US3220725A

US3220725A - Card stacking apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3220725A
Application number: US248507A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald E Brozo
Original assignee: Burroughs Corp
Current assignee: Unisys Corp
Priority date: 1962-12-31
Filing date: 1962-12-31
Publication date: 1965-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 1982-11-30

Description

Nov. 30, 1965 D. E. BROZO 3,220,725

CARD STAGKING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 31, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1.

DUNALD E. BROZ0.

A TTORNEK Nov. 30, 1965 D. E. BROZO 3,220,725

CARD STACKING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 31, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2.

INVENTOR.

DONALD E. BROZ0.

M WW

ATTORNEX Nov. 30, 1965 D. E. BROZO 3,220,725

CARD STACKING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 31, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig. 3.

n, 52 so J 2 J 4 g mm 28 J J Q z 00mm E. 52%? M KW ATTORNEX Nov. 30, 1965 D. E. BROZO 3,220,725

CARD STACKING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 31, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 4.

Fig. 6

INVENTOR. 00mm 5. BHOZO. BY

United States Patent 3,229,725 CARD STACKGNG APPARATUS Donald E. Brozn, Livonia, Mich, assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Dec. 31, 1962, Ser. No. 243,507 2 Claims. (Cl. 27171) This invention relates generally to sheet transport apparatus and particularly to a sheet stacking device.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved sheet stacking device.

Another object of the invention is to provide an impnoved sheet stacking bin into which sheets are successively fed on edge in an upright attitude and in which the trailing edges thereof are moved out of the way of the next preceding sheets eificiently and economically.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a turnstile type of unit in the entrance to a sheet stacking bin to flick the trailing ends of successively entering checks out of the path of sheet travel.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detail description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sheet transporting apparatus embodying features of my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is another vertical sectional view, taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view, taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view, taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a portion of a document handling card feeder and reader mechanism 10 is shown in FIG. 1 in which a stack 12 of punched cards is supported edgewise in a feed hopper 14 and successively presented to a card feeder 16 from which the cards are fed singly on demand past a reading station 18 to a turn around guide roller 26 from which they are stacked in a stacking hopper 22 in the same order in which they were fed. The above assemblies are mounted on a stationary base plate or casting having rigidly fixed thereto and elevated slightly thereabove a stationary hopper floor plate 28 and a pair of

vibratable floor plates

29 and 30 which are relatively movable with respect to the stationary floor plate. Although shown as extending in horizontal planes for purposes of drawing convenience, the several plates are disposed in gradually rearwardly rising planes inclined at about 21 /2 degrees to the horizontal from the front to the rear of the structure to facilitate loading and unloading of cards therein and for card jogging and alignment purposes.

The feed hopper 14 includes the stationary and

movable floor plates

28 and 29; a left end fall formed by an upstanding, rearwardly extending stripper or guide plate 32; a laterally extending edge guide 33 that is slidably mounted on and releasably secured by clamps 34 in elongated slots 35 in the movable floor plate 29 for adjusting the size of the feed hopper to different length cards for different card runs, and a rearwardly extending pusher plate 36 overhanging the hopper edge guide and floor plates. The pusher plate 36 is pivotally mounted at 39 for insertion into and extraction from the hopper and is supported from an upstanding bracket 40, which is secured to a bored pilot or bearing block 42. Block 42 is coaxially slidably received on a laterally extending cylindrical guide tube 44 that is mounted on the base casting. The pusher plate 36 is urged leftwardly toward the stripper plate 32 Patented Nov. 3%, 1955 by a vertically spaced pair of horizontally extending

cables

45, 46 connected respectively between the block 42 and a lug 47 on bracket 40 and to coiled

spring tensioning device

48 and 49 which are mounted from the base plate and are tensioned as the pusher plate 36 is moved manually rightwardly to receive a stack of cards.

The card feeder 16, which will be described in greater detail later, includes a constantly driven, rubber surfaced drurn 50. The outer surface of the drum 50 has integrally formed thereon a plurality of ribbed projections 51 which encircle the drum and are spaced along the drum axis. The ridges 51 are separated by grooves 51' which may be of the same width as the ridges. The drum 50 is positioned relative to the forwardmost card so that the ridges 51 contact the card over adjacent rows of the perforations 52' therein, as later described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a feed control device for the card stack 12 is provided in the form of a plurality of fingers 52 which are afiixed to and in spaced relation along a vertical shaft 53. The shaft 53 is connected to an operating solenoid 54 by a lever 55 and is oscillated between card hold and release positions. The fingers 52 are arranged such that when they are moved to card release positions they are received respectively in the grooves 51' inwardly of the periphery of the drum, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The solenoid 54 is energized to effect pivoting of the fingers 52 to their ineffective positions within the drum grooves 51' whereby to release the forwardrnost card for feeding by the drum 50.

Referring particularly to FIG. 3, the drum 50 is journalled on a fixed tubular shaft 55 and fixed onto the shaft, within the drum, there is a valve body 56 having a passage 57 in communication with the tubular shaft 55 and a pair of passages 58 in communication with the drum perforations 52' through an intermediate chamber 59. To the lower end of the shaft 55, a suitable fitting connects one end of a pipe or tube 6il to be connected at its other end to a vacuum source. Within the valve body 56, a vertical stem 61 carries, in this instance, a pair of vertically spaced valve members 62 which are biased to closed position and control communication between the vacuum source and the drum perforations 52'. A solenoid 63, mounted on top of the valve body 56 is provided to open the valve members 62 and is to be energized at about the same time that the finger operating solenoid 54 is energized. When this occurs, the forwardrnost card of the stack 12 is freed by the fingers 52 and is then drawn and held to the periphery of the drum 50, by the differential pressure created by the vacuum source, and the drum feeds the card edgewise between a pair of

upstanding guide plates

64 and 65 into the bight of a card pull-out accelerating drive roller assembly 66 and a photooptical card detector 67. The detector 67 detects the presence of the card and de-energizes the

solenoids

54 and 65. From the pull-out drive roller assembly 66, the fed card is transported on edge past the information read device 18 to a cotton belt 68 and pressure rollers 69 and then around the turnaround guide roller 20 from which the card is directed into the card stacker 22.

Mounted adjacent the feed drum 50, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, there is a driven shaft 70 parallel with the drum axis and carrying a pair of rollers 71 having their peripheries slightly spaced from the drum periphery. As indicated on FIG. 2, the rollers '71 are rotated in the same direction as the drum 50, or counterclockwise, the purpose being to prevent the feeding by the drum of more than one card at a time. This is effected by the spacing of the rollers 71 from a drum periphery a distance slightly greater than the thickness of a card, and the direction of rotation of the rollers tending to thrust the card in a counter feeding direction.

The stacker 22 is in the form of a bin and comprises the vibratable floor plate 30 which is resiliently mounted from the base plate in the same plane as, but located rearwardly and above the movable feed hopper floor plate 29, and is vibrated in a reciprocating rectilinear path by an electromagnetic jogger (not shown). In addition to the vibrating floor plate 30, the stacker 22 includes a stationary side wall 72, an opposite movable side wall, or back-up member 73, a front wall 74 and a rear wall 75. The wall 74 is formed in part by a movably adjustable member 77 which retains a rubber bumper 78 at the junction with the side Wall 72. The stacker rear wall 76 is an angle-shaped edge guide similar to the hopper edge guide 33 and is likewise adjustably mounted on the stacker fioor plate 30 to accommodate different length stacks of cards for diflerent card runs. The back-up member 73, corresponding to the pusher plate 36 in the feed hopper, is similarly mounted on a rearwardly located laterally extending guide tube and is resiliently tensioned against the stacked cards.

On the other side of wall 72 from the bin there is a continuously rotating roller 80 which rotates in a clockwise direction, facing FIGS. 1 and 2. When the lead edge of a card strikes the rubber bumper 78, the card rebounds, and it is the function of the roller 80 to return the card so that the leading edge is against the bumper for desired stacking of the cards. The roller 80 is supported by a mounting 81 which is adjustably mounted on a rod 82, supported by end brackets 83 on the bin side wall 72. Adjustment of the position of the feed back roller 80 is made when adjusting the edge guide for a run of different length cards.

The bin front Wall 74 terminates in spaced relation to the bin side wall 72, providing a card inlet 84 and positioned in said inlet, I provide a constantly driven, vertically mounted sheet striker member such as a nylon pinion or paddle wheel 85. The function of the paddle wheel 85 is to entrain the trailing edge of an incoming card between the teeth of the wheel and deflect the card toward the card stacker. Positioned on the other side of the bin wall 72 from the paddle wheel 85, one or more air jets 86 are provided and arranged to direct an air blast or blasts against an incoming card to effect the entraining of the card trailing edge in the blades of the paddle wheel 85 after the card has completely entered the bin. The paddle wheel 85 is mounted to one side of the path of sheet travel into the bin on a vertical shaft 87 with the teeth of the paddle wheel extending partially into the bin and is driven in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2. A continuation 88 of the guide rail 64 extends to the periphery of the paddle wheel 85 to guide the leading edge of an incoming card past the wheel. The distance from the bumper 78 to the paddle wheel inner or root diameter, as established by the full depth of the paddle blades, is made slightly greater than the lengths of the cards of a given run of cards. As previously mentioned, the leading edge of an incoming card is guided past the paddle wheel and the card then is urged rightwardly by the air blast from jet 86. When the trailing edge of the card clears the end of the guide continuation 83, the trailing edge of the card is blown by the air blast into mesh with the paddles of the rotating paddle wheel which then flicks this end of the card against the stack in bin 22. Since the distance from the bumper 78 to the inner or root diameter of the paddle wheel, taken on a line through the center of the wheel, is only slightly greater than the lengths of the cards, it will be seen that cards on the stack side of the wheel are retained against movement back to the path of card entry.

While I have shown and described the card handling apparatus in considerable detail, it will be understood that many changes and variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: 4

1. In a sheet handling apparatus having means for feeding sheets singly on edge into one end of a storage bin means for stacking said sheets against the opposite end of the bin comprising a vertical surface on a wall of said bin adjacent said receiving end for receiving the leading edges of said sheets,

a continuously rotating paddle wheel having its axis parallel to said surface and having paddles extending into said bin on the side opposite said surface for engaging the trailing edges of said sheets after said sheets have completely entered said bin and for pivoting said sheets on said surface by their trailing edges toward said opposite end of the bin, and

pneumatic means for deflecting the trailing edges of said sheets into the paddles of said paddle wheel.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said surface is a rubber bumper set into a wall of the bin and wherein said receiving end of said bin has a wall at an obtuse angle to said wall containing said surface for guiding said sheets into said bin and against said surface.

FOREIGN PATENTS 6/1945 France. 7/1954 Great Britain.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. MORRIS TEMIN, Examiner,

Claims

1. IN A SHEET HANDLING APPARATUS HAVING MEANS FOR FEEDING SHEETS SINGLY ON EDGE INTO ONE END OF A STORAGE BIN MEANS FOR STACKING SAID SHEETS AGAINST THE OPPOSITE END OF THE BIN COMPRISING A VERTICAL SURFACE ON A WALL OF SAID BIN ADJACENT SAID RECEIVING END FOR RECEIVING THE LEADING EDGES OF SAID SHEETS, A CONTINUOUSLY ROTATING PADDLE WHEEL HAVING ITS AXIS PARALLEL TO SAID SURFACE AND HAVING PADDLES EXTENDING INTO SAID BIN ON THE SIDE OPPOSITE SAID SURFACE FOR ENGAG-