US3028961A - Sorting machine using markers - Google Patents

Sorting machine using markers Download PDF

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Publication number
US3028961A
US3028961A US806025A US80602559A US3028961A US 3028961 A US3028961 A US 3028961A US 806025 A US806025 A US 806025A US 80602559 A US80602559 A US 80602559A US 3028961 A US3028961 A US 3028961A
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Prior art keywords
relay
sorting
stage
cheque
input
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Pouliart Willy Hortens Prosper
Guillaume Van Mechelen
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International Standard Electric Corp
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International Standard Electric Corp
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F7/00—Methods or arrangements for processing data by operating upon the order or content of the data handled
    • G06F7/22—Arrangements for sorting or merging computer data on continuous record carriers, e.g. tape, drum, disc
    • G06F7/24—Sorting, i.e. extracting data from one or more carriers, rearranging the data in numerical or other ordered sequence, and rerecording the sorted data on the original carrier or on a different carrier or set of carriers sorting methods in general
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
    • B07C—POSTAL SORTING; SORTING INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES, OR BULK MATERIAL FIT TO BE SORTED PIECE-MEAL, e.g. BY PICKING
    • B07C3/00—Sorting according to destination
    • B07C3/003—Destination control; Electro-mechanical or electro- magnetic delay memories
    • B07C3/006—Electric or electronic control circuits, e.g. delay lines
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
    • G06Q20/10—Payment architectures specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems

Definitions

  • this sorting machine concerns a sorting machine adapted to the sorting or classification of substantially flat documents such as cheques, punched cards, or any substantially tlat individual carrier able to enclose or generally support such types of documents, this sorting machine comprising a plurality of sorting stages, each of which has two inputs and two outputs, the inputs of one stage respectively corresponding to the outputs of the preceding stage.
  • Such a sorting machine is known from U.S. application of J. Young, Serial No. 636,309, led January 25, 1957.
  • the two inputs of the rst sorting stage are initially loaded with the documents to be sorted, these being divided in about two equal loads, one for each input of this rst sorting stage.
  • the lirst sequence of documents in this first input is then merged with the first sequence of documents in the other input, and the merged sequence is directed to one of the two outputs of this irst sorting stage and leading to a corresponding input of the second sorting stage.
  • the second sequences respectively appearing at the two inputs of the rst sorting stage are similarly merged to produce a second merged Sequence which is sent to the other output of the lirst sorting stage and leading to the corresponding other input of the next sorting stage.
  • Further sequences of like rank at the inputs of the rst sorting stage are then similarly merged, the resulting output sequence in each case being -directed to the output opposite that taken by the previous merged sequence.
  • the operations at the next sorting stage are exactly similar to those just described and after the documents have passed through a suicient number of sorting stages, there will be only one output sequence appearing at one of the two outputs ot the last sorting stage. The sort is then completed.
  • the xed number of two looped sorting stages can serve in all cases for any number N of documents to be sorted, the only limitation being sufficient space on the two pairs of conveyors linking the two sorting stages, to permit the documents' to be accommodated thereon.
  • the time of sorting now depends on the number of sorting passes which areA needed and not on the time needed for the documents to pass through the maximum number of cascaded sorting stages.
  • the documents can only circulate through one particular input for each of the two stages, said particular inputs of course corresponding to particular outputs or" the other stage to which they are linked by two pairs of conveyors.
  • this state or" affairs i.e. absence of documents travelling on one conveyor out of each pair, can be detected, andv steps can be taken to recognize the rst document in the endless single tile of documents going round the two stages, whereby the machine can be stopped with the sorted documents in the required order.
  • some time will be required for the recognition of this final desired state of aiairs.
  • a general object of the invention is to provide suchl sertion of the two markers into the sorting machine every time a sorting operation is about to begin, the two markers being instead initially stored into the sorting machine and being returned to their initial storage positions at the end of the sort after having performed their functions. Then, during subsequent sorting operations they will automatically be made to leave their storage positions as the sort starts.
  • a sorting machine comprising two sorting stages, each with two inputs and two outputs, the two inputs of one stage being respectively fed by the two outputs of the other stage and vice versa, with the articles to be sorted initially applied to the two inputs of a sorting stage in series of substantially equal sizes and sorted through each stage in accordance with their sor-ting characteristics, e.g. by merging sequences of like rank appearing at the two inputs and dispatching the merged sequences alternately to one and the other output of the sorting stage, is characterised by the fact that each lot of articles, e.g.
  • a sorting machinev as characterised above is further, characterised in that upon a rst marker reaching a sorting stage, it stays there under the control yof the electricaldispatched through said sorting stage, one towards one output and the other towards the other output.
  • a sorting machine as characterised above is further characterised in that, at the beginning of a sorting operation, said two markers are initially in respective storage positions in one of two sorting stages, to which they will be automatically returned after the sort is completed.
  • a sorting machine as characterised above, is further characterised in that for said one stage initially containing said two markers, these are only dispatched to the two outputs of said one stage under the control of the electrical control circuit for said one stage upon there being at least one article reaching one of the two inputs of said one stage, and that means are provided to stop said articles from flowing through the other stage upon the sort being cornpleted, whereby upon the tinal single sequence of articles having been delivered through said one stage, said two markers will be returned to and stay in their initial storage positions.
  • a sorting machine as characterised above is further characterised in that the electrical control circuits for said one stage in which the two markers are initially stored is provided with a sequence counter reset each time said two markers pass said one stage and adapted to count the number of output sequences from said one stage between two successive passages of said two markers through said one stage, and more particularly to establish whether no more than four output sequences have flowed through said one stage during a round trip of said two markers, whereby upon said sequence counter indicating no more than four output sequences, on their way to the corresponding inputs of the other stage, stop means will be operated after said markers have gained access to said other stage but prior to the articles behind said markers being allowed to go through said one stage, whereby the final output sequence of articles will be prevented from passing through said other stage and may be positioned ready to be taken out of the sorting machine.
  • FIG. 1 a diagram illustrating the principle of a twostage sorting machine
  • FIG. 2 a diagram showing a cheque carrier in one of the four reading positions of the sorting machine
  • FIG. 3 a block diagram of the complete electrical control circuits used for each of the two stages of the sorting machine
  • FIG. 4 synchronized operating circuits used for each of the two sorting stages.
  • FIGS. and 6, wth the latter on the right of the former, the electrical control circuits for each of the two stages of the sorting machine.
  • FIG. l illustrates the principle of operation of a twostage sorting machine of the type disclosed in our U.S. application, Serial No. 805,800.
  • the normal sorting stage NS includes two input positions A4 and B3 which terminate two corresponding input lanes formed by transverse conveyors each comprising two parallel chains adapted to support and advance cheque carriers 1 of the shape shown in FIG. 2 by their two lateral extensions Z and 2'.
  • the carriers 1 containing the cheques, such as 3, after having been advanced will eventually be pressed against the input position A4 or B3 as the continuously moving chains then slide under their lateral extensions from which positions they will be laterally dispatched by edgewise conveying rollers to the respective next positions A3 and B2.
  • Position B2 already constitutes the reading position in which a carrier 1 is shown in FG. 2.
  • position A2 is merely an intermediate position due to the input position A., being fed from the outside A lane.
  • the transparent cheque carrier 1 As the transparent cheque carrier 1 enters the reading position B2, or A2 which follows A3, the piece of magnetic tape 4 which is made part of the cheque carrier 1 and which contains the relevant information pertaining to the cheque 3, will pass across a fixed reading head 5.
  • Each reading position is provided with an individual photocell arrangement.
  • photocell 6 will have its beam of light interrupted by the piece of magnetic tape 4. This produces a signal which recognizes the presence of the piece of magnetic tape.
  • This is conveniently used to enable a distinction between the ordinary cheque carriers and the special markers which are used to control the sorting operation. ln fact, these markers are simply ordinary transparent carriers which do not contain a cheque and from which the piece of magnetic tape has been removed so that photocell 6 can discriminate them. Only two cf such special marking carriers are needed irrespective of the number of ordinary cheque carriers to be sorted.
  • photocells 7 and 9 produce an activating signal upon their illumination being suppressed
  • photocell 6 which therefore normally delivers an activating signal in the absence of a carrier.
  • this activating signal from photocell 6 is gated by that produced by photocell 7, whereby a marking carrier will be detected by the joint action of photocells 6 (lighted) and 7 (obscured).
  • the carriers are next moved into the merging positions A1 and B1 from which ⁇ the two parallel A and B paths are merged into one. This will permit only two output positions per sorting stage, i.e, C and D.
  • the test made by the electronic comparator will determine if an A carrier or a B carrier is to be advanced out of the sorting stage and either into the output position C or D.
  • the sorting machine is arranged to function step-wise under the control of cyclic pulses.
  • a carrier in one of the positions shown may be advanced to the next position, as the eventual preceding carrier leaves.
  • the advancement during one cycle to the corresponding next position D or E may of course be replaced by a displacement onto the corresponding output conveyor.
  • the five Positions such as A2-A4, B2 and B3 for the normal sorting stage NS are generally each filled with a carrier, while at the same time there may be a carrier in one of the merging positions A1 or B1 and further carriers in positions C, D or E.
  • a carrier in any of the five positions such as A1, B1, C, D or E for the normal sorting stage NS will automatically be advanced during a cycle without any further control except in the case of the output positions C or D, wherefrom the carrier can be directed to the corresponding output transverse conveyor by the electronic comparator.
  • the advancement during a cycle of either the cheques in positions ATA4 or the cheques in positions B2, B3 will be determined by the electronic comparator.
  • the reverse sorting stage RS of the machine is identical to the normal sorting stage NS described above and the corresponding positions have been indicated in HG. 1 with the same references provided with a prime, eg. input position A4 corresponds to input position A4.
  • the machine will be initially loaded on the two inpu-t conveyors leading to the no-rmal stage NS and more particularly to the input positions A4 and B3,
  • the input load of cheques should preferably be about evenly divided between the two lanes to ensure that the two halves include about the same number of sequences, and that a maximum number of sequences of the same rank on each of the input sides have already a chance to be merged during the rst sorting passes through the normal stage NS.
  • the markers which play an essential part in facilitating the sorting operation are built in, to ensure that they will always be there at the right place at the beginning of a sorting operation. More particularly, when the machine is about to be used, one of the two markers is included in the reading position AZ of the reverse sorting stage RS, while the other marker is included in the other reading position Bz of that stage.
  • a dotted line has beendrawn across the lanes leading to A4 and B3 to indicate the presence of stop members Vwhich may be used to prevent the cheque carriers resting on corresponding conveyors from being actually advanced to the input positions A4 and B3 by the already moving conveyor chains until start signals are given to the electrical control circuits.
  • the loaded cheque carriers e.g. batches of 500 on each of the two input lanes leading to A4 and B3 are initially deposited on conveying chains in front of these stop members controlled from a relay Zcr (FIG. 5) and the operation of which will later be described.
  • the stop members prevent the roller extensions 2 and 2' (FIG. 2) of the front cheque carrier from advancing and the conveyor chains merely slide under the bottom parts of these extensions 2 and 2 of all the cheque carriers stacked before the stop members.
  • the markers in the reading positions A'2 and B2 and one of which must come behind the batch of cheque carriers leading to position A4 while the other must come behind the other batch of carriers leading to position B3, are not yet advanced. As will be described later in detail, this is only permitted upon the first cheque of one of the .two input batches having gone through the normal sorting stage NS and reaching one of the input positions Ba or A4 of the reverse sorting stage RS. At this moment, the markerswill' be able to advance through RS, one being lifted from the' output position C and the other being lifted from the output position D. k Y
  • Everyl sorting pass such as the iirst one through NS, the cheques are advanced until one of the input lanes, e.g. leading to input position A4, no longer contains any cheques but merely the marker.
  • On these last output lanes will therefore appear only about half the number of sequences initially present on the two lanes leading to A4 and B3.
  • the normal sorting stage NS will deliver p sequences equally divided (to the nearest integer) between its two outputs. Therefore, after the rst sor-ting pass through NS, the two batches of cheques presented to the two input positions A4 and B3 of RS will either contain exactly the same number of sequences IIJ 2 if p is odd.
  • the first pass has reduced the total number of input sequences from p-l-q to p, and the remaining sorting passes will each time reduce the number of sequences by half, with the usual allowance when the total number of input sequences is not even.
  • the electrical control equipment -for the reverse sorting stage RS contains a sequence counter which is adapted to count the number of sequences between two successive passages of the two markers through this reverse sorting stage. This counter is reset as the two markers are sent out from the reverse sorting stage RS. It, when the two markers arrive in the reading positions A'2 and B2, the counter indicates that no more than four output sequences have been distributed to the two outputs through positions C and D', the batches of cheques going respectively to the input positions A4 and B3 will, at most, each be divided into two serial sequences. Accordingly, the normal sorting stage NS will then deliver at most one sequence through C and at most one sequence through D, whereby at the next passage through the reverse sorting stage RS the eventual two sequences of cheques, one
  • the corresponding control equipment for RS sends out th: two markers towards A4 and B3 respectively.
  • the cheques are loaded in the input lanes leading to the normal sorting ⁇ stage NS and they also always appear on these lanes at the end of the sorting operation, which means that the same mechanism can be used to deposit them on the conveyors chains at the beginning of the operation and to lift them out from the conveyors chains at the end of the sort.
  • the control equipment for the reverse sorting stage RS is also adapted to make one special forced switch-over of the output during the last sorting pass so that the sorted single sequence of cheques is about evenly divided into the two lanes.
  • the control equipment RS takes care that the last final sequence of cheques is sent out from output postiion D', and a line has been sho-wn to cross the output lane from D to indicate that a photocell apparatus is arranged to react upon about half the total of cheques now pressing against the stops on the lane leading to input position A4.
  • This photoceli arrangement controls the release of the output relay 0dr for the reverse stage RS, whereby the release of this relay causes the remaining cheques now to flow out of RS through the other output position C.
  • the complete electrical control equipment MJS for the reverse sorting stage RS is shown to comprise two main circuits: the control circuit CL and the synchronizing circuit SY, respectively shown in detail in FEGS. 5 and 6, and in FIG. 4.
  • the control equipment MJS for the normal stage NS is identical to circuit MJS' except that the connections in dotted lines are not used for the normal sorting stage, but exclusively for the reverse sorting stage.
  • Some of the terminals of CL which are not interconnected with terminals of SY are shown connected to various other terminals which are not part of the electrical control circuits to be described, but belong to electronic control circuits which are the subject of our U.S. application, Serial No. 805,841.
  • the circuits such as MJS also include various keys which have auxiliary functions to be defined later, except K2 which is a general starting key for the sorting stage coucerned.
  • K2 which is a general starting key for the sorting stage coucerned.
  • the two contacts of key K2 permit the connection of terminals CLI.,L and CL15 to the push button contact K0 and to the key contact K1 respectively. Depressing push button K0 will permit the momentary application of ground to the terminals CLM both in MIS and in MJS upon the respective master keys K2 having been operated.
  • rhis reset operation should be made before starting a sorting operation or whenever a fault has occurred and the machine is restarted, in the course of a sorting operation.
  • the general master starting key K1 may now be thrown to apply ground to terminals CL15 both in MJS' and in Ml S and again through the master keys K2 for the stages concerned.
  • a shift electromagnet per-V mits the application of a driving roller (not shown) against the cheque carrier, which driving roller in conjunction with an opposite idling roller will permit advance ofthe cheque carrier out of the position concerned so that it enters the next position in which further advancement to permit a correct centering of the cheque carrier in that next position, will be made under the control of a fixed pair of rollers one of which is a driving roller.
  • the various positions, except A2 B3 and E also include so-called positioning electromagnets such as PA3 for position A'3 etc., up to PD for position D.
  • positioning electromagnets control a catch member which arrests the front edge of a cheque carrier near the end of the corresponding position, as its rear edge leaves the xed pair of rollers at the entrance of this position.
  • a cheque carrier is driven out of the input position such as A4 under the control of SA4 and travels through the next position AQ, under the further control of the fixed rollers at the entrance of A3, it will finally be arrested in that last position and properly centered by the positioning electromagnet PAB in the released condition.
  • the operations are cyclic, and during the next cycle of advancement for the A input, the positioning electromagnet PA3 will rst be operated to permit the cheque carrier to move out of A3 as soon as the shift electromagnet SA3 is subsequently operated.
  • the positioning electromagnet PAS will only be released after the cheque carrier is already fully engaged in the next position A2 in which it will be arrested and properly centered by the release of the corresponding positioning electromagnet PA2.
  • the former When operated, the former are used to control a mechanism dropping the lirst cheque carrier abutting against and slightly on top of the input position such as A., and which was driven there by the continuously moving conveyors interconnecting the two stages of the machine.
  • This input mechanism is fully described in the application of GX, Lens et al., Serial No. 806,286, tiled April 14, 1959.
  • the drop electromagnet DA will lirst be energised to cause the first cheque carrier to be dropped into position A4.
  • the latter electromagnets LC and LD will be respectively energised towards the end of the cycle so that a cheque carrier having reached the output position C for instance, will be lifted out of this position and onto the corresponding output conveyor' leading to input position B3 of the normal sorting stage NS.
  • the action of the lift electromagnet such as LC is merely a liberating action which makes the cheque carrier ready to be lifted out, but the actual lifting operation by means of a constantly rotating takeout mechanism fully described in the Belgian Patent No. 577,765, will only take place towards the end of the cycle, when the cheque carrier is already at rest and correctly positioned in the output position C.
  • Each of the seven positions which are provided with a positioning electromagnet i.e. all positions except the input positions A2 BQ, and the reject position E', also include two microswitch contacts such as kx, one at the entrance of the position and one towards the exit. These contacts are normally open, and upon the cheque carrier having travelled into the position and having been arrested therein, these two contacts should still be open if the cheque carrier is properly positioned. All these contacts are connected in parallel and thereby afford a means for operating an error relay Er if at the end of the cycle at least one of these is still closed indicating that the cheque carrier is badly positioned. Then, the cyclic advancement of the cheque carriers is automatically stopped preventing damage to these and to the sorting machine.
  • all the 20 electromagnets so far described have one end of their windings directly connected to battery, while their other ends may be connected to a commen ground provided at break contact e1 through various cam contacts such as PTI which are cyclically closed during various intervals of time to permit the operation of the electromagnets to which they are connected, such as the positioning electromagnets PC and PD connected to make Contact PT1.
  • a full cycle of the various cyclic pulses used to operate these electromagnets is represented in the iigure.
  • advancement of the cheque carriers at the rate of 3 per second corresponds to a cycle of about 330 milliseconds.
  • the beginning of each cycle starts with a pulse PU due to the closure of contacts PU1-PU3 and transferring the ground at break contact e1 to terminals SY3-SY5.
  • the relay such as Ar locks to ground through its make contact a1 in series with the interrupter contact IN1 in the break position and break contact el.
  • the relay indicating which input should be advanced will remain locked in the operated condition until the end of the cycle, the time at which the interrupting pulse IN will occur, corresponding to the opening of lthe break interrupter contact IN1 which is transferred to the make condition. It is at this moment, the end of the cycle, that the operation of make interrupter contact NI will ascertain that none of the 14 positioning contacts such as kx are closed.
  • relay Er operates through an obvious circuit, change over contact el moves over to the make condition to suppress the ground which can be momentarily applied to the various electromagnets and which is also used to operate or hold some other relays.
  • the closure of make contact e1 locks the error relay Er to ground, this relay having no sufficient time to de-energise during the change over action of-contact e1.
  • the cyclic closure of the various cam contacts providing the different controlling pulses will be without ettect and the faulty sorting stage is stopped until the cheque carrier which is wrongly positioned is removed from its incorrect position thereby reopening the closed contact(s) kx and releasing relay Er to return to the normal operating conditions.
  • This malte Contact tu is a micro-switch contact which is only operated upon there being ales cheoue carrier abutting against and on top of e co r ending position ACI. This is to ensure that the olie-gue carrier coming from the input conveyor is properly positioned before being acted upon by the input dropping mechanism controlled by the drop electromagne '.huc, if relay Ar is operated at the beginning of a cycie, du; ng the cycle, the various cheque carriers on the A side will all be advanced simultaneously, one being replaced by the next.
  • the pulse at the beginning of the cycle and delivered at terminal SY.I to reach through CL either terminal Sli/7 or SYB, depending on whether the cheque carrier to be advanced is to be lifted out from position C or D' or should be allowed to reach the reject position E', will either operate the clutch electromagnets CC or DC.
  • These clutch electromagnets control a mechanical me ory device which Will store the output to which the cheque carrier is to be directed until the cheque carrier is in the corresponding output position C' or D ready to be lifted out onto the corresponding output conveyor.
  • the cheque carrier is in the readiru.7 position A2 or B2 from which it will be taken out during the cycle.
  • the cheque carrier depending on whether the cheque carrier is to leave to the C or to the D output, it will only arrive in the output position C or D two or three cycles afterwards. Thus, it is necessary to memorize the output direction of the cheque carrier during two or three cycles during the next cycle after the cheque carrier has left the reading position, normally anon er cheque carrier will take its place and it will again be required to ener 'ze either CC or DC to indicate the direction to be ,uren by this new cheque carrier.
  • the electromagnet such as CC, which also locks to ground through its malle contact ccI will be energised only during part of the cycle and will have its holding circuit interrupted by special interrupter pulse Sl corresponding to the open' of break contact SII.
  • this interrupter pulse is required in View of *he construction of the mechanical memory which neceJ itates a release of CC or DC rather well before the end of the cycle, as shown by the time position of interruptor pulse
  • This mechanical memory may be of the construction fully detailed in Selgian latent No. 577,759.
  • lt consists in ecnanical detents having two stable positions and mounted on a wheel, a revolution of which delinea three cycles, such as one illustrated in FIG. 4.
  • the operation i either CC or DC will trigger a corresponding detent as it passes and the operated detcnt will be used to momentarily close either the make contacts PCI or the make contacts PDI at times shown by thc pulses PC or PD.
  • the contact PCI and PDI are respectively positioned near the periphery of the rotating mechanical memory, so that PCI will be closed one cycle after the operation of CC while PDI is positioned so as to be closed two cycles after the operation of DC. This is one cycle less than the total memory time required, and tr 's is duc to PCI or PDI eing closed at the beginning of a cycle, when the carrier has still to be advanced by one position, whereas the relay Cr or Dr, operated by PCI or PDI, rcspectively, acts to control the lift clectromagnets after the carrier has moved again. He ce, the pulses PC and PD never occur simultaneously but only one of these can be present during a cycle.
  • the make contacts PCI or PDI are used to operate either relay Cr or Dr through obvious circuits, the operated one of these relays locking through its make contact, such as cI, to the ground provided through the interrupter break contact INI.
  • the relay such as Cr
  • the lift electromagnet such as LC
  • make contact c2 to place the carrier on the C output lane. Gther- Wise, one cycie later the carrier would be found in position D and through make contact d2, LD would lift it out onto the D output lane.
  • relays lar and Odi' may be opersted or not in both stages of thc machine depending on whether respective activating signais are present at terminals CM1"-L a'nd CMPS (FlG. 3) wh'ch are rcspcctiveiy connected to terminals CLII and CLII leading to one end of the windings of lar and Odi' through the respective amplifying devices lA and OD, the other ends of lar and Gdr being connected to -1-210 volts.
  • the direct connection between terminals CLIE and OD and chich is marked v a cross should be replaced by the dotted line connection through break contact zeg of relay Zcr.
  • the arnplifying devices IA and ⁇ OD may each consist of a pentode with its grid connected to the input terminal, such as CLM, and limited to a lixed bias voltage, the winding of the output relay, such as lar, being inserted between the plate of this tube and the anode supply of +210 volts.
  • a sutliciently positive signal to energise relay lar or 0dr will be provided from the electronic comparison circuit as long as the comparator indicates that the A input should be advanced thereby operating Ier, or indicates that the D output should be used thereby operating 0dr.
  • the initial potential conditions at terminals CLM and CL12 are in fact immaterial.
  • Each photocell may be connected in the grid circuit of a triode and have one end biassed to a negative potential so that when it is illuminated, the triode is cut off, whereas it becomes conductive when light is suppressed by the opaque upper part of the carrier reaching the reading position.
  • This input triode may be used as a cathode follower of which an output leads to the electronic comparison circuits after being combined in a mixer with a similar output from the other reading position, and to provide a reading authorization to the electronic control circuits as the inscribed part of the magnetic tape of the cheque carrier is about to go past the iixed reading head.
  • the cathode output of the input triode may be connected via a further triode cathode follower whose output drives the grid of a pentode arrangement similar to that used for IA and OD.
  • relay Rkr which might be initially operated and locked through this Contact in series wits its make contact rkl is forced to release.
  • This relay R/cr is operated through make contact rjl of relay Rjr which may itself be operated whenever a cheque is rejected, the operation of Rkr serving to light an indication lamp (not shown) to draw attention to the fact that there has at least been one reject at the sorting stage concerned.
  • ground is applied to relay Sbr which operates, but only as long as relay Sar remains energised by the depression of the reset push-button K0.
  • relay Sbr applies ground to the mixer M1 which ground appears at the output of this mixer as an activating signal for the gates G2 and G3 whose other inputs are connected to terminals CL2 and CL4 respectively through the amplifier devices AB and BB.
  • Terminals CL2 and CL4 are connected to the photo-cells 6 (FIG. 2) which are normally illuminated and remain so only when a marker, and not a cheque is in the co1- responding reading position.
  • These photo-cells are included in the grid circuit of a cathode follower triode in such a way that they normally provide a suiciently positive signal at the grid to make the triode conductive, the latter being driven to cut olf only when the light is interrupted. Therefore, these photo-cells connected to terminals CL2 and CL4 normally provide an activating signal at the output of the devices AB and BB.
  • the markers in the reading positions A'2 and B2 of the reverse sorting stage leave those signals and consequently the temporary operation of Sbr will produce pulses at the outputs of G2 and G3 which reach the amplifying devices AB and BB respectively through the mixers M2 and M3.
  • the amplifying devices AB and BB' are similar to IA already described and consequently, relays Abr and Bbr will both be operated for the reverse sorting stage only since make contacts aal and ba2 are closed.
  • the operation of relays Abr and Bbr closes the make contacts abl and bbl which apply ground respectively to the mixers M2 and M3.
  • the activating pulses at the outputs of G2 and G3 are also constituted by ground pulses
  • the permanent ground conditions now supplied by contacts abl and bbl are therefore used to latch the corresponding relays Abr and Bbr.
  • Contacts abl and bbl apart from applying holding grounds to the mixers M2 and M3, also apply ground, through the respective decoupling rectitiers RA and RB, to terminals CL1 and CL5 respectively connected to terminals MLA15 and MLB, (FIG. 3) of the electronic control circuit.
  • these activating signals are used as substitute positioning signals. Indeed, when a normal cheque carrier is read by the electronic comparison circuit, care is taken to verify that the numerical information read is correctly positioned in a shift register.
  • This correct positioning is responsible for authorizing a probe pulse to scan the actual comparator.
  • the positioning of the information should be simultaneously correct in the two shift registers which are respectively used for the A and the B input. Therefore, if a cheque is read while the other reading position is occupied by a mark, the entrance of which has caused the previous information to .be pushed out of the corresponding shift register, the signal at terminal CL1 or CL5 can therefore be used as a substitute positioning authorization.
  • relays Abr and Bbr for the reverse sorting stage also open their break contacts ab2 and bb2 whereby the potential of 250 volts connected to terminals CL30 and CL31 respectively through resistors R1 and R2 is disconnected.
  • Terminals CL3@ and (SL31 lead to terminals CMP15 and CMP21 of the electronic cornparator (FIG. 3). Therein, they lead respectively to two bistable devices parL of the actual comparator and respectively indicating if the account number of an incoming cheque on the A(CL30) or on the B(CL31) side is larger or smaller than the account number of the cheque which is being pushed out ofthe corresponding reading position.
  • resistor R1 or R2 can be used to elfectiveiy increase the value of a potentiometer resistance part of a bistable multivibrator so as to reverse the state of the latter.
  • These particular resets are carried out so that the bistablev devices will both in ⁇ v dicate that the previous account number is higher than that of the cheque which has just entered the reading position. ⁇
  • the comparator is made to react in such a way that the bistable device indicates the interruption of the sequence on the input side corresponding to that marker, which means that only the cheques on the other aus it? input side may eventually continue to build the outgoing sequence.
  • an activating Vround prevails at terminal CLZG, being connected through break contacts abs and bbs in series. rthis terminal is connected to terminal IPCEZ (FIG. 3) of the electronic control circuit and the activating signal thereat is normally used to permit recirculation of the account numbers stored in both shift registers of the sorting stage concerned.
  • IPCEZ FIG. 3
  • the activating signal thereat is normally used to permit recirculation of the account numbers stored in both shift registers of the sorting stage concerned.
  • relay Sbr A further consequence of the momentary operation of relay Sbr is to open break contact sbz to ensure the release of relay Olr which may be initially locked through its make Contact all. ln fact, for the reverse sorting stage only, the operating circuit of this relay is in errupted by the opening of break contact mam as long as relay Mar is operated. Finally, the opening of 'break Contact sbg interrupts the connection of -25'3 volts which, through resistor R4, is connected to terminals CLT; and CLgS. Again, for the reverse sorting stage only, this connection is also opened at break Contact mag as long as relay Mar is operated.
  • Terminals (21.27 and CL2@ are respectively connected to terminals CMPIG and ACClg (FiG. 3) of the electronic control circuit, the former connection extending through key K6 in the released condition.
  • This is a reset operation for bistable devices included in the electronic control circuits and carried out in the same manner as already explained in connection with the opening of the connections to terminals CL30 and CL31.
  • Terminal Clviil leads to the bistable device of the electronic comparator indicatffii ing whether the A or B input should be advanced. The opening ot the connection at terminal CL27 will cause this bistable device to indicate that the A input should be advanced.
  • Terminal ACC leads to two other bistable devices in the electronic control circuit and which must be reset in well defined conditions prior to the beginning of a sorting operation and more generally prior to the beginning of a sorting pass starting each time the two markers are in the reading positions of the sorting stage concerned (mag opened).
  • make contact er1 closes a temporary operating circuit to energize relay Sbr, through terminal CLN, key K4 and terminal CLM.
  • the action is similar to that which occurs at the beginning of a sort, and since relay Oki' does not operate, both carriers are then rcjected in turn.
  • the purpose of opening break contact mag is to ensure that the electronic control circuits cannot in any way, eg. spurious pulses triggering, cause an incorrect control of the two markers when these are both in the reading positions of one stage. At that moment, it is essential that these two markers should be sent to opposite outputs and the electrical relay control circuits are solely responsible for this action.
  • relay Sur A further consequence of the momentary operation of relay Sur, is the closure of the make contacts Sa4 7 leading respectively to the relays Yar, Ycr, Yer, Ygr via the respective break contacts ybl, ydl, yfl, ylzl.
  • These four relays together with their respective helping relays Ybr, Ydr, Yfr and Y/:r constitute a counter of four, which is the sequence counter used only for the reverse sorting stage, to determine the end of a sorting operation.
  • the four counter relays such as Ym' lock to ground through their make contacts such as yal, the winding ot their associated helping relay such as Ybr, and break contact :1112 which is connected to terminal CL25 itself connected to ground through key K3 in the released condition. Since the operation of relay Sar is only ternporary, upon its release, the opening of the contacts such as sur; leads to the operation of the four helping relays such as Ybr which are now locked in series with their associated relays such as Yar. In this condition, the se quence counter indicates that the complete load of cheques still comprises more than four sequences and consequently that more than a single round trip through the sorting machine is still necfssary to obtain the finished sorted load of cheques.
  • the merging key K3 provided for the control equipment of the reverse sorting stage may be operated to ensure that only a single round trip will be made. This will later be described.
  • relay Mgr has no opportunity to be energised upon the release of relay Sar closing break contact sa when make contacts b9 and bbg are already closed.
  • a last consequence of the temporary operation of relay Sar is the opening of break contactsag which releases the operated Zcr relay, whereby the stops provided along the lanes leading to the input positions A., and B3 of the normal sorting stage are raised to allow the carriers deposited on these lanes 'to be advanced towards and against these input positions ready to enter them.
  • the sorting operation will now be started by permanently depressing key K1 to apply ground at terminal CLIE, thereby energising relays Sci' in both sorting stages. ri ⁇ he operation of relay Scl' results in applying the start of cycle pulses regularly appearing at terminals CLM), CL2() and CL21 to various circuits through the respective make contacts scl, SC2 and SC3.
  • a pulse passing through make contact scl is applied to terminal CL33 for the normal sorting stage only, through break contacts r11, mas, stl and djl in the make position.
  • relay Dir must certainly be operated since the bistable of the electronic comparator defining which input should be advanced now indicates the A input and consequently relayInvent is operated closing an operating circuit for relay Djr through make contact ial.
  • the pulse at terminal CL33 reaches terminal SYQ and relay Ar (FIG. 4) is operated and locked.
  • Contact ka (FIG.
  • relay Ser by the shift pulse SH whichv starts after the pulse PU subsides, is useful to ensure that break contact 012 is not prematurely released. Indeed, this contact is connected to make contact .rc3 receiving a start of cycle pulse PU, and this pulse PU should only be able to reach terminal CL39,
  • the start of cycle pulse PU will ⁇ again flow between terminals CLN and CL33 through make contact dil of the operated relay Djr.
  • relay Ar (FIG. 4) will again be operated and locked to cause the second cheque carrier on the A input to be advanced through input position A4 and to be positioned in the intermediate position A3, while the first A carrier is simultaneously advanced from this last positionv to the reading position A2, by the shift pulse operating SAa (FIG. 4).
  • this start of cycle pulse will not be able to pass through break contact 012 of relay Olr which is still released, to incorrectly produce a reject pulse tothe counter of 3.
  • the electronic control circuits are so arranged that upon the first A cheque having been read, the bistable device controlling which input side should be advanced, will now be automatically set to the B side whereby the signal at terminal CLM disappears.
  • relay Ar At the end of the second active cycle, relay Ar will .l
  • the first B cheque will be compared, in the electronic control circuit, with the first A cheque and if the comparison proceeds normally, an end of comparison pulse of 60 milliseconds will be produced by the electronic comparator at terminal CMPm connected to terminal CL9 to cause the temporary operation of relay Okr.
  • the operation of relay Okr has always two effects: at break contact okl, ground is disconnected from the reject counter of 3 so that if one or more stages of this counter had previously been operated, they are now released since the function of this reject counter is to count consecutive rejects only; secondly at make contact kg, ground is applied to relay Olr which operates and locks through its make contact all. Make contact 0kg also applies ground to the armature of change-over contact cd1.
  • relay 0dr may be operated or not. Its initial condition is however irnmaterial, since only the changes of output controlled hy this relay matter. Assuming that relay 0dr is initially released for the normal sorting stage, as make contact okz closes, relay Car is operated to indicate that the first outgoing cheque should go to the C output. Relay Car will be maintained energised through make contact all during the remainder of the cycle.
  • the start of cycle pulse at terminal CLN will now reach terminal CL53 or (SL34 depending on whether after reading the rst B cheque, the electronic comparator found that its account number was larger (ls-'r and Djl' operator) or smaller (lar and Dir released), respectively than that of the rirst A cheque, and the cheque with the smallest account number will, during this fourth cycle, be advanced to the merging position A1 or B1 while the other cheque remains in the reading position Bg or A2, respectively, thecheques on the A side advancing behind the first.
  • the start of cycle pulse at terminal CLZQ will now be able to pass through make contact cal to reach terminal @SL37 connected to terminal SY7.
  • the elcctromagnet CC controlling the mechanical output memory previously outlined will be operated and locked through its make contact cc, in series with the special interruptor contact SI1.
  • the mechanical memory will therefore be set so that one cycle afterwards, a pulse PC will be produced 'oy the closure of make contact PC1. Otherwise, if relay Gdr had been operated, relay Dar and the electromagnet DC would have been energised, resulting this time in the production, two cycles afterwards, of a pulse PD oy the closure of make Contact PDl. Two or three cycles are needed for the first cheque in the A2 or B2 reading position, to be respectively located in the output position C or D.
  • the sorting operations described will proceed on the principle of merging sequences of like ranks on both inputs of the normal sorting stage, the merged sequences being alternately sent to one or the other output of the normal sorting stage.
  • Relay Mbr locks to ground through its make Contact mb, in series with make contact mal, and therefore, the ground connection coming through this last make Contact is now applied to changeover Contact ttbm independently' of make contacts ad, and lidi which are now bridged by make con' tact mbl This is to maintain this ground connection independently of the operation of relay Adr or Bdr which immediately release upon the disappearance of the dropinstalle DR.
  • this cheque carrier would immediately be advanced through the sorting stage concerned and by replaced by a new one. If this normal procedure is adopted, special memorizing circuits will have to be provided to take care of remembering that the second marker. still in the reading position, must yet be dispatched on the output side opposite that taken by the first marker. Alternatively, the normal procedure of immediately sending the second marker after the first and towards the opposite output, could be followed. But in such a case, special memory circuits should again be provided to remember that the cheque carrier in the reading position must later go to the reject position. Thus, in such a case, the normal simple routines of the machine would be upset, and the proposed solution of simply using relays Ar and Br to temporarily hold the continuous advancement until the Z1 two markers have been dispatched, is a preferred simple solution.
  • relay Dmr releases and instead, relay Dnr energises through make contact ma., and due to the ground still provided through make contact mal in series with make contact mbl. In this circuit, but through the additional make contact md5, relay Car energises as well.
  • relay Bar releases and forces relay Bbr to release with corresponding results to those already described in relation to the departure of the first marker.
  • resistors R1 and R2 being again both connected to terminal CL30 and CL31 leading to the electronic cornparator and whereby normal comparisons between an incoming cheque and the one it replaces on the same side can now be made, break contacts aba and bbs being both closed, authorizing ground is again applied to terminal CLZ to permit the simultaneous recirculation of the two numbers stored in the two shift registers of the electronic control circuit, so that these two numbers can be serially compared.
  • resistor R4 is again connected to terminals CLzq and CL28 leading to the electronic control circuits which are now ready to start with the comparison of the cheques which now follow the two markers through the reverse sorting stage.
  • the electronic control circuits for the reverse sorting stage are ready to make the second sorting pass at the same time that the first sorting pass is being performed by the normal sorting stage.
  • the first cheque carrier next to input position A21 if it is there, will be advanced through this input position. Otherwise, if there are only one or more cheque carriers accumulating against the input position Bs, these will have to wait until the first cheque carrier of the second output sequence delivered by the normal sorting stage arrives to close contact ka.
  • the operations will then be identical to those already described as happening initially atV the input of the normal sorting stage: first the A Kcheques will be advanced until the irst can be read, and then Vthe B cheques will be advanced to permit a comparison between the irst A and B cheques,
  • Rectifier RA is used to prevent that the positioning authorization normally vgiven by the electronic control circuits lshould reach the mixer M2 and cause undesired operation of relay Abr upon a normal cheque carrier being read.
  • Opening of -break contact abz applies a reset signal to terminal CLau, as previously described, to enable the electronic control circuits to adapt themselves to the me-re splitting of the remaining sequences on the other side. Opening of break contact abs interrupts the ground at terminal CLES to prevent recirculation of the numbers, as previously described, since comparisons between the two opposite sides should no longer be made while the remaining sequences on one side are being split between the two outputs. Opening of break contact ab causes the release of relay Mr which closes its break contact m1 to prepare the energisation of relay Mm' which will however only take place upon the. second l marker reaching the opposite reading position resulting in both contacts ab.; and bb4 being closed.
  • break contact abe prevents relay Djr from being operated by the ground provided ythrough make contact inl. Indeed, irrespective 'of the condition of relay lar, since relay Abr has operated upon the arrival of a marker in the reading position on the A side, it must stay there until the second marker arrives into the reading position on the B side. During that time, only the eventual further cheques on the B input side should be advance, and this means that change-over contact di! in the break position should permit the transmission of a start of cycle pulse to terminal CLM to operate relay Br.
  • relay Bbr would have been operated and through make contact bbs would have caused the energisation of relay Djr to permit the start of cycle pulses to be applied to terminal 1.33 to cause the operation of relay Ar.
  • the further advancement of the cheques eventually remaining on the other side is made independently of the electronic control circuit (lar).
  • the start of cycle pulse at terminal CL2 Upon one of the relays Abr or Bbr being operated, during the next cycle, the start of cycle pulse at terminal CL2, will pass through make contact .rc3 and break contact nur@ to operate either relay Aer or relay Bcl' respectively through make contacts abq or bbq. Either of these relays will only lbe temporarily operated during the start of cycle pulse lU (FIG 4) and these temporary operations are used to apply a reset signal either at terminal CL29 due to the opening of break Contact acl disconnecting resistor R6, or at terminal CLN due to the opening of break contact bel disconnecting resistor R4.
  • the bistable device of the electronic comparator will be automatically and regularly reset to the condition indicating the advancement on the B side, and in the other case, regular resets to indicate advancement on the A side will -be made as required.
  • this is now totally independent of the electronic control circuit, since either relay im' must automatically be released by every start of cycle pulse if relay Abr is energised, or relay lar must automatically be operated at every start of cycle pulse if relay Bbr is energised.
  • relay Bbr This is a duplicate for relay Bbr which is provided with two parallel operating paths if relay Bbr operates, and with a double opening of the operating path if relay Abr operates. This ensures that in no case will the marker stored in a reading position be allowed to leave that position before the other marker has also reached the opposite reading position.
  • relay Mar Upon the second marker reaching the other reading position, relay Mar is energized through make contacts 11194 and bbl in series and the results will ⁇ be similar to those already described in connection with the initial condition of the two markers being located in the two reading positions AZ and B2 of the reverse sorting stage.
  • relay Dmr is immediately operated through make contacts bbl, ab4 and abm in series, the ground provided through this connection being also applied to energise relay Dar immediately upon relay Mar operating and closing make contact ma.
  • This supplementary condition for the reverse sorting stage permits the markers to remain in the reading positions of their stage when the sort is liniShed, since the sorted cheque carriers being arrested in front of the normal sorting stage, none will pass the latter to send out the two markers which remain in the reverse sorting stage.
  • relay Dnr was temporarily operated, opened its break contact and therefore caused the release of the sequence counter comprising the eight relays Yar-Y/zr.
  • the sequence counter of four was controlled by Sqr which is energised from terminal CLE through the amplifying device SQ similar to amplifying device IA.
  • Terminal CL8 is connected to terminal CMPM of the electronic comparator (not shown) and at this terminal, a long pulse of about 60 milliseconds appears every time there is a change of output at the reverse sorting stage.
  • relay Sqr is momentarily operated.
  • relays Ym' and Ybr forming the first stage of thc sequence counter are energised by the first output sequence
  • relays Ycr and Ydr constituting the second stage of this counter will additionally be energised after the second output sequence has been delivered
  • relays Yer and Yfr will then be energised, after three output sequences have been delivered by the normal sorting stage.
  • Relays Ygr and Ylzr will then be energised but only if there are more than four output sequences.
  • the counter may be said to be saturated and further output sequences delivered by the reverse sorting stage can no longer modify its state.
  • the i iportant thing is to know that there are more than four output sequences which have been delivered by the reverse sorting stage, in which case the complete sort can not be possibly finished in a single round trip through beth stages of the sorting machine. Indeed, with the normal sorting stage being fed with more than four input sequences, it will at least deliver three output sequences, two on one side and one on the other, which the reverse sorting stage will not be able to merge into a single output sequence which could be taken out of the machine.
  • relay Sqr can no longer be temporarily operated to send a further pulse to the sequence counter of four, since at the moment the second marker cornes into a reading position next to the tirst marker already located in the adjacent reading position, both the parallel contacts abs and bb are open to prevent current ilow in Sqr. This is necessary since when both relays Abr and Bbr are operated, it will be recalled that the consequent openings of break contacts abz and bbz would, together, set the electronic comparator to the end of sequence condition.
  • a comparator probe pulse is generated and the second marker thus causes a 60 milliseconds end of sequence pulse to appear at terminals CMP24 and CL8 to try and energize Sqr.
  • relays Ygr and Ylzr are therefore not energised and consequently an operating circuit is closed for relay Mgr by applying ground through make contacts abe and Jil/9 in series with break contact ygz.
  • Relay Mgr operates and locks to ground through its make Contact mgl. Through its make contact mgz, an operating circuit is prepared for relay Zar, and eventually for relays Mhr and Aer. Through make contact mgg, the holding ground at terminal CL25 for maintaining the energisation ot the operated relays of the sequence counter of four is duplicated independently of break contact 112. Due to the opening of break contact mgi, the input circuit of the sequence counter of tour is interrupted to ensure that from now on the state of this counter can no longer be modied.
  • the two sequences at the input of the normal sorting stage will appear as ⁇ a single sequence at one or the other input or" the reverse sorting stage, Vas the normal sorting stage performs its merging action. Since at the beginning ot a sorting pass, after two markers have been sent ⁇ away from their respective reading positions, an A cheque is tirst advanced to the reading position and then the first B cheque is advanced to the other reading position, the normal sorting stage will issue the single sequence of cheques but the reverse sorting would not be able to deal with it. There would be a waste of time, since the reverse sorting stage which in these circumstances has only to pass the tinal sequence delivered by the normal sorting stage would remain totally inactive while the normal sorting stage delivers that single output sequence.
  • relay Adr or Bdr will be energised and in the manner previously described will result in the two markers being sent away from their reading positions in the normal sorting stage, one towards the D output and the other towards the C outputA
  • contacts [11:5 and [7115 will be closed causing the energisation of relay Mr and the subsequent release of relay Mur as previously described.
  • relay Zar also operates through make Contact mgg.
  • the opening of break Contact m1 interrupts the potential of -25 volts previously connected to delay device D1 through resistor R7.
  • This delay device D1 is designed to produce an output signal say l0 seconds after the opening of the break contact za1, this output signal causing the operation of relay Zbr connected at its output.
  • D1 may comprise a pentode amplifier of which the cathode is grounded through the winding of Zbr.
  • the input grid circuit of this pentode may include a condenser which is normally charged to -25 volts through resistor R1. Normally the potential of -25 volts appearing at one terminal of this condenser is connected to the grid of the pentode which is therefore cut-oit.
  • This condenser plate is also permanently connected through a suitable resistive circuit, so that upon the opening of break contact za1, the grid potential will gradually rise whereby the required delayed operation of relay Zbr may be obtained.
  • This delay starting from the moment the two markers are sent away from the reverse sorting stage is designed to permit them to advance on their respective transverse conveyors leading to the input positions A1 and B3 of the normal sorting stage NS (FIG. l), so that they are suiiciently near these two input positions by the time relay Zbl' operates. Then, make contact zb1 applies ground to relay Zcr which operates and brings the stops down in front of the input positions A4 and B3, so that the cheque carriers which will now come out of the reverse sorting stage RS will be arrested by the stops ready to be taken out of the sorting machine.
  • break contact zag opens and prevents the start of cycle pulses regularly applied at terminal CL19 from eventually reaching terminals CL33 or CL34 to cause the advancement of the cheques at the inputs of the.' reverse sorting stage, and which could otherwisebe p05-, ⁇
  • start ot cycle pulse at terminal CL19 is ready to cause the advancement of the cheque carriers through the reverse sorting stage as soon as they start to be delivered on both output sides of the normal sorting stage.
  • relay Mhr operates together with relay Zar, and opens make contact mha, thereby preventing the closure of make contact at zc;
  • Gate G1 has one of its inputs connected to terminal CLN which is controlled by a photocell arrangement arranged along the transverse conveyor linking output position D to input position A4 (FIG. l). It is located towards output position D' at a distance from the stop controlled by relay Zcr which corresponds to about half the overall thickness of the complete lot of cheque carriers inserted in the sorting machine.
  • the beam of light striking the photocell (not shown) is substantially perpendicular to the direction of advancement of this transverse conveyor, and this beam of light will therefore be interrupted upon there being at least about half the total number of cheque carriers packed on the D output lane from the reverse sorting stage RS (FIG. l), the first cheque carrier beingJ pressed against the stops controlled by relay Zcr. At this moment, the mass of cheque carriers will permanently interrupt the beam of light striking the photocell.
  • the temporary interruption of the beam of light can be made without effect on the output of the photocell arrangement if the latter is provided With a suitable time constant, so that it can only react after an interruption of the beam of light for a certain interval of time.
  • the beam of light which illuminates the photo-cell causes an activating signal to appear at terminal CLN.
  • the latter delivers an activating output signal which, from the moment relay Zcr operates is transmitted to the input of the amplifying device D to cause the operation of relay dr. Therefore, irrespective of the initial condition of this relay at the time Zcr energises, the cheques which will be allowed to go out from the reverse sorting stage RS some l0 Seconds after the two markers, will necessarily be delivered to the D output.
  • relay Zdr If relay 0dr was in the released condition at the time Zcr operates, an energising circuit is closed for relay Zdr through break contact cd2 in series with make contact zc5. But, relay Zdr is slow to operate, and accordingly it has no opportunty to energise at that moment, since relay 0dr quickly energises to open the operating circuit of relay 2dr at break contact odg.
  • the marker on the other side may arrive next to the input position B'3 and cause the operation of relay Bdr and in turn, that of Aer. Due to change-over contact nez moving to the make position, the advancement of the cheques at the A input will now be stopped until the marker on the B side reaches the reading position B2 and causes the operation of relay Bbr moving change-over contact bbw to the make position.
  • relay Bbr opens break contact bb5 thereby releasing relays Mr, Zar, Mhr and Aer but the opening of make contact mhz will remain without effect, the substitute ground being still provided through make Contact mjz. This ensures that the single sequence of cheques continues to be delivered at the output of the reverse sorting stage.
  • the photo-cell arrangement will no longer be able to supply an activating signal at terminal C1213 and consequently relay dr will be released. From this moment, the cheques will be delivered to the C output of the reverse sorting stage, this time not because there is a change of sequence but merely in order to split the distribution of the sorted cheques between the twol conveyors at the input of the normal stage.
  • relay 0dr closes an operating circuit, through break contact odg, for slow to operate relay Zdr which eventually energises and applies the inhibiting signal of volts through its make contact zdl to the input of gate G1 connected to resistor R8.
  • This is in efr'ect a locking action for gate G1 designed to prevent an eventual renewed delivery to the D output side.
  • rl ⁇ his could for example happen if the sorted load or cheques at the D output was removed While the remainder of the sorted cheques was still being accumulated at the C output. Then, G1 would again give an output signal which would cause an undesired shift back to the D output.
  • the normal sorting stage delivers two sequences, one on each side, the operations will be substantially as detailed above, except of course that as in the case of a normal sorting pass, the irst sequence delivered to one input of the reverse sorting stage will l,have to wait until the other sequence arrives at the other Since relay Ycr is energised, neither relay Mh, nor Aer can be operated, and though relay 0dr will first be operated and then released under the control of the forced splitting arrangement described above, the actual operation of Dar and then Cnr will be controlled by conf tacts okz and al1, While the iinal advancement of the cheques through the reverse sorting stage will be controlled by Djr.
  • the reject counter of three receives a pulse through break contact cl2, at the start of each cycle, whenever relay Olr was not energised during the previous cycle, thus indicating a faulty condition. It will be remarked that at certain moments, relay Immay be in the energised or released condition to indicate the advancement of the cheques at the A or at the B input of a stage respectively, but without there being actually cheques ready to advance into the corresponding reading position. This may happen for example at the beginning of a sorting pass. It such empty positions occur, it is undesirable to send a reject pulse due to the nonoperation of relay Olr during a cycle and this is prevented by the open make contacts aaz and bag which are only closed upon there actually being a cheque in the reading position.
  • This circuit to the reject counter of three is also interrupted by break contact mag as soon as relay Mar has energised to indicate that the two markers have reached their respective reading positions. Until both markers have left the reading positions, relay OIr cannot be energised and one should thereforeA avoid sending a reject pulse.
  • relay Rjr operates temporarily in addition to the counter of three and causes the energisation of relay R/cr by closing its make contact rjl.
  • Relay Rkr operates and locks through its make contact rkl in series with break contact sag. This last operated relay may control a lamp circuit (not shown) to indicate that there has been at least one reject at the stage concerned during the sorting operation.
  • Relay Rlr is a general release relay which opens its make contact rll, thereby preventing the start of cycle pulse from reaching terminal SL33 or CL23 to continue the advancement or the cheques. From the moment the release relay Rlr operates at one stage, that stage is effectively blocked since the cheques can no longer advance through it.
  • lamps may readily be added to the circuits described in order to give suitable indications on the operation of t" Apart me machine to an operator. from the lamp mentioned above and which may be lighted due to the operation of relay Rkr to indicate that there has been at least one reject at the corresponding stage, one may also add other lamp circuits to indicate for instance that the machine is on, or is out of order. Moreover, it would be useful to include a lamp which is lighted to indicate that the machine is performing the last sorting pass and that the sorted cheques will soon be available.
  • This last pass lamp circuit may be energised upon relay Zar being operated, a'make contact (not shown) of this relay used to close the lamp circuit being paralleled with a further make contact (not shown) of relay Zcr. This is necessary, since although relay Zar operates first, in the reverse sorting stage, it will subsequently be released when the iirst marker comes into its nal reading position in the reverse sorting stage, Whereas relay Zcr remains locked in the operated condition at the end ot the sorting operation.
  • a lamp may also be added to be lighted upon relay Err being operated, to indicate that a cheque carrier is not correctly centered in one of the various positions 'of the sorting stages.
  • the relays Rlr may also light a corresponding lamp when they are operated' to indicate that the corresponding sorting stage has been disabled.
  • the reset push buttons K0 should always be operated to energise the correspond'- ing relays Sor with the consequences previously explained. ln particular, this action will permit the recognition of the fact that, at the time of the fault, e.g. a power failure, a marker was standing in one of the reading positions. Then, the closure of make contact sbl will produce a substitute reading authorization forfthe marker standing in the reading position and the corresponding relay Abr or Bbr will be energised. This facility is due to the cheque carriers acting on the photocell,

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US805800A Expired - Lifetime US3028958A (en) 1958-04-16 1959-04-13 Sorting machine
US805841A Expired - Lifetime US3201758A (en) 1958-04-16 1959-04-13 Electrical sorting system

Family Applications After (2)

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US805800A Expired - Lifetime US3028958A (en) 1958-04-16 1959-04-13 Sorting machine
US805841A Expired - Lifetime US3201758A (en) 1958-04-16 1959-04-13 Electrical sorting system

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (3) US3028961A (en(2012))
CH (1) CH383049A (en(2012))
FR (2) FR75609E (en(2012))
GB (1) GB861013A (en(2012))
NL (3) NL226873A (en(2012))

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US4722444A (en) * 1985-04-08 1988-02-02 Banctec Inc. Method and apparatus for document processors

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US3304080A (en) * 1964-12-24 1967-02-14 Ibm Document sorting apparatus
US3794974A (en) * 1972-10-13 1974-02-26 Raytheon Co Digital flow processor
US4088877A (en) * 1976-10-08 1978-05-09 Wilson William J Sequence checking device
FR2525127A1 (fr) * 1982-04-15 1983-10-21 Fustier Guy Dispositif de classement d'objets manutentionnes
US5111465A (en) * 1989-06-30 1992-05-05 Digital Equipment Corporation Data integrity features for a sort accelerator

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US2911622A (en) * 1954-07-01 1959-11-03 Rca Corp Serial memory
US2961643A (en) * 1954-07-01 1960-11-22 Rca Corp Information handling system

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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Title
None *

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4722444A (en) * 1985-04-08 1988-02-02 Banctec Inc. Method and apparatus for document processors

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NL226872A (en(2012))
FR75609E (en(2012)) 1961-11-27
FR75610E (en(2012)) 1961-11-27
GB861013A (en) 1961-02-15
CH383049A (de) 1964-10-15
NL226874A (en(2012))
US3201758A (en) 1965-08-17
NL226873A (en(2012))
US3028958A (en) 1962-04-10

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