EP0370836B1 - Apparatus for automatically feeding documents one by one to a document treatment machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for automatic feeding of one document at a time to a document processing machine. The apparatus (10) includes a movable horizontal turntable (12) on which bins (C1, C2, . . . , C8) are affixed, each containing a stack of documents. A drive device (15, 16, 28) controls the displacement of the turntable in order to move a preselected bin into an unloading position (90), facing the processing machine (11). The turntable is provided with bin identification (ME1, ME2, . . . , ME8), and the drive device is controlled by a control circuit (91) that excites the drive device in such a way that the displacement of the turntable to move a preselected bin into the position (90) is effected by the smallest possible rotation. The invention is applicable to sheet feeding to a printing machine.

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the automatic feeding, document by document, of a document processing machine. Such a device finds more particularly, although not exclusively, its application in the successive supply of sheets of paper intended to be printed by a fast printing machine.

Improvements made in recent years to fast printing machines, such as those which operate on the principle of magnetography, have made it possible to achieve relatively high printing rates, of the order of sixty to ninety pages at the minute and even more.

Printing machines which previously operated at a printing rate of fifteen to twenty sheets per minute were generally equipped with feed trays which could hold up to two thousand sheets. This allowed these machines to operate, without recharging, for almost two hours.

With the fast printing machines which have been produced recently, such a capacity in sheets of the supply magazine quickly proves to be insufficient, because it does not allow these machines to operate, without reloading, for more than twenty to thirty minutes. . Under these conditions, the operator is obliged to reload the food store two to three times per hour, which ultimately becomes tedious when this operation must be repeated more than ten times a day. In addition, this way of doing things is all the more inconvenient since, on each reloading, the operator must, beforehand, stop the operation of the printing machine, then, after having replaced a stack of sheets in the machine store. thus stopped, restart this machine and carry out a whole series of checks before authorizing the resumption of printing operations. In addition, these stops, when they occur frequently, have the effect of significantly increasing the total downtime of the machine, which, of course, ends up making the high printing speed of the machine illusory.

In order to remedy this drawback, it is possible to think of greatly increasing the capacity of the supply magazine, but this solution does not give the expected results, for the reason that the sheets which are at the bottom of the stack contained in this magazine are subjected, on the part of the leaves placed above them, to excessive pressure which has the effect of causing these leaves to adhere to one another. This adhesion remains even when, as a result of the successive extraction of the sheets which is ensured by an extraction member disposed above the stack of sheets, the height of this stack becomes equal to or less than that of a stack of two thousand sheets. These sheets, which thus continue to adhere to each other, can no longer be separated easily by the extraction member and they then cause jams, which obliges the operator to stop the machine and to intervene to clear the sheets which are got stuck. This is why, in certain supply devices of the prior art, such as those which have been described in French patents Nos. 1,533,917 and 2,203,368 (the latter corresponding to the patent of the United States of America No. 3,920,238), as well as in the European patent applications published under Nos. 0029647 and 0103661, the sheets intended for printing are contained, not in one, but in several food stores, each of these stores being designed to store only a number of sheets not exceeding practically two thousand. In each of these stores, the extraction of the sheets is carried out by an electromechanical extraction member which, placed in contact with the upper sheet of the stack which is stored in this store, causes, each time that it is excited for a short time by an electric current, the extraction of a sheet from this store. In these feeding devices, each feeding magazine is necessarily provided, not only with an electromechanical extraction member established to be controlled at well-defined times, but also with precise guide elements which allow the sheets extracted from the store to be oriented towards a common advancement track to then be routed to the printing device. It follows that if, in order to reduce the number of machine stops without increasing the capacity in magazine sheets, this type of feeder was produced comprising a large number of magazines, this number being, for example, example, close to ten, such an apparatus would prove to be particularly expensive and of delicate manufacture, due to the large number of extraction members and guide elements included in its composition.

Admittedly, there is already known a feeding device which has been described in the patent of the United States of America No. 4,108,427 and which comprises a plurality of feeding magazines arranged horizontally, one above the other, but offset by a constant quantity, with respect to each other, so that each magazine has an uncovered portion in which an electromechanical sheet extraction member can be engaged. In this device, the food stores are integral with a transport cart which can be moved in a direction parallel to the offset direction of these stores in order to allow any of these stores to be brought into a unloading location in which the stack of sheets which is stored in this magazine is in contact with the electromechanical extraction member. However, in this device, the movement of the transport carriage is achieved by means of a very complex set of shafts, cams and articulated levers which, during the manufacture of the device, must be machined and assembled with a very high precision if we want to avoid that, during the movement of the carriage, the sheets contained in the various stores are not torn, or even simply crumpled, as a result of unfortunate contact of these sheets with the extraction member . As a result, the manufacture of such a device can only be undertaken using specialized tools and highly qualified people, so that this device ultimately turns out to be particularly expensive. In addition, the movement of the carriage to bring a magazine into the unloading location is carried out relatively slowly, so that this device is not suitable for feeding sheets intended for a fast printer. Finally, this device does not include any control means allowing a store, chosen in advance by the operator, to be brought, automatically, to the unloading location.

The present invention overcomes all these drawbacks and proposes an automatic document-by-document feeding device which, although comprising a relatively large number of document feeding magazines and a single extraction device, makes it possible to deliver documents. at a rate compatible with the rate of operation of the processing machine to which these documents are delivered, the placement of any of these stores in the unloading location being effected quickly, fully automatically, without causing damage to documents and without the need to stop the processing machine.

• un dispositif de reconnaissance établi pour reconnaître le numéro d'ordre du magasin qui se trouve dans l'emplacement de déchargement, et pour engendrer des signaux électriques représentatifs de ce numéro d'ordre,
• un premier registre destiné à contenir temporairement un numéro correspondant à un magasin présélectionné qui doit être amené dans l'emplacement de déchargement,
• un deuxième registre destiné à contenir temporairement chacun des numéros d'ordre délivrés successivement, sous forme de signaux électriques, par ledit dispositif de reconnaissance,
• et un bloc de commande connecté à ces deux registres et établi pour, en dépendance des numéros d'ordre contenus respectivement dans ces registres, exciter le dispositif d'entraînement du support de manière à amener ledit magasin présélectionné dans l'emplacement de déchargement.

More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus for automatic document-by-document feeding of a document processing machine, this apparatus comprising a plurality of feed magazines intended to each contain a stack of documents to be processed, these magazines being fixed on a mobile support that can be moved by a drive device, along a predetermined path allowing each magazine to be brought into an unloading location provided with a document extraction member, this extraction member being arranged to order the extraction, one by one, of documents from a stack which has been brought into contact with it, said apparatus being characterized in that, said magazines being each assigned a serial number corresponding to the order according to which they succeed each other on said support, it further comprises a control circuit for said drive device, this circuit comprising:

• a recognition device established to recognize the serial number of the store which is in the unloading location, and to generate electrical signals representative of this serial number,
• a first register intended to temporarily contain a number corresponding to a preselected store which must be brought to the unloading location,
• a second register intended to temporarily contain each of the sequence numbers delivered successively, in the form of electrical signals, by said recognition device,
• and a control block connected to these two registers and established for, in dependence on the sequence numbers contained respectively in these registers, driving the drive device of the support so as to bring said preselected magazine into the unloading location.

• La figure 1 est une vue en plan d'un appareil d'alimentation automatique de documents réalisé selon l'invention,
• La figure 2 est une vue en coupe de l'appareil, suivant une ligne indiquée par 2-2 sur la figure 1, montrant le mécanisme de transport qui permet à une pile de documents d'être amenée au contact de l'organe d'extraction,
• La figure 3 est une vue en perspective montrant la structure détaillée de l'un des magasins d'alimentation qui équipent l'appareil représenté sur la figure 1,
• La figure 4 est une vue en perspective montrant la structure détaillée du mécanisme de transport de pile équipant l'appareil de la figure 1,
• La figure 5 est une vue en coupe montrant une variante de réalisation du mécanisme de transport de pile, ainsi que certains détails de l'appareil d'alimentation de documents,
• La figure 6 est un schéma d'un bloc de commande servant à commander la rotation du plateau qui fait partie de l'appareil de la figure 1, et ,
• Les figures 7A et 7B représentent, lorsqu'elles sont assemblées, un schéma détaillé des circuits utilisés pour commander le fonctionnement de l'appareil d'alimentation de la figure 1.

The present invention will be better understood and other objects, details and advantages thereof will appear better in the following description, given by way of nonlimiting example and with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic document feeding apparatus produced according to the invention,
• Figure 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus, taken along a line indicated by 2-2 in Figure 1, showing the transport mechanism which allows a stack of documents to be brought into contact with the extraction,
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the detailed structure of one of the food stores which equip the appliance shown in FIG. 1,
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the detailed structure of the battery transport mechanism equipping the apparatus of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an alternative embodiment of the battery transport mechanism, as well as certain details of the document feeding apparatus,
• FIG. 6 is a diagram of a control block used to control the rotation of the plate which is part of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and,
• FIGS. 7A and 7B represent, when assembled, a detailed diagram of the circuits used to control the operation of the supply device of FIG. 1.

Figure 1 shows a feeder 10 which, according to the invention, can be used to deliver documents to a wide variety of document processing machines. Thus, in the example described, this processing machine is a magnetographic printer 11 which performs the printing of sheets of paper delivered one by one by the feeder 10. However, this feeder could just as easily be adapted to deliver documents to a document processing machine of another type, such as, for example, a check sorter or a card reader provided with identifiable indications by an automatic recognition device.

The feeding apparatus 10 which is shown in FIG. 1 comprises several feeding magazines C1, C2, C3, etc., each containing a stack of sheets of paper, these sheets being intended to be printed by the printer 11. These stores, which are eight in number here, are integral with a circular plate 12 which, arranged horizontally, is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis of rotation 13, this axis 13 being itself fixed, as the shows Figure 2, on a horizontal support plate 14 forming part of the frame of the device. The circular plate 12 is provided with a ring gear 15 which is fixed under the circular edge 21 of this plate and which meshes with a pinion 16 secured to the drive shaft of an electric motor 28. Thus, when the motor electric 28 is excited, in a manner which will be indicated later, the pinion 16 rotates and drives the crown 15 and the plate 12 in rotation about the axis 13.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the food stores C1, C2, ..., C8 are regularly arranged along the circular edge of the plate 12. The stores C1, C2, C4, C5, C6 and C8 are all identical and intended to contain sheets of paper whose format corresponds to the well-known standard DIN A4, while the magazines C3 and C7, which are identical, but larger than those of the magazines C1, C2, C4, C5 , C6 and C8, are intended to contain sheets of paper whose format corresponds to the DIN A3 standard. Each of these stores has a vertical plane of symmetry which passes through the axis of rotation 13 of the plate 12. By way of example, FIG. 1 shows the planes of symmetry AA ′ and BB ′ of the two stores neighbors C1 and C2. Since, in the example described, the number of food stores is equal to eight, the planes of symmetry of any two neighboring stores form between them angles of forty-five degrees.

The printer machine 11 will not be described for the reason that it is not part of the invention. However, it should be noted that this machine is provided with an inlet passage 100 through which the sheets delivered by the supply device 10 are engaged in the machine. This corridor input 100, which normally includes elements for guiding and driving sheets (not shown) has a vertical plane of symmetry MM ′, the supply device 10 and the printing machine 11 being arranged, one by relative to the other, so that this plane MM ′ passes through the axis of rotation 13 of the plate 12, as can be seen in FIG. 1.

We will now describe, with reference to FIG. 3, the structure of one of the food stores, for example of store C1. The store C1 has two vertical plates 17 and 18 which, fixed on the circular plate 12, are symmetrical to one another with respect to the plane of symmetry AA ′ of this store. These two plates are spaced from each other by a distance d which is slightly greater than the length of the sheets of A4 paper. Two slides 19 and 20, fixed on the vertical edges of the plates 17 and 18 furthest from the circular edge 21 of the plate 12, are intended to guide a stack of sheets which has been placed on a movable support plate 22 , this plate 22 being disposed horizontally between the vertical plates 17 and 18. In FIG. 3, this support plate 22 occupies a rest position in which it is then in contact with the plate 12. Each of the vertical plates 17 and 18 extends, in a direction parallel to the plane of symmetry AA ′, over a horizontal distance e which is slightly greater than the width of the sheets of A4 paper. Each of these plates is provided with a device 23 for separating sheets, of known type, which, disposed at the intersection of the upper edge of this plate and the vertical edge of the latter closest to the circular edge of the plate 12 allows the upper sheet of a stack of sheets which has been brought into contact with this device, to be safely separated from the other sheets of this stack when this sheet is entrained by a friction extraction member 24 (FIG. 2) which will be described later.

It should also be noted that the plates 17 and 18 have, as seen in Figure 3, a height such that, when a stack of sheets comprising about two thousand sheets is placed on the plate support 22 immobilized in the rest position, the upper sheet of this stack is at a level lower than that of the separation device 23. To allow this upper sheet to be brought into contact with this device 23, it is therefore necessary to lift the plate 22 on which this battery rests. This lifting is achieved by a transport mechanism 25 (Figure 2) which will be described in detail below and which comprises, as seen in Figure 3, a lifting plate 26 shaped so as to be able to pass through an opening 27 made in the circular plate 12, between the plates 17 and 18 of the food store. The shape and dimensions of this opening 27 are conditioned by the respective size and arrangement of the food stores. It should be noted in fact that stores C3 and C7, which are intended to contain sheets of A3 format, each have a structure similar to that of store C1 which is illustrated in FIG. 3, with the difference that, as can be see in Figure 1, the plates 17 and 18 constituting each of the stores C3 and C7, extend, in a direction parallel to the plane of symmetry of these two stores, over a horizontal distance f which is slightly greater than the length of the sheets of A3 size paper, this distance f thus being practically double the corresponding distance e of each of the plates 17 and 18 of the other magazines. FIG. 1 shows that the opening 27 of stores C3 and C7 extends, in a direction parallel to the plane of symmetry of these stores, over a length close to this distance f, and that the openings 27 of stores C1 to C8 are all identical, so that the openings 27 of stores C1, C2, C4, C5, C6 and C8 extend outside these stores, towards the center of the tray 12. This arrangement allows the lifting platform 26 which engages in any opening 27, suitably positioned relative to this plate, to lift the support plate 22 which rests on this opening without risking to unbalance this plate and thus cause it to tip over.

The engagement of the lifting plate 26 in one of the openings 27 of the food stores cannot obviously take place when the circular plate 12 is in motion. This is why, when this plate 12 is rotated by the motor 28, the lifting plate 26 normally occupies a rest position which, as can be seen in FIG. 2, is located below the plate 12, c that is to say outside the path followed by this plate 12 and the stores C1 to C8. The rise of the lifting plate 26, from this rest position, is controlled, as will be seen later, only when a food store has been brought, then immobilized in an unloading location which, in FIG. 1, has been indicated by a dashed line 90, this unloading location corresponding to the position occupied by this store when the plane of symmetry of this store coincides with the plane of symmetry MM ′ of the inlet aisle 100 of the machine 11. The positioning, in this unloading location 90, of one of the stores C1 to C8 is obtained by exciting the motor 28, this excitation being caused by a control circuit 91 which will be described later. It should also be indicated that, when a magazine is positioned in this location 90, that is to say when the plane of symmetry of this magazine coincides with the plane MM ′, the lifting plate 26 is opposite the opening 27 of this magazine and can therefore leave its rest position to pass through this opening without risking striking the circular plate 12.

The transport mechanism 25 which equips the supply apparatus 10 represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in detail in FIG. 4. In the embodiment illustrated by this last figure, this mechanism 25 comprises two similar extendable braces CA and CB which are established so that they can be stretched in a vertical direction, each of these crosspieces being formed by a set of rods articulated in their middle as well as at their ends, as shown in FIG. 4. This is how that, in the example described, the cross member CA comprises four articulated rods A1, A2, A3 and A4, and that, similarly, the cross member CB comprises four articulated rods B1, B2, B3 and B4, these two cross members thus having four lower rods A1, A2, B1 and B2, two to two parallel, and four upper rods A3, A4, B3 and B4, two to two parallel. The two parallel lower rods A1 and B1 are made integral with one another by an axis 30 which, extending between the two cross-pieces CA and CB, is fixed on the free ends of these two rods, this axis 30 passing through a movable block 31 inside which it can pivot. The two other parallel lower rods A2 and B2 are articulated, at their free end, on an axis 32 which, as shown in Figure 2, is part of a fixing block 33 secured to the horizontal support plate 14. The block mobile 31 is provided with a thread which allows it to slide along a horizontal threaded rod 34 fixed on the drive shaft of an electric motor 35 which, as seen in FIG. 2, is mounted fixed on the support plate 14. In order to reduce the risks of seizing, this threaded rod 34 is provided, at its end, with a non-threaded part which is engaged in a suitably lubricated housing of the fixing block 33. If we return to FIG. 4, we see that the lifting platform 26 is provided, on its underside, with two articulation tabs 36 and 37 on which the free ends of the two parallel upper rods A3 and B3 come to articulate. The lifting plate 26 is further provided with two guide rods 38 and 39 which, arranged parallel to the horizontal threaded rod 34, extend between two support bars 40 and 41 fixed on the underside of the lifting plate 26. On these two rods 38 and 39 slide two sliding elements 42 and 43 each articulated respectively at each of the free ends of the two other parallel upper rods A4 and B4. It is thus understood that, when the motor 35 is energized and rotates in a direction which has the effect of displacing the movable block 31 in the direction of the fixing block 33 (displacement indicated by the arrow E in FIG. 2), the two cross pieces CA and CB are deformed so that their articulated rods approach the vertical direction, which causes the upward extension of these two braces. As a result, the plate 26 rises to meet the support plate 22 which is located above it, then, after having contacted this plate, lifts it as well as the stack of sheets which rests on this plate, this movement continuing until the motor 35 ceases to be excited. When, on the contrary, the motor 35 is excited so as to rotate in the opposite direction, the movable block 31 moves in the opposite direction to that of the arrow E and, consequently, the plate 26 descends to return to the rest position.

The transport mechanism 25 can naturally be in a form different from that illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4. Thus, in the embodiment which is represented in FIG. 5, this mechanism 25 comprises a rack 50 which , fixed vertically below the lifting plate 26, is guided in its vertical movement by rollers 51, this rack being placed in mesh with the teeth of a toothed wheel 52, itself engaged with the threads of a screw endless 53 integral with the drive shaft of the electric motor 35. When this motor is energized and rotates so as to drive the toothed wheel 52 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5, the plate 26 is moved towards the high, from its rest position (illustrated in phantom) in the figure), and comes, after passing through the opening 27, to lift the plate 22 as well as the stack of sheets 54 which is on this plate. The rise of the tray 26 continues until the upper sheet of this stack 54 has reached a level allowing it to contact the separation device 23. From this moment, the sheets of this stack can be extracted a one by the extraction member 24, and the rise of the plate 26 takes place as the sheets are extracted, this rise being then controlled by means for detecting the upper level of the sheets, these means detection, constituted here by a two-way switch CF actuated by the upper sheet of the stack, controlling the rise of the plate 26, in a manner which will be indicated below. It should be noted here that each of the supply stores C1 to C8 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is equipped with such a switch, but that these switches have not been shown in these two figures for obvious reasons of simplification. Furthermore, each of these switches is associated with a flexible contactor 45 which, as can be seen in FIG. 5, comprises three sliding contact elements G1, G2 and G3, which, when the supply magazine which is provided with this CF switch is brought into the unloading location 90, are applied to three conductive bars T1, T2 and T3 fixed on an insulating block 46 secured to the support plate 14, these three elements G1, G2 and G3 and these three bars T1, T2 and T3 thus allowing this switch to be electrically connected to the control circuit 91 which will be discussed later.

The supply device which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises yet another two-way switch CP which, as shown in FIG. 5, is arranged below the lifting plate 26, so as to be actuated by this tray when it leaves its rest position, or, on the contrary, returns to the rest position.

Figures 1 and 5 also show that the extraction member 24 comprises an arm 56 which is articulated, at one of its ends, on a shaft 57 arranged horizontally between two uprights 58 and 59 integral with the support plate 14 The shaft 57 is established to pivot in bearings (not shown) fixed on the uprights 58 and 59, and it is driven in rotation, continuously, by a motor (also not shown), by means of a drive pulley 60 fixed on this shaft 57. The arm 56, which can pivot freely around this shaft 57, supports, at its other end, a second shaft 61 arranged parallel to the 'shaft 57. On the shaft 61 are fixed two pulleys 62 and 63 placed on either side of the arm 56. Two other pulleys 64 and 65, arranged on either side of the arm 56, are fixed on the shaft 57. A belt 70, tensioned on the pulleys 62 and 64, is driven in displacement in the direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5, as is another belt which is mounted tensioned on the pulleys 63 and 65, l 'drive of these two belts being caused by the rotation of the shaft 57. The pivoting of the arm 56 around the shaft 57 is controlled by a lever 66 which, pivotally mounted on an axis 67, is connected to one from its ends, to the arm 56 by means of a link 68. At the other end of this lever 66 is articulated ée a rod 69 secured to the movable frame of an electromagnet EA. In FIG. 5, the constituent elements of the extraction member 24 are shown in the rest position, this position being that which these elements occupy when the electromagnet EA is not excited. In this position the two belts of the member 24 are kept out of contact with a stack of sheets 54 which, raised by the plate 26, has been brought into contact with the separation device 23, as shown in the figure. If, now, the electromagnet EA is excited for a short time by an electric current of suitable intensity, the rod 69, actuated by the armature which is attracted, forces the lever 66 to pivot around its axis, this which has the effect of pivoting the arm 56 downward and bringing the two belts into contact with the upper sheet of the stack 54. As a result, this upper sheet, driven by these belts, separates from this stack thanks to the device 23 and engages between drive rollers 72, which then force this sheet to engage in the entrance passage 100 of the machine 11. The structure of the device 23, which allows the sheet driven by the belts to separate from the other sheets of the stack, will not be described for the reason that this device is analogous to that which has been described and shown in US Patent No. 2,912,241. The rod 69 is provided with a compression spring 73 which, when the electromagnet EA ceases to be excited, allows the extraction member 24 to return to the rest position.

As can be seen in Figures 3 and 5, the lifting plate 26 is provided with an opening 74 which is located in the path of a light beam sent by a lamp L to a photoelectric cell PH, this lamp and this cell being held in fixed support elements not shown. Likewise, each support plate 22 is pierced with a hole 75 which, when the corresponding supply magazine is immobilized in the unloading location 90, is located in the path of this bundle. It is then understood that this beam is intercepted as long as the leaves remain on the plate 22 of the magazine which is immobilized in this unloading location. On the contrary, as soon as the last sheet of a stack placed on this plate has been extracted by the extraction member 24 to be engaged in the entrance corridor of the machine 11, the PH cell receives the light beam sent by the lamp L and then delivers an electrical signal to the control circuit 91 which will be described later.

In order to allow each of the stores C1 to C8 to be brought quickly to the unloading location and to be correctly positioned with respect to the entry corridor 100 of the printing machine 11, the feed device which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided with identification labels ME1, ME2, ..., ME8, which, in number equal to that of the food stores C1, C2, ..., C8, are each assigned respectively at each of these stores, these labels being regularly arranged along the circular edge 21 of the plate 12, so as to pass, during the rotation of this plate, in front of an LME label reader (shown in FIG. 3). Each of these identification labels bears a characteristic mark which differs from one label to another and which represents, in coded form, the serial number of the store with which it is associated, the serial numbers of stores C1 to C8 succeeding one another from 1 to 8, the store C1 being identified by the number 1. Thus, for example, the identification label which is assigned to the store C5 carries a coded mark representing the number 5. The arrangement respective of the identification labels and of the LME label reader is such that the mark carried by the identification label assigned to a given magazine is read by the LME reader at the precise moment when this magazine, driven during the rotation of the plate 12 by the motor 28, arrives in the unloading location 90. Under these conditions, during the rotation of the plate 12, the LME reader reads the different coded marks carried by the labels which pass in front of it and, each time a store passes into the location 90, it sends to the control circuit 91 the order number represented by the coded mark which is associated with this store. As will be seen below, this control circuit can then, at the moment when a determined store passes into location 90, that is to say when it receives from the LME reader the corresponding order number at this store, de-energize the motor 28 in order to stop this store in this location 90. However, the stopping of the motor 28 does not occur instantaneously, so that this store, once stopped, is not correctly positioned with respect to to the unloading corridor 100. This is why the circular edge 21 of the plate 12 is also provided with groups of positioning indications GI1, GI2, ..., GI8, of which only one GI1 is visible in FIG. 3, these groups, in a number equal to that of the stores C1, C2, ..., C8, being each assigned respectively to each of these stores and being regularly arranged along the edge 21, so as to pass, when the plate 12 is driven in rotation, in front of a LGI code reader (Figure 3). Each of these groups is formed by a plurality of positioning codes which, when the magazine associated with this group is stopped near the unloading location 90, are used to determine the precise position of this magazine relative to this location . Without going into details, we will simply point out that these positioning codes which are read by the LGI reader represent, in coded form, the values of the angular deviations that can form with the plane MM ′, in one direction or the other, the plane of symmetry of the store which has been stopped near location 90. In response to the reading of these codes, the LGI reader sends electrical signals to the control circuit 91 which have the effect of causing the excitation of the motor 28 in order to rotate it in a suitable direction, so as to allow the plane of symmetry of this magazine to coincide with the plane of symmetry MM ′ of the entrance corridor 100.

We will now describe, with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B, the electrical circuit 91 which controls the movements of the circular plate 12 and of the lifting plate 26 which are part of the supply device which has been described above. This circuit is shown, in these figures, in the form of an electrical circuit diagram comprising logic circuits as well as manual and relay contacts intended to be used under conditions which will be described. The relay contacts are designated by the same reference as the winding which controls them, but preceded by the letter C. A normally closed contact, when the coil of the relay which controls it is not excited, is represented on this diagram by a black triangle. The relays shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B are normally supplied by direct current taken between two + terminals and the - terminal being earthed.

The electric motor 28 which drives the circular plate 12 is a motor in which the reversal of the direction of rotation is obtained in a known manner according to the type of motor used. It will be considered that, in the example described and illustrated in FIG. 7B, this motor is of the alternating current type and comprises two inductor windings M1 and M2 wound in opposition so that, when the winding M1 is energized, the motor 28 rotates in the direction in which it drives the plate 12 in the direction indicated by the arrow G in FIG. 1, while, when the winding M2 is energized, this motor rotates in the opposite direction. The two windings M1 and M2 can be supplied with single-phase alternating current 220 volts supplied by two terminals 220 MN, via two switch contacts CB01 and C0B2 controlled, respectively, by two relay coils B01 and B02. Similarly, the motor 35, which controls the raising and lowering of the plate 26, is similar to the motor 28 and comprises two inductor windings M3 and M4 wound in opposition so that, when the winding M3 is energized, the motor 35 rotates in a direction which has the effect of raising the plate 26, while, when the winding M4 is excited, this motor rotates in the opposite direction. The two windings M3 and M4 can be supplied by the alternating current delivered by the terminals 220 MN, by means of two switch contacts CB03 and CB04 controlled, respectively, by two relay coils B03 and B04.

The two-way switch CP has two contacts CP1 and CP2, the contact CP1 being connected, on the one hand, by means of a push button K1, to the input of an amplifier-drift AD-1, on the other hand at the input of an AD-2 amplifier-diverter. Each of these derivative amplifiers is designed to deliver, as will be seen below, a single positive electrical pulse at its output each time its input is brought to a positive potential. The CP2 contact of the CP switch is connected, on the one hand, via a contact CB10, to the relay coils B04 and B10, on the other hand to the anode of the photoelectric cell PH, this cell having its cathode connected to a relay coil B09. The contact CP2 is also connected to this coil B09 by means of a push button K2. Finally, the moving contact blade of the switch CP is connected to the + terminal. In the rest position, this blade is kept applied to the contact CP1 under the action exerted by the lifting plate 26.

The control circuit which is shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B also comprises a matrix memory 80 which has several locations, each location being established to contain a single character. It should be indicated here that the characters which are stored in this memory represent, in coded form, serial numbers allowing different stores to be brought successively to the unloading location 90, in a manner that will be indicated later. The locations of the memory 80 are successively selected by a selection switch 81 which advances by one step each time it receives an electrical pulse sent by a delay element 82, this element 82 having its input connected to the output of the AD-2 amplifier-dinghy, via an IT manual switch. The extraction of the character, that is to say of the serial number, which is stored in the memory location selected by the switch 81 is carried out by read circuits 83, in response to a pulse sent by the AD-2 amplifier-drift and transmitted via the IT switch supposed to be closed. This serial number is, after having been extracted from this location, transferred to an output register RG1. We will not insist further on the structure of the memory 80, of the circuits 83 and of the selection switch 81 for the reason that these structures are analogous to those which have been incidentally described and represented in the patent of the United States of America. No. 3,349,376, this patent corresponding to French patent No. 1,368,128.

The register RG1 can also receive a serial number temporarily stored in a waiting register 84, this serial number being generated by a coding keyboard 85 actuated manually by the operator, the transfer of this serial number from the register 84 in register RG1 taking place via a door 86, this transfer being triggered in response to an electrical pulse which, generated by the amplifier-diverter AD-1, is applied to this door 86.

The control circuit which is represented in FIGS. 7A and 7B also comprises another output register RG2 which, connected to the output of the reader LME, receives the sequence numbers which are sent by this reader, during the rotation of the tray 12, as the identification labels of the various stores scroll past this reader. It should be indicated here that the register RG2, like the waiting register 84, moreover, is designed so as not to require resetting to zero before receiving a serial number, the recording of any serial number in this register having the effect of systematically erasing that which had previously been registered there. The outputs of the registers RG1 and RG2 are connected to the inputs of a control block BCP which is established for, in response to the reception of a pulse sent by a delay element 87, delivering electrical voltages causing the rotation of the circular plate 12, either in the direction indicated by the arrow G (FIG. 1), or in the opposite direction indicated by the arrow H. The detailed structure of this control block has been shown in FIG. 6.

If we refer to FIG. 6, we see that the control unit BCP comprises a register RG3 which contains, in coded form, a number T equal to half the number N of the stores installed on the tray 12. In the example describes where N is equal to eight, we then have T = 4. The block BCP further comprises a first subtractor ST1 whose inputs are connected to the outputs of the registers RG2 and RG3 and which is established to deliver at its output a number PT representing the difference between the sequence number P contained in the register RG2 and the number T contained in the register RG3. The block BCP further comprises a second subtractor ST2 provided with an input connected to the output of the register RG2 and which is set up to deliver at its output a number P-1 representing the value of the number P reduced by one. The BCP block also includes an adder ADD whose inputs are connected to the outputs of the registers RG2 and RG3 and which is set up to deliver at its output a number P + T representing the sum of the numbers contained in these two registers. The outputs of registers RG2 and RG3 are also connected to the inputs of a first comparator CP1 which is established to compare the numbers P and T contained in these registers and to, as a result of this comparison, deliver a positive voltage on an output X1 in the case where P is greater than T, or on an output W1, in the case where P is less than or equal to T. A second comparator CP2 is responsible for comparing the number P-1 delivered by the subtractor ST2 with the number Q contained in the register RG1. This comparator is established to deliver a positive voltage on its single output X2 in the case where the number P-1 is greater than or equal to Q. A third comparator CP3 is responsible for comparing the number PT delivered by the subtractor ST1 to the number Q contained in the register RG1. This comparator is established to deliver a positive voltage on its single output X3 in the case where this number PT is less than Q. A fourth comparator CP4 is responsible for comparing the number P + T delivered by the adder ADD to the number Q contained in the register RG1. This comparator CP4 is established to deliver a positive voltage on its single output X4 in the case where this number P + T is greater than or equal to Q. Finally, a fifth comparator CP5 is responsible for comparing the numbers Q and P contained, respectively, in registers RG1 and RG2. This comparator CP5 has two outputs X5 and W5 and it is set up to deliver a positive voltage on its output X5 in the case where Q is greater than P, or on its output W5 in the case where these two numbers P and Q are equal.

The output X1 of the comparator CP1 is connected to one of the inputs of each of two "AND" circuits E1 and E2. The other input of circuit E1 is connected to the output of an "AND" circuit E3. The other input of circuit E2 is connected, via an inverter I1, to the output of this circuit E3. The circuit E3 has two inputs each connected respectively to each of the outputs X2 and X3 of the comparators CP2 and CP3.

The output W1 of the comparator CP1 is connected to one of the inputs of each of two "AND" circuits E4 and E5. The other input of circuit E4 is connected to the output of an "AND" circuit E6. The other input of circuit E5 is connected, via an inverter I2, to the output of this circuit E6. The circuit E6 has two inputs each connected respectively to the output X4 of the comparator CP4 and to the output X5 of the comparator CP5.

The outputs of circuits E1 and E5 are connected to the inputs of an "OR" circuit U1, with two inputs, this circuit U1 having its output connected to the input for conditioning a PC1 control door. Likewise, the outputs of circuits E2 and E4 are connected to the inputs of an "OR" circuit U2, with two inputs, this circuit U2 having its output connected to the conditioning input of a control gate PC2. The control doors PC1 and PC2 are similar to those which have been described and represented in the patents of the United States of America N ° 3.293.617 and 3.276.767 (these patents corresponding to the French patents N ° 1.342.787 and 1.387 .085). It will simply be recalled here that each of these doors has two inputs, one of which, marked with a point in FIG. 8, is a conditioned input on which electrical pulses to be transmitted are applied, and the other of which is an input packaging on which an electrical voltage is applied. It will also be recalled that each control door transmits a pulse applied to its conditioned input only if its conditioning input is at a positive potential. FIG. 8 shows that the conditioned inputs of the doors PC1 and PC2 are connected to the output of the delay element 87.

The BCP control unit also includes two rockers BPG and BPH of known type. The BPG rocker has its "normal" input connected to the output of the PC1 door, while the BPH rocker has its "normal" input connected to the output of the PC2 door. The resetting of these rockers is ensured by a pulse delivered by an amplifier-drift AD-3 and applied to the "complementary" input of these rockers, this amplifier-drift having its input connected to the output W5 of the comparator CP5. The "normal" output of the BPG rocker is connected to a ZG output of the BCP block, this ZG output being itself connected, as shown in FIG. 7B, to the relay coil B01, via a circuit " OR "U3. Likewise, the "normal" output of the BPH rocker is connected to an ZH output of the BCP block, this ZH output being itself connected to the relay coil B02, via an "OR" circuit U4. Finally, the output of the amplifier AD-3 is connected, moreover, to an output ZE of the BCP block, this output ZE being connected, as shown in FIG. 7B, on the one hand to a reset input. zero EZ of register RG1, on the other hand to a start command input EM of the code reader LGI.

We will now explain, with the aid of an example, how a given store is brought and positioned in the unloading location 90. A For this purpose, it will be considered that, initially, the magazine which is in this unloading location is the magazine C2 and that, this magazine being empty, the lifting plate 26 is in the rest position. In this case, the movable contact blade of the switch CP is applied to the contact CP1. In addition, the register RG2 contains the serial number of the store which is immobilized in the unloading location, that is to say the number 2. If, then, the operator wishes to bring in this location the store C8 for example, this operator must first enter, using the keyboard 85, the order number of this store in the register 84, this order number here being the number 8, and then press the button- push-button K1, which has the effect of applying a positive voltage to the input of the amplifier-drift AD-1. Consequently, this amplifier-diverter delivers a pulse and applies it, on the one hand to gate 86, which causes the transfer, to register RG1, of the digit 8 contained in register 84, on the other hand, by via an "OR" circuit U5, to the delay element 87. Since the registers RG1 and RG2 then contain the figures 8 and 2 respectively, a positive voltage appears at the output W1 of the comparator CP1 as well as at the output X5 of the comparator CP5. Due to the absence of voltage at outputs X1 and X4, no positive voltage can appear at the output of circuits E1, E2 and E6. The circuit E4, of which only one of the inputs is at a potential, does not deliver any positive voltage at its output. On the contrary, since a positive voltage remains at the output of the inverter I2, the two inputs of the circuit E5 are at a positive potential, so that a positive voltage appears at the output of this latter circuit and is applied , via U1, at the conditioning input of door PC1. As a result, this door is made passable. The delayed pulse which is then delivered by the delay element 87 and which is applied to the conditioned inputs of the doors PC1 and PC2, is therefore only transmitted by the door PC1 which applies it to the normal input of the rocker BPG. Therefore, this rocker goes to state "1". The positive voltage which then appears at the normal output of the rocker BPG is applied, via the circuit U3, to the coil B01. The energized coil B01 then closes its contact CB01, which has the effect of exciting the winding M1 and rotating the plate 12 in the direction of the arrow G. During this rotation, the LME reader delivers to the register RG2 the serial numbers carried by the various labels which pass in front of him, these labels being here those assigned to stores C1 and C8. It will then be understood that, when the digit 8 which represents the order number of the store C8 is sent by the reader LME to the register RG2, a positive voltage appears at the output W5 of the comparator CP5. As a result, the amplifier-drift AD-3 delivers an electrical pulse and applies it, on the one hand to the input EZ of the register RG1, which ensures the resetting of this register, on the other hand on the additional inputs for BPG and BPH rockers. Therefore, the rocker BPG returns to the state "0", which has the effect of de-energizing the coil B01 and causing, by opening the contact CB01, the stop of the plate 12. This stop then occurs that the store C8 has slightly exceeded the unloading location 90. Under these conditions, it is necessary, after the stop of the tray 12, to drive this tray again, in the opposite direction, so as to bring the store C8 until it has arrived exactly at this unloading location. This movement of the plate 12 is triggered by the pulse which delivered by the amplifier-drift AD-3, is applied to the input EM of the code reader LGI. As seen in Figure 7B, this LGI reader has three outputs XG, XH and XE and it is established to, from the moment it receives a pulse through its EM input, deliver electrical pulses, either on its exit XG, or on its exit XH, depending on whether the plane of symmetry of the store which is stopped near the unloading location is on one side or the other of the plane MM ′, this determination being carried out from after the values that are read by the LGI reader. Thus, in the example described where the plate is stopped after having been driven in the direction of the arrow G, these pulses are delivered on the output XH of the reader LGI and applied, via the circuit U4, to the relay coil B02. In response to each of these pulses, the coil B02 momentarily closes its contact CB02, which has the effect of slowly rotating the plate 12, in spurts, in the direction of the arrow H. During this movement, the store C8 approaches the unloading location 90 and the switch CF of this store ends up being connected to the control circuit 91, this two-way switch comprising two contacts CF1 and CF2 (FIG. 7A) as well as a blade of movable contact which, when the store C8 arrives in this location 90, are connected to the relay coils of the circuit 91, the details of which will be discussed later. The sending of pulses by the XH output of the LGI reader stops when the plane of symmetry of the store C8 exactly coincides with the plane MM ′. At this at that time, the LGI reader delivers a single pulse on its XE output and applies it to a relay coil B05.

The coil B05, excited by this pulse, then momentarily closes its contact CB05. As a result, a direct current flows, as can be understood with reference to FIG. 7A, from terminal +, via the closed contact CB05, and comes to energize a coil B06. Since the movable contact blade of the switch CF is applied to the contact CF1, this same current comes, via this contact CF1, to energize the coil B03. The energized coil B06 closes its contact CB06 and thus establishes a holding circuit for itself and for the coil B03, via the contact CB06 and a change-over contact CB09 in the rest position. The energized coil B03 closes its contact CB03, which causes the winding M3 of the motor 35 to be excited. As a result, the lifting plate 26 is raised to come into contact with the plate 22 of the magazine C8. During this movement, the movable contact blade of the switch CP ceases to be maintained applied to the contact CP1 by the plate 26 and it then comes to apply to the contact CP2 of this switch. The plate 26, continuing its upward movement, then lifts the plate 22 and the stack of sheets placed thereon, this movement continuing until the upper sheet of this stack lifts the movable blade of the switch CF. This movable blade then ceases to contact the contact CF1 and it is applied to the contact CF2 of this switch. Consequently, the coil B03 ceases to be excited and opens its contact CB03, which de-energizes the motor 35 and stops the upward movement of the battery. However, due to the fact that the coil B06 has remained energized, a direct current is now flowing, from terminal +, via the change-over contact CB09 in the rest position, the contact CB06 closed and the contact CF2, and comes to energize a coil B07. The energized coil B07 closes its contact CB07. A direct current then flows, from the + terminal, via the change-over contact CB09 in the rest position and the closed contact CB07, and excites the coil B08 as well as a control device DCE which controls the excitation of the electromagnet EA of the extraction member 24. The energized coil B08 closes its contact CB08 and thus establishes a holding circuit for itself and for the DCE device, via the change-over contact CB09 and the closed contact CB08. From that moment, the sheets of the stack placed in the tray C8 can be extracted one by one by the member 24 to be engaged in the printer 11. As this extraction takes place, the upper level of this stack of sheets is lowered, so that the movable blade of the CF switch ends up being applied again on contact CF1. However, this application has the effect of again exciting the coil B03 and thus causing the excitation of the motor 35 and the rise of the battery until this movable blade ceases to be applied to this contact CF1. It can thus be seen that the top of this stack of sheets always remains substantially at the same level throughout the duration of the extraction.

The extraction of the sheets contained in the store C8 ceases when, all the sheets having been extracted from this store, the cell PH receives the light beam emitted by the lamp L and then delivers an electrical voltage to the relay coil B09. This extraction can also be interrupted, even if sheets remain in the magazine C8, when the operator presses the push-button K2 in order to excite the coil B09. In either of these two cases, the energized coil B09 switches its contact CB09 to the working position, which has the effect of de-energizing the coils B06 and B08 as well as the excitation control device DCE . The coils B06 and B08, de-energized, then open their respective contacts CB06 and CB08, which cuts the holding circuits which were provided by these coils. Furthermore, as a result of the switching of the contact CB09, a direct current flows, from the + terminal, via this contact CB09 switched to the working position, and comes to energize two coils B04 and B10. The energized coil B10 then closes its contact CB10 and thus establishes a holding circuit for itself and for the coil B04, via the contact CP2 and the contact CB10, at least in the case where the button- push-button K2 being released by the operator, the coil B09 would cease to be kept energized. The coil B04, thus excited, therefore closes its contact CB04, which has the effect of exciting the winding M4 of the motor 35 and thus lowering the lifting plate 26. The descent of this plate 26 continues until the moment where this plate, after having abandoned the plate 22, reaches its rest position and pushes the movable contact blade of the switch CP. This blade then leaves the contact CP2 and is applied to the contact CP1. As a result, the coils B04 and B10 cease to be energized, as does the coil B09 in case the excitation of the latter was ensured by the PH cell. The coil B09, de-energized, switches its contact CB09 to the rest position, while the coils B04 and B10, de-energized, open their respective contacts CB04 and CB10. As a result, the winding M4 of the motor 35 is no longer excited, which stops the downward movement of the plate 26. But, moreover, the application of the moving blade of the switch CP on the contact CP1 has the effect of bring the input of the AD-2 amplifier-diverter to a positive potential. Under these conditions, if, before the plate 26 has returned to the rest position, the operator has taken the precaution of closing the IT switch, the electrical pulse which is delivered by this amplifier-diverter is applied, on the one hand, via the circuit U5, at the input of the delay element 87, on the other hand at the input of the delay element 82 and of the read circuits 83, which causes the transfer , towards the register RG1, of the serial number which is in the first location of the memory 80. From this moment, the operations which take place are analogous to those which have been described above, and for for this reason, we will not insist further on the details of these operations. It will simply be indicated that, during these operations, the magazine whose serial number is now contained in the register RG1 is first brought to the unloading location, then, when this magazine is correctly positioned in this location, the stack of sheets from this store is lifted by the plate 26 to be brought into contact with the separation device 23. After which, the extraction member 24 is actuated to allow these sheets to be delivered, one by one, to the machine 11. This extraction stops, either when the magazine which is in the location 90 is empty, or when the operator presses the push-button K2. At this time, the tray 26 is returned to the rest position to allow another store to be brought into the unloading location 90, in a manner similar to that which has been described above.

The various food stores which are successively brought to the unloading location 90 are defined by the serial numbers which, before the start of the feeding apparatus, have been recorded, in a known manner, by the operator, in the different successive locations of memory 80. Under these conditions, if the operator has taken take care to close the IT switch, the operations for successively placing these magazines in location 90, as well as the operations for extracting the sheets contained in these magazines, take place fully automatically, without the operator having to to intervene. It should however be mentioned that if, for any reason, the operator wishes to interrupt the flow of operations in progress, he only has to open the IT switch and press the push-button K2, which causes the return , in the rest position, of the lifting plate 22, without this return triggering the transfer, to the register RG1, of an order number contained in the memory 80. Thus, although the order in which the stores are brought successively in the unloading location can be chosen in advance by the operator, it is always possible for the latter to interrupt at any time the operation of the feeding device and even, if necessary, to modify this order, which gives this device great flexibility of use.

It should also be noted that, in the apparatus of the present invention, the establishment of a magazine in the unloading location is obtained by the rotation of the plate 12 in a direction such that this plate always performs the smallest rotation possible. Consequently, the time necessary for this installation is always relatively reduced.

Of course, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and illustrated which have been given only by way of example. On the contrary, it includes all the means constituting technical equivalents of those described and illustrated, considered in isolation or in combination and implemented in the context of the claims which follow.

Claims (11)

1. Apparatus for automatically feeding, document by document, a document processing machine (11), this apparatus comprising a plurality of feed hoppers (C1, C2, C3, ..., C8) provided such that each contains a pile of documents to be processed, these hoppers being fixed to a mobile support (12) capable of being displaced by a drive device (15, 16, 28), along a predetermined path allowing each hopper to be brought to an unloading position (90) provided with a document extraction component (24), this extraction component being arranged so as to control the extraction of documents, one by one, from a pile which has been brought into contact with it, said apparatus further comprising a circuit (91) for controlling said drive device (15, 16, 28) and being characterised in that, said hoppers each being assigned a serial number (P) corresponding to the order in which they succeed each other on the support (12), said circuit comprises:

   - a recognition device (LME) set up to recognise the serial number (P) of the hopper which is in the unloading position (90), and to generate electrical signals representing this serial number,

   - a first register (RG1) intended to contain temporarily a number (Q) corresponding to a preselected hopper which is to be brought to the unloading position,

   - a second register (RG2) intended to contain temporarily each of the serial numbers produced in succession, in the form of electrical signals, by said recognition device (LME),

   - and a control unit (BCP) connected to these two registers (RG1 and RG2) and set up, depending on the serial numbers (Q and P) contained respectively in these registers, so as to energise the drive device of the support (15, 16, 28) in order to bring said preselected hopper to the unloading position (90).
2. Feed apparatus according to Claim 1, characterised in that it further comprises a pile transport mechanism (25) normally occupying a rest position located away from the path of the hoppers, this mechanism being controlled by the control circuit (91) and being set up so as to be activated by this circuit when a preselected hopper has been brought to the unloading position (90) in order to bring the pile of documents from this hopper in contact with the extraction component (24) of this position and thus allow these documents to be sent, one by one, to the processing machine (11).
3. Feed apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the support (12) is composed of a horizontal rotating turntable on which the hoppers are disposed radially, and in that the control unit (BCP) is set up so as to energise the drive device of this turntable such that the displacement of this turntable to bring a preselected hopper to the unloading position takes place with the smallest possible rotation.
4. Feed apparatus according to Claim 3, characterised in that, the turntable being provided with identification labels (ME1, ME2, ..., ME8) each associated respectively with each one of the hoppers (C1, C2, ..., C8) and each bearing a distinctive mark corresponding to the serial number of the associated hopper, the recognition device (LME) is composed of a label reader set up so as to read, during the rotation of the turntable, the marks borne by the labels and, each time a hopper arrives in the unloading position (90), to generate electrical signals representing the serial number (P) of this hopper.
5. Feed apparatus according to Claim 4, characterised in that the control unit (BCP) comprises:

   - a third register (RG3) containing a number (T) equal to half the number of hoppers disposed on the turntable (12),

   - a first comparator (CP1) connected to said second and third registers (RG2 and RG3), this comparator being provided with an output (X1) and being set up so as to deliver a signal to this output when the serial number (P) contained in said second register (RG2) is greater than the number (T) contained in said third register (RG3),

   - a first subtracter (ST1) connected to said second and third registers (RG2 and RG3), this subtracter being provided with an output and being set up so as to deliver to this output a number (P-T) representing the difference between the serial number (P) contained in the second register and the number (T) contained in the third register,

   - a second subtracter (ST2) connected to said second register, this subtracter being provided with an output and being set up so as to deliver to this output a number (P-1) corresponding to the serial number (P) contained in the second register, but decreased by one unit,

   - a second comparator (CP2) connected to the first register (RG1) and to the second subtracter (ST2), this comparator being provided with an output (X2) and being set up so as to deliver a signal to this output when the number (P-1) delivered by this second subtracter is at least equal to the serial number (T) contained in this first register,

   - a third comparator (CP3) connected to the first register (RG1) and to the first subtracter (ST1), this comparator being provided with an output (X3) and being set up so as to deliver a signal to this output when the number (P-T) delivered by this first subtracter is lower than the serial number (Q) contained in the first register,

   - and a group of logic circuits (E1, E2, E3, I1) connected to the outputs (X2 and X3) of said second and third comparators and to the output (X1) of the first comparator, these circuits being arranged in such a way that, in response to the signals delivered simultaneously to these three outputs, they send to the drive device of the turntable an energisation signal which causes this turntable to rotate in a first direction (G), this direction being that in which the hoppers succeed one another on this turntable, whereas, in the absence of a signal from at least one of the outputs of the second and third comparators, but in the presence of a signal delivered to the output (X1) of the first comparator, they send to this drive device an energisation signal which causes this turntable to rotate in a second direction (H), opposite to said first direction (G).
6. Feed apparatus according to Claim 5, characterised in that, the first comparator (CP1) being further provided with a second output (W1) and being set up so as to deliver a signal to this second output when the serial number (P) contained in the second register (RG2) is equal to or less than the number (T) contained in the third register (RG3), the control unit (BCP) further comprises:

   - an adder (ADD) connected to said second and third registers (RG2 and RG3), this adder being provided with an output and being set up so as to deliver to this output a number (P+T) representing the sum of the serial number (P) contained in the second register and the number (T) contained in the third register,

   - a fourth comparator (CP4) connected to said adder (ADD) and to the first register (RG1), this comparator being provided with an output (X4) and being set up so as deliver a signal to this output when the serial number (Q) contained in this first register is equal or less than the number (P+T) delivered by this adder,

   - a fifth comparator (CP5) connected to the first and second registers (RG1 and RG2), this comparator being provided with a first output (X5) and a second output (W5) and being set up so as to deliver a signal, either to its first output in the event that the serial number (Q) contained in the first register (RG1) is greater than the serial number (P) contained in the second register (RG2), or else to its second output in the event that these two serial numbers are equal,

   - and a second group of logic circuits (E4, E5, E6, I2) connected to the second output (W1) of the first comparator (CP1), to the output (X4) of said fourth comparator (CP4), and also to the first output (X5) of said fifth comparator (CP5), these circuits being arranged such that, in response to signals delivered simultaneously to these three last outputs, they send to the drive device of the turntable an energisation signal which causes this turntable to rotate in the second direction (H) whereas, in the absence of a signal to either the output of the fourth comparator or the first output of the fifth comparator, but in the presence of a signal delivered to the second output of the first comparator, they send to this drive device an energisation signal which causes the turntable to rotate in the first direction (G).
7. Feed apparatus according to Claim 6, characterised in that the control unit (BCP) comprises another stop signal generator (AD-3) connected to the second output (W5) of the fifth comparator (CP5) and set up so as to send to the drive device of the turntable, in response to a signal delivered to this second output, a stop signal which has the effect of halting the rotation of the turntable (12).
8. Feed apparatus according to Claim 7, characterised in that, the turntable (12) being further provided with groups of position indications (GI1, GI2, ..., GI8) each assigned to each of the hoppers (C1, C2, .., C8) and each comprising a plurality of position indicators serving to locate the position relative to the unloading position (90) of a hopper which has been halted close to this position, the control circuit (91) comprises another indicator reader (LGI) provided with an input (EM) connected to the stop signal generator (AD-3) so as also to receive the signal which is sent by this generator, this reader being set up so as to deliver to the drive device of the turntable, starting from where it receives a signal applied to its input (EM), and depending on the reading of the position indicators corresponding to the hopper which has been halted close to this unloading position, electrical pulses which have the effect of making the turntable rotate and bringing this hopper towards this position until this hopper exactly arrives in this position.
9. Feed apparatus according to Claim 8, characterised in that, the indicator reader (LGI) being further set up so as to deliver a pulse to an output (XE) at the moment when a hopper becomes fixed in exactly the unloading position (90), the control circuit (91) further comprises a control assembly (B05, CB05, B06, CB06, B03, CB03, B09, CB09, B10, CB10, B04) intended to control the pile transport mechanism (25), this control assembly being connected to said output (XE) of the indicator reader and being set up so as to control this transport mechanism, in response to a pulse delivered to this output, in order to bring the pile of documents contained in the hopper which is fixed in the unloading position into contact with the extraction component (24).
10. Feed apparatus according to Claim 9, characterised in that the control circuit (91) further comprises a second control assembly (K2, L, PH, CP1, CP2) intended to be activated, either automatically when all the documents in the hopper fixed in the unloading position have been extracted from this hopper, or else manually, starting from the moment when the transport mechanism has left its rest position, this second assembly being connected to the first control assembly and being set up so as to send a signal to this first assembly when it is activated, to allow it to control the return to the first position of this transport mechanism.
11. Feed apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the control circuit (91) also comprises memory means (80, 81, 82, 83) containing serial numbers for hoppers intended to become fixed successively in the unloading position, these means being connected to the first register (RG1) and being set up so as to deliver a serial number to this register each time they are energised, to allow the feed hopper corresponding to this serial number to be brought to said unloading position.

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