GB241598A - Improvements in sorting or distributing installations and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

241,598. Marchand, J. J. M. L., and Andriessen, J. C. April 28, 1924. Letters, tradesmen's orders, and the like, systems of transmitting and delivering.-Distributing or sorting apparatus for letters, documents, or the like consists of an endless train of carriages 1 and a number of receptacles to which the contents of the carriages are delivered by the lateral tilting of the floor thereof, controls on the carriages being set by the operator and coacting with characteristic stops on the track to determine the particular receptacle to which delivery is made. In the system described, two rows of receptacles 41 arranged in tiers are disposed at the sides and below the upper run of the carriages which carry three sets of depressible pins which respectively determine the row, the tier, and the receptacle in the tier to which the carriage will deliver its contents. The apparatus for determining the row consists of mechanism for tilting the carriage floor 3 to one side or the other, and comprises a pivoted longitudinally disposed shaft 4 which carries the floor 3 and also a pointed cam 5 normally resting with its point on a roller 6 carried by a transversely disposed lever pressed upward by a spring 7. The cam 5 is held in its central position by two oppositely acting detents 8, 9 with upwardly extending fingers 10, 11 and movable axially and rotatably about spindles 12 under the action of springs 13. The fingers are adapted to co-act with stops 28, 29 pivotally mounted on transverse shafts above each pair of tiers of receptacles so as to releases the detents, and two pins 33 are adjustably mounted on the ends of the carriages to engage the depending arms 32 of the stops and lift the stops clear of the fingers 10, 11. One of these control pins is depressed so as to allow the corresponding stop to act and withdraw the corresponding detent 8, 9 whereupon the balance of the cam 5 on the roller is disturbed and the spring 7 acting through the lever and roller turns the shaft 4 on its axis and tips the carriage floor to one side or the other. The mechanism for determining the tier at which the tilting mechanism will operate consists of a bail 30 underlying each pair fo stops 28, 29 and carried by a sleeve with a depending arm 32 at a position along its length characteristic of each tier. The carriage has a number of adjustable pins 33 corresponding to the number of tiers and in positions registering with the depending arms of the bails which rise on contact with corresponding pins 33 and lift the stops 28, 29 into inoperative position. The depression of one of the pins 33 controlling the bail will at the corresponding tier allow the tilting mechanism to operate. The mechanism for delivering the letters to the receptacles in a tier is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The bottom receptacles are open and each of the upper receptacles is closed by a hinged flap 21, 22, 23 normally closed by a spring and connected by links 27 each to a bell-crank lever 24, 25, 26. On the shaft 4 are slidably and non-rotably mounted depending arms 15, 16, 17 with rollers adapted when moved into the proper position to engage the corresponding bell-crank lever and open a receptacle. Three control pins 33 are provided each on being depressed acting through the bell-crank levers 20 and links 19 to adjust an arm into its operative position. Delivery to the bottom receptacle is obtained by leaving the arms in inoperative position. The control pins 33 are mounted in a row in the ends of the carriages, and the pins corresponding to any particular destination are depressed by the operator at the keyboard 43 while the carriages are passing through and after the letters have been placed thereon. The various devices are returned to normal position by apparatus on the return part of the track. In large installations, the receptacles are divided into a number of similar groups and the carriages are further provided with a group selecting mechanism which consists of a guard 34, Fig. 13, pivoted to the body of the carriage and held in a position masking the control pins by a pivoted latch 36 provided with a lateral extension 37 in which are adjustably mounted the group selecting pins 38 coacting with a track abutment 39 in front of each group to swing over the catch and allow the guard to fall. When several dispatching stations are used on the same system, the carriages are arranged in a corresponding number of groups, the carriages of each group having a characteristic formation which prevents the release of a lock on the keyboards other than that with which they are associated. The keyboards may have a letter holding and discharging device comprising two frames 50, 51, Fig. 19, and hook member 52. This frame is released and allowed to fall and deliver its contents into a carriage by the depression of the key which sets the control pins on the carriage.