US3278021A - Document sorting apparatus having over center gate means - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 11, 1966 E. F. c. SCHULZE DOCUMENT SORTING APPARATUS HAVING OVER CENTER GATE MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 18, 1964 35 INVENTOR.

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Oct. 11, 1966 E. F-. c. SCHULZE 3,278,021

DOCUMENT SORTING APPARATUS HAVING OVER CENTER GATE MEANS Filed May 18, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ERW/N l. C. Sch'm. ZE

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Oct. 11, 1966 E. F. c SCHULZE 3,278,021 TUS HAVING OVER CENTER GATE MEANS DOCUMENT SOR'IING APPARA 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 18, 1964 WOKQW ATTORNEY.

United States Patent P 3,278,021 DOCUMENT SORTING APPARATUS HAVING OVER CENTER GATE MEANS Erwin F. C. Schnlze, Novelty, Ohio, assignor to Addressagraph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 18, 1964, Ser. No. 368,005 9 Claims. (Cl. 20974) This invention relates to document handling and especially to gate means for sorting tabulating cards in high speed data processing apparatus.

It is customary procedure to provide a track along which documents such :as punched cards are fed seriatim, and which includes several gates through which the documents can escape from the track into associated receivers therebelow. Each of these gates is opened at the proper time to pass a document which has been sensed, and whose information is such that direction to the receiver in question is indicated.

The practice heretofore has been to maintain each gate in closed position, usually by a spring biasing means, until a document destined for the associated receiver is presented thereto, at which time an electric signal opens the gate and holds it open for a period whose duration is sufiicient to allow the leading edge of the document to pass the gate, whereupon the gate is again allowed to be closed by the biasing means and remain closed until the next document destined for its receiver appears.

The present invention has for its object the elimination of waste movements (found in the customary arrangement outlined above) and the attendant aspects of shock, wear, noise, inconvenience and expense related thereto. In particular it is an object of the invention to provide a gate which will remain closed until signalled to open, or remain open until signalled to close.

One problem encountered in the design of gate mechanisms for stay-open or stay-closed operation, however, was that of obtaining a rapid acting gate without getting into inordinately large and unwieldy activating mechanisms. Assuming first that a return or closing spring has to be overcome, and that it is also desired to have the gate opened by electromagnetic means as rapidly as possible, it can be appreciated that, as a result of the sum of these requirements, a very large electromagnetic coil is required. If the system is designed to handle a high voltage which will open the gate rapidly in spite of the spring and the inductive reactance during current build-up, it must then either have a coil designed to withstand the current heating effect due to that same voltage during the extended static hold-open condition, or else mus-t have additional circuitry for automatically lowering the voltage after an initial high voltage opening pulse.

The present invention has for another object, therefore, the avoidance of these difficulties and the provision of a stay-open, stay-closed gate operating mechanism which can produce an extremely rapid gate movement response without an unwieldy activating mechanism.

This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by foregoing the return spring and employing two coils one for opening the gate and one for closing it. Both coils can be of minimal size 'because a very short high voltage pulse is all that is needed to produce rapid gate movement in either direction, and beyond the short duration of this pulse, the activating means remains in a totally de-energized state.

It is another object of the invention to provide a gate operating mechanism in accordance with the foregoing object which can be made to operate in a reliable fashion, whose moving parts are low inertia elements, which is 3,278,021 Patented Oct. 11, 1966 capable of extremely accurate adjustment, and which can be constructed on an economical basis.

A feature of the present invention in one of its preferred forms is the arrangement of a leaf or armature, in driving relation with the gate, which armature is acted upon by two electromagnets, one to provide opening movement and one to provide closing movement.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of an over center spring for the armature so arranged that its effect on the armature can be accurately balanced and adjusted.

One particular advantage of the construction herein disclosed is the important degree of wear reduction achieved. High speed mechanisms which must perform many thousands of operations in short time intervals suffer from the fact that a high rate of part replacement is usually necessary, with attendant down time inconvenience and loss. By the present invention it has been made possible to provide equivalent gate functioning with perhaps one-tenth of the number of gate openings and closings in many instances, with corresponding; extension of life of the par-ts involved.

Another advantage of the construction disclosed is the ability of the gates to remain in either an opened or closed state in cases of power failure. In most situations a power failure does not prevent the continued inertiainspired activity of the feed rolls so that a document, once started will normally traverse the full track. If the destination gate is held in open position regardless of excitation, as in the case of the present invention, the document can reach its appointed receiver a fraction of a second after power cessation instead of having all gates closed by springs whereby the document would be incorrectly shunted to the reject receiver. Moreover, in case of some types of machine failure, the operators diagnosis of the problem can be materially assisted if he is able to determine which gate or gates were open and which closed at the instant of failure.

Applicants co-pending application Serial No. 374,767 should be referred to for a specific teaching of electromagnetic motor means suitable for the particular invention and for other uses, because the motor shown in FIGURE 2 herein is not separately claimed in this case.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter as the description proceeds.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan of a section of document feed track and showing a gate and an operating means therefor in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail elevation, with parts broken away, of the gate operating means shown in FIG. 1, but drawn to a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a detail section taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing the gate in closed position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the gate in open position and a document passing therethrough; and

FIG. 5 is block diagram illustrating the manner of using the improved gate opera-ting means of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, numeral 11 desig nates a portion of a document track of a card feeding device embodying side rails 13 for edge guiding the card as it moves from right to left along the track, supported by a platform 15. At points along the track are cooperating feed wheels 17, 19 and 17, 19' of a known type for advancing the card at a predetermined velocity.

At various points along the track the platform 15 is interruptecl to provide openings, and each opening is occupied by a rockable deflecting gate 21. In the form shown this gate is directly downstream of the feed wheels 3 17, 19. The gate 21 can be made to lie with its upper surface forming a continuation of the surface of platform 15, as in FIG. 3, or rocked upward slightly as in- FIG. 4 to deflect a leftward moving card C into a receiver, designated 23.

The gate 21 has a driving connection with a shaft 25 which rocks in a suitable bearing 27 in a portion of the track 11. On an outside face of the track is the gate actuator indicated generally at 29, operatively associated with the shaft 25.

The actuator comprises a frame 31, a pair of electromagnets 33 and 35 mounted on the frame with their pole pieces 37 and 39 respectively directed towards each other and spaced apart a predetermined amount which can be adjusted by reason of the clamp screws 41 being slidable in slots 43' At a point on the frame 31 between the magnets 33 and 35 there is a groove 45 which receives an edge 47 formed at one end of an armature 49 of magnetic material such as soft iron. This armature is arranged to extend between the pole pieces 37 and 39. The armature is designed to rock about its edge 47 and to have a few degrees of movement from one pole piece to the other. Holding the armature in a leftward position and into the groove 45 is a leaf spring 51 In the form shown, this is a spring of C-shape having small openings in its ends. One of these openings receives a pin 53 on the end of the armature 49, and the other seats on the point of a screw perch 55 mounted on arm 57 which is adjustably positionable transversely of the groove 45 by reason of its mounting on frame 31 through clamp screws 59 and slots 61. The spring 51 is, of course, in a deflected condition when engaged with the armature and screw perch 55 and tends to expand and to exert an axial force along the armature 49. As such, it acts as a conventional over center spring and tends to snap the armature to one side or the other whenever it passes a centralized position.

The armature 49 drives the shaft by means of a fork 63 which is clamped to the end of shaft 25 and has arms 65 and 67 embracing the armature. The arms each carry an adjustable striking surface in the form of a screw (69 and 71).

The adjustments provided are as follows:

(1) The length of throw of the gate can be adjusted by controlling the position of electromagnet 35 through its mounting screws 41, 41, thus positioning its pole piece 39 closer to or farther from the pole piece 37.

(2) The center point for the action of spring 51 can be positioned to accord with a mid position for the armature 49 in the pole-piece gap by shifting the support point for the outer spring end. This is accomplished by shifting arm 57 via its mounting screws 59.

(3) The actual ambit of the gate 21 is adjusted so as to have the lower limit thereof just slightly below flush position with the platform 15, and this is accomplished by manipulating the screws 69 and 71. Lowering of both screws raises fork 63 and thereby lowers the gate position, and raising both screws raises the gate.

In describing the operation of the gate operating mechanism it will first be assumed that the gate is in lowered position as shown in FIG. 3. As cards C are fed along the track 11 they will pass freely over the top of the gate. This continues until the machine determines that a particular card C is destined for the receiver 23. A gate opening pulse of high voltage and short duration is then sent to the gate actuator 29, specifically to the electromagnet 35 just prior to arrival of the card at the gate. This excites the magnet 35 and draws the armature 49 downwardly, lowering the fork 63 and rocking the shaft 25 so as to place the gate 21 in an upward or open position. As the armature 49 goes past center, the spring 51 retains it in downward position after the activating pulse has terminated. The gate v21 is accordingly held in open position, and the card C passes through it into the receiver 23 as seen in FIG. 4.

This open position of the gate may be of long or short duration. If the machine determines that the next succeeding card C is also to go into the same receiver 23, it sends another pulse to the electromagnet 35, but since the armature 49 is already in lowered position, nothing happens. The gate 21 remains open and this card also is deposited in the receiver 23. This sequence recurs as many times as the machine determines that each card is destined for the same receiver 23.

When the machine determines that a card is destined for some receiver along the track other than receiver 23, it sends an opening pulse to the actuator associated with that other receiver, and simultaneously automatically sends a closing pulse to the actuators of all non-destination receivers which lie between the card source and the destination receiver, and we shall now assume that this includes the actuator 29. This closing pulse is also a high voltage, short duration pulse and is conducted to the closing electromagnet 33. As a result, the armature 49 is drawn upwardly against the pole piece 37, raising the fork 63 and so rocking the shaft 25 that gate 21 is lowered to the FIG. 3 position, whereby cards C moving along the track 11 pass over the gate 21 and therefore bypass receiver 23. The gate 21 is retained in this upward position by the action of spring 51 regardless of how many times the magnet 33 may be pulsed. N0 movement occurs until opening magnet 35 is again pulsed, as will be readily understood.

In the interests of high speed operation, portions of the frame 31 and the various mounting parts for the magnets 33 and 35 have been included in the iron circuit. The left-hand third of armature 49 is similarly included. This provides a more rapid, more positive action for the actuator. In order to secure the optimum effect insofar as speed of action is concerned, the leads to the two coils are so connected, having regard for the signs of the pulses used, that their flux paths through the left-hand third of the armature 49 will be in opposition, whereby the field caused by a pulse in either magnet will rapidly dissipate any remnant of the decaying field in the magnetic circuit of the other magnet.

FIG. 5 illustrates how the gate operators specifically described above are integrated into a system in which a document such as a card C is being fed to the left past a scanner and thence down a track equipped with a plurality of gates, three being shown in the present instance.

As the document passes the scanner 101, the informatron extracted therefrom, either alone or together with other input information, is interpreted at 103. One result of this interpretation is the selection of an appropriate destination receiver into which the document will ultimately be placed.

If a signal that Gate #1 is to be opened should be generated at 103, this would be conducted via path to an opening pulse generator 107, and the resulting pulse would proceed via line 109 to the opening magnet 35 associated with Gate 1, opening the same. The gate would remain open and the card C would pass therethrough into the associated receiver. No other gates are affected, either in an opening or closing direction.

Assuming that Gate selector 103 emits a signal that Gate #2 is to be opened, this signal proceeds via path 111 to opening pulse generator 107, and the resulting pulse is carried via path 113 to the opening magnet 35 of Gate #2 to open the same. Simultaneously the selector a signal that Gate #1 is to be closed, which signal goes closing pulse generator 117, and the resulting pulse is carried via path 119 to the closing magnet 33 of Gate #1, closing the same. In this case a card C coming down the track passes the closed Gate #1 and enters Gate #2.

Similarly, when gate selector 103 makes a Gate #3 selection, the signal goes to opening pulse generator 107 and closing pulse generator 117 via paths 121 and 123 respectively. The former emits an opening pulse carried to the opening magnet 35 of Gate #3 by path 125, and the 103 emits latter sends a closing pulse to the closing coils 33 of Gate #1 and Gate #2 by path 127, 127, 127".

While an arrangement employing three gates has been described, it is thought that the extension of the principle to a larger number of gates is now apparent, the interconnection being such that the opening of any gate simultaneously creates a condition whereby all gates ahead of the one to be opened receive a signal to close.

Regardless of the number of gates present, the track normally terminates at a small REJECT receiver to accept documents which do not scan properly or fail to fit the general pattern for any of a variety of reasons. When the data interpreter recognizes such a document it sends an appropriate REJECT signal via path 129 to closing pulse generator 117. The latter emits a closing pulse via paths 131, 131, 131 and 131" to the closing magnets 33 of all gates, whereby the card C is caused to bypass all the usual receivers and eventually be fed into the RE- JECT receiver.

The features described to this point represent the requirements for operating on a basis of one document at a time which is a condition frequently encountered. It will e understood, however, that if rapid operation is desired such that a plurality of documents are occupying different portions of the track at the same time, as is also quite customary, suitable memory or delay devices should also be incorporated. This is recognized in FIG. 5 by showing opening delay devices 133 and 135 in the paths 113 and 125 respectively. These represent suitable mechanism of known type for delaying the application of the opening pulse to the opening magnet of the respective gate at least until such time as the leading edge of the document next preceding the document under consideration would have had time to pass slightly beyond the destination gate, so as to prevent opening of the destination gate too soon and perhaps waylaying one or more previous documents intended for more remote receivers. Similarly a closing delay device 137 is included in paths 127" and 131" and a closing delay device 139 in path 131". These represent suitable devices of known type for delaying the application of the closing pulse to the closing magnet of the respective gate until such time as the leading edge of the document next preceding the document under consideration would have had time to enter well into the gate in question (if open). This is to prevent closing of a gate too soon and perhaps causing a previous document to bypass a receiver which had originally been designated as its destination.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that the present invention provides a simple, economical gate operating mechanism of extremely rapid response, designed to improve the speed and reliability of document handling to a marked degree, but without seriously augmenting its complexity or cost.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification. Accordingly, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such variations and modifications as may fall within the true spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Track and gate means for routing documents at high speed, comprising:

means for directing documents in a path;

a document gate shiftable between an open and a closed position, said gate in said closed position maintaining said path uninterrupted, said gate acting as a deflector in said open position for causing documents to deflect from said path;

two electromagnets arranged in spaced opposing relationship, an armature positioned between said electromagnets, drive means interconnecting the armature and gate for producing shifting drive, said armature and drive means shiftable by energization of one of said magnets to a position for opening the gate,

and shiftable by energization of the other of said magnets into a position for closing the gate;

holding means independent of the electromagnetic action for retaining said gate in either of said positions after shifting by said electromagnets; and

path selection means for operating said electromagnets in timed and coordinated relationship with respect to documents moving in said pat-h according to the desired destination of a particular document.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 which further includes as said holding means, an over-center spring means acting on the armature for biasing the same towards either one electromagnet or the other.

3. In a device of the type described, a document gate rockable between open and closed positions; a gate opening electromagnet and a gate closing electromagnet arranged in'spaced opposing relationship; an armature positioned between said electromagnets and shiftable by energization of the opening magnet to a position for opening the gate, and shiftable by the energization of the closing magnet into a position for closing the gate; means for sending to each electromagnet a short duration pulse of a maximum voltage which if maintained would have a heating eflFect substantially greater than that which either electromagnet can withstand without damage; drive means interconnecting the armature and gate; and an over-center means associated with the armature for holding it towards the most recently excited electromagnet after its pulse has terminated.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 in which there are a plurality of similar gates arranged along the path of a document as it moves in a predetermined direction, and in which each of the gates has associated equipment as described in claim 5, the means for sending pulses to the said closing magnet associated with each gate having operative interconnection with the means for sending pulses to the said opening magnets related only to gates downstream therefrom.

5. In a device of the type described, means for feeding a document along a predetermined path; a series of gates arranged along the path; electromagnetic motor means for opening each of said gates in response to a signal; electromagnetic motor means for closing each of said gates in response to a signal; mechanical detent means for holding each of said gates in the opened or closed position; means for scanning each document and selecting the destination gate through which the document should pass; means for sending a momentary signal pulse to the electromagnetic motor means for opening the destination gate; and means coordinated with the sending of said signal for sending additional signals to the closing means for only the gates upstream from said destination gate if any, and at a period of time after said scanning short of arrival time of the scanned document, but longer than the time to travel from the means for scanning to a given gate less the interval of time between documents passing said means for scanning.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which there is also included a terminal reject receiver and means related to the scanning means for generating a reject signal designating the reject receiver as the destination for the document; and means coordinated with the sending of said reject signal for sending additional signals to the closing means for all gates in timed sequence related to the movement of the reject document along said path.

7. In a document conveying device having a document gate rockable between open and closed positions for diverting selected documents from a track in which they are driven, the provision of a new drive and control means for said document gate, comprising:

a gate opening electromagnet and a gate closing electromagnet arranged in spaced opposing relationship; an armature positioned between said electromagnets and shiftable by energization of the opening magnet to a position for opening the gate, and shiftable by the energization of the closing magnet into a position for closing the gate;

means for sending to each electromagnet a short duration pulse of an overload voltage to build a flux field more rapidly than steady state voltage would provide;

drive means interconnecting the armature and gate; and

an over-center means associated with the armature for holding it towards the most recently excited electromagnet after its pulse has terminated.

8. Track and gate means for routing documents at high speed, comprising:

means for directing documents in a path;

a document gate shiftable between an open and a closed position, said gate in said closed position maintaining said path uninterrupted, said gate shifting to an open interruption position wherein it is positioned as a deflector causing documents to deflect from said path;

an electromagnetic closing drive motor having an armature and drive means for shifting said gate to said open position upon energization of said electromagnetic opening drive motor;

an electromagnetic closing drive motor having an armature and drive means for shifting said gate to said closed position upon energization of said electromagnetic closing drive motor;

holding means independent of the electromagnetic action for retaining said gate in either said position after shifting by said electromagnets; and

path selection means for operating said electromagnets in timed and coordinated relationship with respect to documents moving in said path according to the desired destination of a particular document.

9. A track and gate means for routing documents at high speed, as defined in claim 7, wherein said path selecting means is a document reader taking information from the document to select the gate condition and determine the path of the document.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,602 4/1935 Anderson 193-31 X 2,454,628 11/ 1948 Braun.

2,656,908 10/ 1953 Ellison.

2,707,569 5/1955 Benson 209-72 3,038,607 6/1962 Eckert 209--111.7 3,166,219 1/1965 Rudd 222504 X M. HENSON WOOD, ]R., Primary Examiner.

A. N. KNOWLES, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N00 3, 278,021 October 11, 1966 Erwin FD Ce Schulze It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 34, for "5" read 3 column 7, line 21, for "closing" read opening Signed and sealed this 22nd day of August 1967.

( AL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents

Claims (1)

1. TRACK AND GATE MEANS FOR ROUTING DOCUMENTS AT HIGH SPEED, COMPRISING: MEANS FOR DIRECTING DOCUMENTS IN A PATH; A DOCUMENT GATE SHIFTABLE BETWEEN AN OPEN AND A CLOSED POSITION, SAID GATE IN SAID CLOSED POSITION MAINTAINING SAID PATH UNINTERRUPTED; AID GATE ACTING AS A DEFLECTOR IN SAID OPEN POSITION FOR CAUSING DOCUMENTS TO DEFLECT FROM SAID PATH; TWO ELECTROMAGNETS ARRANGED IN SPACED OPPOSING RELATIONSHIP, AN ARMATURE POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID ELECTROMAGNETS, DRIVE MEANS INTERCONNECTING THE ARMATURE AND GATE FOR PRODUCING SHIFTING DRIVE, SAID ARMATURE AND DRIVE MEANS SHIFTABLE BY ENERGIZATION OF ONE OF SAID MAGNETS TO A POSITION FOR OPENING THE GATE, SAID SHIFTABLE BY ENERGIZATION OF THE OTHER OF SAID MAGNETS INTO A POSITION FOR CLOSING THE GATE; HOLDING MEANS INDEPENDENT OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTION FOR RETAINING SAID GATE IN EITHER OF SAID POSITIONS AFTER SHIFTING BY SAID ELECTROMAGNETS; AND PATH SELECTION MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID ELECTROMAGNETS IN TIMED AND COORDINATED RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO DOCUMENTS MOVING IN SAID PATH ACCORDING TO THE DESIRED DESTINATION OF A PARTICULAR DOCUMENT.

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