defining positions o~ the ~ingers G wi~h the ~entral suppoxt finger ~.
.....
703 in its upper~ost position and with the deflection pins ` F
. ~ , .
732 as well raised to the uppermost position by their support .. -.
bars 1733 and 1734 which are carried by the plates 27Q4.
The deflection rollers B and the associated rotary I ..
drive solenoid C and other related structures are re~oved .....
. ..
in Figs. 22 - 25 for clarity oi illustrat'ion of the deflection 1 '....'.,' a~d card insertion elements. ~owever, Fig. 22 shows in phantom lines a card being deflected into the bi.n and, in solid lines, i the rest position of the card in the bin, supported on the tips ...
GB~ of the fingers G. ... -In progressing ~rom ~ig. 22 to Figl 23, shaft 734 has ' rotated ram F, but follower 771 has followed along a constant -:.....
radius o~ cam F and thus lever arm 1771 has xemained sta~ionary. :
. ........
Plates 2704 have descended, lowering the deflection pins 73~
through their associated support bars 17 ~ and 1734, respec i~ely. ....
Fingers 703 remain stationary J directly supporting the central portion of card 102 along with~the tips GBL of arms G. The ::
tips LT of the deflection pin 732 at this posi~ion are almost --.
engaging the card 102 at the corresponding, diagonally opposite ..
corners.
..... ~
Progressing to Fig. 24, rotation of cam F has caused maximu~ deflection of follower 771 and lever arm 1771, pivoting :-~
the support bar 709 and ~otating arms G to remove the tips GBL ~rom the card 102. The continued downward motion of plates 2~2 ~ I
. ~ 53 ~
. . _ ..... ....
2704 and su~port bars 1733 and 1734 has caused ~efleçtion pins ....
732 to move downwardly, their respective tips ~T now engaging ...
a~d depressing the diago~ally opposite corners of card 102, ....
the central portion thereof remaining supported on the ........
~inger 703. The card corners project into the form apertures, . .
as shown, correspsnding holes in the underlyin~ support structure .--~not shown) acco~odating the projecting corners. Linkage .-1768 remains in its abutted position, bearing the load I.
:::::::: `
imparted on fingers 703 during this card deflection step. . .......
~rogressing.to Fig. 25, cam follower 771 continues on a .....
co~stant radius o~ cam F and thu$ arms G; remain in the . ....
outwaraly pivoted position. Motor 763 i.s ~ow energized, link 17~8 is driven to its opposite posi.tion abu~ting the .
wall 748, and simultaneously the ~ingers 703 are lowered, .~
permitting each of the deflected cards 102 to assume its ' ~.
normal planar s~ape, the t~o diagonally opp~site corners . ...
extending along the opposite side of, and securely engaging tha card to the form~ ........ `
As can readily be visualized, continued rotation of the shaft 734 and the cam P will permit foflower 771 through ......
bias spring 7110 to return to the shorter radius portion of --.
the cam F, and th~s pivoting lever arm 1171 back toward a .~
mose vertical position whereupon the arms G will rotate ~--back into the bin-defining position of Fig. 22. .~.oreover, .. `
the eccentric crank arm structure 1704 (see Fig. 20) will -raise plates 2704 and the associated bars 1733 and 1734 with their associated deflection pins 732 back to the upper position. Fingers 703 remain in the lowest position as shown in Fis. 25 until form 502 is ad~anced out o~ the insert station, following which the drive motor 763 is energized to -1 lB1292 . _ _ .. .. . _ _ . _ . . . .. .. _ _ . .. . _ . _ . . . ;

.~ .

rotate link 1768 and raise fingers 703 to the i~itial position shown in ~ig. 22.
~ he position of the deflection pins 732 is import.~nt to proper flexlns of the card and accordingly for different size cards, they must be adjusted. ~ig. 18 illustrates at X the brac~et which penmits adjusting the spacing between the pi~s 732. These pins are shown fixed in position on their respecti~e arms 1733 and 1734; the variations in card dimensions as to the longi.udinal length are not so great as typical~y to re~lire movement of pins 732; however, additional holes can be provided in the bars 1733 and 1734 t~ permit adj~sting the longitudinal separation of the pins 732 if desired. Other elements de~ining the bins correspondins,ly ~re adjustable as gen~rally indicated in the YieWs, ~or exampl e, the supports 704 or the arms G can be adjusted with the support plates 712 and 713,and the like so as to establ.ish the proper ~in size for a different size card to be handled. Photosensor detectorc are em~lsyed for monitoring and timing func_ions, as earlier re~erenced. Fig. 18 illustr~tes timing disc TD
and de~ector H for monitoring the position of the main shaft '734. The det~ctor ~ output therefore indicates to the computer the current state of operation of the insert module 1700. ~igure 21 shows two additional detectors 79~-1 and 792-~, the outputs o~ which indicate the position of the central support finyers 703. As be~ore n~ted, phot~ detectors H are positioned in each bin to detect whether a card has passed through that bin or ~opped within it. In this regard, a further detector ~ adjacent the entrance to the card reject hopper as well indicates whether the card has advanced i~to the rejec~ hopper, treating the latter ef-ectively as a fifth ~in.

_5~ 2~2 Next to be described is the burster structure 800 of Figs. 26, 27 and 28. ~ pad 802 of a resilient, firm material, such as hard sponge rubber is received in a support surface tnot shown) so as to present a flush surface therewith, over which the forms are transported. A ~orm 502-1 is shown in partt which has advanced into the insert station and in fact the leading edge thereof has already advanced into the folde~ station 900 as noted in relation to Fig. 8. Form 502~1 remains attached at this juncture to form 502-2 which currently is positioned in the insert station 700. The burst line 502A is centrally disposed on the pad 802, delineating between the for~s 502-1 and 502-2. As will be recalled from Fig. 8, drive rollers 516, 518 and 1874, 1875 engage the respective forms 502-1 and 502-2, mai.ntaining the same taut ak the buxster s-tation 800 to facilitate the burst operation.
Carriage 820 supports the burst rollers seen in Fig. 26 and discussed in more de~ail in relat:ion to subsequent ~igures, the latter rollers directly engaging the surace o~
the forms 502-1 and 502-2 to perform the burst operation.
These rollers as well support the weight of and guide carriage 820. Guide rollers 862 ride on the undersurface of guide bar 8~2 of square cross section to maintain alignment, bar 812 being supported at its opposite ends in brackets 810.
An additional guide roller or two (not shown) may also be provided above bar 812 to provide additional guidance and to partly support the carriage weisht if desired.
With concurrent reference to Figs. 26 and 27, bracket 822 is mounted by slide elements 848, 850 in a slot 860 in the bracket 820 and is clamped -to drive belt 831 as mounted on pulleys 840 and 892 having respectiv~ shaEts 839 and 836, ~ ~12~12 - -....
6 - .....
..

pullPy 84~ being driven by a unidirectional motor 832. The ~
.
motor drives the bel. in the direction i~dicated at R in Fig. 26. ...
Looking at ~ig. 27, the attachable connection between the drive belt 831 and the traverse carriage 820 is shown.
A plate 822 has provided on the inner surface thereof a smaller member having a plurali.y of teeth or extendi~g :
projections 829 for gripping engagement with the race of belt 831. At the top o~ plate 822, ano~her guide plate 832 '.-is suitably secured thereto by means of screws 825. S~milarly ` --at the bottom of the plate 822 another guide and drive i-. . .
connecting plate 846 is adjustab;y and tightenably secured ~y similar screws 825. Ar~ upwardly extending projection B44 .:
o~t the gripping plate 846 is also provided with teeth on the belt side thereof so that when the plates 822 and ~44 are drawn together by mea.ns of the lower screws 825 the drive .....
. belt 831 may be securely fastened between the teeth 824 and j .. :.
834. The drive pulley 840 has a recessed portion 1840 to I .....
receive plate 844 as it passes aro~td the pulley. Idler . ~ : .
pulley 842 has a similar recess (not shown)..
~ igO 27 shows the detail of pin 850 re~eived in slot 860 with spacer 848 supporting plate 846 slidably on the carriage 820.
With concurrent reference to Figs. 27 and 28, shaft ..
~,ount 871 supports the flanged rollers 874 and shaft mount 872 supports the crown roller 876; ànother shaft mount 863 sup~orts the guide rollers 862 which en~ages the guide bar 812. The crow;n rciler 8?6 is o~ larger diameter than the flanged rollers 87~ such that its extremities are received ~lishtly within the space defineZ between the spaced flanges ::

... . .. . .
. . .
..
: - 57 ~ -875 of the two channel rollers 874~ Guide rollers 862 also :.
are similarly spaced.
.
The flanges 875 of the two ch nnel rollers 874 slightly ........
depress the paper into the pad 802 and maintain the adjacent for~s 502-1 and 50 -2 taut along ~he perforation line 502a. .
As ~he carriage tra~erses-the form in the direction B .---_, :
indicated in Fig. 28, the crown roller 876 depresses the .
adjacent ~rms al~ng burst line 5022 into the pad in cooperation with the channel rollers 874 and bursts the ~orm along the ....
peroration 502a, the ~urst condition being indicated by a solid lin~ 502b in Fig. 28. This technique of bursting . . .
permits a tolerance of at least ;/16 of an inch and even ~.
.~....
grezter in the alignment requirements ~f. the perforation .. -~
line 502a ~ith the burster structure, mJ.nimizing the precision . .-.
of positioniny of the bur.st line as contrasted with prior art burs~ing techniques and provides burst without moving or ....
pulling the form at the insert station. Most burst technioues ......
-rip forms apart by pulling them apart at high speed.
. . .
As noted, motor 832 is unidirectional, and thus relativ~ly ..
inexpensive. After traversing the form~ in the direction B, of course, the carriage 820 must return. This i5 accomplished : ~ .
by the sliding ensage,~ent of ~racket 822 at the far end travel of the belt 831 around the respective pulleys 840 and 842 which, in each case, permits the bracXet 822 to follow with the belt and the carriage 820 to remain in its position ..
on guide rail 812~ bracket 822 sliding along slot 86G from ~
one extreme to ~he other as it passes around the pulley.
Photosensors 830~R and 830HL at the right and left extremes of travel of the carriage S~0 and respecti~e ....
.

1 161~g~

~;
adjac~nt pulleys 842 and 840 det~ct a flag element 821 car_ied by the bracket 822 a~ its ex~remes of travel. Their respective output signals indicate ~o a computer the current --p~sition of the carriage.
In operation, when the f~rms are positioned for bursting, the computer energizes motor 832 to drive the carriage in its transverse, bursting operation in the direction B. The out~ut signal from detector 830H~ terminates the motor arive a~d the carriage comes to rest. The computer then siynals the folder mechanism to withdraw the burst form, after which ~he computer energizes motor 832 to cause the carriage return to the le t. Detection of the ~lag 821 by detector ;-830~L then sign21s the computer to terIninate energization of motor 832, leaving the carriage at the le~t initial position, -~
preparatory to a subse~uent burst operation. The carriage goes in one direction for the ~irst form and the opposite direction for the sécond, etc.
The burster station 800 further includes longitudinal --~
sli~ters 870 as shown in Pigs. 29, 30 and 31. Support rod -`
1812 2s seen in ~ig. 7 ext~nds transversely o~ the ad~ancing for~.s ~nd carries edge 51i ters LS and RS for removing the left and right sprocket marginal portions o~ the forms and a cent~al slitter CS which separates the side-by-side forms.
Each of the structures R5, Lt, and CS is substantially identical as illustrated in Figs. 29 - 31. As indicated in `
~ig. 7 and better seen in ~ig. 29, the slitter structures are directly associated with the ~orm ~eed rollers 1874 t 187S. For this purpose, at each Ot the LS, R~ and CS slitters, the rollers include double flanges 2875 spaced apart so as .. .... ' . ......... 1 lB12g2 _ ~ 59 -_ to include in the spacing th~ longitudinal perforation to be slit. Figure 31 illustrates this perCoration line SEP
adjacent a marginal portio~ 24 bearing the sprocket holes 25, disposed in a space between ~he flanges 2875.
I~ Fig. 29, bracket 1820 is adjusta~ly mounted on support rod 1812 by c~amp 1822 znd screws 1824. The slitter ~ife 1850 is 2djusta~1y secured to bracket 1820 by screws 18~2 receiv~d in slots 1860~ the latter permitting height ad~ustmen~ of the knife 1850. ~he cutting edge of the knife 1850 includes a leaaing Dort;on 1852 and a trailing portion ,, . . ~ . , L8~4 w~ich may be r-~a~e~Y blu~t but which serves very èffecti~ely to perform the slitting due to t~e taut condition of the form in the region of the perforation, as maintainea by the doubl~, spaced flanges 2875 and 2874 of the respecti~ely associa~ed rollers 1875 and 1874.
A guide element 1890 shown in phantom lines in Fig. ~9 ¦ :
may be at~ached ~o the support -~d 1812 to prevent the paper for~ fro~. liftlns fcr enhancing ~he slitting operation.
Such a s~ructure ~s particularly desirable ~or the slitter CS which separate the side-by-side for~s. Element 1892 ~ay be.o~ 1/4 to 3/4 inches in wid~h and formed of a suitable resilient material such as a spr~g metal.
Figs. 32 - 38 comprise schema~ic ~iews o~ the folder mechanism of folder s~ation 900. A form 502, burst burster staticn 800 rrom any prior form still engaged by rollers 516 and 518 and remaining in the insert station 700 is ad~anced by roller~ 1874 and 1875 through the double clutch mechanism 953 by motor 901 as sho~ and discussed in relation to Fig. 8.
The slitter s~ation 1870 is associated wlth these rollers - . . .~

1874, 1875. The remaining rollers ~12 and 914 of the folder are driven by the belt system discussed in relation to Fig.
:::::::::

The folder mechanism 910 includes, in addition to these rollers which may be of like sort to ~.hose previously described, first and second doors 920 and 930 which are mo~able between '- .
the solid and dotted lines positions to ~c~ommodzte selectively ...
3-, 2~, and l-part fon~s. The solid lines positions are fo~ ..
folding a 3-part ~orm which will be described. Numerals 925 and 935 designate the pivotable mounts for doors 920 and . .
930, respectively. With door 920 in the~dotted line position -in Fig. 32, a single fold for a ~-part form is accomplished ! :`~
and if door 930 is moved to its dotted line position, the folder merely transports a single form directly to the ~older out eed station 1000, with no folds being required .~ .
~d accordingly none being performed.
.
In performing two folds~in a 3-part form, with the -.-:.:
doors 920 and 930 in the solid line positions, F g. 32 ..
illustrates ~he form advancing into the folder structure 910 -~:
with the leading edge having engaged baffle 926 and being ~ .-directed thereby into a poc~et 9~7 ~ormed by a transverse - ~-bar 924 and a smaller baffle 929. With the leading edge :~
thus retained, the rollers 912M and 914M ~d~ance the form, ~ .
.: .
causing it to fold along a preformed fold line Z which is directed by the ~ent surface 928 of baffle 926 into engag~ment ......
by rollers 912N and 914N. The latter advance the once~
folded portion of the form to direct the fold line Z against baffle 946 and into the pocket 947 ormed therewith by transverse bar 944. Continued driving of the form by rollers '.

'.'`''','.
912N and 914N produces a second fold along pre-for~ed fold '~
.. .: ...
line Y of the form, with that fold line being directed into --engagement by rollers 91~0 and 9140, the latter then withdrawi~g ''',,'' the completely folded form from the folder 910 and advancing ''','',' same to the folder outfeed st~tion 1000. It is believed ~ ... . .. .. .
apparent that mo~ement of the baffle plates will accommodate a single fold or no fold at ~11 as before described. It is also believed apparent that the folder mechanism 910 transports therethrough and accordingly folds as required a pair of !-'-side-by-side forms as s~parately recei~ed,from th~ burster --slitter s~ation. , '' The outfeed station 1000 is shown in various stages of operation in ~igs. 36 through 38 and in a detailed perspecti~e view of its structure in Fig. 39. The folded form 502 exiting from the folder structure 910 advances in~o a recei~er 1001 defined by a strai~ht front plate 1005 a~d a curved back pla~e 1010 In Fig. 3~, windows 1014 permit ! . -m~nitori~g for the presence of for~s by photocells ~. These- ¦
photocell outputs as well provide an indication of the success~
ul completion of the folding function; since the presence o forms should be detected within a predetermined time period ---(200 ms.) after the start of the ~old cycle. For this purpose, the output o photocell H of Fig. 32 which indicates the departure of the trailing edge of the form into the ',, folder 910 in Fig. 32 identifies the initiation of the time ,, cycle of folding and the outputs o photocells R in Fig. ~9 identi~y the completion of folding within the predetermined -time period.
~he plates lOCC and 1010 are normal,ly in tne up'position 2 g ~ ~ :
- 62 - .
. .

.~
as shown Dy solid lines in ~ig. 36 Eo_ receiving ,he forms from the folder mechanism 910 and afte~ receipt of forms, are moved to ~he retracted or down position shown in dotted .. -lines for advancing same to the outpu. feed transpo.t. ~ig.

37 shows these structures in somewha~ more detail in the up .. ~. ... . . . . E.:
posi~io~ and Fig. 38, in the down position. The structural configuration is now discussed with concurrent reference to ~igs. 37 to 3~. In Fig. 39 and for purposes of the following ..
descriptio.n, only the portion of the folder out~eed mechanism .
100 for recei~ing the risht hand form, as viewed ~rom the ~ront of the machine, is shown ~nd disoussed. The left hand .portion for receiving ~he le~t form is of liXe sort.
The front plate 1006 has a depending extension 100~ to which i~ secured a spring steel element 1013 for supporting idler rollers 1015 a~ associated axles 1017 at its opposite ends. In the down.position o~ the plates 1005 and 1010, the idler rollers resiliently engage the ari~e rollers 1026 with the form therebetween to cause the for~ to be dri~n out of the receiver. .
~ i~h reference to Fig. 36, the receiver 1001 actually is~defined by the back plate 1010 which includes a back w 11 panel 1012, a bottom edge support panel 1016 and a forward panel 1018 which define a channel into which the ~orm is deposited. The front plate 1005 principally assures ...
that the -~rm is direc-ed into and remains within that channel where the two plates 1005 and 1010 ~re moved together, As previously noted, the Sorm received in the channel formed by elements 1012, 1016 and 101~ thus is driven out of the folder outfeed mechanism.
.

6 ~ 2 ~ ~
. . - 63 - ,.

~ - ., ..
, :
Fixed shaft 1024 carries rotatable supports 1035 to ....
which the back plate 1010 is secured~ Actuatins element . .......
1019 is also rotatably mounted on shaft 1024 t~hrough its ... `
aperture 1023. Plate 1005 is attached ~-hrough its depending . .......
.......
~lange 1009 at apertures 1011 with the bracket 1019 at its .. .. .. . ........ - ,~
mating holes 102'. Plate 1005 thus may rotate relatively to . -plate 1010 about shaft 1024. Member 1019 further includes .. ~
an aperture 1053 and a resilient shoc~ pad 1058 associated ......
: ..
wi~h the actuated mechanism, to be discussed. A block 1020 .`.
........
secured to the back of plat:e 1 al 0 carries a pin 1022 and a mating pin 1027 as provided ~n the extension 1009 of the I .
~ront plate 1005, spring`10~5 coupling the pins 1022 and ¦ .....

1027.to urge the corresponding plates 1010 and 1005 into .~.:
engagementO . .....
Figs~ ~7 and 38 illus~ ate a link mechanism attached by pivot shaft 1055 recei~ed in aperture 1053 of the element 1019. A ro~ary solenoid C mounted to the frame 1710 carYie on its rotary shaft 1060 link arms 1059 and 1057 pivotally ~ -con~ected at 1~61. Spring 1056 is connec-ted to pin 1058 attached to bracket 1720 at one end an~ at ~he other end to the shaft 1055. 5O1enoid C, when energized, rotates in the clockwise direction to actuate the linkage 1057, 1059, ... .
rotating the el.ement 1019 upwardly about shaft 1024 and ...
~otating front plate 1005 in the counter-clockwise direction to its forward, open position, spring 1025 pullins the ....
backplate 1010 to move in a counter-clockwise direction -similaxly and into an upright position as seen in Pig. 37.
When de-energi~:ed, spring 1056 returns the back plate 1010 to its àown positio~ engaqing stop 1064 ! as seen in ~ig.
38.

l 16~2~2 - 64 _ ''' In moving to the up position, whereas front pla~e 1005 -~
is positively drive~, plate 1010 ollows only by the action of sp-ing 1025 and thus the stop en~aged by ~he back plate - -1010 prevents its further forward motion to open and thus define the receiver 1001 as seen in Figs. 36 and 37 for --~
receipt of a folded form. The stop 1043 attached to the support 1710 engAges the bac~ plate 1010 to preve~t it~
fu~rther forwara motion under influence of spring 1025 as the ~ront plate 1005 moves forward. Cushion pad 1033 in Fig. 37 .........
ser~es as a stop for plate 1005 when engaging panel 1042.
(c~f. ~ig. 39~
Now looking at ~igs. 36 - 38, the overall operation of this outfeed receiver structure will be described. The :-rotasy solenoid C when energized from the computer, rotates sha~t 1060 in the clockwise direction and through linkages 1059, 1061, 1057, 1019, and 1009 effects movement of th~
short front plate lOOS towa~ds the left. Through the connecting spring 1025 th~ curved backplate 1010 is caused to move upwardly and to he left until the stop 1043 engages with panel portion }042 ~o prevent any further movement thereof. -~he front plate lDOS continues movement to the left until L
member 1019 and resilient bu~per pad 1058 thereon engage with the block 1020 to limit further movement of the front plate. ~owever, the front plate has moved further than the rear one, opening up a wide mouth for reception of the forms. ~ecause of the relative position of the structure in rPlationship to stop 1043, the front plate lOOS will be much =
nearer the back o~ the folder than the curved bac~plate 1010 will be. ~hus, when the forms 522 are fed out of the~final folder rollers 91~0 and 2140 the forms will be ed into the ~-61~92 ., . . .. . . . . _ . ... . .
~ - 65 -' '''' ......
wide mou h receptacle 1001 of the receiver. Upon the ro~ary -solenoid being deenersized, the spring 1056 which is presently under tension, will effect a movement of all of the above linkages so that the plates 1005 and 1010 move toward the right, see Fig. 38. A fixed stop 1064 preven~s fur~her move~ent of curved backplate 10101 while the L member 1019 -~
pro~ided with a ~ushi~n pad 1033 functions as a stop for plate 1005 when pad 1033 engages with panel 1042.
When the receiver is in the down or right mos. position as seen in F:!g. 38, the folded forms will be enyaged between the driven rollers 1026 and the idler rollers 101~. These rollers then cause the ~olded forms to be moved out of the outfeed receiver, towards the left thereof in Fig. 39.
F.ig. 40 depicts in schematic form this operation.
Nu~erous photocell sensors ~ are spacecL adjacen the various rol}ers as indicat~d, ~n~ se~d information to the computer :::
to indicat~ the presence of folde~ forms, or the lack there~f.
Also, a photocell in this transport path detects the leading edge of the second ~orm to zssure that both have left the -recei~er and are on their way to the output stacker. Additional driving rollers, in pairs 1090 and 10~2, are provided closely adjacent to the outfeed receiver output as shown in Pig. 40, --~
to assure positive movement of the folded ~orms from ~he out~ed receiver lC00. These paixs of rollers also perorm anot~er function and that is to assure that the forms are properly creased along the fold lines. Fach of these pairs of xollers are spaced and aligned so that they engage the folded forms directly along the crease lines thereof to positively assure that each crease is completed satisfactorily.

~ ~6~2g2 '~
. .
....

.. ..
They also pro~ide for ~ positive feed ~f ~he ~orms into folded form transport ~000.
The fol.ded form transport mechanism 2000 is shown in a . -top schEmatic view in Fig. 40 and in a bottom schematic Yiew in Fig. 43. ~rom the positi~e outfeed rollers 1090 and ~
1~92, the folded forms axe transported by a high friction , -belt 2060 which is suppor~ed by the plurality of rollers , 200~. The left end roller 2016 is driven by its associated ........
pulley 2014 from belt 2013 which in turn is driven by pulley 2012 on the motor 2010. The ~orms are maintained in engagement ' :
with the belt 2060, idler rollers 2006. The right most roller 2017 is mounted on a common sha t with a sma'ler pulley 2019 which in turn drives the dlive belt 203~. This drive belt 2030 in conjunction with pulley 2021 positively dri~es the creasing rollers 1090 and 1092 while simultaneously dri~ing pulleys 2026 wh;~ch are drivingly connected with the `
o~tfeed receiver rollers 1026. Thus, the motor 2010 operates all of the folded ~orm transporting syst~m from the folder output 4o the stacker tray input.
Fig. 40 shows a top view of the f~laed form ejector --~
mechanism for receiving the~folded forms ~rom the form --;
transport belt 2060 and for positively moving or ejecting --~
these forms into output stacker trays 1111 Photo-electric -sensors EH for the ejectors ~100 sense the presenc2 of folded ~orms. The system does not automatically reject forms with cards in them but typically will automatically reject a ~orm that does not ha~e cards in it -- e~g., where there i5 no account number on the form, such as at the end cf a run or the like, and thereore the machine is just discarding . .~ .~ .

~ 1~1292 - i .' . . ~.'-'.'':

needless forms. Forms with cards are rejected only under -~
operator control as a result of some error mode having been initiated ~y the computer system, or by direct operator interven~ion.
W~en forms with cards in them are sensed by either of the two ejector photoelectric sensors E~ in Fig. 40, the correct one of the pair oE ejectors 2100 corresponding to - ~
~he selected output tray is selected will be properly actuated. -~on~s ~re advanced on the belt 2060 from the older outfeed ,~nd creasins rollers 1090, 1092 toward the pair of ejectors 2100~ There the output of the photocell 'for the selected one of the two output stackers 1100 is monit:ored to detect that a ~orm has entered into its respective area. When the form ¦
is detected, the rotary solenoid of the se~ected ejectar lifts the eject mechanism to align the Eorm tr~ck with the correspondi~g output stacker tray. The form is then fed ~rom the e~ector mechanism into this selected output stacker tray~ Photocells ~.~ lFig. 44) are present in the eject station to sense the transfer of fonms to the output stacker.
If ~ form detected a~ entering the ejector mechanism by photocell EH is not detected as e~tering the correspondlng stacker tray by its associated photocell HH the system will indicate outfeed error and go into the outfeed error mode.
The outputs of those same ejector photocells ~H also cause an advance mechanism in the output stacker trays to be advanced another step in order to move the previous orms towards the front of the tray, as well as moving the immediately ejected ~orm ~orward in the tray. This structu~e is of the 2~ ~
6 8--~~

hwalking beam" type in order to pro~7ide proper positi~e ~orm ....
stac~ing. ~fter whichever tray is currently beins filled .....
reaches the full point, it then can be removed ~y an operetor after switching the output feed to the other tray automatically or ~y operator lifting stacking arm 1111 which will indicate to the computer that said tray is not available, and then the ~ull tray replaced with another empty one~
~ ig5. 41 - 44 and rig~ 46 show the ejector mech~nism .
and drive ~herefore. The dri~e motor 2010 for the folded form transport as well as the outfeed feed rollers is also .:.
, used to dri~e the ejector mechanism. Pulley 2012 dri~es belt 2013, which in turn drives pulley 2014, shaft 2015, and driveII pulley 2016 for in turn dri~ing the round belt 2060 which directly engages with the folded forms and transports ¦
them in conjunction with the idler pulleys 2006. Secured adjacent to pulley 2012 and affixed ~o the s~me motor sh~ft, or even integral with pulley 2012 is another drive-belt pulley --2112. This pulley drives round belt 2177 which in turn drives pulley 2176 affixed to rotatable sha~t 2175. Suitable idler a~d tensioning pull~ys 2178 on a support 2179 keep belt 21?7 under suitable tension. Rotatable shaft 2175 has af~ixed thereto ejector outfeed belt drive pulleys 2174. These pulleys 2174 in turn drive belts 2170 and idlers 2172. Each ejector moves the forms from the folded form transport belt 2060 up into contact with belts 2170 where they are in turn ejected into the respective stacking trays.
The portion of the ejector me~hani~m which moves the respective folder forms from transport belt 2060 up to engagement wi.h ejector belts 2170 is best seen in ~igs. 41 1 ~6~2~2 ~ .. .
....

a~d 42~ Two inverted ~ shaped members 2150 have pivot pins ,.
2152 extending from the closed portions thereof, while the open end 2151 of each member is connected by plate member .
Z153. Supported upon this plate member are two idler ~ .
rollers 2006. From the opposite open legs 2156 of.the :
inverted U members is suppo~ted a shaft 2158. This shaft .. .
2158 is provided with form engaging idler rollers 2168 a~
each end thereof. In order to be able to pivot the double U
sh2ped mechanism just described about the pivot pins 2152, another rod 2130 is pro~ided a short distance from the pivot ....
points for actuation by a link member 2120, suitably pivotally moun~ed on shaft 2130 by means of an ~perture 2152. ~he other end o this linka~e has a pin 2116 extending laterally therefrom for engagement with the apert:ure 2106 of actuatiny ¦
link 2101. Actuating link is in turn af.~ixed by means of aperture 2104 and suitable l~ck and set screw structure to the output shaft of the rotary solenoid C This rotary solenoid when energi~ed actuates link ~101, and when . .
de-energized returns same by use of a suitable return spring ..
ZllO. Spring 2110 is connected at one end to a s~litable pin ;~
from the extension 2108 on member 2101 and the other end thereof is fixed.
~ ig. 41 shows how this mechanism of Fig~ 42 is supported from ~he basic support structure 2110. The piYot pins 215 are suitably mounted in pivot support bearings 3152 on the support frame 3110. ~ig. 41 is the ~iew from the back of the ejector mechanism as taken along 41-41 of Fig. 44.
When a properly folded form reaches a pos.iti~n on the transport 1 1 6 1 2 9 2 a ..

> . _ belt 2060 between pulleys 2004 and idler pulleys 2006, the -photoelectric sensor H for that station and position of the form will provide a signal to energize rotary solenoi2 C to pivot the ejector mechanism of Fig, 42 about the pivot pins 2152~ Rollers 2168 .hen will engage the respective ends of ---the folded form and lift same quickly up into engage~ent wi~h the ejector' outfeed belts 21~0. As bes~ seen in Fig.
:. .
4~, in the dotted line showing of the rollers 2168, when the folded form reaches this upward ejector position, and because o~ the rapidly rstating pulleys 2172 arld 2174 with the ejector outfeed belts 2170, the ~orm will be ejected into the stacker tray 1101. Dash pot 2190 is connected to the -~
rotary soleno:id linkage mechanism 2101 and ~120 to damp (shock absorb,l the movement thereof.
Fig. 44 also shows the switch SW for actuation by the tray ~od 1111 as described earlier. In conjunction with ~ -~his electric switch SW is the photosensor device 1154 ~ounted on support 1156, which senses refletion of light ~rom the forme; at the back o~ ~ray 1101 as indicated by dotted lines A i~ Fig. 44, and also reflection of light fro~
the back side of the movable plate 1150 attached for pivotab~e movement at 3158. Spring 1158 biases plate upward when the rear of tray ]101 is not in the position shown, i.e., the tray is re~oved. This plate 1150 is provided with a window 1152 as best seen in the enlarged view of ~ig. 45. Thus, the photosensc)r device 115~1 will sense when a tray is full of stacked forms, as well as sensing when the txay 1101 has been ~emovecl.
The end of li~t rod 1111 closest to the ejector mechanism . .:

'''.-.'.'.'.
a pivot block 1115. This pivot bIock 1115 is pivotally mounted at a pivot point 1117. A stationary pivot point 1119 for the lift rod 1111 completes this over-center type control ~or the li~t rod. Thus, with this mechanism, the lift rod 1111 will stay in either its closed position just ~bove the tr~y as sho~l in s~l-id lines in Fig. 44, or the dotted line pQsition to permit tray removal and also to properly actuate t~e switoh 5IY. ~ith the txay remo~ed the iight re~lecting plate 1150 will lift, and a lisht-reflecting surface on the back of plate 1150 will be placed in the~line of sight of ~he LED 1154, prod~cing an apparent tray-f~ll output indication ~s be~ore noted, the outputs of the LED 1154 and the switch are loyically related to provide a tray-unavailable indication, whether due to tray-~ull, -missing, o~ other condition.
In ordex to ensure that the folded forms as ejected i~to ~he end o~ the tray at ~he rear of the machîne will be m~ved toward the front of the tray in a positive manner, mech2nism as best seen in Figs. 44 and 47 is pro~ided. This mechanism consists of saw tooth li~e projections 1104 provided in the tray bottom itseY f which function in conjunction with -walking beam structure 1121. This walking beam structure, at least two per tray, b~lt more may be provided i~ desired, is actuated so as to alternately lift and then drop the bottom edges o~ th~ folded forms 522. A high friction surface 1120 i5 -pro~id~d on the top of each walking ~eam 1121. Members 1122 e~tending from the bottom of each member 1121 through -~
suitable holes 1123, eccentric members 1125 having pins 1124 to complement with holes 1123, and driven sharts 1126, alternately li~t and move ~orward each o~ the walking beam members 1121, 1120~ A belt 1128 and rollers 1127 suitably connected to drive motor 1130 effect the walking beam action. As can be 7 -:
. . .
.-. . .
.
visualized by looking at Fig. 44, as the bottom of the forMs 522 are lifted, moved forward, and then dropped, the saw tooth edges 1104 in the tray bottom will prevent the backwaxd regression of the forms and maintain same in position zs moved toward the front of the tray. Thus the tray can be !j-`
completely filled and stacked with the folded forms in a positive secure manner. Fig. 44 also shows that the window plate 1150 has associated therewith a sprin~ 1158 to assure operation of this part of the mechanism.
As noted in Fig. 40 and also as indicated schematically in Figs. 41 and 43, appropriate photoelectric sensors ~ are I -provided at numerous points along the ~olded form transport path, i~ order to detect the presence and absence of fo~ms at these ~arious points and provide outputs to the computer for monitoring and control purpose~.
Figure 48 shows the control panel 1500 in greater detail. Power switch 1502 is depressable to provide on/off power control, its indicator illuminatin~ when power is ~onn. All of the pushbutton switches 1510 through 1530 are momentary pushbutton switch/indicator de~ices which typically illuminate when the butkon is pushed or as well may be illuminated by automatic computer-controlled operations ~-, typically in a situation requiring some operator inter~en~ion.
The various pushbuttons place the system into varlous modes, which, generally, may also be entered automatically by the system during operation as a result of various conditions to be discussed. Accordinyly t re~erence will be made concurrently to Fig. 48 and to the mode chart of Fig. ~9 in the following CARD COUNTER display 1504 indicates the nu~ber o~ car~s . .

which pass through the ECR reader 400 and enter the insert --module 700. Switch 1506 permits manual reset of the card count. Display 1508 provides a 32 position single line .
alphanumeric display of various messages hereinafter discussed INPUT XOPPER S~LECT switch 1510 includes dual indicators 1511 and 151~ which ~re illuminated selectively in accordance --wi~h the selec~ion of one of the le~t and right input trays .-.
110 and 112 as seen in Figure !; the pushbut~on switch --. ..:
1510, upon entering permits m~nual override of the automatic seiection of the left hopper by the system, as above described.
A horn or other audible sound producing device is caused to sound ae a warning for various error condltion~
In addition, ~ message is provided in display 1508~ Fox :..
example, if the input trays 110 and 112 are empty, the horn will sound and the display will indicate the message "~OPPER
ER}~ORn ,, . The ERROR CLEA~ ~ushbutton switch 1514 includes an - indicator which illuminates to indicate detection of an ::
erxor or an input~ouput condition requiring operator attention;
such a condition causes the horn to sound and the display t~
provide a message to the operator ~or assisting and correct-ing the condi~ion. Depressing pushbutton 1514 once deactivates the horn, permitting the operator to clear the error.
A minor errox is correctable by operator intervention without either the error or the correction thereof by operator intervention so disrupting the system that re-initialization is necessary. For example, empty/full conditions of card input/
stacker output trays can be remedied readily by the operator;
as well, data-match errs-s typically are correctable ~y operator '''.

I ~ . 2 19 ~ - , . . .
::
i~ter~ention, the operator by manual con~rols, to be des-cribed, re-establishins the proper, matchlng form/~ard sequence. The inserting operation .hen i5 resumed by r.,,'., depressiny ERRO~ CLEAR pushbutton 1514 a second time. I
~ m~jor error, discussed more fully hereinafter, typically - -arises due to jamming of fonms or cards, and typically `---requires, after operator inter~ention to clear the error, th~ ~he system be re-initialized as in an initial master cl~ar mode of operation. Herein, the operator depresses the ERROR CLEAR pushbutton 1514 a second t~ne, which maste~
clears the system, and then depresses th~ RUN button 1516. ', - For the special case of a data-match error, depressing ERROR CLEAR ~utton 1514 deactivates the horn and puts the :~
system in the inspection stop mode. Thle display 1508 in- ¦
dicates the account nu~ber of the last card readO The operator must resy~hronize the cards and forms, after ~hich the inserting operation is resumed by depressing the RUM
bu~ton 1~16. -The MASTER CLEAR pushbutton 1518,.when depressed, initializes the system logic, rejects all forms in the burster/
fo~der stations 800 and 900 and al~ cards in the card tra~s- ;~
port 300, and repositions the ~an-~old paper 510 at the load point in the transport station 500. Any cards remaining in khe insert module 700 must be removed manually~
~ olding the MASTER CLEAR pushbutton 1518 depressed ~ree~es all system functions until it is released; its indica~or is illuminated by the system being in the master clear mode. ~aster clear (MCL) is acknowledged in a~l system modes.

1 2 ~ 2 - -. - 75 -._ . . .
,,,,-......
, ...
. The SKIP C~R~ button 1520, when depressea, enters ~ . .
"phantom" card into the next available position in the insert m~dule. All cards in the card transport 300 remain in place. . -Its actuation is ack~owledged in the inspection stop mode;
its function is for resynchronizing the cards with the forms, and it works only un~il all necessary cards have been placed .. -in the insert module.
REJECT pushbutton switch 15~2 is u~ed in conjunction - ....
with either the CARD ADVANCE button 1524 to reject a card currently at the card inspection station 450, at the output ....
side of the card reader 400, or with the ~ORM AD~ANC~ button 1526 to reject the double width form under the inspection window 720. The forms are rejected into the ~orms reject .-~
. . -bi~ 1200 either after RUN or FO~M ADVAN~ buttons 1516 and `.. :

1526 ~s depressed~ The REJECT i~dicator 1522 illuminates ...
..: .
when the selected o~e o~ the second switch~s, 1516 or 152~, is actuated. Reject is acknowledged in the inspection ~t~p .
~ode.
RUN pushbutton 1516, when depressed, starts or resumes the inserting operation 2nd puts the system in the run mode.
Run is acknowledged in the ready mode in which the display -~
1508 indicates nREADY... HOPPER SELECTED" and i~ the inspection . -stop mode. Depressing RUN button 1~16 while the system is in the run mode with cards beiny fed into the insert module and :::
.. ...
releasing same as soon as the insert pins 732 move down toward the cards~ intexrupts the insert cycle just be~ore the in~
sertion operation and allows inspection and adjustment of the ir.se~^t mechanism. Depressing RUN button 1516 again resumes the cycle.
INSPEC~IO~ STOP bu~ton 152~, when depressed, halts ~ 1~1292 . . .
"'-.'-.'-: .. :..
the inse-ting operation and positions the double width forms under the i~spection window 720 ,o allow the operator to ~isually verify that the information on the pre-addressed foxm matches the informa~ion on the cards inserted in the `~
Xorm. When a da'a-match error occurs, the system goes into the inspection mode--a~tomat~cally when the ERROR CLEAR push- -button 1514 is depressed. The inserting operation is resumed -.....
by depressing ~N. Both upon depressing butto~ 1528, and --:- upo~ the auto~atic entry into the inspection stop mode, the indicator of the button 1528 is illuminatèd.

..:
SYSTEM SXUTDOWN button 1530, when actuated, termina~es . :
the insertins operation a~d clears all completed forms from the system~ Picking of cards 102 ceases, and any cards rem~ining in the transport 300 are inserted into the proper forms; if necessary r additional cards are picked to satis~y the requirements of the forms in the insert module. A11 completed ~orms, including thos~ in the insert module at the :~
:: .
time of depressing the SYSTEM SHU~DOt~ button 1530, are .... ...
burst, olded, and fed into the selected output tray and the --fan fold forms 510 are a~vanced to the load point. The :.....
indicator illuminates while the system is in the system -shutdown mode and extinguishes when the above operations o~
that mode have been completed. System shutdown is acknowledged in the run mode and the input hopper empty condition ~wherein display 1508 indicates HOPPER ERROR) of the error mode.
CARD ADVANCE button 1524 advances each card by a prescribed distance to a next successive position in the card transport 300. The card at the card inspection station 45Q, at the output side o the card reader 4Q0, is moved forward and 1 lB1292 .. ... _ . . .. .. _ _ _ . ........... . . 3 ..........
''...
either placed in the insert module 700 or rejected ~if .-REJECT button 1522 was previously depressed~ and ano~her ....
card is fea through the card reader 400. Actuation of the ....
CARD ADVANCE ~utton 1524 is acknowledged in the inspection .-stop mode. Its func ion works only until all necessary .-.-czrds have been placed in the 1nsert module for the associated :Eorm. ' ; '-'.''-The actuation of the ~ORM ADVANCE ~utton 1526 is I ......
a~knowledged in the ready mode (display indicates READY...~OPPER
SE~ECTED?) and in the inspection stop mod,e. Depressing the . . .......
FO~M ADVANCE button 1526 with the system in the ready mode ......
m~ves the forms (one form leng~h)- to the next top-of-form position, and bursts, folds and feeds one set of forms.into `~
thc forms reject ~in 1200. In the ready mode, the function ..
may be used as many times as desired. Depressing ~O~1 .. -.:
ADVANCE button 1526 with the system in the inspection stop mode mo~es the forms that are visible through the inspection window 720 either into an output tray 1101 or 1102 or into the forms reject bin 1200 (if REJECT 152~ and FOR~S ADVANCE
1526 were previously depressed) and advances the next double-width form by a predetermined amount (one-third of .:-:
~he form length~ to the inspe~tion window. This form must be completed by using the CARD ADVANCE and SRIP CARD functions. ...
In the inspection stop mode, FORM ADVANCE may ~e used only ...
once. .....
The display 1508 provides indications of various normal and/or error conditions occurring during operations, and instructions to the operator. The previously noted message, ~READY... XOPPER SELECTÆD?", indicates the system is in the ....

1 2~ ~
... _ ... . , . ;
7~
, ;:'.
._ ,. . ~

.......
ready mode, r,-ady to begin or resume the inserting operation. .....
Depressing RUN button 1516 causes the system t~ start, or to ... .
resume, operations~ Other operator actions may be performed ~y depressing of appropriate buttGns, such as selecting the ... . -inpu~ hopper for o~erriding the automa~ic selection, advancing ' :
and thereby rejecting one set of forms, initializins the . --system logic by depressing MAS~ER CLEAR thereby to rejec~ ~.
orms in the burs er~folder, to reject all cards in the card .
:. ..
transport, and to reposition the paper at the load point. In ::
.:.
the run mode, the display indicates the number o~ cards to .:
b~ inserted i.~ each half ~f the qouble-width ~orm in the insert module 700. .
Various minor error conditions are displayed. "NO
PAPER" may irldicate the lack o orms or improper loading `~
o~ jammi~g of forms. ~OPPER ERROR" indicates, variously, ...
empty card input trays 110, 11~, card jammi~g, or impr~pe~ .....
positionin~ or operation of the input hoppess. ~STACK~ ......
F~LL E~RORn generally indicates that neither of the output :-.~ ..
trays 1101, 1102 is ready to receive forms, *hich may result .
either because the trays are full or due to improper positioning of .he trays, jamming or similar circumstancesr "PIC~
ERROR" may indicate that a card is stuc~ in the tray 110 or 112 or jam~ed in the pic~er throat area 231 234 of the card ......
transport 300. "OUTFEED ERROR" indicates that a ~orm did not exit all three areas of the outfeed mechanism and thus that a form may ~e jammed ~ariously in the folder 900, the folder outfeed mechanism 1000, or the ejector mecha~ism 2100 to the output tra~s 1101, 110~. "TRA~SPORT ERROR" Lndica~es :-there are more than five cards in the card transport 300 2~ 2 ,. . . _ . . . _ . . _ . . , ;
~ - 79 ~

- _ . . .

...
between the ca~d pick 200 and the insert module 700, usually a result af jammed cards~
"DATA-MATC~ ERROR" signifies that the data read from a `--given card does not match the data read from the intended, associa~ed form. In this error mode, th~ form is advanced 4~ the inspection station, the card just read remains at the - -~-card inspection station, and the display displays the account number of the last card read. A questlon mark in the account number shown on display 1508 indicates that the reader was u~able to read the nu~ber in that posit:ion. This is one I -source of a data-match error. The card readex 400 as well m~y have misread the data on the card ~ikewise, the OCR
~orm reader 611 may have misread data on the ~orm. A card may be missing from the sequence, or an extra card present.
In general, the operator compares the account numbers of the I -for~s under the inspection window 720, the card at the inspection station 450, and that shown by display 1508 to determine the ac~ion required~ If a card is missing, SKI~ -CARD 1520 button is depre6sed to electronically insert a phantom card into the next available position in the insert module, and CARD ADVANCE 1524~is depressed once for each card required to complete the double-width form under the inspection window. If a~ extra card is present in the sequence, it is rejected and then the CARD ADVANCE button 1524 depressed once for each card required to complete the double-~idth form under the inspection window. Here, the extra card may be one out of sequence or an extra card for the prior, already completed form now already bèyond the burster and into the folder. Since the error occurred as a 2 -. I
_ 80 -:.....
.......
result of that extra c~rd not matching the form currently in the inserter, the operator control essentially manually completes that present form by o~erriding the system error mode which had terminated inserting acti~ities. -An extra form causing the error, i.e~, one ~or which no c~rds are a~ailable, is rejected by deprecsing ~E~ECT 1522 and then FORM ~DVANCE 1526 -- this attaches a "reject statusn to both dou~le-width forms at the inspection window, and they are rejected into the reject bin 1200 after the run mode is :....:
resumed. The reading of data ~rom a card or a form as well can be overridden where the accoun~ numbers i~ fact match, by ma~ually depressing CARD ADVANCE button 1524 once for each card r~quired to complete the form Followiny these operator override :
~ontrols, by depressing RUN 1516, the system may resume the run mode.
An OCR data error display indicates an error in the data i -,,.,,,-,,,.,~
~ormat or an invalid character as actually read~ and the ~perator restarts the system for re-reading the forms. If the error occurs again7 the operator inspection procedures are followed.
.
If the match is satisfied, the operator ~anually s~pplies the necessary actual or phantom cards under controls as above dis-cussed; if not, the error and reject operations are followed.
An "OCR ERROR" display indicates that the OCR reader 400 did not complete reading a fGrm, which can arise due to jamming o~ the forms or the OCR reader i~self.
All of the foregoiny errors are characteri2ed as "mînor errors". With the majority of these errors, the operator undextakes the necessary steps to supply cards or ~orms, or correct whatever other conditions exist which caused the error.

- i ....
8t ......

~ORM ADVANCE ~RROR" and ~INSERT/BURST ERROR" are designa~ed major errors; in the first, the paper transport -was una~le to complete a form advance because of form jam~ing at a location between the load point and the folder whereas l-the latter error arises due to jamming of cards in the insert module OE of a form in the burst~r. The operator takes the necessary correcti~e steps, and then must re-initialize the system before system operation can be resumed.
~ igure 50 is a general block diagram of the system of the invention; by way of comparison to Figure 2, Figure 50 emphasizes the str~ctural organization and interrelationship of the various subcomponents of the system. The labels in the various blocks and the identifying numerals correspond to those elements and subcomponents oi the system previously discussed. Figure 50 illustrates the interconnections and communication paths between the central processing unit ' -~C~U) 1602 of the computer, previously generally reerenced :....
by the numeral 1600 and the various subcomponents of the system, particularly by means of an input/output (I~O~
driver board 1604 which in turn co~municat2s through a solid state relay board 1606 with various specific subcomponents.
Program select switch 1603 permits selection or any of various programs, which afford differing types of system operation. As later shown, when set, e.g., to =0, the dat~-match function is selected for governing inserting operations.
If set to =1, inserting without data-match requirements is selected. Other programs may be provided for maintenance purposes, such as ~or selectively and independently operating any of the modules in accordance with ~heir respective ~ lB~292 - .

, . .

operating rou.ines (to be discussed) but without operating the other modules. ~igure 50 specific2l1y shows the horn 1608 mentioned in reference to Pigure 48 and additionally a jam relay 1610 r which cuts off A C. power to dri~e motors when a jam is detec~ed, and a form counter 1612. The eight safety-intexlock switches 1614 ~e.g., for power-down upon opening cabinet doors) supply their outputs to the I~O
driver board lfiO4~ i The rea~ gate servo board 1616 for controlling the `-energization of the dri~e motor 638 fox the OC~ wand 511 is ' -seen to include a servo loop 1617 and a tachometer 1618 for ~-controlling throush the servo board 16:L6 the energization of j [-the OCR wand drive motor and hence the wand position.
The card counter 1505 associated with the counter dis- !
play 1504 o~ Figure 48 is dri~en by the card counter driver 1620 of the I/O driver board 1604 for pro~iding the ca~d count display as before referenced.
A suitable power supply 130 supylies necessary levels of AC and DC power to the v~rious operating components of the system. -`
The OCR wand 611 provides its output to the OCR elec-tronics 1630, in turn, to the OCR buffer 1632 for supply to the CPU 1602.
Figure 49, the basic mode interaction chart, defines `
the major operational modes of the system ana as well the manner or sequence of proceeding from one mode to another, and illustrates certain of the basic conditions whi-h cause the system to so f-om one mode to another mode~

Master cleax (MLC~, per ormed automatically upon power 2~
.. . . . .. . . .. . ..... . . .. . .. .. . . .
83 ..........

...... ...
...... : .
up or when selected manually, causes the system to perform certain ...
ini~ialize f~nctions, generally to clear the entire system .. `
and to prepare it for normal operation. The microprocessor .
.
~CPU 1602~ performs various inherent initialize operations which ... `.
i~clude, for exampls, initializing its input/output ports, .-pr.esetting certain software timers and performing other, generally internal, microprocessor functions. The system ,--, , further performs essentially all operating subroiltineq, with `.
c~rtain exceptions not here pertinent. ...... -.
A fi~st ini.~ialize operation is to drive the OCR wand ...
reader 611 to its home position, and to clear the OC~ burfer 1632. ;
. .
The inserter head deflection pins 732 are checked for beins ~ i`
in ~heir "up" position and, i~ not, are driven to that position; ' .
this function as well closes the bin arms G to their normal ..
bin-defining positions. Likewise~ the inserter support :.. `
fingers 703 are chec~ed as to position and if not in the ...
nor~al 'lup" position, are driven there. - .
'rhe dri~e motor 501 for the paper ~orm transport system 500 ::.
also is driven to a "homen position. With reference to .
Figure 12, paper transport motor 501 is driven through its servo 1640 (Figure 50) so as to position the disc lS10 at its reference position with regard to sensing photocells. ...
. . .
The paper sensor micros~itch 500S~1 (Figs. 7 and 9) - in the .~
.~
form transport station 500 is monitored to determine if any ........
paper is present and, i so, the drive motor 501 is dri~en through a complete form drive cycle, i.e., su~ icient to reverse transport the form strip 510 hv one complete -orm lengtn, until .
such time as no form 50~ rema.ins.in the inserter head and .he 2~2 . ~ .....

,.............. ' .'.".~.

......
paper transport driv~ syst2r~ returns to the top of form con- -dition. ~f ; supply of forms 510 in fact is in the system, this ~itialize operation results i~ the top of the first form 502 moving to the load, or alignment positio~ 1502 see~ in Fi~ 9 .
~he CPU,~microprocessor 1602 also operates all remaining p~per transp~rt mechanisms, e.g., the burster 800, folder 909, '' .'.
outfeed 1000 and output transport 2000 mechanisms, as well as the card transport mecha~ism 300, to clear any ~orms or cards from the system. Certain components as before described, e.g., the burster 800, i~ not at the home and ins~ead at soIIe intermediate position, at power-up, inherently will cause energization of the respective d:rive motor a~d dri~ing of that component to a home position. SLmilarly,-the drive motor for the sup~)ort fingers of the insert head inherèntly will be energized if at an intermediate position at power-up, driving the fingers to one extreme or the other and if that extreme is not the "up" position, will be driven to th!e "up" position. Any forms or cards, whether separate or ~lready ass~mbled, if ~i~hin the system at power-up, will ~e -passed inhere~tly to the respective output reject hoppers, since thè system as vet is not capable of providing a positive indica-tion that correct data-match operations occurred as to those for~s or cards.
As a Cinal Iunction in the initialization mode, the CPU 1602 -checks the state of the form sensor microswitch 5005W in the form transp~rt system 500; iE forms are present, the microswitch 5005W is closed and provides an approp~i~te indication. Ic none is present, the system displays "~O PAP~" and remains in the initialization mode until fo~ms are loaded. This l ~61292 display i5 not accompanied by the usual alarm/error conditions, since it is merely an indication of the condition at power-up, when typically the operator is still preparing the system.
The au1:omatic selection of the left input card hopper tray llO also is made during initialization; however, the CPU 1602 does check the status of the INP~T HOPPER SELECTION switch 1510 for responding to manual selection of a hopper tray by - the operator. Likewise, the preferential selection of the right output staclcer tray is made and that stacker tray tested ~or readiness to receive, or availability for receiving, completed forms. If ~the normally first-selected card (left) tray or (right) stacker tray is not ready for use ~essentially an error check) the syst.em automatically selects the alternate one, and tests for readiness. If error re~iults from the latter tests, meaning neither of the card hopper/output stacker trays is available, an error conaition indication is displayed.
These latter initialization functions result in error indication displays and not errors in the normal operational sense since the system is only in the initialization mode, and hence once the tests are made and the necessary displays provided, the system passes to the ready mode. .
The last function of master clear and the initialization moae will be to turn off the master clear light, and the system will exit the initialization mode and enter the ready mode.
In the ready mode, the microprocessor chec~s for the presence ~ paper in the tractor of the paper drive by monitoring switch 500SW ~Figs. 7 and 9); if no paper exists - 86 - .

.' ~
the system will display ~o PAPER on the control panel display 1508 and remain in the ready mode until paper (forms) are loaded.
If paper is present, the ready mode automatically selects the left input card hopper tray 110 and the hopper ~
i~ tested for the prese~ce of cards ~ none, the sys~em ; : :
will then autom~Lticaliy select the right input card hopper :~
tray 112. This switching ability is, in essence, the : -p~r~orm2nce of the hopper e~ror test on the left hopper . .
wh~ch, if not satisfied, causes selection of the right I ...
hopper. If no cards are present in the right hopper either, the "hopper error" display is made; thi.s display, however, is not accompanied by the usual alarm c:onditions but is merely an indication of the condition. In a similar fashion, the right output stacker is preferenticLlly selected first .
and tested for its readiness to receive or its availa~ility for xe~iving fosms, and if the error test conditions are ¦ `
not satis~ied, the system will switch to the left output :.-stac~er; if the left outpu~ stacker is as well not ~ ~-available this asain will constitute an error condition ~-and a "stac~er error" indication will be made~ The system, , neve~theless, will remain in the ready mode Thereafter, the system loops through further tests, checking the PORM ADV~NCE switch 1526 and the RUN switch ---1516. The FORM ADVA~C~ switch 1526 permits the operator to advance the forms if desired r such as to accol~modate a --leader or blank ~orm at the beginning of a supply of ~an fold Corms being ~ed into the machine. It ~ould also permit the operator to bypass rorms printed with account num~ers ~1 ~6~292 ...,:...
~7 ..'..".

.......
which the operator kno~-s do not match the first account ~um~ers on the cards available in ~he hopper. ..
With the system thus prepared, the RUN switch 1516 is depressed to place the system in the run mode~ signified by - -the run indicator being illuminated.
Yn the ru~ mode, the display 1508 is cleared (e.g., it pr~viously haviny been displaying ~READY~) and the messaye , .
"~OPPER SELECTE:D?" is displayed as a reminder to t:he operator to make a ~anual hopper selection, if desired, other than t~e autom~ic left hopper select of the system. The latter ...
~isplay therea~ter is cleared in~the run mode, in the a~senc~
of any error mode occurring, and the display 1508 displays ~-the number of cards to be inserted in~.o each of the double- .
width forms currently positioned in the insert module 700 The first activity in the run mode is to acti~ate the OC~
wand rea2er 611 to read the first form 502, and thereafter to ...
advance that form 502 into the insert module 700 and then return ..
the OC~ head 611 to home position. .. -~t this juncture, the system is r~ady to enter the main system loop of Fig. Sl in which the system remains during -successful operation. The system and thus the main loop, has a basic 50 millisecond (ms) cycle; this is much slower than the operating cycle requirements of the microprocessor (CPU) 1602 and other cont-ol electronics of the system (typically in the range of a few, e.g., 2-3, milliseconds) ~ut is selected to a~oid potential problems, such as responding ~:
to erroneous, apparent signals produced bv contact bounce -i.e., this cycle time assures stabli~ation of system electro-nics prior to signal processing and generation o~ controls 9 ~ -;
_ - 8~ -. ' . .~
in each cycle, while being compatihle as well with mechanical -operations of the system.
The PICK request _herefore is set in each 50 ms. cycle repeat o~ the main loop.
In every 50 ms. there~or~, the system enters the PIC
~dule dxiver routine, automatically setting a PICK re~uest.
A PIC~ operation then will be performed, if other condi~ions are satis~ied. Each of the successiv~ SLX module driver routines is entered from the preceding one, a indicated, with the "outfeed" routine finally re!tur~ing to the insert condition question, i.e., ~INSERT?n. In essence, the-modul~
drive routines operate independently, hut only if a suitable request is made. The module driver r.outine, once entered, I
can perform its operation or control the operation of its j as~ociat~d ap~2ratus, under the assumption that the reques~
!
is present. As later seen, certain sensed conditions can inhi~it the performance of that operation, in which case the -system passes immediately out o~ the routine without per-~orming the usual mechanical function of its associated apparatus.
Recall that in the main system loop, the PIC~ request is set every 50 milliseconds. En~ry into this loop, however, follows the initiali~ation mode in which the first form was advanced into the insert mod~le. As a result, when entering the main system loop, the ECP~ request is issued for that first form, only, which orm as noted was already advanced into the insert module~ ~ccordinglv, or this initial operation, the PICX re~uest already exists. The ~IC~ modu'e driver routine is perCormed~ but there is no form ADVAr~C~

- ~ ~6129~ -..... -......

request, consistent with the fact that the form is already ..
i~ the insert module. ~.
~he system next proceeds to the OC~ module drive routine, ...
wherein it reads the account number from the next form. The system then enters the ECR routine, which is the system t ~ookkeepern and determines which card 102 belongs with which form 502. The EC~ routine, therefore, receives the OC~ d~ta a~d compares i~ with the EC~ data to aetermine satisfaction of the match condition as well as determining ::~
how ~any cards are tu be supplied to each of the two, i.e., I
double-wid~h, forms currently in the :insest head. ~ssuming ¦ -all the necessary conditions are'sati!~;fied, the system ~ ~-~ransfers the information to the "P~AC~" routine which will --then control the defle~tion sollers B in the insert module .~
700 for deflecting the required numbex of cards into their ~ .
-....~
proper bins Ll, L2, Rl, R2 of the head aligned with the appro- :
priate apertures on the ~orms. Since the system is still re-lating to the first form, the P~ACE routine passes directly "
through the OUTFEED routine (which, since there is no OUTFEED
reques~, has no functio~ at this time) to the insert condition ~-question "INSERT?I' which is satisfied based on a number of conditions to be discussed. Assuming that the inse~t condition has been satisfied, the inserter is actuated, as indic~ted by the .-`
INSE~T bloc~, and sets both the ADVANCE request and the EC~ -request. .
The module driver routines are rather complex routines and include many subroutines or their owrl. An important factor is that any of ~hece mcdule driver rou~ines can be calle~, assuming necessary conditions are satisfied, in any of the - .

~ ~6~19~ -- ' "

.....
Yarious modes and they do not ha~e to be called in any . . .
particlllar sequence.
. .
The INSERT module driver routine has been broken out ~-~or the reason that it is a serial, real time routine and its entire ~unction must be per~ormed befora the system can .. .. ... . ........ .. . :
retu~n to any other routi~e. ~owever, throughout the INSERT
;
routine, the OUT~EED routine is called continuously to take ~-i:.
care o~ any doumçnts which are in the outfeed portion of the system -- this includes the receiver 1000 fram the folder 900 as well as the transport mechanisms 2000 and the .. :..
ejectors 2100. I~ the OUTFEED routine~ were not called , --continuously while doing the IN5ERT routine, the system ¦
woul~ have to complete outeeding o~ any document before it i -;
could begin a new INSE~T cycle; this would introduce unnecessary and substanlial reduction in overall feedthrough rates of the system. It is in this context that the system is -characterized as asynchronous, since the various operating components perform at their own rates somewhat independently of the others but are constantly checked by calling the n~cessary routines -- in this instance, between the INSERT
routine and the OUT~EED routine.
Returning to the diasram of Fig. 51, the INSE~T routine is shown perfo~ming the continuous function of calling the O~FE~D routine for the purposes above discussed; in ~he ` -detailed view is shown a three sesment breakdown in which, in a first portion, the insert module head deflection pins 732 are brought down (simultaneously the bin ar~s G are opened), in a second por~ion the card support fingers 703 are brought clown (this permits the card 102 now to ~latten . .

1 ~6~2~
....... ~
- ~

out and complete its insertion into the form). and in the ......
third sec~ion the insert head d~flecting pins ?32 are brought .......
back up again. (likewise returning the bin arms G to a closed ..
position). After the filled form is moved towards the ......
bursting station, the fingers 703 are again raised to the -.-~up~ positio~ ..... -In the ~irst t~o segments of the ins~rt routine is ~ho~n the corldition '~hat the ~older is on -- i.e., a Pfolder '.-on~ command i.s produced, su~ject to ~he condition that when .....
entering the insert routine the photocel~ in the form inspection area is chec};ed to see whether a form cursently is extending -~
beyond the bursting station 800 'and into the folder 900 such that it should be ~olded and thereore requires actuation o~ the folde~ .if this condition exists the folder is turned on. '~hus, that pre~iously-in3erted form proceeds ~:
th~ough the folder during the i~se~t Dperation for the .. .-present ~orm. IN5E~T also sets the OUTFEED REQUEST. ~he ...
timing relat.ions appear as follows -- the insert head down . .
operation (IfH DWN~ takes 4/10 of a second and the finger down (FN5R DWN) operation ollowi~g it takes 2/10 of a . .-~
second for a total of 6/10 of a second. The folder oper~tion is timed such that if the form was present and has passed .~.
through the folder 900, it has been folded and dispensed into the receiver portion 1000 of the outfeed system 2000 by ...
the conclusion o 6/10 ~f a second. ......
The set O~TFEED request thus is produced at a time determined insert routine for a given form when the preceding, now _olded, form has been deposited into the folder outeed receiver lt)00. The OUTFEED routine deactivates ~he solenoid C on the receiver 1000 causing its spri~g-biased loading to - ~ ~L&~2~2 - -.

.........
shift the receiver guide panels 1005, 1010 in line with he out~eed transport trac~ this ti~e the photocells H
......
associated with the receiver 1000 will chec~ to see if the ......
two related forms are present in the receiver 1000.
Fox conYenience, in the followiny discussion, ~form" ~:
shall designate the double-width (dual) ~orms, unles~ other- -wise noted. The ADVANOE routine simultaneously advances the - -fonm ~hat received cards in the just-completed INSERT routine ...
and as the next s~ccessive form which has just been read in . :::.
the OC~.routine, respec~ively, to the burster and inserter .. :~
stations, the top portion of the form in the burster station moreover moving into the folder station 900; the BURST
routine severs the latter form at its trailing edge from the ¦
top o the new, or next successive, form which is now in ¦
, th~ insert station. At this junct~re the routines, and thus i `
their operations, repeat. .....
Certain principle functions of the PICX routine are to .. `.
~onitor the mechanics of the card pick operation to ascertain ....
tha~. a card is picked successfully, to monitor the.number of .
cards actually picked and supplied to the card transport .. -trac~ (for transport to the ECR card reader and ultimately to the inserter), and to time each next successi~e pick operation (PICK ON)~ The latter two functions limit the ...
.......
num~r of cards in the card transport to less th2n five ~5) .. -to avoid card jams which could result from supply of new, ..

successive cards at a ~aster rate than can ~e used by subsequent modules.
In the flow of Fig. 5~, the card transport is normally on and thus the ~uestion ~PORT ON? normally is answered yes ........

i ~612~2 - -and the question PICX ON? will determine whether the pick mechanism currently is operatinS If not, the flow proceeds - -`
to determine if ~he pick should be turned on. Particularly, the question of whether the card is at the pic~ photocell t~ARD AT PICR P.C.~) is asked and, i~ so, the flow returns. ---I~ not, the flow proce~ds to decre~ent the pick off tLmer --(DCR POFT~) and then check to see if that timer has timed ~--out; i~ not, the flow returns znd if yes, the flow proceeds to check i there is a hopper change delay ~HOPC~ DELAY7) which, if so, causes decrementir.g of that hopper change delay counter ~DC~ ~OPC~ DLY) and the flow returns. The hopper change delay is an automatic ~unction resulting from the ~ystem sensing a full output hopper or an empty input card tray circumstance, requiring the automatic switching to the respective, other thereof and imposiny a delay which the syst~m automaticall~ accomm~dates in this hopper change delay `--function. If there is no hopper change delay, the flow then proceeds to question if there is a pick request (PICX REQ?); -~
if not, the ~low returns but if yes, the flow proceeds to turn the pick on (PICK ON) and then returns. The turning on of the ~-pick also turns on the pick on cou~ter which sets the timi~g ~;
for the monitoring function to deter~ine if a card was success- -fully picked.
Particularly, returning in the flow to the PICK ON?
deter~ination, the flow chec~s for an output from the card pick pho~ocell (C~RD AT PICX ~.C.) which, if no, causes decrementing of the pick on counter and then checking if that counter has counted out (CTD O~T?) ~hich, if not, ca~ses a return. This circums~ance would cover ! he card having been . .

- ~ ~6~292 .... . _ _ . . . . .. ... , , I
_ 94 -......

~ .
picked but not yet having moved far enough from the pick mechanism to be detected by the pick photocell. If the counter has counted out, this is an indication of either failure to pick or jamming o the picked card, with failure thereof to enter ~he transpor~ mechanism, the flow then presetting the pic~ timer to its normal pick off time count ~alue Lwhich will be utilized .... .
~ the pick routine in a subsequent pick cycle~, and setting ~he pick alarm for the present cycle to indicate this error t - .
condition. The ~low then turns of the pick (PICR OFF), and ....
clears any pending pick request (CLR PIC~ REQ) and returns, '~he system going into an error mode.
Conversely, i the card is detected at the pick photocell, the flow sets a card in transport bit (SET "CARD IN XPORT" BI~) and proceeds to increment the card in transport counter (INR
C~RD IN XPORT CTR) and then checks if that counter indicatas ,., greater than five (5) cards are present in the card transport. --....
As will later be seen, in another routine, that coun.er is decremented by each card supplied to the inserter. If the count is less than five (5), the pick is turned of, the pic~ off ``
timer is preset (PRESET ~OFTM), any pending pick request is cleared (CLR PIC R~Q) and the flow returns. The pick off tlmer, thus set upon each oc`casion of tur~ing the pic~ off, establishes the ti~e before the pic~ can be turned on again.
This assures that the proper timing is maintained between the successive pic~ing of cards. As above noted, that timer i5 decremente~ on each cycle for the dual ccnditions tha~ the pick is not on and that a card has not been detected at the pic~ photocell; only when that counter has timed out, and the further conditions are satisf~ed that there is no hopper . .

d~lzy and that there is a pick request, will the pick be ~u-r.ed on to pick a next successive car~. If the counter has not timed out, the flow loops through the first branch ;:::.:.
discussed above and on each return decrements the counter until it has tLmed out thereby to per~it turning the pick on to pick a next successive card. ---The flow charts ~or the form advance routine, whirh l -also includes the burst routine and some other functions to ba described, are shown in Flgs. 53 and 54.
~ n the main system loop, or any other loops which should desire to call the form ad~ance routirle ~ there is no ~d~ance request you i~mediately return from the routine. When I --~hexe is a orm advance request, a che~ck is made to see if the burster is on. Upon first initiating this routine, the burster will be off since the burst operation is the second half of ! --this ~outine, requiring that paper advance be completed. r",,,~
Thus, the flow falls through that ~uestion with a no. Next, a check is made to see if a move command is present -- there will not be because the system has not initiated move yet, so then a move command is sent (SEND MOVE COMM~ND) to move the form strip 510 by ona complete form's length and return to the routine~
On the next time the routine is called, 50 milliseconds --later, the ~low comes down and detects that a move command was sent, thereupon to clear the command out, and also set a 200 millisecond counter ~delay counter) and then return. Then on the next time of calling the routine~ 50 milliseconds later, tha delay counter is decremented and chec~ed to see if has timed out. If it has timed out, the system will ala~m, i.e., set an error. If it has not timed out, it will check to see if .....
96.
~ , ....

~he form is still at top of form. If it is at top of form, the flow returns. This continues until either one of two things happens; either 20~ milliseconds of time have elapsed and correspondingly an alarm is set, or the paper has left ~top of orm't a~d iS advan~i~g to the next top of form.
~his tIme~ maXes surP that the paper s~arts to move--within the specified period of time.
This top of Sorm just clescribed is really the unique top of ~orm timer disc 1560 o Fig. 12 which is corralated --with the paper dri~e tractors. Upon detect ng the form leaving the unique top of form, a 3 second delay is set and l~e flow returns. Now, the next time t:he advance routine is called, the 3 se~ond delay is decrement:ed and then checked j to see if has timed out. O~ course, it: wiIl not have timed c~ut yet so a chec~ is made for top of for~ and if there is no top oE formr the ~low returns. the flow goes throush this leg on subs~quent callings of the advance routine until o~e o~ two things has happened; either the ne~t top o form is reached or 3 seconds of tlme h~s elapsed. If time elapses, the alarm is set: FORM ~DVANCE E~ROR. Under --nor~al operation the paper will reach uni~ue op of form in approximately 700 milliseconds so .hat when coming through this leg the 3 second delay will not have timed out; "top o for~?" will be "YES", with the flow proceeding to call the burst half of the advance routine which is shown ln Fig. 54 of the flow charts.
~ hen the burst half of this routine is called, ther~
are three ways to return from it; either a burst complete return; the jam return, or a burst incomplete return. If ..

_ ~ ~8~292 the return is on an incomplete status, the flow simply return~ - .

to the main system loop and continues. to call the burst half of . . ...
~his section every 50 milliseconds whereupon soonex or :.. ..
later, at a s~bsequent ca~l, either a burs~ complete return .....
or a jam return will be made. - .
In ~iy. 54, which shows th~ burst portion of this routine, . -the first test made is to see i the finger motor 763 is . ~--r : :.:::.::::
on. Upon the ~irst entry into this routine, the finger motor will normally not be on, so the flow proceeds through the "no~ leg of that question. The next thing teste.d îs whether the burster .. -. .
~s on; it would normally not be on during the first pass through ....
~his routine. The next ques~ion aske~d is, is there a finger down command. During normal machine cycle operation -- and on ~he ~irst pass through the burst routine -- there would be a ~inger down command. The ~low theref~re goe~ through the yes leg which in turn sets the finger up command and takes a burst ..
incomplete return. 50 milliseconds later the flow proceeds .... `
again to ask is there a finger down command. This time the ..
answer would be no, so the .~inger motor is turned on, the .-burster is tur~ed on, the OC~ request is set and the finser up . .
command is set. 50 milliseconds later on the next pass through .-the burst routine, the finger motor will be on so the flow proceeds down the leg to turn the finger motor off, set the ~.
.
burst time to 3 seconds and take a burst incomplete return. 50 milliseconds later on the next pass through the burst routine the finger motor will be off, the burster wiil be on and so the flow proceeds to test if the burster is home. ~t this point in time the burst~r will probably not have left its home ,, _ _ ~ _ _ _, _, .,, ,, ,, _ . _ _ , _, , ,,, , _ , _ ,, ~, _ _ _ - -- -- - ?
_ 98 - .

. . ,'' ' '.

position on its way to the other home position so that question , is answered y~s.
:.
The next thing is tc test to see if the burster is on;
for this sequence, it is on ~nY~Sn) and the flow takes a burst --i~complete retu;rn. On the next (50 ms.~ pass through, the burster will be of~ ~omer and the an~wer is ~no." The --comD~nd is gi~en to turn the burs~er mo~or off r but by ~ir u~
of the electronics it is kept on until it reaches the home position and co~ers the home photocell that it is destined for.
The burster time is decremented and checked ~o see if it is tImed out yet. Thi~ leg of the burst routine is repeated on i subsequent passes until one of two things has occurred~
Either the burstex time is timed out, in which case the flow sets an alarm or the burster will have reached the home photo- 1~;~
cell ~hat it was destined for. Normally, the latter occurs ¦ L
and therefore the flow proceeds to test to see if the buxster is on; if it is not, that question is answered "no~ because .......
it was turned on in a subsequent pass. The finger is tested for being in the up position, where it should be by now. If it is not, an alarm is set. '-: .
rrhe last test in this portion of the advance rou~ine i5 `
to see i~ the burster/Colder alarm was set. If it was se~
the flow takes a jam return and if it W2S not set, a burst complete return. Then the flow returns to the advance portion of this routine, to reset the àdvance request which signifies that both a paper advance and a burst operation have been com?leted. If during any of this ope~ation an alarm was set, lt would have been recogni2ed upon returning ~om this routine to the main system loop and processed in the error mode.

1 lB1292 ~ ' .. .. .
. -The logic flow chart ~or the OCR mod~le dri~er routine is shown in Fig. 55 t and operates as follows. Whenever it is called either in the main system loop or any other mode, the -first t~st is whether there is an OCR requect. If there is not an OCR request, the routine takes care of automatically assuring --~hat the OC~ wand is in the home position; if it is not in the home position, it will send a reverse command (SEND REV COMD) a~d will continue to try to return it to the home position upon i ~-subsequent passes throu~h the routine without an OCR reauest.
The flow proceeds to decrement an OC~ tim'er (DCR OCRTM~.
Upon subsequent passes, it will either reach the home position or the OCR timer will time out an~ an alarm will be flagged or set.
Upon calling the OC~ routine with an OCX request for the first time, the flow proceeds to test if there is paper, i.e., a form, at the OCR module. The absence of "paper" at the OCR module will set a "no paper bit" flag which will be detected at the proper time in the machine cycle and an alarm will be set. Normally, since there is paper at the OCR module that question is answered "yes," and the flow proceeds to chec~ ic the OCR wand has begun moving in the ~orw2rd direction. ~ince -this is the first pass through with an OC~ request, the question is answered "no." Assuming that the OCR is at the home position, the reverse command is reset and the OC~ FIFO
(OCR buffer 1632 in Fig. 50) is cleared; a delay of approximately 200 milliseconds, or four passes through this ~articular leg of ~`
the flow chartl, is then performed until the data ~ait counter (D~WT) is counted out. ~t that time the DA~ counter again : .

1 ~6~29~

. , oo -- -:.
....:
.....
. . .
is preset to a count of 200 millisecorLds. T~Le OCR timer ' ', ~he~ is pr2set ~PRESET OCRTM) for .iming the tra~el of the OC~ , walLd. The FIFO is cleared one more t~me to mzL~e sure that ,-' there ~s no unwanted da~a within he receiver PIFO on the CPU
board and then the forward command is sen~ to the OCR servo electronics. On the nex~ pass, after sending that command, t~e , -~low proceeds to test if the OC~ want is at the end position '''' yet. If ~ot at the erLd position yet, and approximately a ',,'' second remains to arriye there, the OCR timer is decremented ' '', and the flow returns from the routine!. This particular leg o~ -the routine is repeated until one of two things happens:
cither the timer times out and sets an alarm, or the OCR wand .
reaches the end position. Upon reaching the end position, the ,''~
forward command is reset, which is being held or given to the ,' OCR electronics and the flow proceeds through another 200 ~'''' millisecond data wait (DAWT) leg. Thus, the flow proceeds for -,'',',, ~our more subsPquent passes through the OCR routine and returns ','''' because he data wait counter (DAwT) has not counted out.
Upon thc pass through this routine where the data wait counter .--~
does count out, the OCR data is transferred from the FIFO into memory. ~t that tlme a check is made for a data error. If there is an er~or, a retry bit is set and through .he same :
controlling method, or logic flow, sends the OCR wand to the home position and then forward again to try reading the form a second time. If upon the second time an OC~
data error is again detected, an alarm i5 set. During normal operation the OCR data is accepted -- i.e., ~as no error, causing reset or the OCR request which signilies completion of suc_essful OCR read~ The retry bit is aLso reset ~o enabLe --- ~ 16~,g2 -',.,.. ' th`e retry function when reading the next form, the OC~ FIFO is cleared, the OCR tLmer is reset, and the data --wait is preset, in preparation for the next operation of the OC~ routine. '~
The outfeed module driver routine shown i~ ~igsO 56A and ~ --56B can be thought of i~ two halves. The first half controls the folder out~eed mechanism. T~e second half controls the tr~nsport of forms to, and ejection into, the forms output stac~er. Upon entering, or calling the outfeed routine, i there is no outfeed request t the logic ~low goes directly to the que tion is there an ~ject bit? If there is an ejec~ bit, this signifies that the sy~tem currently is in the process of ejecting a form, and the flow e~ters the second hal o~ the routine. If there is no P~ject bit, the flow proceeds to ask the question, are there any forms in the outfeed?~
(FORMS IN OUTFD?) If there are, the out timer is de~remented ~DCR OUT~) and the flow xeturns if it is not timed out. If it does time out the outfee~ alarm is set. The flow continues through this leg until such time as the eject bit is set, signifying that the form in the outfeed track has reached the eject ~rea, or the outfeed timer times out signifying that too much time has elapsed and sets the alarm.
In a normal operation, the eject bit would be set by the ejec~ terrupt routine ~o be covered later and the flow would enter the second half of the routine. `
~ he basic function of the first half of the outfeed routine is to process the receiving of Lorms into the outfeed module. The rirst tLme this half o the routine is , 1 lB1292 - -..... . . ... . ... . . . .. . . . . . .

'. _ , ' .
.......

entered~ the flow proceeds to test whether the forms ha~e been received properly, and if so the receiving zone solenoid is - . .:
turned off. On the next pass through this hal~ of the routine, and on subse~uent passes, the outputs of the photocells be-tween the folder outeed and the stacker outfeed are monitored to count the two forms coming out, and when the system detects that the second form has cleared the recei~ing area ~rom the folder outfeed, the outfeed request is ~leared, signifying that the receiver i5 ready to recei~e another pair of forms, where- -......
upon the receiver zone is turnea hack on~ bringing it up to ::
its recei~ing position behind the folder mechanism.

The second half of this routine's basic responsibility . -is to keep track of forms ~eing ejected into the output stackertrays and to turn off t~e ejector mecha~ism when the form has -cleared the eject mechanism. Again, a timer times the amount of time the form is takins to clear t:he eject mechanism. If it takes longer than ep~roximately one second, an alarm is set. -.
The eject solenoid is energized in the eject interrupt routine :::::::
This routine iq entered ~ia a hardware interrupt generated by ..
the eject photocells. This routine can be entered while in any `
other part of the program at any time. i-This eject inte~rupt routine determines whether the form to be ejected is the left form or the right form and subsequently tests to see if that form is to be rejected :
.. ..
or ejected into the output stacker. If it is to be rejected, the eject solenoid is not ener~ized. If it is to be accepted, the eject solenoid is energized and the form begins its t~avel into the output stac.~er.

2~2 103 ~
..........
- . . - .

The logic lClow chart for the insert head module driver roùti~e is sho~m in Figs. 5~A and 57B. This routine is entered --: .. ..
as shown in the diagram o~ the basic system loop of Fig. 51, a~tex certain insert conditions are satisfied. It is c~nsiaered a ser~al routine in which only one other m~jor routine is called and that is the outfeed routine. --...
~pon entering the insert routine, a test is made to see i~
~..... -- .
there is a form to be folded~ I~ there is, the folder is t - turned on and this status is designated in memory. At this .......
time, the logic shifts form accept data along so that when a :::::::: ~
~orm enters the eject area, the system can determine whether or .. .
not to ejec~ it or reject it. Upon energizing ~he insert drive motor, a tim~ delay register is set to 8/10 o a ~econd, allowing that much time for the head to perform its .. .
downward movement. A loop is continuc)usly per~ormed, instructing ¦ r~
the head to start moving down and checking to see if the head is still up. The up status remains registered until just before the head reaches the down position, at which ...
........
tlme the down status lS registered. I the head does not reach the down position within 8/10 o a second, the flow proceeds to set an error flag which is chec~ed upon exiting ~j....
the routine. -~

Assuming a no error condition e~ists, the insert head is .: .
turned of~ upon reaching the down positlon, and the finger down command is se~. After a delay of 50 milllseconds, the turn finger on command is given, and the finger time regis'er is set to 4/10 or a second; a loop is then perCormed~ chec~ing to see i~ the finger(s) is not "up". When the inger ~hotocell registers detect that ~he finger~s) is not "up", the finger ~--~ ~6~2~ -4 . ..
.
'. ~

~otor is turned off, but by ~irtu~ of its el~ctronics it .. --~
::.
- will remain on unt.il ~he finger~s~ reaches the down position. ....
loop is then ent.ered-where the routine waits for the .......
finger(s) to reach. the down position. If it does not reach 1--j.: ..:
~he down position within 4/10 o~ a second, an error status . ~.
is set. Assuming the finger is up, a test ~s made whether ~,~
the folder folded a form. If so, the folder ie ~u~rned ~ff. .. --. . ' :....
~n outfeed request is set for the outfeed ro~toe~ rhe . :.
insert ~ead then is turned on, to bring it up in a similar .....
m2nner as when brought down and a check is run to see if it .::
comes up within 8~10 of a second. I it does not,. an error s~atus is.set. I~ it does come ~p, the head motor is turned i .
o~f and the flow returns to the,start of the routine ending ~hat cycle of the insert.ro~tine;
The logic flow for the place routine, which controls placement of cards within the inse~t head module, is shown in ~ig. 58. This routine takes data handed off to it from ...
the ECR routine and uses it in conjunction with the photocell ...
detector outputs for the cards progressing through the insert ~odule, as each card co~ers and uncovers the photocell '-associated with each card bin, to place properly data-matched cards into the proper bins. When the photocell for the bin in which the card is intended is covered by that card, the defl~ctor solenoid for that bin is energized and when that same photocell goes uncovered the deflector solenoid is de-energized; c~y that time, the card will have been deflected into the bin~ Which ca.r~ is placed in which bin is deter~ined bv the data from the EC~ routine. One o~he~
responsibility of the place routine is to sample the rejèct 2~2 - 105 ~ ...
" _ .. ..

bin photocell at the left-hand side of the ir.sert mo~ule to -chec~ if that photoc~ll is covered, sig~ifying that ~ card -has passed through the entirety of the insert module and ...
into the eject bin -- an illeyal stat~ in the normal, run mode. When this occurs, the inspect stop request bit is .....
set, essentially requesting an inspection stop mode of .--.. ..
operation, ha~ing much the same effect as actuation of the ---inspect stop reque~st button 1528 on th~ control panel 15~0. . , L
ln the ~asic logic flow of the place routine, set for~h ..
in the upper portion of Figure 58, the routine initially . .
obtains informatio.n regarding the presonce of a caxd from . .-the monitoring photocells associ~ted with the bins and the :=-~ta~us o~ tha solenoids for the deflec~tion rollers as~ociated .~
witS the bins. The step "call bin four times n corresponds ......
to performing the bin subroutine shown in the lower portion .. ::
of Figure 5a four times, corresponding to the provision of I -four ~ins in the insert module. rrhe bin su~routine initially inquires whether t:he card is at a given bin, in accordance -with the photocell outputs above mentioned. A track bit is -set to correspond to each card entering the insert module, .. --for tracking that card through the four bins of the module. .... --The bin subroutine initially questions whether the card ..
enter~ng the insert module is or is not at the bin for which the bin routine was called and in either instance further questions whether the track bit has been set and, if not, ..
will set the track hit if the card is at the bin or will reset the bin track bit i' the card is not at the bin.
If the card is at the bin, its trac~ bit is set, and, f~r~her, i the card is intended to be deflec~ed into that bin, t.he right portion of the bin subroutine turns the bin -.

- 106 - ~ -,. . . ~ ~

solenoid on or de~lecting the card into the appropriate bin --and then shifts the bin track bits and returns. Con~ersely, ...:
i~ the ~ard i5 not a~ the bin but the track bit has ~een set, the ~in track bit is reset and the bin trac~ bits then are shifted. A test is made wheth~r the corresponding solenoid ~ ~
or the bin for which the card is destined is turned on and ! --if so the ~ogiG proceeds to the next step to question whether ~ -~he card is in the insert bin (as confirmed by the absence o a photocell output ~or the photocell associated with the ~ext bin)0 I~ the latter question is answered yes, the solenoid is turned off ~nd the s~broutine returns`. If the --answer is no, the logic flow resets the cards in inscrt bit;
turns o~ the solenoid and returns~
Returning to the place routine, the general functions :~
.-:
o~ turning on the proper s~lenoias a~d shiting the bin trac~
bits for the our bins is more genexally shown, corr~sponding to these more detziled steps of the bin subroutine. The place routine also shows the abo~e discussed function of ' :~
detecting if a card is at the reject b~n; if not, the place routine completes and returns whereas if yes, and the system is in the run mode, the inspeci stop request is set and the inspect stop indicator is turned on and the place routine returns. The inspect stop mode has been discuss2d previously.
The loaic ~low for EC~ module driver routine is shown in Fig. 59. ThP ~C~ routine's primary responsi~ilities are:
the control of cards going through the ~C~ trac.~; the proper placement o~ cards, ~y handing o r data to the place -outine;
and the data match function which matc~Tes the data from the car~ with the data from the ~orm.

Certain status bit defini~ions are pertinent to the ,,'',', ECR routine ~low chart o~ ~igures 59A and 59B. A track bit designated TRR 1 designates that a card has been matehed and ,''''' 'a place ~it h~s been set. A track ~it TRX 2 designates that ,',,',',-a card has covered'the ECR JAM photocell tP.C.). CARD ,',',' W~ITIN~ designates that the flrst card of a next-form to be --processed has covered the ECR P.C. A further track bi~ LAST
~RD TRX designat2s that the last card for the curre~t form '-, ' '' ' has passed the ECR P.C. ECR REQ is set when insertion is ,, . ~ . .
~ompleted and'the main loop is'startel~ for a new form~ This bit is reset when the last card track bit is set. Finally, the NEW FORM STATUS bit is set with t:he ECR R~Q to denote a -~
new ~orm. This bit is reset on pass;ge through the start-up ' leg uf the ECR routine. , Upon entry into ~he ECR rolltine, a first check is made whether a new form,is being processed by the "new 1 ,',' form status?" in~uiry. I~ ~yes", the logic proceeds ~ ,,',, to reset the new form status ~it, reset the status form accept bits (to designate that none of the cards is currently '~
accepted as satisfying the form until proven to be so) and '-to reset the cards in inserter counter. The logic then -~
ac~uires the ca_ds per form dat~ (i.e, the num~er of cards '~
per ~orm) and inquires whether a card is ~aiting -- in this ,',',' instance, signifying whether the irst card for this new ''' ~orm has covered the ECR photocell.
~t this junct~lre, it is per~inent to note'that the EC~ -transport includes three separate card transportC and asscciated drive controLlers, the first (M1) trans?ortlng cards from the pick to the reader, the second (M2) - 108 - .....
;

. - .
transporting cards through the reader, and a third ~3l ..
transporting cards fro~ the reader înto the inserter. . .
Controllers Ml and M3 are under control of the ECR routine whereas M2 is under c~ntrol of the ready mode r Also ~ the ..
ECR photocell is located at the output of the r~ader and ~he ECR jam photocell at the in~t to the inserter. -- -Returning now to ~igure ~9" the logic proceeds to r question whether a card is waiting and if not, turns on ~l and X3 and returnsD :
If a card is waiting, the logic then in~uires whether . ..
the ~yst~m.is i~ the inspect stop mode and i not, ECR TRK 1 . . .
is set and the flow returns. ~ TRK 1 is not set, it is set ox if in the inspect stop mode, th~ T~R 1 bit is set and the flow proceeds to in~uire which form is to receive the card -- i.e., the left- or right form of the double-width ~....
forms i~ the inserter. Depending on that decision~ the data ....
match routine of Figure 59B is called.
In Figure 59~, the match subroutine passes through the ......
~uestions of whether there is an inspection stop mode request .....
and is the program select switch set =0. The low will return i~ there i s an inspection stop mode request, and if the --prosram select switch is not set =0. If the latter is set =0, the system is in the data-match mode, and the flow proceeds to the matching step in which, for the appropriate form, ..
the EC~ characters read from the card are matched one character at a time with the OCR data read from the appropriate ..
form. If a match is produced, the logic returns, but if not, the transport Ml colltroller is turned off and the logic proceeds to a mismatch data er~or condition.

i lB1292 - - ¦

- 109 _ .....
.. .. ..
- ' ' ' ' ,~
: ..
Returning to the ECR routine, i~ the ~o~m is not a n~w :
. .
form but one currently being processed, the alternate branch .....
o~ the initial decision is followed, leading to the ~nitial inqiury o~ ~he right branch of the logic ~low, of whether the ECR photocell is co~ered~ I~ so, the question last card - -txack is asked which, i~ yes, ~eans that the last card for the current Iorm has passed the ECR photocell in which case drive Ml is turned off and the card waiting status bit is ....
set. Xf the last card track bi~ is not set, the ~low ¦ .
proceeds to the left through the common branch previously . .
discussed in which the match subroutine is entered for ......
matching the data from the card ~ith ~he appropriate rorm.
Thus, for either new or old ~orms, following the match unction, the lo~ic proceeds to the inquiry of card`waiting which, i~ answered yes, results in tr~1nsport controllers Ml. :~
and M3 being turned on thereby to clear the card w2itins stat~s. .....
Returning to the top of the flow in Figure 5~A if the .
EC~ photocell is not covered, the question is as~ed whether . .
the last card trac~ ~R~) is set and if not, the inquiry is - .-made whether the card track 1 (T~K l~ is set, designating -tbat a card has been matche~ and a place bit has been set for that card. If th`e answer is no, the flow proceeds to loop in at position A in the main routine to be discussed.
.
I the answer is yes, the TRX 1 bit is reset and the flow procee~s to inquire which form is to receive the card Depending on that decisionr the card count for the appropriate left or right form i5 decre~ented and the flow proceeds to the question of whether the siven card is the last card for that for~. If not, the ~low proceeds in a manner to be discussed di-ectly, and iï yes, the last card track-bit is 1 1612~2 _ . . _ . . _ , .. . . .. .. . ._ . . . . .. .. . . . ~ , -- 1 10 , .......

.....
set and th~ ECR reques~ is reset. .....
The final branch of this f low show~ at the bottom portion of Pigure sg then proceeds through the inquiries regarding ....
co~ering o~ the ECR jam photocell by a card and setting the ....
TRR 2 bit or inquiring whether it has been set which, if . ...
~ot, causes the ~l~w-to return. If TRR 2 bit is set, the --flow proceeds to reset the TRR 2 bit and to decrement the ~
- c?rds in .ranspost counter. The flow then proceeds to in-quire i~ cards are in the transport and if not, resets the ~ -.
cards in transport counter; if yes, the ~low then increments ' .
.. the cards in inserter counter and sets the cards in inserter .
bit, and then returns.
Thus, the ECR routine provides not only for control of I ..
the card transport~ with the.exception of the ready mode but ¦
also control of the transport of carcls through the reader itself, acquires the nece sary data t:o branch into the data I .:
~atch subroutine for matching the card with the appropriate one of the two forms in the insert head, and, further, monitors the transport of cards through the transport station .:.
so as to determine the number of cards therein in any given ..
tlme and as well the number of cards supplied to the inserter.
As can be seen, the ECR routine includes many conventional data handling function~ and partic~larly that of the data match operation; accordingly, detailed explanation ~hereof I is not deemed necessary. ...
of particular interest to the overall system operation is the logic flow chart of ~igure 60A through 60C. These flo-~s illustrate the interrelationship of the main operational routines in the normal run mode operation o the system.

- ~ 11B~2~2.
.... .. . . . . . .

....-.....
.~
.-......
... ..
.....
..
i ..:.
~ The syst~ nec:essarily includes numerous additional routines such as for testing the input card hopper cartridges and the ou~put stac~er trays ~o determine their c~ondition and ability to supply cards or receive ~olded forms, as is ... .
appropriate, a display routine, form advance and ~old - -. . -:.:
routines and numerous o~her routines for t~e various functions b~ ore discussed. As well, initialization and ready modes, system shut aown, i.nspection stop and error modes all ha~e -:::::::::
their correspondinc; rout.ines which are. performed in those respective modes. Thos~ of s~ill in t:he art can readily visualize the routines performed there~in, taken in light of --~
~he detailed descri.ption hereinabove c)~ the basic routines ' -o~ the main system loop and system structure and operations.
.'' ':.
Nevertheless, for completeness, salient aspects o~ the routines i~ ' -the sys~em shut-do~rn, inspection-stop and error modes are commented on ~riefly in ~he ~ollowing.
The system shut-down mo~e can only ~e entered from the run mode, and is done by depressing the system shut down switch 1530 on the control panel 1500,` thereby initiating a :
. . . ~
syste~ shu~ do~ reques~ within the program~ The system shut-down request is sampled every insertion cycle. If it is true, the run indlcator is extinguished and the process ~:
, ...... ~
necessary to complete the system shut-down is begun. System shut-down produces system operations similar to those rollowed :
:.
in the run mode, with the notable exception that th& pick request is not set continuously. The reason îor this, and th& main purpose ~or the system shut-down mode, is to reach a point in time when there are no cards Iet in the ~CR card transport 300 and there are no cards needed on a fonn under-I lB129~ I
_ _ _ _ __ -- --- ---- 5 - 112 - l ,......
~ . ...
, ' nea~h the insert head. When this point is reached, the system may be shut down, ha~ing fully completed any forms c~rrently in process and not leaYing any cards in the w~chine. - -....~
Th~s, the sh~ut-down routine calls each of th~ PICX, L
~V~NCE OC~, EC~, P~AC~ and OUTFEFD routines and tests to 1~$
see if there are insert conditions. In between ~he caliing of each one of thlese module dri~er routines, the shut-down mode also checks or calls the error mode to see if any errors have occlIred, and the flQw re~urns to continue the t -;
~ystem operations; for completing shut-down. I r If the test for insert conditions determines that j '~
inserter requiremen~s ~r a form are not satisfiea, the system further checks to see i~ the card transport track and th~ insert mvdule card transport are cleared. If not, the 1, ~arious module driver routines are again called. If the . . . . : :.
~racks a~e cleared, ~he pick is teste~; if the pick is on, the module driver. routines are resumed. If the pick is not on, a test is made to see i the ECR bit is set; if set, the .. .- .
cuxrent form at 1:he insert module requires one or more cards and thus the pic~; request is~set to generate the picking of another card. The pick req~est is set only once in each cycle of this mode, since the pick routine itself resets the pic~ request every time a card is successfully picked. This allows a pick one-card-at-a-time function so that only the cards necessary '~o complete the Eor.m are pic~ed.

~ hen the insert conditions are met, the insert routine is called in a sim~lar manner as in ~he run mo~e. ~hen that is completed, a test again is made to see if the card trans-.

2~ 2 - -- ..... :

-- .... .. ` .
. .......

.......
por~ tracks, including those of the ECR module and the insert ~tead moduLe, are cleared. If they are still not cleared, a check is made whether there is still a form at the OC~ m~dule. If so, the loop repe~s, to set up conditions necessary to fill that form. The routine then returns to ~te main system shut-down loop, calling al~ the different module oriver routines. E~en~ually the last insertion is completed and all the tracks are cleared. The form advance, burst, fold, and outfeed routines moreover are called until ....
all completed forms are stacked in the output stackers. A~
this point the system may be shut dow~, Eta~ing completed - -e~ery ~orm and operation and leaving r,o completed forms, or extraneous cards or orms within the s;ystem. :-.: .
~te o~ter way to enter the system shut-down mode is when the machine is in the run mode and a r.atural end of xun ~- -occurs. ~ natural end of r~l is defined as exhausting the .....
supply of cards at the same time as the supply of forms, with the l~st pocket on the last form corresponding with the last card in the input hopper. This stage produces a -~
~atural ho~per error. Since the cards advance through the system a little bit ahead of their respective form, corres- -pondingly the last card will be picked out of the input hopper before a "no paper" error occurs. This produces a hopper error in the error mode, and the run mode exits into the error mode. T~e operator then instructs the machine that this is a natural end of run by depressing the system shut-down switch. This calls the shut~down routine or completing the 12st ~onm under ~he natural end or rUD circum stance.

- ~ 16:~292 ........
- 114 - .

, . . .... ...
-- . .
.' . '''.,,::

As a result, the end o run bit is set, th~ error light ar.d horn ~alar~) are turned off, the system shut-down ~ndicator 1530 is turned on, and the no paper bit is cleared, if it has been set. A test is made to see if the ECR bit ---is set, to determine whether or not the requirements of the form at the insert module have been met. I the EC~ bit is -set, the card transport is turned back on again, the error routine having turned that ~ransport off, t~ feed a few more c2rds to finish the Xor~, and then ~e-ente~ the main system shut-down loop, pe.rform the insert conditions test -and perform the system shl-t-down routine as previously described.
Th~ main purpose of the inspection stop mode is to enable the operator manually to inspect the ~onms to insure 'chat ¦
the cards are in sync with the ~orms. The inspect stop mode also provides the option for .he operator to opexate the m~chine i~ a manual mode. Operating the card inserter in a ' ....
manual ~ode permits supplying one card at a time into the ~-......
~nsert module, and gi~es the operator the opportunity to re-sync the supply o cards with th~ particular 'orm that is posicioned for card inser,ion. This is done by either rejecting an extra card that is in the card track so it is ---inse~ted into t~e form or, if a card is missing, inserting a phancom card into the machine so that the subsequent cards will be in line with the subsequent forms, as previously discussed. There are thxee basic ways to enter the inspec~
stop mode: a manual xequest; a data match error en_ry;
or a manual request from an OCR data error~ A manu~l reques~ typically is used while the system is running, to ~ ~8~2 - .
- ~15 -~ , .' ' , . , ~.

enabLe the operator t~ see that he cards are still in sync ---with the ~orms. By actuating the inspection stop button lS28 to request the inspectio~ stop mode, and upon completion of the card insert following the i~spection s~op request, ~he ~-machi~e will advance th~ completed form to the form inspection . .
station, as pre~iously described. If the cards are out or sequence, the operator would manually re-sync the cards. 1-The same operations occur on a data match error, except that - -the system automatically requlres the ~perator manually to .......
complete the form currently in the insert module. The third -:
way to enter inspection stop is a manual request from an OCR
aata exror. This is resuired if a ~o~m is in the OCR station and cannot be read by the OC~ reader, which place~ the system in -~
an error mode~ 'rhe operator again ma~ press the inspection stop switch 1528, requesting the inspect stop mode and ,he above-discussed operations again occur. A detailed discussion of this mode was presented earlier in relation to ~igure 49.
The error ~ode performs a test for any errors existing within the system at the very beginning of it5 routines, and if no errors exist, the syst~m returns directly back from the error mode. This permits call;ng the error mode at virtually any time during the system operation; in fact, it is generally called aIter every module driver routine has been called. This means that immediately after calling any one of those main system module driver routines, if an error hzs been flagged, the system will im~ediately exit into the error mode and process that particular er-or.
Errors in the inserter mach~ne are classified as major or minor, as previously discussed, a major error generally ....
~ l16 -'` ....

........
.. .
.......
in~olYes ja~ned forms or cards, which must be physically .
cleared. The parti~ular type of error is displayed on dis- ......
play 1508 o the control panel 1500 and the alarm is sounded~ .......
Th~ operator aeknowledges the alarm by depressing the error ---clear switch 1574 once, which merely turns off the ala~n.
Then the operator clears any mechanica7 jams ! presses ~he .. -.-error clear switch 1574 for a second time, and the system performs essentially the same functions as in response to . ..
~ster clear, entering the i~itialization mode and ini~ializ- .
ing the system. I -Minor errsrs can be cleared~and machine operation there~
after continued, without having to reinitialize. These 1 .
errors are.acknowledged in a similar :manner. The error is displayed on display 1504 of the control panel 1500 and the alarm ~ , is turned on. The operator acknowledges the error by depres- - .. :
sing the error clear s~itch 1514 to turn the alarm off, and .
then clears or remedies the source of the problem, presses .....
th~ error clear switch 1514 for a second time and the machLne ' reco~ers from the error and continues on. ~owe~er, an . .~
sutfeed error requires one a~ditional depression of the .~;
error clear switch 1514.~ After correcting the problem, depressing the error clear switch 1514 for a second time turns on only the outfeed transport, to facilitate clearing .
. . ~
the outfeed track of all forms; cepressing the error clear -.
switeh 1514 a third time restarts operation. In recovering from all minor erroxs, the system returns to whatever parti_uLar mode of operation i~ pxeviously was in.
... ...

... , . . ... . . .. .. ... . . . .. j ~
- ~17 -..

.........
. . -In c~nclusion, the detailed specification set forth hereinabove has taught the basic structural arrangement of the data match inserter o~ t~e invention including significant fea~ures of its many ~omponents and subcomponents. AS well, t~e ~ariou~ operati.onal modes have been speci~ied an~ , ~ignificant routine-s of the driver modules have been disclose~ ~ -in flow cha~t f~rm, sufficient to permit one of ordinary skill in the art tc~ reduce to practice the present invention.
Xs beforenoted, ~he card in~erter operations may be employed indepanaently of ar~y data match -equirement, or these functions, as in the preferred embodiment, may be combined in a single system. Purther, the data ~atch inserter of the invention ¦
may be an integral portion of a total automated system wherein cards are automatically em~ossed and supplied directly to the data match inserter which at the same time recei~es pre- , addxessed mailer forms, the card embossing and the mailer form address printing being controlled by a common computer controller using, for example, a common master store contain-ing the necessary account number and card recipient name and àddress information and the like. ~he data match inserter of the invention a~fords high reliability and speed, yet flexibility in its operations, while affording simplified operator controls ~oth for normal operations and for correcting errors in the handling, i.e., t~anspor-ing, of the pnysical forms and cards or in the readirg of data from each, lor per~orming the data match function.
~ he objects or this invention as set forth in the intro-duction to this detailed speci~ication have pointed out the 1 ~ii292 --118 ~ --- -.
........
: ......

.

many features and ad~antages of the in~ention; other such eatures and ad~ant;ages will now be apparent ~rom the detailed specification and thus it is intended ~y t~e appended claims to co~er all. such features and advantages of the .`
sy5tem which fall ~ithin the true spirit and scope of the in~ention. L-~ .....
', , .',,..''..

........

. . ~ . . .

, i .

,, ` ` . :.. .

Claims (17)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An inserter system for automatically attaching pre-coded cards of generally planar, rectangular configuration to respectively corresponding, pre-coded mailer forms at predetermined card attachment locations on each said mailer form, by inserting first and second diagonally opposite corners of each card associated with the form into corresponding first and second card-corner receiving apertures provided in the associated form and defining the said card attaching location of said form, said apertures being spaced apart by a distance less than the diagonal dimension of the card between the said first and second diagonally opposite corners thereof, successive said mailer forms being supplied in a continuous fan-fold strip with each said mailer form pre-coded in accordance with the code of cards to be received therein and the number of such common-coded cards to be attached to said form and said cards being provided in sequence as to code and number thereof, in accordance with the succession of mailer forms, comprising:
a card supply station containing a supply of plural cards arranged in sequence in accordance with the card code number and number of cards of a common code number to comply with the pre-printed code and number of coded cards of said successive pre-printed mailer forms, a pick station for picking cards from-said supply station, in succession, a transport station and an inserter station, said transport station transporting cards from said pick station to said inserter station, a form supply and transport station for transporting the forms of said fan fold strip individually and in succession into an aligned position at said inserter station, means for reading a code on each said card, said card transport station transporting each card in succession past said reading means, said form supply and transport station including means for reading the card code and number of cards pre-printed on each said form, an inserter station for attaching cards to a form aligned therewith at the inserter station, and control means for selectively controlling the operations of said pick station, said transport station, said form supply and transport station, and said inserter station to permit operation of each thereof in asynchronous relationship with respect to the others, said controlling means comparing the card code and number of cards read from each said form, in succession, with the code and number of commonly coded cards read by said card reading means for the successive cards to determine compliance of. the sequence of cards with the requirements of each of the sequence of forms, in succession and for supplying the cards in individual sue-cession to said inserter station for each card which satis-fies the requirements of a corresponding form, and for actuating said inserter station to insert said cards into the corresponding form when said form is positioned at said inserter station, said inserter station including an inserter mechanism for receiving the cards supplied thereto and for deflecting diagonally opposite corners of the cards supplied to and received by said inserter mechanism into said receiving apertures of said form thereby to attach the appropriate cards to the corresponding form.

2. An inserter system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
a burster station, said controlling means operating said form advance station to advance the fan-fold strip forms after completion of insertion of a form currently positioned at said inserter station to position the completed form at the burster station and simultaneously to advance the next successive form into said inserter station and to advance the further next successive form into position for reading by said reader means of said transport station, said controlling means controlling said burster station to burst the completed form from the form in said inserter station along a burst/fold line delineating successive said forms of the fan-fold strip.

3. An inserter system as recited in claim 2 wherein said forms are supplied in side-by-side relationship in said fan-fold strip, establishing a predetermined sequence of forms of said side-by-side and said fan-fold strip sequential relationship, said side-by-side forms being delineated by a perforation line for separating same into separate forms, and wherein:
said burster station includes a slitter mechanism for slitting said side-by-side forms along said perforation line to separate same, during withdrawal of said side-by-side forms, after bursting, from said burst station.

4. An inserter system as recited in claim 2 further comprising:
a folder station adjacent said burster station for receiving at least the leading edge of a completed form advanced into the burster station, said controlling means acutating said folder station to advance and withdraw said completed and burst form from said burster station during the completion of an inserter opera-tion of said inserter station.

5. An inserter system as recited in claim 4 wherein said folder station comprises a folder transport mechanism selectively operable to fold said forms along at least one transverse fold line.

6. An inserter system as recited in claim 5 wherein said folder mechanism is selectively operable to fold each said form along at least two fold lines.

7. An inserter system as recited in claim 6 wherein said folder mechanism selectively operable to transport a form having no fold lines.

8. An inserter system as recited in claim 7 further comprising:
a folder outfeed mechanism for receiving forms from said folder mechanism, an outfeed transport station including an outfeed transport mechanism for receiving folded forms from said folder outfeed mechanism of said folder station and trans-porting same, and an output stacker station including an ejector mechanism for receiving folded forms from said outfeed mechanism of said outfeed transport station and ejecting same into an output stacker in sequence.

9. An inserter system as recitled in claim 4 wherein said card supply station includes means for receiving first and second trays of coded cards arranged in said predetermined sequence in accordance with the requirements of the successive mailer forms, sensing means for detecting the presence of cards in each of said first and second input trays, said pick station includes first and second pick mechanisms respectively associated with said first and second trays of cards for selectively picking cards from the respectively associated tray, and said controller means selectively controls said first and second picker mechanisms to enable a selected one thereof to pick cards from the respectively associated one of the first and second trays.

10. An inserter system as recited in claim 9 wherein said controller means is responsive to the outputs of said detecting means for said trays to automatically enable the picking mechanism for a tray having cards therein upon depletion of the supply of cards from the other of said trays.

11. An inserter system as recited in claim 10 wherein said control means automatically enables a predetermined one said first and second picking mechanisms to pick cards from the respectively corresponding one of said first or second trays,

12. An inserter system as recited in claim 11 wherein there is further provided:
operator selection means for manually selecting the other of said first and second trays and overriding the automatic selection of said predetermined one by said control means.

13. An inserter system as recited in claim 8 wherein said output stacker station includes first and second ejector means, first and second output trays and corresponding first and second detection means for detecting the availability of the respectively associated first and second output trays for receiving ejected, folded forms from said first and second ejector means, respectively, and said control means automatically selects a first of said first and second output trays and selectively controls said first and second ejector means to enable a selected one thereof to eject folded forms into the thus corresponding-ly selected output tray, and is responsive to the detec-tors for said output trays to select the other of said trays when one thereof is not available to receive ejected forms.

14. A method for automatically attaching pre-coded cards of generally planar, rectangular configuration to respectively corresponding, pre-coded mailer forms at predetermined card attachment locations on each said mailer form, by inserting first and second diagonally opposite corners of each card associated with the form into corresponding first and second card-corner receiving apertures provided in the associated form and defining the said card attaching location of said form, said apertures being spaced apart by a distance less than the diagonal dimension of the card between the said first and second diagonally opposite corners thereof, said mailer forms being supplied in a continuous fan-fold strip with each said mailer form pre-coded in accordance with the code of cards to be received therein and the number of such common-coded cards to be attached to said form and said cards being provided in succession as to code and number thereof, in accordance with the succession of mailer forms, comprising:

supplying plural cards in sequence in accordance with the card code number and number of cards of a common code number to comply with the preprinted code and number of coded cards of each of said sequence of preprinted mailer forms, picking cards from said supply station, in succession, transporting the forms of said fan-fold strip indivi-dually and in succession into an aligned position for card insertion, reading a code on each said card, reading the card code and number of cards pre-printed on each said form, comparing the card code and number of cards read from each said form, in succession, with the code and number of commonly coded cards, as read from the successive cards to determine compliance of the sequence of cards with the requirements of the successive forms, placing the cards in individual succession in aligned positions for card insertion, for each card which satisfies the requirements of a corresponding form, inserting said cards into the corresponding form when said form is positioned in aligned position for card insert-ion by deflecting diagonally opposite corners of the placed cards into said receiving apertures of said form thereby to attach the appropriate cards to the corresponding form, and selectively controlling said pick, said form supply and transport, and said inserter operations to occur in asynchron-ous relationship.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:
advancing the fan-fold strip forms after completion of card insertion into a given form to position the completed form for bursting away from the strip and simultaneously advancing the next successive form into aligned position for card insertion and the further next successive form into position for reading, and bursting the completed form from said next successive form along a burst/fold line delineating successive said forms of the fan-fold strip in a common cycle while inserting cards into that next successive form and reading the further next successive form.

16. A method as recited in claim 15 further comprising:
folding the completed and burst form during the same cycle of card insertion into the said next successive form,

17. A method as recited in claim 14 further comprising:
supplying first and second trays of coded cards arranged in said predetermined sequence in accordance with the require-ments of the sequence of mailer forms, detecting the presence of cards in each of said first and second input trays, and selectively picking cards automaticaily, initially from a predetermined one of said trays and thereafter automatically witching from a tray having no cards therein to pick cards, from the other of said trays.