GB1593636A

GB1593636A - Document storage receptacle

Info

Publication number: GB1593636A
Application number: GB548178A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Nederlanden Staat
Current assignee: Nederlanden Staat
Priority date: 1977-02-10
Filing date: 1978-02-10
Publication date: 1981-07-22
Also published as: DE2804043C3; DE2804043B2; NL170118C; NL170118B; DE2804043A1; FR2380206A1; BE863824A; FR2380206B1; NL7701410A; CA1098794A

Description

(54) DOCUMENT STORAGE RECEPTACLE (71) We, DE STAAT DER NEDER LANDEN, te dezen vertegenwoordigd door de Directeur-Generaal der Posterijen, Telegrafie en Telefonie of 12, Kortenaerkade, The Hague, The Netherlands, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The invention relates to a document storage receptacle having an unmovable bottom, in which receptacle a guiding element, resilient in itself and having the shape of a tongue curved into an elongated S, is fixed without being able to pivot, and in which a stack of documents having a predetermined maximum length can be formed under the tongue and the end edge of the tongue rests on the stack.

A document storage receptacle or pigeon-hole of the above-mentioned type is known. However, the tongue in the know* receptacle or pigeon-hole has its second curve only at its farthers end, so that the tongue cannot exert any moment on the document, which has reached the end wall of the pigeon-hole with its leading edge and which, moreover, is still floating. As a consequence this document may hinder the subsequent document, thus causing blockings.

The invention offers a solution for the problem mentioned, because of the fact that from the moment when the leading edge of a document touches the end wall of the receptacle the tongue engages the document at a position which is spaced by at least one fifth of the said maximum length of the document from the end wall. An incoming document more or less pushes the tongue away and comes to a stop against the end wall of the receptacle. Then the tongue lies down on the document and presses at least one fifth of said maximum length of the document against the stack or the bottom of the pigeon-hole. As a consequence the remaining part of the document of the postal article quickly swings down, so that the path is quickly cleared for a subsequent postal article, if any.

The elastic characteristic and the shape of the tongue are of great importance. They can be thus chosen that the tongue exercises a certain slowing-down, guiding and swinging effect on the postal articles, so that a good stacking of them, even if they are of a wide range of sizes and weights, in the pigeonhole is ensured. Good results are attained with a tongue made of synthetic material. In case of a relatively low percentage of mositure, however, light-weight postal articles easily stick to the tongue because of static electricity. It is not sufficient to make the tongue antistatic, because even then the electric charge supplied by the postal articles cannot be carried off quickly enough. A solution for the problem just mentioned is provided thanks to a pivotally mounted U-shaped frame enclosing the tongue, of which frame the end part, in its normal position, rests on the tongue, and the side-parts of which are lower than the first half of the tongue, seen from the entrance of the pigeon-hole. In the case of light-weight postal articles the first half of the tongue is replaced by the side-parts of the frame, whereas the heavier postal articles which are not hindered by static electricity, push away the frame.

The invention will now be elucidated with the help of the drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a front view of some pigeon-holes placed one on top of the other; Fig. 2 shows a top view of a pigeon-hole according to the cross section II-II in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows a cross section, according to the line III-III in Fig. 1, of some pigeonholes placed one on top of the other.

The pigeon-hole 1 has a back wall 2, and entrance wall 3, and end wall 4 and a bottom 5. The pigeon-hole leans backwards: seen in the plane of the entrance wall 3 the back wall 2 forms an angle of 100 with the vertical, whereas the angle formed by the bottom 5 and the horizontal is -20". The postal articles 6 are supplied by the conveyor belt 7 and pass through the entrance wall 3. In the pigeon-hole a postal article touches a frame 8, consisting of a fixed pivot 9, two side-parts 10 and an end part 11. In its normal position the end part 11 rests on the tongue 12, which is fixed to the traverse bar 13, on which the pivot 9 of the frame 8 is mounted as well. The tongue 12 is made of synthetic material, and has more or less the shape of an S. It is resilient and when the pigeon-hole is empty, it rests with one end on the bottom 5.

The tongue has the following functions: 1. it has to slow down the postal article; 2. it has to guide it; 3. it has to lay it down with a swinging movement.

Re 1.: The postal article is slowed down a. when bumping against the frame and in case it has pushed away this frame, when bumping against the tongue; b. when sliding along the frame and the tongue; c. when slipping between the tongue and the bottom or the stack of postal articles.

In the situations a. and b. this slowingdown decreases according as the tongue reaches a higher level in the pigeon-hole, so according as the stack of postal articles has grown higher.

In the situation c. in which the pressure on the bottom or on the stack is obtained by the resilience of the tongue, the slowing-down action increases according as the tongue reaches a higher level in the pigeon-hole.

Re 2.: In order to be able to guide the postal article, that is to prevent it from changing its direction in its plane in an undesirable manner, the tongue must have a certain width and also be in a position exactly parallel to the plane of the incoming postal article.

Re .:The way in which the postal article is laid down with a swinging movement is shown in Fig. 1. The postal article 14 has slipped with its leading edge between the tongue-end and the postal article 6 in consequence of which its direction has changed.

The tongue-end exerts pressure on the postal article 14, mostly after having been pushed up first. As a result of the pressure exerted and the flexural stiffness of the postal article its tail-end quickly swings downwards, thus clearing the path for a subsequent postal article, if any.

The elastic constant of the tongue has to be such that even in the case of a high stack the light-weight postal articles nevertheless just reach the end wall 4. This implies that the first postal articles that arrive in the pigeon-hole may come against the end wall too hard in consequence of which they rebound. For this reason the end wall 4 is padded with a shock-absorbing material 15.

In case of a stream of well-separated postal articles it has proved to be possible to effect a good and quick stacking of postal articles by means of a pigeon-hole designed according to the invention.

The cut-away portion 16 in the bottom 5 facilitates the removal of a stack from the pigeon-hole.

The frame 8 guides light-weight postal articles, such as airmail letters. These postal articles may be statically charged to such an extent that they stick to the tongue. This is prevented by the frame 8. Because of their little weight airmail letters are unable to push away the frame. The contact areas of the side-parts 10 of the frame are so small that the static electricity no longer causes any inconvenience. Beyond the frame the tongue is less smooth, in consequence of which the postal article sticks less easily to the tongue. Thanks to the change in direction of the postal article the vertical speed has increased. Because of the fact that the postal article passes along the frame, its electrostatic charge slightly decreases. The light-weight postal article. is not so much slowed down by the frame as it would have been by the tongue without the frame. For these reasons the light-weight postal article, after having passed along the frame, still has enough energy to lie down, without being hindered by static electricity, on the bottom of the pigeon-hole or on top of the stack of postal articles already formed.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A document storage receptacle including at least a fixed bottom, a back wall and an end wall and arranged to form in said receptacle a stack of documents having a predetermined maximum length, said documents being introduced lengthwise into said receptacle in a plane parallel to said bottom and in a direction parallel to said back wall, said receptacle including a guiding element, resilient in itself and having the shape of a tongue curved into an elongated S, which is fixed without being able to pivot and extends downwardly towards said bottom so that said stack of documents is formed under the tongue with the end edge of said tongue resting on the stack, wherein when the leading edge of a said document touches the end wall of the receptacle the tongue engages the document at a position which is spaced by at least one fifth of said maximum length from said end wall.

2. A document receptacle in accordance with claim 1, wherein a U-shaped frame is pivotally mounted adjacent a fixing point of said tongue and encloses the tongue so that the end part of the frame, in its normal position, rests on the tongue, and the side parts of the frame are lower than the portion of

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. 9, two side-parts 10 and an end part 11. In its normal position the end part 11 rests on the tongue 12, which is fixed to the traverse bar 13, on which the pivot 9 of the frame 8 is mounted as well. The tongue 12 is made of synthetic material, and has more or less the shape of an S. It is resilient and when the pigeon-hole is empty, it rests with one end on the bottom 5. The tongue has the following functions:

1. it has to slow down the postal article;

2. it has to guide it;

3. A document receptacle in accordance with claim 1 and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3. it has to lay it down with a swinging movement.

The elastic constant of the tongue has to be such that even in the case of a high stack the light-weight postal articles nevertheless just reach the end wall

4. This implies that the first postal articles that arrive in the pigeon-hole may come against the end wall too hard in consequence of which they rebound. For this reason the end wall 4 is padded with a shock-absorbing material 15.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A document storage receptacle including at least a fixed bottom, a back wall and an end wall and arranged to form in said receptacle a stack of documents having a predetermined maximum length, said documents being introduced lengthwise into said receptacle in a plane parallel to said bottom and in a direction parallel to said back wall, said receptacle including a guiding element, resilient in itself and having the shape of a tongue curved into an elongated S, which is fixed without being able to pivot and extends downwardly towards said bottom so that said stack of documents is formed under the tongue with the end edge of said tongue resting on the stack, wherein when the leading edge of a said document touches the end wall of the receptacle the tongue engages the document at a position which is spaced by at least one fifth of said maximum length from said end wall.

the tongue to which they are adjacent.