JPS61253535A - Card sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sort cards in a small card shift frequency and with high efficiency by shifting a prescribed number of cards stored in a card storing means to a card holding means, supplying the card complying with the comparison conditions to a certain accepting part of the card storing means for reference to all cards and sorting the cards with which the reference is through among the card storing means. CONSTITUTION:The characters, symbols, etc. written on the cards stored in a card storing means 101 are read by a reading means 104. At the same time, these cards are stored successively in a card holding means 103. Then the prescribed operations are given to those cards held by the means 103. Based on the results of these operations, the cards are sorted to the means 101. The comparison of cards is performed between both card storing means after all cards are sorted and distributed to these card storing means. Then the cards are sent to either one of both card storing means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a card sorting device that extremely efficiently sorts cards in a predetermined order while reducing the number of card storage boxes.

L Prior Art] Conventionally, in this type of device, cards are fed out one by one from a hopper in which a plurality of cards are accommodated and held, the classification code attached to the card is read, and the read code is read. In reality, items are stored in one of a plurality of stackers according to a predetermined classification method. However, such an apparatus has the disadvantage that it must have a number of stackers corresponding to the number of items to be sorted, which makes the apparatus itself large and expensive. In addition, it is impossible to increase the number of stackers without limit, so if the number of classifications is greater than the number of stackers, it is necessary to change the classification method and reclassify several times. In this case, it is troublesome to put the cards once stored in the stacker into the hopper again or change the sorting method, and the disadvantage is that the cards deteriorate quickly due to increased processing time and an increase in the number of times cards are put in and taken out. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In view of the drawbacks of the conventional example described in 1., the present invention is small, inexpensive, and allows classification to be performed extremely efficiently and with a small number of card movements, regardless of the type of classification. Another object of the present invention is to provide a card sorting device that can sort cards without bothering an operator.

Means for Solving Problem E] As a means for solving this problem, for example, the card sorting device of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes at least two card storage means 101, characters attached to the cards, A card sorting device comprising a reading means 104 for reading symbols, etc., and a card running means 102 for sending and running cards, including a card holding means 103 for holding a plurality of cards, and card information held in the card holding means. a storage means 105 for storing, transfers a predetermined number of cards stored in at least one card storage means to the card holding means, inserts cards meeting the comparison conditions into the receiving section of any of the card storage means, All the cards are referenced, and the cards that have been referenced are classified among the card storage means.

"Operation" In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the cards stored in the card storage means 101 are sequentially read by the reading means 104 while reading the characters, symbols, etc. on the cards.
03, predetermined calculations are performed on the plurality of cards held in the card holding means 103, and the cards are sorted into the card storage means 101 based on the calculation results.

After the above operation is performed on all cards and the cards are distributed to a plurality of card storage means, the cards are compared between the card storage means and the card is sent to any of the card storage means. It is.

EXAMPLE 1 Hereinafter, an example according to the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 2 to 5.

First, FIGS. 2 and 3 show mechanical and electrical block diagrams, respectively, of the card sorting device according to this embodiment. To explain the mechanical structure with reference to FIG. 2, the card stackers 1.2 have exactly the same structure, and are provided with a rotating shaft 21 on which a spiral corrugation 22 is integrally attached. The right end of the rotating shaft 21 is rotatably connected to the other end of the spring 20, one end of which is fixed, so that the rotating shaft 21 can rotate once and at the same time be movable in the left-right direction. The pleats 22 and the rotating shaft 21 constitute a card transfer device, and the cards fed into the stacker 1.2 from the card receiving section 28.29 located above the right end of the stacker 1.2 are transferred as the rotating shaft 21 rotates. The cards are transferred to the left and collected at the card delivery portions 25 and 26. In this case, an appropriate pressing force is applied to the cards 27 collected in the card delivery portions 25, 26 via the rotary shaft 21 by the action of the spring 20.

In this way, among the cards 27 in the card sending sections 25 and 26, the one in the leftmost position is always kept in the sending section 25.
．． Since the inner wall of 26 and the delivery rollers 23 and 24 are pressed against each other, each time the delivery rollers 23 and 24 are rotated intermittently, one card is sent from the delivery section 25 and 26 toward the travel paths 9 and 10. It is brought out. A limit switch 19 is provided on the inner wall of the delivery section 26 of the stacker 2 for detecting that no cards 27 are accommodated in the card delivery section 26. This will be discussed later in the explanation of FIG. Further, the configuration of the stacker 1.2 is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration,
Of course, other configurations may be used, but the function must at least be a first-in, first-out function.

The reading sensors 3 and 4 are provided at the delivery section of each stacker, and are used to read characters and symbols attached to the next card to be sent out by rotation of the delivery rollers 23 and 24. The traveling path 9 is moved by the feed roller 23 of the stacker 1.
The cards sent out are sent by the selection section 6 to the card shelf 5 as a card holding means that holds a plurality of cards,
The cards are sequentially distributed to the shelves 5 by the input selection section 17',
After the cards are distributed to all the shelves, the letters and symbols of all the cards on the shelf 5 are compared in terms of size.

For example, when the card with the minimum value is read from the shelf 5 by the output selection section 18, cards are again sent from the stacker 1 to the empty shelf. On the other hand, the card taken out from the shelf 5 is delivered to the running path 11, and is caused to selectively run on any of the running paths 13.about.15 by the 1 selection section 7. As a result, the card from the card shelf 5 is put into the stacker 1 again or into another stacker 2. The running path switching by the 0 selection section 7 is based on the above-mentioned comparison result. In this way, the cards are arranged in stacker 1 or stacker 2, for example, in ascending order, and as all the cards initially set in stacker 1 pass through shelf 5, some cards are arranged in stacker 1 and stacker 2 in ascending order. There will be card groups classified as follows.

Note that so-called error cards that cannot be read by the reading sensor 3 can be stored in the stacker 5 at the bottom of the card shelf 5 by turning all the input selection sections 17 upward and turning them off.
-1 is stored.

Next, the overall operation together with the electrical configuration will be explained with reference to FIG.

When starting the sorting, first, the card sending unit 2 of the stacker 1
5, a plurality of cards to be sorted in advance are appropriately distributed and placed in the state shown in the second figure. In this case, the rearmost position of the distributed cards, that is, the card receiving part 28
The card closest to is considered to be the end card with "E" attached as end data. Although this end card is for classification control, it is not absolutely necessary for classification control.

Now, when the start switch 3° is pressed in this state, the control section 43 causes the cards to be delivered one by one from the stacker 1 onto the travel path 9. This roller is the feed roller 2
This is accomplished by applying a motor drive signal from the control section 43 to the delivery roller 23 (the delivery roller 23 is attached to the rotating shaft of the motor) so as to rotate the motor 3 for only a certain period of time. The cards played out in this way are on the running path 9.
The card is moved toward the card shelf 5 by the upper selection unit 6, but the reading sensor 3 is moved by the card delivery unit 25 of the stacker l.
As a result, characters and symbols attached to the card in advance are read. In this reading, the read signal from the read sensor 3 is amplified and discriminator 31 is used.

This is to be set in the memory 33.

The control unit 43 sends the cards corresponding to the number of shelves of the card #I5 to the travel path 31 by the selection unit 6 while reading the cards corresponding to the number of shelves of the card #I5 by the reading sensor 3, and sends them to the travel path 31 by the selection unit 6.
By sequentially selecting cards from −1 to 1, the cards on the travel path 31 are stored one by one from the top of the card fence 5. In parallel with this, the value of the character symbol read by the reading sensor 3 is determined by the amplification discriminator 31. The data are sequentially stored in the memory 33 through the process.

When cards are set on all the shelves of the card shelf 5, the size relationships of all types of cards are compared and determined, and by this comparison, one card on the card shelf 5 is selected, and the output selection section 1
A card is delivered to the running path 11 by the rotation of one of the delivery rollers 18-1-18-n of 8, and is delivered to the running path 13 or 15 by the selection section 7 and stored in the stacker 1 or 2. To explain this with reference to FIG. 3, the contents of the memory 33 are read out according to the address signal 52 corresponding to the order in which the shelves are stored, and if it is necessary to send the cards from the card shelf 5 to the stacker 1, an AND gate is used. 35 is selected, and the output of the memory 33 is output to the OR gate 39.
When it is necessary to send the data to the stacker 2, the AND gate 37 is selected, and the output of the memory 33 is sent to the D-REG 42 via the OR gate 40. When a card is taken out from the storage shelf 5, the shelf is replenished with cards from the stacker 1.

Such comparison control by the card shelf 5 is performed until the reading sensor 3 detects the card °'E''. At this time, all the cards in the card shelf 5 are transferred to the stacker 1 or the stacker 2. After that, the "E" card is sent out to the running path 9, sent to the running path 50 by the selection unit 6, and passed through the running path 13 by the selection unit 7 to receive the stacker l. It is set in section 28. After this, comparison control is performed based on the reading sensors 3 and 4 of each of the stackers 1 and 2 without using the card shelf 5, and when the reading sensor 3 is reading the card E'', the limit switch 19 is When it is determined from the output that there are no cards in stacker 2,
The control unit 43 transfers the card 'E' to the receiving unit 2 of the stacker l.
8 to complete the classification work.

An example of the above classification method can be easily achieved by, for example, the following classification method. Memory 33°B-REG34,C
-REG41. The contents of D-REG42 (M
-1) ~(M-n).

The operation flowchart shown in FIG. 4 explains this classification method as (B), (C), and (D).

First, in step Sl, move the cards in stacker 1 to card [5].
At the same time, the character/symbol information read by the reading sensor 3 is stored in the memory 33. In step 2, card #I
The card with the minimum number of 15, ie, the minimum number of memories 33, is determined and set to (C). In step S3, it is checked whether the reading sensor 3 has identified the E-Pa card.
”, proceed to step S4, and step S
Add a new stacker l to the area of memory 33 read in step 2.
Set the card information. In step S5, it is checked whether the memory 33 is empty. If the memory 33 is empty, the process proceeds to step 315. If the memory 33 is not empty, the process proceeds to step S6. 1)
The values of ~(M=n) are compared, and if there is a number that is equal to or larger than (C), the process proceeds to step S7, and the minimum value of the memory 33 that satisfies the condition of step S6 is set as (C). , and return to step S3.

When there is no value equal to or greater than (C) in the memory 33 in step S6, the process proceeds to step S8 and the minimum value in the memory 33 is set to (D). This means that the card is set in the stacker 2. In step S9, it is checked whether the reading sensor 3 has determined the card "E". If it has not been determined, in step S10, the stacker Store information from l. “E” in step s9
”, the above operation is repeated without replenishing the memory 33 until the memory 33 is empty.
This is the same as in step S3. Step Sl
Check whether memory 33 is empty with l, and if it is empty, press “E” to bring the card in °°E to the end of stacker 1.
" is set to (C) (step 312). If the memory 33 is not empty in step Sll, the process advances to step S13, and it is determined whether the memory 33 contains a value equal to (D) or larger than (CD). If it is included, the process advances to step 514, where the minimum value among the values in the memory 33 that satisfies the conditions of step 313 is set to CD), and the process returns to step S9.

If there is no value in the memory 33 that satisfies the conditions in step S13, the process returns to step S2 and the above-described operation is performed again.

When it is determined in step 515 that there are no cards in the stacker 2 based on the output from the limit switch 19, the process ends. When the stacker 2 is not empty, the process advances to step S16, and the values of the reading sensor 3 and the reading sensor 4,
That is, 'the value of the final address of the memory 33 and (B)
are compared (at this time, the address signal 52 is fixed at n), and the smaller one is set to (C) (step S16), and in step 517, either memory CM-n) or (B) is set. It is checked whether the number is equal to or greater than (C), and if there is a number that satisfies the condition, the value is set to (C) in step 518. Step S19
It is then checked whether "E" is detected by the reading sensor 3. If not, the process proceeds to step 517; if it is detected, the process proceeds to step S20, where "E" is set to (C) and the process returns to step 315.

If there is no number that satisfies the condition in step S17, the process proceeds to step 521, and the smaller of memory (M-n) or (B) is set to (D). That is, if either of the values in the memory (M-n) or CB) set in the receiving section 29 of the stacker 2 is equal to (D) or larger than (D) in step S22, the process is performed in step S23. Go to and set the appropriate value in CD). On the other hand, if the conditions are not satisfied, the process returns to step S16.

In step S24, which performs the same operation as described above, it is checked whether "E" is detected by the reading sensor 3. If "E" is not detected, the process returns to step 522, and if it is detected, the process proceeds to step 520.

After step 316, cards are exchanged between the stacker 1 and the stacker 2, so the 1 selection section 6
The cards are controlled so that they pass along the travel path 50. Similarly, the selection section 7 is controlled depending on whether it is set to (C) or (D).

5A to 5D show how the contents of the stacker 1 change in the card shelf 5 and the stacker 2 according to the above classification method.

Figure 5 (A) shows the state when cards are first placed in the stacker l, and Figure 5 CB) shows the case where the card shelf 5 has three shelves, and 2, 5.8 are set at first. The smallest number, 2, is sent to the receiving section 28 of the stacker 1, and the next number 7 is set to 2 on the card shelf 5, and the numbers on the card shelf 5 are sent to the stacker in the order of 5, 7, and 8. 1, and the remaining 1.3, 4, and 6.9 are set in the stacker 2 via the card shelf 5. after that,
selectively arranged between stacker 1 and stacker 2;
As shown in Figure (C), the stacker 1 is rearranged and stocked in order from the smallest number, and the stacker 2 is stocked in
) is empty.

In the present invention, it is possible to use a magnetic ink character reading section or other optical character reading section as a reading sensor, and it is clear that any device that can read codes can be used. Furthermore, although the present invention has been explained using an example in which the numbers are simply rearranged, it is possible to rearrange other codes, numbers, etc. in a predetermined order using the apparatus of the present invention.

In addition, in the above explanation, the case where the number of stackers is 2 bonds and the number of card machine tanks is 3 has been explained, but it will be readily understood by a person skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to this. It will be understood that the configurations of the card running unit, the input selection unit, and the output selection unit of the card machine are not limited to those in this embodiment, and may also be realized by, for example, blowing or suctioning with air. Furthermore, although the size of the cards is not particularly stipulated, the size of the cards does not have to be the same as long as the characters attached to the cards can be read by a reading sensor.

Effects of the Invention J As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a card sorting device that is extremely small and inexpensive, requires fewer card transfers, and automates the conversion and sorting of cards, etc. in a highly efficient manner. effective.

The present invention relates to the classification of checks and bills in banks, etc.

Furthermore, it provides an extremely effective device in the fields of electronic military punch card classification, magnetic ledger classification, magnetic card classification, OCR card classification, and the like.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a mechanical block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. wS3 is an electrical block diagram of an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control section, and Fig. 5 (
A) to (D) are diagrams showing an example of classification in this embodiment. In the figure, 1.2... Stacker, 3, 4... Reading sensor, 5... Card machine, 6, 7.8... Selection section, 17.
... Input selection section, 18... Output selection section, 19... Limit switch, 23.24... Delivery roller, 27.
...Card, 33...Memory, 34,41.42...
・Register, 35-38...And gate, 39.4
0...OR gate, 43...Control unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A card that holds a plurality of cards in a card sorting device that includes at least two card storage means, a reading means that reads characters, symbols, etc. attached to the cards, and a card running means that sends out and runs the cards. holding means;
storage means for storing card information held in the card holding means, the storage means for transferring a predetermined number of cards stored in at least one card storage means to the card holding means, and selecting any card that meets the comparison conditions. A card sorting device characterized in that the card is inserted into a receiving part of a card storage means, the cards are referred to, and the cards that have been referenced are sorted between each card storage means. (2) Identification information for classifying the next card to be sent out in the sending section of each card storage means, identification information for classifying the card closest to the card receiving section of each card storage means, and storage. 2. A card sorting device according to claim 1, wherein said card sorting device compares said information with information stored in said means. (3) When a card is sent out from the card holding means, the card is sent out from a predetermined card storage means to an empty part of the card holding means, and the above operation is continued until the card is distributed to at least one card storage means. The card sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the card sorting device is arranged to repeat. (4) A card that holds a plurality of cards in a card sorting device that includes at least two card storage means, a reading means that reads characters, symbols, etc. attached to the cards, and a card running means that sends out and runs the cards. holding means;
storage means for storing card information held in the card holding means, the card holding means is connected to at least one card storage means in which cards are stored, and a predetermined number of cards are first placed in the card holding means. and performing a comparison between the group of cards held in the card holding means and a card to be next transferred to the card holding means;
A card sorting device characterized in that a card meeting a comparison condition is put into a receiving section of one of the card storage means, and the cards are sorted between the card holding means and the card storage means in advance.