US2533422A

US2533422A - Card delivery mechanism for sorting machines

Info

Publication number: US2533422A
Application number: US54985A
Authority: US
Inventors: Karl J Braun
Original assignee: CONTROL INSTR CO Inc
Current assignee: CONTROL INSTR CO Inc; CONTROL INSTRUMENT COMPANY Inc
Priority date: 1948-10-16
Filing date: 1948-10-16
Publication date: 1950-12-12
Anticipated expiration: 1967-12-12

Description

Dec. 12, 1950 K. J. BRAUN 2,533,422

CARD DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR SORTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 16, 1948 1 .2 2 0p W 20g 205 INVENTOR. KarlJ Eraun,

HTTQRNEDT ?aienied Bee. 11 3, 1950 CARD DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR SORTING MACHINES Karl J. Braun, Glenbrook, Conn., assignor to Control Instrument Company, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 16, '1948, Serial No. 54,885

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in statistical card sorting machines and has particular reference to a card delivery mechanism therefor, this application being a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 565,108, filed November 25, 1944, now Patent No. 2,454,628, dated November 23, 1948.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism which will insure proper delivery of cards into their destined pockets after they have been analyzed.

Another object resides in providing a card pocket with a deflector which carries a closure member for a next adjacent pocket, and wherein said closure member is opened by an operating element which also acts to engage the leading edge of a card so that the latter, traveling in a direction which is parallel to its surface, will enter its pocket with said edge perpendicular to the direction of movement of the card toward its pocket.

The inventive idea involved is capable of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions, one of which, for purposes of illustration, is shown in the accompanying drawings; but it is to be expressly understood that said drawings are employed merely for the purpose of facilitating the descrip-' tion of the invention as a whole and not to define the limits thereof, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a card sorting machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is afragmentary longitudinal section of the control mechanism whereby cards are deposited into the various pockets of the machine; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary isometric view illustrating the card receiving pockets and the mechanism for controlling the same.

As shown in Fig. 1, cards are stacked in the.

magazine 30 and fed therefrom in a well known manner by a picker device 95 which is reciprocated through the medium of the linkage generally indicated at 99. As a card is fed from the magazine, it passes between feed rollers 62 to a continuously rotatable sensing device 33 in the form of a wheel which analyzes each card while in transit beneath the device. From the sensing position, the cards pass between rollers 64 and are picked up by lugs 59 on two endless conveyors 55, one of which is shown in the drawing, and which extend about two sets of pulleys only one of which is shown at 54 as being driven by a shaft 53. These conveyors carry the cards over the 2 pockets 34 for deposit thereinto in accordance with the analyis of the cards by the device 33.

A card distributor mechanism fully described in said patent, and which is controlled from said sensing device, includes a shaft 90 upon which is mounted a pocket control member I19 in the form of a disc individual to one of the card pockets, there being one of said control members for each pocket of the machine. The various discs I19 are mounted for oscillatory movement on a fixed bearing I through which the shaft 90 extends to provide a common mounting for said discs. Each disc is provided in its periphery with a recess I83 for receiving a stud I 84 projecting from the side of an operating link I85 which connects the disc to its pocket. A coil spring I86 is connected to one end of the link I85 adjacent its disc for yieldably retaining the latter in its normal position and for restoring the same to said position at the conclusion of each card distributing operation. At the end of the link I85 opposite the spring I86, said link is connected by an arm I81 to a rocker shaft I88 journaled in opposed side rails I89, one of which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said shaft extending transversely over its associated pocket. Each shaft I88 is actuated by the linear movement Of its link I85 to open a pocket for the entrance of a card. The rocking of each shaft I88 under control of the distributor mechanism forces downwardly, from normally raised positions, two pressure members 200 in the form of arms fixed on said shaft and each having its free end provided with a projection 20 I.

Each of the pockets 34 is provided with two deflectors 202 secured to the left wall of the pocket in vertical alignment with the rocker arms 200. The horizontally disposed upper end 283 of each deflector acts as a support for the cards as they travel along above the pockets under control of the lugs 59 on the conveyor belts 55, and also has attached to the under surface thereof a resilient, normally horizontal closure member 284 for the next pocket succeeding that one in which the defiector is disposed. Said members 204 also provide additional support for the cards as they are conveyed over the pockets.

The rocker arms 200 of a pocket are depressed, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, when a card destined for said pocket approaches the same. When so depressed, the projections 2! of said arms contact the resilient closures 204 for said pocket and flex the same downwardly to, the position shown. Then the leading edge of the card contacts and passes under the free ends of the arms 200 and the card is thereby stripped, by positive action, from the conveyor belts 55 and diverted downwardly into the upper end of the pocket where said leading edge contacts the inclined portions of the deflectors 202 and the card finally comes to rest on top of the platform 41 in said pocket. In addition to the described functions of the arms 200, it will be apparent that should a card being conveyed along with its surfaces parallel to the direction of movement thereof, as it approaches the pocket for which it is destined, be so positioned that its leading edge is not exactly at right angles to the direction of its travel, the then leading portion of said edge will first engage the projection of one of the arms 200 and be momentarily retarded thereby until the trailing portion of said edge contacts the projection 20! of the other arm 200, whereupon the leading edge will be shifted so that the card will enter its pocket in the correct position in which said leading edge will be perpendicular to the direction of movement of the card.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sorter, a pocket having an entrance, means to move cards toward said pocket with the surfaces of the cards parallel to their direction of movement, a card deflector in said entrance for contact by a card as it is entering said pocket, and means positioned over said pocket and engageable with the leading edge of a card in advance of its contact with said deflector to insure engagement of the card with said deflector with said leading edge of the card in a position perpendicular to its direction of movement.

2. In a sorter, a pocket having an entrance, conveying means including endless belts and spaced card engaging elements thereon combining to move cards toward said pocket with their surfaces parallel to the direction of movement, movable closure means for said entrance, and operating elements for opening said closure means to permit passage of a card through said entrance, said operating elements having means engageable by the leading edge of a card prior to its entry into said Docket for insuring the position of said edge perpendicular to the direction of movement of the card.

3. In a sorter, a pocket having an entrance, conveying means for moving cards toward said pocket with the surfaces of said cards parallel to the direction of their movement, movable closure means for said entrance, rocker arms operable from above said closure means to depress the same to permit passage of a card through said entrance, said arms having means acting to strip the card from said conveying means and to engage the leading edge of said card in advance of said stripping action to insure its entry into said pocket with said edge perpendicular to the direction of movement of the card, and means to operate said rocker arms.

4. In a sorter, a plurality of pockets, a deflector in each pocket for guiding a card into the same and having a portion forming a support for the cards as they pass over said pocket, means to convey each card toward one of said pockets with the surfaces of the card parallel to the direction of movement thereof, said conveying means including elements engageable with the rear edge of the card as it is being moved over said supporting portion, a closure member for each pocket carried by the deflector of a preceding pocket and combining therewith to form additional support for said cards, pressure members operable to engage with said closure members to open his same and positioned, when so oper ated, for contact by the leading edge of a' card to insure its entry into a pocket with said edge perpendicular to the direction of movement of the card, and means to operate said pressure members.

5. In a sorter, a plurality of pockets, a deflector member in each pocket for guiding a card into the same and having a portion forming a support for cards as they pass over said pocket, a flexible closure member for each pocket secured at one end to and forming an extension of said supporting portion of the deflector of a preceding pocket and combining with said portion to form additional support for cards passing over the pocket which said closure member closes, said flexible member having its free end terminating continguous the deflector member of the pocket with which said member is associated, and means to flex the free end of said closure member downwardly to open said pocket for the entry of cards thereinto, said deflector and flexible closure member cooperating to engage opposite surfaces of each card to guide the same into its pocket.

6. In a sorter, a pocket having an entrance, means to move cards toward said pocket, a card deflector in said entrance for contact by a card as it is entering said pocket, and means independent of said moving means and located over said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,572,809 Ratcliff et al Feb. 9, 1926 1,864,075 Lasker June 21, 1932 2,076,700 Bryce Apr. 13, 1937 2,461,418 Ford Feb. 8, 1949