CN101507963A

CN101507963A - Sheet dispersing method and device

Info

Publication number: CN101507963A
Application number: CN 200910131968
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴锡山
Original assignee: ZHEJIANG GANGDU ELECTRONIC CO Ltd
Current assignee: ZHEJIANG GANGDU ELECTRONIC CO Ltd
Priority date: 2009-03-30
Filing date: 2009-03-30
Publication date: 2009-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 2029-03-30
Also published as: CN101507963B

Abstract

The invention provides a method for distributing sheets, which is used for performing ordering and classification on a plurality of sheets provided with identifying information. The method comprises the following steps: identifying the identifying information of each sheet in turn so as to confirm the information of the sheet; according to the information of the sheets, sending the sheets to each specific temporary storing classifying grid; and receiving the sheets stored in each specific temporary storing classifying grid to appointed positions according to an established rule. The invention also provides a sheet distributing device using the method. The method for distributing the sheets and the device thereof make use of the temporary storing classifying grid so that the sheets of the same type can be distributed to the appointed positions according to the class information of the sheets, and the sheets of the same type at the appointed positions are arranged sequentially according to a certain rule.

Description

Sheet distribution method and sheet distribution device thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a sheet dispensing method and a sheet dispensing apparatus therefor, which can be used for automatically sorting and classifying sheets such as letters, postcards, business cards, playing cards, and the like.

Background

Typical distribution of sheets includes sorting, etc. of sheets such as letters, postcards, business cards, playing cards, etc.

For example, CN 101049595a discloses a card sorting device, which can sort multiple smart cards with the same external dimensions but different surface patterns according to the types of patterns, and stack the smart cards with the same patterns onto a receiving production line. The sorting equipment comprises a card issuing device for sending cards according to frequency single cards, a heavy card removing device for removing overlapped cards, a detection device for detecting the quality of surface patterns of the cards, a card sorting device for sorting the cards with different surface patterns, a material receiving device for stacking the sorted cards and the like.

Playing cards are often required to be sorted and classified in the manufacturing and using processes, for example, in a random automatic card dealing machine disclosed in CN 101134140 a, the opening and closing of a card distributing channel are controlled by a random program, so that the playing cards which pass through in sequence fall into different channels, and the purposes of shuffling and dealing are achieved. However, the playing cards falling into each of the channels are arranged only in the order of falling into the channels, and it is not possible to arrange the playing cards in each of the channels in suit or size order. That is, existing card dealing systems do not have the ability to arrange the playing cards in each of the channels in a suit order such as black, red, plum, square, or a size order from a to K.

The existing card dealing system with the sorting function only exists in computer games, but the system deals and sorts virtual playing cards and cannot be applied to a card dealing system of entity playing cards.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to a sheet sorting method and apparatus that reduces or avoids the above-mentioned problems.

Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet distribution method and apparatus that can send sheets of the same type to a designated position based on the type information of the sheets and arrange the sheets of the same type at the designated position in a regular order.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a sheet distribution method for classifying a plurality of sheets having identification information, the method including the steps of:

sequentially identifying the identification information of each sheet to confirm the information of the sheet;

sending the sheets to each specific temporary storage classification grid according to the information of the sheets;

and sequentially receiving the sheets stored in each specific temporary storage classification grid to a specified position according to a set rule.

Preferably, the temporary storage classification grids are defined in sequence according to the set rules and can reciprocate circularly.

The invention also provides a sheet material distributing device using the method, which can distribute a plurality of sheet materials with identification information, and the device comprises at least one identification part, at least one sending mechanism, at least one temporary storage mechanism comprising a plurality of temporary storage classification grids, and at least one receiving mechanism, wherein:

the identification part can identify each sheet in turn to confirm the information of the sheet;

the sending mechanism can send the sheets to each specific temporary storage classification grid of the temporary storage mechanism according to the sheet information confirmed by the identification part;

the collecting mechanism can sequentially collect the sheets stored in each specific temporary storage classification grid to a specified position according to a set rule.

Preferably, the temporary storage mechanism comprises at least one classification rotating wheel, the temporary storage classification grids are a plurality of grooves formed on at least one side surface of the classification rotating wheel, and the temporary storage classification grids are sequentially defined according to the set rule.

Preferably, the temporary storage mechanism comprises a plurality of classification rotating wheels which are spaced side by side, a plurality of grooves which are arranged in pairs are formed on opposite side surfaces of two adjacent classification rotating wheels, and each pair of grooves between the two classification rotating wheels forms one temporary storage classification grid.

Preferably, the dispensing mechanism is randomly selectable to deposit the sheet material between any two of the adjacent sorting wheels.

Preferably, in a state where it is determined that the sheet is to be stored between two adjacent sorting wheels, the sending mechanism may sequentially store the sheet in a specific temporary storage sorting cell between the two sorting wheels according to a set rule based on the identified sheet information, and the temporary storage sorting cells between the sorting wheels are defined in order according to the set rule.

Preferably, the grooves are radially arranged outwards along the circle center of the classification rotating wheel, and the grooves are uniformly distributed relative to the circle center.

Preferably, the grooves are smoothly curved and each groove has a detent at the opening for receiving the sheet.

Preferably, each sorting wheel of the escrow mechanism has 4 to 28 such grooves on one side.

The sheet distribution method and the device thereof utilize the temporary storage classification grids, so that the similar sheets can be distributed to the designated position according to the category information of the sheets, and the similar sheets at the designated position are arranged according to a certain rule sequence.

Drawings

The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating and explaining the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Wherein,

FIG. 1 is a schematic view for explaining the working principle of a sheet material dispensing method and an apparatus thereof according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a sheet material dispensing apparatus according to one particular embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a sort wheel in a sheet dispensing apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a simplified top view of a sheet dispensing apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another sort wheel in the sheet dispensing apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a process of temporarily storing sheets in the sheet dispensing apparatus according to the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic view showing a sheet collecting process in the sheet distributing apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a configuration including a plurality of temporary sorting wheels.

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly understand the technical features, objects, and effects of the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherein like or similar elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing an operation principle of a sheet material dispensing method and a sheet material dispensing apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in the drawings, the sheet dispensing apparatus of the present invention includes a delivery mechanism 1, at least one escrow mechanism 2, at least one identifying portion 3, and at least one take-up mechanism 4.

As shown in the figure, at least one temporary storage mechanism 2 is arranged behind the sheet sending mechanism 1, the temporary storage mechanism 2 comprises a plurality of temporary storage classification grids 21, the temporary storage classification grids 21 on the temporary storage mechanism can be sequentially defined as a plurality of classification grids including a first classification grid, a second classification grid, a third classification grid and the like from a certain classification grid as required, and the temporary storage classification grids are used for placing corresponding sheets with the serial numbers from small to large according to the sequence of the serial numbers from small to large.

The sheet sorting apparatus can sort and sort a plurality of sheets a provided with identification information such as a barcode, a two-dimensional code, or an identifiable pattern. The sheet material a may be a sheet material such as a letter, postcard, business card, rechargeable card, playing card, or the like. For example: when the sheet material A is a letter, a postcard or the like, the identification information thereon may be a zip code printed or filled in at a specific position of the sheet material; when the sheet material A is a sheet material such as playing cards, the identification information on the sheet material A can be a figure of the sheet material.

For example, after the distribution device is started, the playing card a is identified by the identification part 3, it is confirmed that the identification mark of the playing card a indicates that the playing card a is "spade 3", at this time, the control signal is correspondingly transmitted to the temporary storage mechanism 2, so that the third classification lattice thereon rotates to the position for receiving the playing card a, and then the "spade 3" can be sent to the third classification lattice of the temporary storage mechanism 2 through the pushing member 12 in the sending mechanism 1. In turn, when the recognition unit 3 confirms that the next playing card a is "grass 10", the control signal will make the tenth category lattice on the temporary storage mechanism 2 rotate to the position for receiving the playing card a, and send the "grass 10" to the tenth category lattice of the temporary storage mechanism 2 through the sending mechanism 1. This is repeated until all the playing cards a have been delivered to the respective specific buffer compartment 21 of the buffer 2.

In order to collect the playing cards a in the temporary holding compartment 21 to a designated position, the dispensing device of the invention is further provided with a collecting mechanism 4. After all the playing cards a are sent to each specific temporary storage classification grid 21 of the temporary storage mechanism 2, the first classification grid of the temporary storage mechanism 2 is rotated to the position corresponding to the collecting mechanism 4, and the first temporarily stored playing cards are pushed to the collecting mechanism 4 by the pushing member 42. In turn, the second, third, fourth and other classification grids of the temporary storage mechanism 2 are sequentially rotated to the position corresponding to the collecting mechanism 4, and a plurality of playing cards temporarily stored in the second, third, fourth and other classification grids are sequentially pushed to the collecting mechanism 4 until all the playing cards A temporarily stored in the temporary storage classification grids 21 are pushed. The playing cards a on the take-up mechanism 4 have thus far become arranged in order.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the temporary storage classification grid 21 may be defined according to a set rule, for example, from small to large, or from large to small. Moreover, the positions defined by the temporary storage sorting grids 21 on the temporary storage mechanism 2 may not be arranged continuously, that is, the positions and the defined sizes of the temporary storage sorting grids 21 may be stored in a control system (not shown), as long as the system can rotate the temporary storage sorting grids to receive playing cards with corresponding suits and points and rotate the playing cards to sequentially receive the playing cards to the specified positions according to the set rules when needed.

The following will describe in detail the sheet material distribution apparatus of the present invention in the form of structures 2 to 8, which is suitable for distributing sheet materials such as postcards, business cards, playing cards and the like. For simplicity of description, the following description will be given by taking the distribution of playing cards as an example, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that they are also suitable for the distribution of other kinds of sheets.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a sheet distribution device designed based on the above sheet distribution method of the present invention, and the distribution device of the present embodiment can identify the identification information on each playing card through at least one identification part (not shown in the figure) to confirm the information of the playing card. The identification information may be, for example, a bar code, a two-dimensional code, or a recognizable figure. The dispensing device has a delivery unit 1, behind which delivery unit 1 at least one buffer unit 2 is arranged, which buffer unit 2 comprises a plurality of buffer compartments 21. The shown buffer device 2 comprises at least one classifying wheel 2a which can be moved in a reciprocating cycle. The distribution device also has at least one take-up mechanism 4, and the take-up mechanism 4 can take up the playing cards stored in each specific temporary sorting grid 21 to a specified position in sequence according to a set rule.

As shown in fig. 3, the plurality of temporary classification cells 21 are a plurality of grooves formed on at least one side surface of the classification wheel 2a, and the temporary classification cells 21 are sequentially defined according to a set rule. That is, the temporary storage sorting grid 21 on the sorting wheel 2a can be sequentially defined as a plurality of first, second, third and the like sorting grids from a certain sorting grid as required, and is used for placing the playing cards a with corresponding points from small to large according to the sequence of numbers from small to large. The grooves are radially arranged outwards along the circle center of the classifying rotating wheel 2a, and the grooves are uniformly distributed relative to the circle center. To facilitate smooth pushing of the playing cards a into the channels, each channel is smoothly curved and has a detent 22 at the opening where the playing cards a are received.

Referring to fig. 4, which is a simplified plan view of a sheet dispensing apparatus, the illustrated buffer mechanism 2 includes two sorting wheels 2a spaced apart side by side, adjacent sorting wheels 2a having a plurality of grooves formed on opposite sides thereof in pairs, each pair of grooves between the two sorting wheels 2a forming a buffer sorting cell 21. The two classifying rotors 2a shown in fig. 4 are identical to the classifying rotors 2a shown in fig. 3, and the surfaces of the two classifying rotors 2a having the grooves are arranged oppositely, and the grooves on the two classifying rotors 2a are symmetrically arranged, so that the two opposite grooves form a temporary storage classifying grid 21. Similarly, the temporary storage sorting grid 21 between the two sorting reels 2a can be sequentially defined as a plurality of sorting grids, such as a first sorting grid, a second sorting grid, a third sorting grid and the like, from a certain sorting grid as required, and is used for placing the playing cards A with corresponding points from small to large according to the sequence of numbers from small to large. Of course, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the sorting wheel 2a may also be of a symmetrical construction, i.e. two single-sided sorting wheels 2a as shown in fig. 3 may be combined together, see fig. 5.

With reference to fig. 4 and 6, the delivery mechanism 1 has at least one card-pushing wheel 11 for pushing playing cards a pressed on the card-pushing wheel 11 by friction into a specific temporary sorting compartment 21 between two sorting wheels 2 a.

Referring to figure 6, when the playing card a delivered by the delivery mechanism 1 is identified by an identification means 3 after the dispensing device is activated, the pattern or binary code of the playing card a is confirmed, for example: the third classification grid of the playing card A is clockwise rotated to the position for receiving the playing card A, and then the third classification grid of the black peach can be sent to the third classification grid of the sheet temporary storage mechanism 2 through the card pushing wheel 11 of the sending mechanism 1. In turn, after the recognition part 3 confirms that the next playing card a is a quincunx J, the control signal can enable the eleventh classification grid of the classification turning wheel 2a to rotate clockwise to the position for receiving the playing card a, and the quincunx J is sent to the eleventh classification grid of the temporary storage mechanism 2 through the card pushing wheel 11 of the sending mechanism 1. This is repeated until all fifty-four playing cards a have been delivered to each particular staging compartment 21 of the staging mechanism 2.

At this time, the temporary storage mechanism 2 needs at least fourteen temporary storage classification grids 21, wherein, each of the thirteen classification grids temporarily stores four playing cards with the same size, and one classification grid temporarily stores the king and queen. In actual use, the sheet buffer mechanism 2 of the present embodiment is provided with twenty-eight buffer sorting compartments 21, due to the need to avoid interference and to reserve it for some other sorting rules. Although the number of classification cells shown in the various drawings of the present invention is constant, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the number of classification cells in the above-described drawings is merely illustrative of the nature of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific numerical ranges shown.

In order to collect the playing cards a in the temporary holding sorting compartment 21 to a designated position, the sheet dispensing apparatus of the present invention is further provided with a collecting mechanism 4. As shown in fig. 6, the take-up mechanism 4 may include at least one roll-over plate 42 and a baffle or box 41. After all fifty-four playing cards a have been delivered to each particular staging compartment 21 of the staging mechanism 2, the staging wheel 2a is rotated clockwise so that the first compartment thereof is rotated to a position where it does not interfere with the flipping panel 42, and the flipping panel 42 of the take-up mechanism 4 is rotated from the position I shown in the figure to the position II about a pivot 43 and then the staging wheel 2a is rotated counterclockwise.

At this time, as shown in fig. 7 and 4, the playing cards a in each of the sorting compartments 21 are blocked by the turning plate 42 and ejected from the sorting compartments 21. The number of the playing cards temporarily stored in the first classification grid is 'A', the number of the playing cards temporarily stored in the second classification grid is '2', and so on; accordingly, as the sorting reel 2a is rotated counterclockwise, the playing cards in the first to fourteenth sorting compartments of the sorting reel 2a will be all ejected in the order of the points "a", "2", "3" to "K" and "king" and stacked on the turning plate 42 from top to bottom in the order of the points from large to small.

Then, referring again to figure 6, the flipping panel 41 is rotated about the axis of rotation 43 from the position shown in figure II to position III, and the playing cards A stacked on the flipping panel 42 will slide down into the shelf or box 41. The playing cards a in the compartments or boxes 41 have thus far been arranged in order of their point size.

The distributing method and the distributing device can be used for classifying and packaging the playing cards in a playing card factory, fifty-four playing cards are required to be manually arranged after being printed and cut in a general playing card factory, and by adopting the classifying device, if the sheet temporary storage mechanism 2 with fifty-four temporary storage classifying grids 21 is adopted, the fifty-four cards can be easily arranged in sequence. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present embodiments are not limited to only this field of application.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the temporary storage classification cells 21 may be defined according to a set rule. For example, if the playing cards are arranged according to the suits of black, red, plum and square, the playing cards of four suits can be separated by only arranging the four temporary storage sorting grids 21 on the sorting reels 2a (in this case, there is no king or queen). Likewise, the positions of the buffer compartments 21 defined on the buffer device 2 may not be arranged consecutively.

In another embodiment of the invention, a buffer means 2 with a plurality of coaxially arranged sorting wheels 2a can also be arranged along the dispensing means 1, as shown in fig. 2 and 8. As shown in fig. 8, the temporary storage mechanism 2 includes six sorting wheels 2a spaced side by side, and a plurality of grooves arranged in pairs are formed on opposite sides of two adjacent sorting wheels 2a, and each pair of grooves between the two sorting wheels 2a constitutes a temporary storage sorting grid 21. The middle 4 sorting wheels 2a shown in fig. 8 are identical to the sorting wheels 2a shown in fig. 5, and the outermost two sorting wheels 2a are identical to the sorting wheels 2a shown in fig. 3. The grooves on the opposite sides of two adjacent sorting wheels 2a are symmetrically arranged, so that two opposite grooves form a temporary storage sorting grid 21. Similarly, the temporary storage sorting grid 21 between the two sorting reels 2a can be sequentially defined as a plurality of sorting grids, such as a first sorting grid, a second sorting grid, a third sorting grid and the like, from a certain sorting grid as required, and is used for placing the playing cards A with corresponding points from small to large according to the sequence of numbers from small to large.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the sheet dispensing apparatus of this construction is suitable for use with multiple players playing card games, typically four-player games. For example, the sending mechanism 1 may reciprocate along the guide rail 14. After the aligned deck or decks are placed in the card shoe 13, a control unit (e.g., a single chip microcomputer or the like, not shown) of the sheet dispensing apparatus may determine which of the sorting wheels 2a the first card is to be deposited between by generating a random number. The control unit then controls the sheet delivery mechanism 1, by means of a stepper motor or a brushless motor, to move to the position corresponding to the position just determined between the two sorting wheels 2 a.

Then, the card pushing wheel 11 (see fig. 6) of the sending mechanism 1 pushes the playing cards a to move towards the sorting reels 2a, and the movement of the playing cards a can trigger the recognition part 3 to recognize recognizable marks such as patterns, binary pattern codes or bar codes on the playing cards a so as to confirm the suit and size of the playing cards a. Similarly, when the information on the playing cards is confirmed, the playing cards are pushed into the specific temporary sorting grid 21 in order according to suit or size according to the predetermined rules.

In turn, the control unit of the sheet dispensing apparatus again generates a random number to determine between which of the sorting wheels 2a the second card is to be deposited. The control unit then controls the dispensing mechanism 1 by means of a stepper motor or a brushless motor to move to the position corresponding to the position between the two sorting wheels 2a just determined and in turn pushes the second playing card into the specific temporary sorting grid 21.

In the case of a four-player game, one pair of adjacent sorting reels 2a of the six sorting reels 2a is inactive and is only used as reserved for other game rules. After fifty-two (king removed) playing cards are evenly distributed to four pairs of adjacent sorting reels 2a, the playing cards a in the temporary sorting grid 21 between each pair of sorting reels 2a are arranged in sequence. But because the process of randomly dealing the cards to four positions is set, the shuffling process can be realized, and the unfair or cheating phenomenon caused by not shuffling the cards is avoided.

After all the playing cards a are sent to each specific temporary storage sorting compartment 21 of the temporary storage mechanism 2, each sorting wheel 2a rotates clockwise, and the first sorting compartment of each sorting wheel 2a rotates to a position where it does not interfere with the turning plate 42, and at the same time, the turning plate 42 of the take-up mechanism 4 rotates from the position I of fig. 6 to the position II fixed around the rotating shaft 43, and then each sorting wheel 2a rotates counterclockwise. The playing cards a in each of the sorting compartments 21 will be blocked by the flipping panel 42 and ejected from the sorting compartment 21. With the counterclockwise rotation of the sorting wheel 2a, the playing cards in the sorting compartments of the sorting wheel 2a will be ejected all in sequence and stacked from top to bottom in rank or suit on the respective flipping panels 41. In a typical poker game, the suit size is defined in the order of black, red, plum, and square.

Referring to figure 6, all of the flipping panels 41 are rotated about the axis of rotation 43 from the position shown at II to the position shown at III, and the playing cards A stacked on each flipping panel 41 will slide down into the corresponding shelf or box 41. Thus, the playing cards A in each shelf or box 41 become arranged in order of their point size.

The sheet distribution method and the distribution apparatus thereof of the present embodiment can set different classification rules corresponding to different games, and can pre-program and store the classification rules in the single chip microcomputer. These different classification rules may define the order of definition of the different classification grids 21. When playing card games with different game rules need to be played, the system can be switched to a corresponding rule state, and the playing cards placed in the sending mechanism 1 can be classified and ordered according to the rules. The mode of pre-programming and storing various game rules can be used for playing different games on the same set of classification devices. Thus, to accommodate different sorting rules, the number of buffer sorting cells 21 on the sorting wheel 2a may be set to eighteen in this embodiment. In some simple games, a minimum of four cards are required to be used to sort various suits, and only fourteen sorting compartments 21 are required to sort a deck of cards, and in a multi-deck card game, a plurality of playing cards can be placed in the same sorting compartment 21.

Likewise, the positions of the buffer compartments 21 defined on the buffer device 2 may not be arranged consecutively.

The method and apparatus of this embodiment are particularly suited for automatic shuffling and distribution of playing cards and enable cards to be dealt sequentially by each player.

In addition, the sheet material distribution method and the sheet material distribution apparatus of the present invention can also be used for sorting sheet materials such as similar IC cards, bank cards, postcards, and the like.

Other structures and features of the sheet sorting method and the sorting device thereof of the present invention are the same as those of the foregoing embodiments, and the contents that are not mentioned in this embodiment and are described in detail in the foregoing embodiments can be cited and incorporated into this embodiment, and are not described again.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while the present invention has been described in terms of the above embodiments, not every embodiment includes only a single embodiment. The description is given for clearness of understanding only, and it is to be understood that all matters in the embodiments are to be interpreted as including technical equivalents which are related to the embodiments and which are combined with each other to illustrate the scope of the present invention. The above description is only an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent alterations, modifications and combinations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention.

Claims

1. A sheet distribution method for sorting and classifying a plurality of sheets (A) having identification information, the method comprising the steps of:

sequentially recognizing the identification information of each sheet (A) to confirm the information of the sheet (A);

sending the sheets (A) to each specific temporary storage classification grid (21) according to the information of the sheets (A);

the sheets (A) stored in each specific temporary storage classification grid (21) are sequentially received to a specified position according to a set rule.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the temporary sorting grid (21) is defined in sequence according to the set rules and is movable in a reciprocating cycle.

3. A sheet material dispensing apparatus for sorting and classifying a plurality of sheet materials (a) having identification information, using the method of claim 1 or 2, the apparatus comprising at least one identification portion (3), characterized in that the apparatus further comprises: at least one delivery device (1), at least one intermediate storage device (2) comprising a plurality of intermediate storage compartments (21), and at least one take-up device (4), wherein,

the identification part (3) can identify each sheet (A) in turn to confirm the information of the sheet (A);

the sending mechanism (1) can send the sheet (A) to each specific temporary storage classification grid (21) of the temporary storage mechanism (2) according to the sheet information confirmed by the identification part;

the collecting mechanism (4) can sequentially collect the sheets (A) stored in each specific temporary storage classification grid (21) to a specified position according to a set rule.

4. A sheet material dispensing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the buffer mechanism (2) comprises at least one sorting wheel (2a), the plurality of buffer sorting compartments (21) being a plurality of grooves formed on at least one side of the sorting wheel (2a), the buffer sorting compartments (21) being defined in sequence according to the set rule.

5. A sheet material dispensing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said buffer means (2) comprises a plurality of sorting wheels (2a) spaced side by side, adjacent two of said sorting wheels (2a) having formed on opposite sides thereof a plurality of grooves arranged in pairs, each pair of said grooves between said two sorting wheels (2a) constituting one of said buffer sorting compartments (21).

6. The sheet material dispensing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said delivery mechanism (1) is randomly selectable to deposit said sheet material (A) between any two of said adjacent sorting wheels (2 a).

7. The sheet material dispensing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the sending mechanism (1) is operable to store the sheet materials (a) in a specified one of the buffer sorting compartments (21) between two adjacent sorting wheels in sequence according to the identified sheet material information according to a set rule, in a state where it is determined that the sheet materials (a) are to be stored between the two adjacent sorting wheels (2a), the buffer sorting compartments (21) between the sorting wheels (2a) being defined in sequence according to the set rule.

8. The sheet material dispensing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the grooves are radially arranged outwardly from a center of the sorting wheel (2a), and are uniformly spaced with respect to the center.

9. A sheet dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 4 to 8, wherein the channels are smoothly curved and each channel has a detent (22) at the opening for receiving the sheet.

10. The sheet material dispensing apparatus according to one of claims 4 to 9, wherein each sorting wheel (2a) of the sheet material buffer has 4 to 28 of said grooves on one side.