US2857825A

US2857825A - Method of and apparatus for conditioning business machine cards and the like

Info

Publication number: US2857825A
Application number: US484052A
Authority: US
Inventors: James K Duncan; Ernest H Doerner; William H Dreyer
Original assignee: Cummins Chicago Corp
Current assignee: Cummins Chicago Corp
Priority date: 1955-01-25
Filing date: 1955-01-25
Publication date: 1958-10-28
Anticipated expiration: 1975-10-28
Also published as: FR1145416A; DE1058291B; GB812753A

Description

Oct. 28, 1958 J K DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 v 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ina/$17 502"; Jaime; 1 puma/z 627L952? flake rm waftfw H D e yer r 60% Ties/ 5 Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-meet 2 Inc/@3221; James K D u no an 61-12652 4/ D0 e uze CUdfZca/n H Dra /ey- (fies...

Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 25, 1955 frat/ems mes K 0mm JZQ ZH poerzzey- 79.2 4 a-frce v5 (ac-2& are

Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ET AL 2,857,825

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 IInlll a0 %,WM* W Y @Zfo niils Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Jan. 25, 1955 JraJeraZavg you-rue; K Dara/cam 677-126 2? H Paar-rue? (/JdzfZfd/am H Bayer 4, ZM/Wn w Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ET AL $857,825

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE 9 Sheets-Sheet '7 Fi led Jan. 25, 1955 fradezzibrs pafizefi K ure/cam D2" eye? W 1* W worm zls cj'rrcesi A paeyrze 2' wcfzfaam 6% f Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 cry-m y;

Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825

. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSI S MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 747 I f zz/3%,:

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United States METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDI- TIQNING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LHKE Application January 25, 1955, Serial No. 484,052

18 Claims. (Cl. 92-68) The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for conditioning cards used in business machines.

The successful use of sorting and tabulating machines of the type using punched cards depends upon such cards being maintained in good physical condition. Experience has shown that when punched cards pass through the hands of the general public in the form of checks or the like, a large proportion become sufficiently worn or damaged as to fail to feed properly and to register accurately in the business machines in which they are subsequently processed. The mutilation may take various forms, varying from a dog-cared condition to severe crumpling, creasing, spindling and tearing. in addition, a card may have foreign objects attached which prevent it from operating as intended, such as staples, gummed tape or the like.

It is accordingly the object of the present invention to provide a method of and apparatus for restoring to usable condition damaged and mutilated business machine cards or the like. It is another object to provide a procedure for reconditioning mutilated business machine cards which is capable of restoring the cards to their original crisp, flat condition and to the original thickness and dimensional outline.

It is another object to provide a method of renewing business machine cards which is purely mechanical and which does not require the use of any moisture, chemicals or additives whatsoever. It is a related object to provide a restoring method and apparatus which is extremely rapid, being capable of treating cards individually at a speed on the order of 300eards per minute.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for conditioning business machine cards which is not only capable of restoring a worn or mutilated card to a flat condition but which does not have any harmful effect on new cards, and which is therefore well adapted for treating all incoming cards regardless of condition and as an inexpensive preliminary step to the sorting and tabulating procedures to which the cards are normally subjected.

It is still another object to provide an apparatus for conditioning business machine cards by mechanical treatment of the card body but which includes means for automatically diverting, for manual attention, any cards carrying foreign objects, such as staples, pieces of gummed tape, or the like prior to treatment.

it is still a further object to provide a device for conditioning business machine cards which is quiet in operation, attractive in appearance, and well suited for use in a business oifice.

'It is a further object to provide an apparatus for renewing business machine cards which is simple and durable in construction, which is easy to operate and to maintain, and which is capable of treating any make or size of card.

'Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon reading the attached description and upon reference to the drawings, in which:

atent O Figure 1 is an elevation of the card-conditioning device with the cover and frame plate removed to expose the roller arrangement and driving mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the device shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view of the gauging unit looking along the line 6-6 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a top view of the knurling and ironing unit.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the unit looking along the line 8-8 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is another side view'looking along the line 9-9 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic perspective showing the knurling and ironing rollers acting upon a business machine card.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken through the interengaging teeth of the knurling rollers.

Fig. 12 is a diagram similar to Fig. 11, but showing the effect upon a business machine card.

Fig. 13 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary section of a treated card after the same has passed through the ironing rollers.

Fig. 14 shows an alternate arrangement of knurling rollers in which the knurling is applied to the card in ribbonlike areas with ironing taking place between the steps.

Fig.15 is a schematic diagram of the gauging and deflecting arrangement.

Fig. 16 is a side view of a modified knurling and ironing unit looking along the line 16-16 in Fig. 17.

Fig. 17 is a top view of the knurling and ironing unit.

Fig. 18'is an end view of the unit shown in Figs. 16 and 17.

Fig. 19 is a section taken along the line 19-19 in- Fig. 16.

Fig. 20 is a diagrammatic section of the driving arrangement as viewed along the line 20-20 in Fig. 17.

Fig. 20a is a diagram illustrating the straight path of adjustment of the knurling and ironing rollers.

Fig. 21 is a diagrammatic perspective showing the modified knurling and ironing rollers acting upon the business machine card.

Fig. 22 is a greatly enlarged perspective showing the structure of the teeth used on the modified knurling rollers.

Figs. 23 and 24 are fragmentary sections taken axially and transversely on one of the knurling rollers and corresponding to the section lines 23-23 and 24-24 in Fig. 21.

Fig. 25 is a fragmentary section taken along the lines 25-25 in Fig. 21.

Fig. 26 is a fragmentary section taken along the lines 26-26 in Fig. 21.

Fig. 27 is an enlarged section'or diagram showing the effect of the modified knurling rollers.

Figs. 28 and 29 are corresponding sections showing the card after the first and second ironing operations, respectively.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that we do not intend to limit the invention to such embodiment but intend to cover all modifications and alternative constructions and uses falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Turning now to the drawings, the card conditioning device indicated at 20 is generally rectangular in shape, having a frame which includes a pair of vertical mounting

plates

21, 22 enclosed by protective covers 23, 24 which protect the mechanism and provide a pleasing and uncluttered appearance. Mounted at the left hand or input end of the device (Figs. 1 and 2) is a feeder 25 in which the cards to be treated are stacked for automatic feeding. At the right hand or output end a delivery hopper 26 is provided in which the treated cards are stacked for convenient removal. In use a stack of cards, indicated at 30, is placed in the feeder 25, the cards being supported on an inclined feed plate 31. For the purpose of urging the cards toward the feeder mechanism, a pressure plate unit 33 is provided having a slidable frame 34 and pres sure plate 35, the frame 34 being adapted to ride in slots 36 formed in a slide plate 37.

Mounted at the bottom of the feeder 25 is an intermittent feeding mechanism 40. Such mechanism includes a rubber feed roller 41 rotatably mounted at the end of a rocking lever 42 and normally biased toward the stack of cards by a spring 43. For the purpose of rotating the feed roller 41 and for driving the other rotating elements in the card conditioning device, a motor is provided. Included in the driving train from the motor 50 is a speed reduction pulley 51, mounted on a cross shaft 52 having an output gear 53. The latter gear meshes with a gear 54 rigidly coupled to a gear 55. The gear 54 drives a gear 56 having a close coupled cam or eccentric 57, the purpose of which will shortly be made clear. The gear 56 also serves to drive a gear 58 on a cross shaft 59. Meshing with the gear 58 is a planetary gear 60 which is coupled to the feed roller 41 by means of an overrunning clutch 61. For the details of the above driving train, interconnecting the motor 50 and feed roller, reference is made to the sectional views, Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

Means are further provided for oscillating the feed roller lever 42 to move the feed roller into and out of engagement with the lowermost card in the stack 30. Such action is provided by a cam follower roller 62 which is located at the lower end of the lever 42 and which rides against the cam 57. The eccentricity of the cam 57 is relatively small so that the range of movement of the feed roller 41 is limited to approximately inch. The rate of oscillation or feed is preferably on the order of 300 cards per minute at a feed roller speed of about 155 feet per minute.

Centered between the

frame plates

21, 22 at the output of the feed mechanism is a pull roller and gauge unit 70. The latter includes a pair of pull rollers 71, 72, the roller 71 being driven from gear 54 via a gear 71a at the rate of about 330 feet per minute. speed and employing an oscillating rate of about 300 oscillations per minute, standard business machine cards will be spaced about four and onehalf inches apart. The delivery speed may be increased or decreased as desired simply by changing the relative diameters of the motor I drive pulleys and without making any other adjustments.

After leaving the pull rollers 71, 72 the card is passed between gauging

rollers

73, 74, driven by gears 73a, 74a, from the gear 54 referred to above (Fig. 4). The roller 74 is mounted in the unit for limited bodily movement thereby permitting it to yield when engaged by a card having an attached staple, piece of gummed tape or the like. For this purpose the roller 74 is journaled in a subframe 75 which is downwardly biased by a spring 75a and pivoted on an eccentric axis 76 (Fig. 6). Coupled to the subframe 75 is an arm 77 which engages a screw 78 in a multiplying lever 79. For the purpose of making electrical contact upon arrival of a card of greater than standard thickness, a switch 80 is provided having contacts 81, 82, the contact 82 being positionable on a manually operated micrometer screw 83. The biased roller does not, however, yield where the card is simply buckled or otherwise deformed out of its normal plane. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, this is due to the fact that the sensing At this I rollers are in contact with only a limited area of the card and the spring pressure is, therefore, sufiicient to temporarily remove the buckling or other deformation over such limited area. The significance of this is that the sensing rollers cause a card to be rejected only where the actual thickness has been increased by some foreign object or by folding a portion of the card upon itself, and cards which do not have an increase in actual thickness are thus free to pass into the knurling and ironing rollers where the buckling and other deformation is removed.

The circuit associated with the electrical contacts will be discussed at a later point. It will suffice for the present to say that closure of the contacts results in the diversion of the nonstandard cards into a special hopper.

For transporting the cards horizontally within the card conditioning device, a transport roller unit is provided having rollers 9192, 93-94 and 95-96. Each set of rollers has means for varying the bearing pressure and the rollers are rubber-faced so that the cards are transported without slippage through the roller unit to the output end. For the purpose of driving the rollers 91, 93, gears 91a, 93a thereon mesh with a gear 97, the latter being driven by the gear 53 previously referred to. The roller 95 has a similar gear 950, which is coupled to the gear 93a via an idler gear 98. As the result of all of the mechanism described above, cards are produced at the output of the transport roller unit 90 in regular succession for feeding into the knurling unit, to be described in the paragraphs which follow.

In accordance with the present invention, a novel card conditioning means is provided in the form of a knurling and ironing unit having

knurling rollers

101, 102 and ironing

rollers

103, 104. Briefly stated, the knurling rollers are constructed and arranged to deform the card locally at closely spaced points over an extended area so as to produce a distributed, non-directional strain pattern which serves to remove pre-existing strain resulting from crushing, creasing or the like. The ironing rollers are provided for substantially removing the deformation imparted by the knurling rollers and for restoring the card to its original thickness when new. The nature of the surfaces on the two knurling rollers and the adjustment and operation thereof will be described in detail at a later point.

Attention will first be directed toward the specific construction of the supporting and driving means in the wunit 100 as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. The unit 100 includes the

side plates

111, 112 which are rigidly secured to the main frame plates by suitable spacers. The

lowermost rollers

101, 103 are journaled in the plates 11], 112 in suitable antifriction bearings. Mounted at the ends of the rollers are gears 101a and 103a, respectively, the latter being interconnected by a central gear 113 which is rigidly connected to a cross shaft 114. Secured to the opposite end of the cross shaft 114 is a drive gear 115 which in turn meshes with a gear 116 which turns idly on a pivot shaft 117. The gear 116 serves to drive the two

upper rollers

102, 104 by means of planetary drive gears 102a, 1040 respectively coupled thereto.

For the purpose of varying the position of the upper knurling roller 192 relative to the lower knurling roller, the upper knurling roller is mounted in a pair of

arms

121, 122 which are pivoted to the pivot shaft 117. The position of the

arms

121, 122 is established by adjustable stops. The stops in the present instance are formed by

bolts

125, 126 anchored in the side plates and having adjusting

nuts

127, 128. The arms are biased against the stops by means of springs 129, 130 retained by springadjusting

nuts

131, 132. The springs 129, 130 are preferably quite stiff so that the knurling rollers are positively set with respect to one another and with yielding taking place only under very exceptional circumstances.

A similar arrangement is used for positioning the irongames ing roller 104 with respect to the roller 103. Thus, the ironing roller 104 is mounted in a pair of

arms

141, 142 pivoted to the shaft 117 and having adjustable stops at their outer ends.

Bolts

145, 146 are provided having adjusting

nuts

147, 148, the arms being kept in seated position on the nuts by means of

springs

149, 150 having spring-adjusting

nuts

151, 152. The amount of ironing pressure may be readily predetermined by adjusting the normal spacing between the ironing rollers, and by adjusting the amount of spring pressure exerted by the

springs

149, 150. i

It will be apparent that the above arrangement used in the knurling and ironing unit 100 enables the adjustment of both sets of rollers without afiecting the normal driving of the upper rollers via the planetary gears 102a, 104a. Power for driving purposes is led in through spur gear 155, which is coupled to the gear 95a associated with the roller 95 in the transport roller unit 90.

Attention may next be given to the arrangement and form of the upraised knurling points shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12. Preferably, the points are arranged in a twodimensional pattern, with the points on one of the rollers in point-to-valley, or meshing, engagement with the points on the other. When the pattern is uniform, i. e., when the axial and peripheral spacing is constant, meshing may be achieved by offsetting the rollers both axially and peripherally by a distance equal to one-half of the unit spacing. The peripheral offset may be established and permanently maintained simply by phasing the rollers properly with respect to the gears which interconnect them.

We have further found it desirable to aline the points in straight axial and peripheral rows. This may be easily accomplished by cutting V-shaped grooves in a blank roller both axially and at right angles thereto. With regard to the peripheral grooves, they may be made in multiple and free of any pitch, but we have found that it is more economical to turn a groove in the form of a continuous thread on a lathe. When this is done, it is necessary to use threads of opposite hand on the two rollers in order to maintain the desired point-to-valley relationship.

Regardless of the procedure used for forming the grooves, the two knurling rollers should be set sufiiciently close together so that the points are lined or overlapped slightly with the result that minute, closely spaced areas are pushed slightly out of the plane of the card in opposite directions, thereby imparting to the card a uniform pattern of strain.

In order more fully to understand the preferred arrangement of knurling points, it is desirable to consider an arrangement which has been found to work satisfactorily with standard punch cards used in a business machine and commonly referred as as IBM cards. Such cards are made of durable paper stock having a thickness t of approximately 0.0075 inch and a width of 3% inches. Such cards are supplied in several lengths, for example, an 80-column card of 7% inches and a 51-column card, also referred to as a money order card having a length a 4% inches. The rollers which We have employed in treating such cards have a diameter of 1% inches. The points are pyramidal in form, having an included angle a (Fig. 11) of approximately 90 and a point-to-point distance b of approximately 4 inch. The height 0 of the points is determined by the above two dimensions and is approximately 0.031 inch. The points are properly flatted by wire brushing or the like to a radius of about 0.005 inch. The two knurling rollers are adjusted with respect to one another to produce an overlap d within the range of about 0.002 to 0.010 inch. In general, using the arrangement shown in Figs. 10-12, an overlap should be used which is about midway between the two extremes. It will, of course, be recognized that the amount of overlap depends upon the degree to which the points have been fiatted, and where the points are relatively sharp a greater amount of overlap may be tolerated. Y

6 Our studies have shown that where a card is passed through the knurling rollers described above, it is subjected to a pattern of stress which includes both tension and compression, each carried beyond the elastic limit. The result is both localized bending and localized embossment of the card structure. This is brought out diagrammatically in Fig. 12, which shows the effect of the knurling rollers upon a given longitudinal section of a card. Here it will be noted that minute portions of the card are pushed slightly out of the plane of the card so that the overall thickness t is increased by about 15 to 20%, which, in the case of a standard business card corresponds to an overall thickness of 0.009 inch.

Immediately after leaving the knurling rollers a card is passed to the ironing rollers which have a normal spacing which is somewhat less than the desired thickness of the finished product. In the case of a standard business machine card, it is found that a clearance between the rollers of 0.002 inch causes the deformation imparted by the knurling rollers to be largely removed and the overall thickness of the card restored to the nominal value of 0.0075 inch. While the ironing

rollers

103, 104 may, if desired, be smooth, we have found it desirable to roughen the entire surface of the rollers, for example, by sandblasting or fine knurling to insure that the leading edges of the cards are positively gripped so that the cards are passed through without slippage or delay. After the card leaves the ironing rollers, it is found that a slight overall pattern of embossment remains. This is shown in greatly enlarged section in Fig. 13. Such embossment is, however, barely visible and is not at all harmful to the structural integrity of the card or its ability to operate satisfactorily in business machines.

A card treated in accordance with the above procedure not only lies perfectly flat, an important feature where the card'is to be used in edge-type feeding devices, but has the original thickness, outline dimensions and shape in spite of the crumpling, spindling, creasing or other abuse to which the card may have been subjected. Furthermore, the card has the restored snap and crispness which distinguishes a new card. The ability of the present device to maintain the original length and Width should be particularly noted since the electrical contacts with which the card is used demand extremely accurate registration. It might be assumed, based upon Figs. 11 and 12, that the length and width of the card would tend to shorten because of the corrugating action of the points. However, this is found not to be the case and in a practical setup the overall length, for example, is found to be reduced by only tbout 0.003 inch, i. e., less than .05% of the card length, which is well within the range of tolerance.

The unusual conditioning efiect which is brought about by the above procedure, even in the face of sharp creasing and the like, is believed due to the fact that the knurling rollers set up a strain pattern between closely spaced points, i. e., points which are spaced from one another not more than about ten times the card thickness. This intentional and overall deformation is superimposed upon and takes the place of the strains resulting from crumpling, creasing and the like. All strains in the card are reduced, so to speak, to the same common denominator. By the subsequent ironing operation the intentional strains are uniformly removed and the card is in condition for efiicient feeding in all subsequent machine operations.

While we prefer to apply an overall knurling pattern to a card progressively from one end of the card to the other, the knurling pattern may, if desired, be applied only to selected longitudinal portions of the card at a time, with or without ironing between the separate applications. An example of this is shown in Fig. 14 in which each of the rollers indicates a cooperating pair. In the first pair of knurling rollers, indicated at 151, the pattern of knurling points is in the form of three ribbons 151a, HM and 151s. Immediately after the knurling operation the card passes between a pair of ironing rollers indicated at 152, where the strains induced by the first knurling are removed. Thereupon, the card passes into a second pair of knurling rollers 153 having knurled portions 153a, 153b, the latter portions registering with the unknurled portions of the card and serving to complete the overall knurling pattern. As a final step, the card passes between ironing rollers 154 and the final result is similar to that obtained from the ironing rollers 123, 124 in the embodiment previously discussed. In addition to overall treatment, our invention also contemplates treating only the lateral edges of the cards as at 151a, 1510. In this connection it is found that knurling the edges only tends to rigidify to a surprising degree the entire card.

Having understood the knurling and ironing operation, attention may next be given to the gauging and deflecting arrangement which is shown schematically in Fig. 15. Here it will be noted that the gauging contacts 81, 82 are connected in series with a relay 160 having a set of normally open contacts 161. Such contacts are used to control the energization of a solenoid 162 having a plunger 163. The plunger is coupled to a card deflector or vane 164 having an operating arm 165 so that when the solenoid is actuated the deflector tilts upwardly about a shaft 166 and into the path of movement of the oncoming cards. Thus, when a card having a nonstandard thickness, caused, for example, by a staple, piece of gummed tape or the like, is fed into the device, the contacts 81, 82 in the gauging unit 70 are closed, thus operating the relay 160 and the solenoid 162. The particular card is, as a result, directed downwardly into a lower hopper 167 (Fig. 1), the deflector being restored to its horizontal position by a return spring 168. After a plurality of such cards are collected in the hopper, they are removed and the ofiending staple or tape is removed by hand after which the cards may be fed through the conditioning machine in the usual fashion. It will be understood that the pickup and dropout characteristics of the relay 160 and solenoid 162 should be tailored to insure that the proper card is deflected without affecting the cards which precede and follow a defective one. For maximum reliability it may be found desirable to provide a more elaborate control circuit to accomplish the above. It will suffice to say to one skilled in the art that the relay 160 may be provided with a lock-in circuit for maintaining it closed until opened by arrival of a card at the deflector. Regardless of the specific circuit which may be used, the manual adjustment combined with the distance multiplicatien feature in the present device enables the gauging contacts to be adjusted with a high degree of precision.

If desired, a push button may be provided as at 170 in Fig. to intentionally pass a card which may fail to pass because of pinholes or the like.

Alternative construction While the knurling and ironing unit described above has been found to operate satisfactorily, our invention is not limited thereto, but would include other equivalent and improved arrangements, for example, that shown in Figs. 16-21, inclusive. Briefly stated, this alternative embodiment is characterized by specially surfaced ironing rollers, a modified tooth structure on the knurling rollers together with novel means for mounting and adjusting the rollers. It will be understood that the knurling and ironing unit shown in Figs. 16-2] may be employed in the same environment as shown in Fig. 1, it being sufiicient to elongate the casing two or three inches in order to accommodate a second pair of ironing rollers. The details of construction of the knurling and ironing unit are set forth in Figs. 16-20, and Fig. 21 is a diagrammatic perspective which is intended to bring out the relationship of the rollers.

The modified knurling and ironing unit indicated at includes a pair of side frames 181, 182. The latter are rigidly secured to the

frame plates

21, 22 by rigid spacers 183-186. The side frames 181, 182 have movable portions 181a, 182a, which are rigidly interconnected by

cross members

191, 192, and hinged along a longitudinal axis at pivots 193, 194, the pivots being mounted on the

spacers

184, 186. Such arrangement enables the upper portion of the unit to be swung upwardly into the dotted position (Fig. 18), which is desirable in order to remove obstructions and to inspect and service the rollers. Normally, however, the upper portion of the unit is securely clamped in a seated position by means of hold-down bolts or

shackles

195, 196. Taking the bolt by way of example (Fig. 19), it will be noted that it includes a pair of stop nuts 197, as well as a clamping nut 198 which engages an extension on the cross member 191, as shown. At its lower end, the bolt 195 has a pivot 199 which enables it to be swung laterally into an out-of-theway position after the clamping nut 198 has been loosened.

As shown in Fig. 21, the unit includes a pair of

knurling rollers

201, 202, a first pair of ironing

rollers

203, 204, and a second pair of ironing

rollers

205, 206. Having understood the frame construction, attention may next be given to the means for mounting and driving the rollers. The

lower rollers

201, 203, 205, are journaled in the lower portion of the frame, while the

upper rollers

202, 204 and 206 are journaled in the upwardly swingable portion. Each of the rollers in the upper portion of the frame is mounted in a pair of vertically slidable blocks pressed downwardly by means of springs and having manually adjustable stops to limit the downward movement and to define the normal or operating position of the rollers. Taking the roller 202 by way example, the ends thereof are journaled in blocks 202a, 202b. Pressing downwardly on the blocks are springs 202e, 202d. For the purpose of taking up the reaction pressure of the springs,

cap members

207, 208 are provided which are anchored in place by suitable machine screws.

In order to limit the downward movement of the blocks 202a, 202b, adjusting screws 202 202g are used. Such adjusting screws are received in apertures provided in the

cap members

207, 208, as shown in Fig. 16, and the lower ends of the screws are in threaded engagement with the blocks 202a, 2021). For adjustably bottoming the screws, each includes a nut 20211 and 2021', respectively. It will be apparent that by adjusting the position of the nuts 20211, 2021', the spacing of the roller 202 relative to its companion roller may be adjusted with precision. The springs 202e, 202d are made sufficiently strong so that the upper roller 202 does not yield when engaged by a card. Corresponding means are provided for adjusting the

upper ironing rollers

204, 206, corresponding parts being indicated by corresponding subscripts.

For the purpose of driving all of the rollers in unison, a gear train is provided, as shown in Figs. 16 and 20. Torque is derived from a driving gear 155, which is rotated by the gear train described in the preceding embodiment, and which in turn drives a gear 210 mounted on knurling roller 201. At the opposite end of the knurling roller 201 is a gear 211 which serves, by means of idler gears, to drive gears 212-206, inclusive, on the remaining rollers. The idler gears are indicated by the numerals 221-224, inclusive. It will be apparent that since all of the gears are closely meshed together (Fig. 20), they are locked for rotation in unison and serve to rotate all of the rollers 201-206 at precisely the same speed.

it is one of the features of the modified construction that straight-line adjustment movement of the upper rollers is employed, rather than adjusting the rollers about a curved or planetary path of movement. Referring to the diagram, Fig. 20a, 230 indicates the theoretically desired path of adjustment of the roller 202 about the idler gear 222, while the line 231 indicates the straightline path of movement actually provided. It will be seen that the straight-line path of movement is coincident over a limited range 232, the range 232 being greatly in excess of the range of adjustment normally required in practice. The device is preferably designed so that the axis of the roller 202 is in alinement with the axis of the idler gear 222 when the roller 202 is properly set. Any minute departures from the ideal condition which occur during the course of subsequent adjustment are readily absorbed by slightrelative movement of the gear teeth. It is found in practice that a device constructed as shown may be operated for long periods of time without noise and without noticeable wear.

If desired, the teeth formed on

theknurling rollers

201, 202 may correspond to the teeth shown in detail in Figs. 11 and 12. We have found, however, that it is desirable to employ a modified tooth construction, and in accordance with one of the more detailed features of the invention, teeth are provided on the

rollers

201, 202 having flats which are longer in the peripheral direction than in the axial direction, as shown in Figs. 22-24. The center-to-center distance b may be about the same as previously described,'i. e., on the order of 4 inch, and the angle a may be approximately 90. Flats are, however, provided having a length e of approximately 0.022 inch and a width 1 which is substantially less than this. Just as in the previous embodiment, the teeth on the opposed

rollers

201, 202 are offset from one another pointto-valley. It is found that the modified tooth structure is particularly advantageous in treating cards which have been transversely creased, as frequently occurs when such cards are carried in pocket or wallet. Normally, a sharp crease is only a few thousandths of an inch in width. Thus, when passing a creased card endwise through the knurling rollers, the crease will be spanned by at least a portion of the longitudinally extending flats, and it is found that this action tends to rigidify the creased area to a greater extent than where symmetrical points are used.

Turning next to the ironing rollers, it is one of the aspects of the present invention that the rollers are provided with machined teeth, as shown in Fig. 21, and the enlarged sections, Figs. 25 and 26. This is to be contrasted with the roughened or sandblasted surface used on the ironing rollers in the preceding embodiment. Preferably, the teeth on the first pair of ironing

rollers

203, 204 are arranged in alined rows just as in the case of the knurling rollers, with an angle g of 90 and a point-topoint distance h of approximately 0.040 inch. Thetips of the teeth on the two rollers clear with a spacing of approximately 0.0035 inch and no effort need be made to establish any particular phasing between the teeth on the two rollers. In the case of the final set of ironing

rollers

205, 206, the same general tooth arrangement is used, but the teeth are approximately half the size, having a point-to-point spacing of 0.020 inch. The clearance between opposed teeth is preferably about the same as in the preceding set of ironing rollers, namely, 0.0035 inch. It will, of course, be understood that the numerical values given above are to be considered as simply representative, and that departures may be made in the spacing or shape of the teeth without departing from the present invention.

Our studies show that a card passed through the three sets of rollers undergoes a transformation, as indicated in Figs. 27, 28 and 29. A card having a nominal thickness of 0.0075 inch upon being passed between the two

knurling rollers

201, 202 set for a negligible amount of overlap, tends to assume a cross section indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 27, with

adjacent portions

235, 236, 237 of the card being punched or offset in opposite directions, as indicated. As a result of the knurling operation, the thickness of the card increases to approximately 0.012 inch. The card is immediately thereafter passed between the ironing

rollers

203, 204 having a clearance on the order of 0.0035 inch between the opposed teeth. As a result of the compressive action between the opposed teeth, the adjacent areas 235-237 of the card which have been offset with respect to one another, tend to be compressed back into the plane of the card and the overall thickness of the card is reduced, as a result of the first ironing operation, to approximately 0.010 inch. Because of the high unit forces existing at the points of engagement of the teeth, a shallow embossment of the tooth pattern is left on the surface of the card, as indicated at 238, 239. When the card is passed through the

final ironing rollers

205, 206, the offset portions of the card are further compressed, hereby restoring the card to an overall thickness of 0.0075 inch and resulting in a superimposed fine pattern of embossment, as shown in Fig. 29. p

The use of the tooth on the ironing rollers is found to have a number of worthwhile advantages which may not be at first apparent. First of all, the teeth are relatively sharp so that the leading edge of the card is gripped immediately and positively. The card is thus accepted by and passed between the ironing rollers without any delay whatsoever. While it is true that slightly toughening the surface of a smooth roller, as by sandblasting, provides a satisfactory grip, it is believed that the machined teeth are. preferable since the gripping action is largely independent of .wear and the accumulation of dirt and ink. Furthermore, the points on the ironing rollers, while spaced sufiiciently close together so as to provide a satisfactory ironing action, nevertheless, cause a concentration of force at many closely spaced points of limited area. Consequently, higher unit pressures may be developed at the surface of the card than would be developed using a smooth roller having the same amount of total loading.

The embossment resulting from the points on the ironing rollers does not affect the structural integrity of the card, and the pattern is so fine as to be almost invisible upon casual observation.

Experience has shown that the above-described arrangement is eminently suited for use in a bank or other business establishment. The machine may be loaded and unloaded by unskilled personnel. It is capable of handling standard punch cards at a rate on the order of 275 cards per minute or over. Because of the speed and because of the fact that undamaged cards are not injured in any way by the conditioning process, there is no necessity for manually selecting only the deformed cards for running through the conditioner. On the contrary, the process may be universally applied to all the cards arriving in the card processing department and before the cards are fed into the sorting and tabulating machines. It is found that because of the rolling action which characterizes the conditioning elements, the machine may be operated day by day for months or even years without requiring replacement of parts. i

If desired, short and long cards may be intermixed without. requiring any adjustment in the feeding and knurling mechanism. Where mixed cards are to'be fed, however, it is desirable to jog the stacks so that all of the cards have one end in alinement at the side of the stack. The stack is then inverted before being placed into the feeding hopper so that the leading edges of all of the cards effectively start from the same point. Or if desired 'the two sizes may be fed separately by providing elevated platforms in the feeding and receiving hoppers.

"While only the significant mechanical elements have been described, it will be understood that the device may be equipped with switches for turning off the driving motor when the cards in the feeding hopper have been exhausted or when the capacity of either of the two output hoppers has been reached.

We claim as our invention:

1. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprises subjecting at least the lateral edge portion of the card to deformation at a plurality of closely spaced points distributed in a two-dimensional pattern, such deformation being carried beyond the elastic 11 limit and then subjecting the card to an ironing pressure sufficient to restore the card to substantially its original dimensions and shape when new.

2. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprises subjecting the card to combined tensile and compressive deformation at a plurality of closely spaced points distributed in a two-dimensional pattern, such deformation being carried beyond the elastic limit to increase the overall thickness of the card and then subjecting the card to an ironing pressure sufficient to restore the card to substantially its original thickness and shape.

3. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprises subjecting the entire area of the card to localized deformation at a plurality of closely spaced points, such deformation being carried beyond the elastic limit to increase the overall thickness of the card and then subjecting the card to an ironing pressure sufficient to restore the card to substantially its original thickness.

4. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprises applying to the opposite faces of said card a two-dimensional pattern of points at such pressure that the card is deformed out of its normal plane at each of said points beyond the elastic limit to increase the overall thickness of the card and then subjecting the card to an ironing pressure sufiicient to overcome the deformation at each of said points to restore the card to substantially its original dimensions and shape.

5. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprises applying an overall pattern of minute indentations to each side of said card with the indentations on one side being spaced between the indentations on the opposite side, the indentations serving to deform the card out of its plane over small areas while keeping the card substantially fiat, and then applying to said card an ironing pressure to restore the card to substantially its original shape and original outline dimensions.

6. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprises applying to said card a two-dimensional pattern of pressure points starting at one edge of the card with the points applied successively to successive areas of the card in rotation, the pressure at said pressure points being sufiiciently great so as to deform the card out of its normal plane at said points while keeping said card in substantially flat condition, thereby to increase the overall thickness of the card, and then subjecting successive areas of the card in rotation to an ironing pressure to restore the card to substantially its original thickness.

7. In a device for renewing a business machine card the combination comprising card feeding means for successively feeding cards one by one along a path of movement, a pair of knurling rollers at least one of which has a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points, a pair of ironing rollers closely spaced to one another for receiving the cards in succession from said knurling rollers and for applying an ironing pressure thereto sufficient to flatten the card to substantially its original thickness and shape when new, and driving means for rotating all of said rollers at the same peripheral speed.

8. In a device for renewing a business machine card the combination comprising card-feeding means for successively feeding cards one by one along a path of movement, a pair of knurling rollers each having a twodirnensional pattern of upraised points, with the points on one roller spaced between the points on the other, a pair of ironing rollers closely spaced to one another for receiving the cards in succession from said knurling rollers and for applying an ironing pressure thereto sufiicient to flatten the card to substantially its original thickness, said rollers having driving means coupled to said feeding means.

9. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising means for feeding the cards edge-to-edge in succession, a pair of knurling rollers, each of said knurling rollers having a surface formed with a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points, means for driving said knurling rollers in synchronism with the points on the respective rollers arranged in point-to-valley relation so that each of the points deforms a minute area on the card out of the normal plane of the card thereby to increase the overall thickness of the card and means including a plurality of ironing rollers rotating in unison with said knurling rollers and adjacent thereto, said ironing rollers being closely spaced to one another for restoring the card to substantially its original thickness when new.

10. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising means for feeding the cards edge-to-edge in succession, a pair of knurling rollers, each of said knurling rollers having a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points on the surface thereof in rows alined axially and peripherally, means for driving said knurling rollers in synchronism with the points on the respective rollers arranged in point-to-valley relation so that each of the points deforms a minute area on the card out of the normal plane of the card thereby to increase the overall thickness of the card and means including a pair of ironing rollers drivingly coupled to said knurling rollers and closely spaced to one another for restoring the card to substantially its original thickness when new.

11. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising'means for feeding the cards edge-to-edge in succession, a pair of knurling rollers, each of said knurling rollers having a surface formed with a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points, said points being arranged in axial rows and with the points alined in the locus of screw threads of opposite hand on the two rollers respectively, means for driving said knurling rollers in synchronism with the points on the respective rollers arranged in point-to-valley relation so that each of the points deforms a minute area on the card out of the normal plane of the card thereby to increase the overall thickness of the card .and means including a pair of ironing rollers drivingly coupled to said knurling rollers and closely spaced to one another for restoring the card to substantially its original thickness.

12. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising feeding means for feeding the cards one by one in sequence along a path of movement, means including a knurling roller having a plurality of upraised closely spaced points for applying to said card an overall pattern of deformation, thereby to increase the thickness of the cards, means including ironing rollers for restoring the cards to substantially their original thickness and shape when new, means for receiving the restored cards, and means interposed in the path of movement of said cards prior to said knurling rollers for recognizing and diverting from said knurling rollers cards having portions of abnormal thickness.

13. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising means for feeding the card endwise and one by one along a path of movement, thickness measuring means for measuring the thickness of each of the cards at the beginning of the path of movement, card conditioning means including pressurized knurling rollers and ironing rollers for treating the cards near the end of their path of movement, a card receiver for receiving cards leaving said conditioning means, a diverter interposed ahead of said conditioning means and coupled to said thickness measuring means for diverting cards having abnormal thickness from said conditioning means, and another card receiver for receiving the diverted cards.

14. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising a card feeder for supporting an angled stack of cards, means for intermittently feeding the cards edgewise and one by one from the underside of the stack, card transport means for passing said cards substantially horizontally, a plurality of knurling rollers and a plurality of ironing rollers arranged in the path of movement of the cards, a card receiver located at the output of said ironing rollers and extending downwardly therefrom so that the cards discharged from said ironing rollers are formed into an upstanding pile fed from the top and in original sequence, and a diverter interposed between said card transport means and said knurling rollers, said diverter having means for downwardly directing cards having abnormal thickness, and an auxiliary card receiver having means for receiving diverted cards in a pile fed from the top and in original sequence.

15. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising card-feeding means for successively feeding cards one by one along a path of movement, a pair of knurling rollers having a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points, means for driving the knurling rollers with the points thereof in meshing relation so that minute areas of the cards are stressed beyond the elastic limit in opposite directions to increase the overall thickness of the cards, a pair of ironing rollers closely spaced to one another for receiving the cards in sequence and for applying an ironing pressure thereto sufiicient to flatten the card to substantially its original thickness, at least one of said ironing rollers having a roughened surface, and means for driving the ironing rollers in unison with the knurling rollers.

16. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combination comprising card-feeding and transport means for moving the cards edgewise along a path of movement, means including a pair of knurling rollers for receiving the cards and for applying thereto a pattern of localized deformation to increase the overall thickness of the cards, a pair of ironing rollers, and means for driving the rollers in unison, said ironing rollers having roughened surfaces spaced apart to define a clearance space which is less than the thickness of the cards when new.

17. The method of straightening and stiifening a business machine card which has become creased, spindled, and worn, which comprises applying to the major portion of the area of the card on both of its opposite surfaces a two-dimensional pattern of minute spaced indentations with the indentations on one side being spaced symmetrically between the indentations on the other side and with such indentations carried beyond the elastic limit and to a depth which is just suflicient to deform the card out of its plane opposite each of the points of indentation while retaining the body of the card substantially flat and then applying to the entire area of the card a progressive ironing pressure from one edge to the opposite edge which is sufficiently great so that the indented portions which have been deformed out of the plane of the card are again stressed beyond the elastic limit and returned to the plane of the card to restore the card to its original thickness when new.

18. The method of straightening and stitfening a business machine card which has become creased, spindled, and Worn, which comprises applying to selected portions of the area of the card a two-dimensional pattern of minute spaced indentations with the indentations carried beyond the elastic limit and to a depth which is just suflicient to deform the card out of its plane opposite each of the points of indentation while retaining the body of the cards substantially fiat, and then applying to said selected portions of the card a progressive ironing pressure from one edge to the opposite edge which is sufiiciently great so that the indented portions which have been deformed out of the plane of the card are again stressed beyond the elastic limit and returned to the plane of the card to restore the card to substantially its original thickness when new.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 495,976 Iaeger Apr. 25, 1893 1,433,971 Roberts Oct. 31, 1922 1,687,441 Grosjean Oct. 9, 1928 2,531,619 Gonia Nov. 28, 1950 2,663,050 Hilin Dec. 22, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 25,611 Great Britain 1906 17,651 Denmark July 29, 1913