Patent GB-655629-A (GB)
Title: Improvement in machine for sequential file merging
IPC: G01N7/14
Filed: 1948-03-12
Abstract: 655,629. Statistical apparatus. REMINGTON RAND, Inc. March 12, 1948, No. 7618. Convention date, July 19, 1947. [Class 106 (i)] A record-card controlled machine for merging two individual groups of record cards into one group sequentially comprises a plurality of sensing units each including successively disposed sensing stages, a plurality of comparing units interconnecting the sensing stages for detecting a sequence condition between the stages of each sensing unit and between sensing units, a control unit adapted to receive and transmit impulses, and means in the comparing units to transmit impulses to the control unit indicating sequence conditions, the control unit operating upon receipt of the impulses to transmit impulses for controlling the machine in accordance with each combination of sequence conditions. The general arrangement of the machine described is shown in Figs. 5 and 5A. Primary cards and secondary cards are fed from magazines 190 and 190S, respectively, towards the centre of the machine. In each case there is an initial sensing stage followed by a sequence sensing stage; then two pockets with controllable gates, and finally a common, central, merging pocket. Bowden wire connection boxes 430P, 430S transmit the readings of the initial and sequence sensing stages to comparing units 470P, 470S, and a central comparing unit 470M is controlled from the two sequence sensing stages. The results of comparison appear as Bowden wire signals which are passed to a nine-bank control unit which co-ordinates these results and controls the card feeding mechanism and pocket gates as set out in Figs. 78 and 78A (not shown). There are manual controls for pre-setting the pockets for selective operation under various machine conditions, and also for enabling one side of the machine to operate independently of the other side in sequence checking operations or in conjunction with the other side in merging operations. An example illustrating the possible operations of the machine during card merging is set out in tabular form in the Specification. Card feeding. The feeding mechanism is of known type, the picker blade 192, Fig. 5A, being linked to an arm 194 on a shaft 195 oscillated by cam and follower. Also on the shaft 195 is an arm (not shown) which is blocked by a Bowden wire controlled lever under certain .conditions, thus stopping the card advance mechanism. When a card is advanced by the picker, the feed roll 210 (see also Fig. 16) is lifted with its frame 212 by the action of a cam 220 co-operating with a follower roller 222 to rock a shaft 215 coupled with the frame 212 through a bifurcated arm 223 co-operating with a pin 224 on a link 225. The roll 210 is urged to engage the card by a spring 217 when th e follower 222 reaches the cut-away portion of the cam. The card is then fed forward into the initial sensing chamber with the assistance of intermediate feed-rolls brought into and out of engagement in synchronism with the rolls 210, 209. Card aligning. At the same time as the coming into operation of the feed rolls, card stops 247, Fig. 16, are raised against springs 255 through the movement of arms 248 which have hooked upper portions engaging bell-cranks 252, 253, the former fixed to the shaft 215 and therefore controlled by the cam 220, the latter free on its shaft 245 and operated through a link 254. Each card is fully aligned after entering a sensing chamber. Rear aligners 265, Fig. 17, with hooked upper ends engaging pins on bellcranks 267, 268 are spring-urged to engage their pins 272 with cam slopes on a slide 271 linking the two bell-cranks. The bell-crank 267 is fixed to its shaft 245 and, upon the rocking of this shaft by a cam 240, the slide 271 is moved to the left camming the rear aligners 265 upwards and backwards as the cards are fed into the sensing chambers. At the end of the feeding operation the slide 271 returns, and the aligners sweep downwards and forwards, pushing the cards against the stops 247. The cards are also aligned laterally by members (256, Fig. 19, not shown) brought against their shorter sides. Safety mechanism. When a damaged or faulty card prevents full downward movement of the stops 247 or rear aligners 265, one or other of two spring-urged pawls 274, 275, Fig. 17, engage the lower arm of a lever 281, rocking it during the return movement of the slide 271. The upper arm of the lever 281 (see also Fig. 21) is linked to a bail 280, the rocking of which causes blocking of the card feed and actuation of Bowden wire signals to other control members. Counterclockwise movement of the bail 280, Fig. 24, allows a spring-urged bell-crank 284 to follow, bringing a blocking arm into the path of a spring-urged bell-crank 286 fixed to the shaft 245. This prevents the clockwise rocking movement of the shaft 245 to initiate card feeding and normal operations of the feed rolls, intermediate rolls, card aligners and card stops, are blocked. The bail 280 is also rocked upon a run out of cards or failure of a card advance. A cam follower 294, Fig. 21, is spring-urged against a cam 295 on the shaft 140 and rocks a lever 291, with a detector finger 292, against the edge of the card when the follower enters the dwell in the cam. This movement is normally arrested by the card, but if no card is present the clockwise movement of the follower 293 moves the link 296 to the right until its hooked end latches over the bail 280. The return movement of the follower therefore causes counterclockwise rocking of the bail with operation of the various Bowden signals mentioned above. A pin 298 on the cam 295 serves to unlatch the link 296 from the bail 280. The link 296 can be disabled by operation of a Bowden wire 45, a bell-crank being rocked to bring its horizontal arm 301 under a pin 304 on the link. Card sensing. A pair of complementary cams 370, 380, Fig. 32, co-operate with follower arms 317, 372 to give positive vertical reciprocation to the sensing pin-boxes 362. As described in Specification 401,012, which is referred to, rocker pins 383 co-operate with the sensing pins during their return movement to transmit a pattern of signals corresponding with the card data to a lower locking pin-box 390. A locking slide 394 is moved to the left during the downward movement of the pins to eliminate the frictional resistance of the pin extrusions 391 contacting the latching noses in the locking slide, the slide being returned to the right immediately the set-pins reach their lowest positions. Retract mechanism for each rocker pin-box and each locking pin-box is operated by eccentrics 401 at each end of a shaft 140. The eccentric 401 for the primary sequence sensing stage engages a roller 402 on an arm 403 pivotally connected to an upwardly-urged vertical slide 404 having a stud 407 for rocking an arm 410 to operate the rocker pin-box retract mechanism, and a pivotally-mounted rocker 408 spring-urged to engage a stud 413 on the rock arm 414 of the locking pin-box retract mechanism. The latter is, however, disabled when a Bowden wire signal from the control unit rocks the arm 416 with stud 415 out of engagement with the rocker 408. The rocker pin-box retract is disabled if the card aligner finds no card in the sensing chamber, when, through a link 428, an arm 424 is rocked to latch over the arm 410. Translator units 430S, 430P, Figs. 5 and 5A, transmit the sensed data through Bowden wires to the decoding sections of the comparing units 470S, 470M, 470P. The decoding units comprise sets of permutation slides mounted and arranged similarly to those described in Specifications 522,512, 522,562, 522,563, 523,532, and 524,859. L-shaped windows 460, Fig. 36, in the permutation slides are so arranged that for each particular combination of permutation slides 450 (see Fig. 33, not shown) displaced in accordance with the pattern of data representations received, a spring-urged stop 455 is released to move inwardly for co-operation with the comparing mechanism. Comparing mechanism. Vertical slides 477, Fig. 36, urged upwardly by springs 483, carry pivoted T-shaped rockers 476, the arms of which are adapted to engage with the lowest stops 455 released by the associated sets of permutation slides 450. A stud 487 on the lower arm of each rocker 476 moves in a slot in an inverted T- shaped follower 480 supported on parallel links 485, and this moves it to one side or the other depending upon which of the stops 455 released is the lower. When the compared data are equal the follower 480 remains in its central position. The results of the comparison between corresponding denominations or columns are set up in a unit 510 to determine the relative magnitudes of the two multi-denominational values compared. Each follower 480 sets a pair of tumbler pawls 502, 503 (see also Fig. 42) pivoted about central points on slide-bars 507 mounted to slide within slots of combs 504, 505. The free end of each pawl is spring-urged against a limit stud 512 and is formed with a blocking shoulder disposed to engage notches in its associated comb plate and is also formed with a cam shoulder 508 adapted to bear against the side of an adjacently-mounted pawl. Thus, movement of the pair of pawls 502, 503 by the follower 480 engages one or the other in a notch of the plates 504 or 505 and moves the opposite pawl of the pair clear of the cam shoulder 508 of the adjustment pawl (of higher denomination). The setting of the pawls is detected by feeler bars 523, 524, Fig. 42, pushing against the rows of pawls 502, 503, respectively, as shown in the figure, the movement of one or the other being blocked according to whether one set of data is higher or lower than the other, one or another group of Bowden wire signals being transmitted to the control unit accordingly. If neither feeler bar is blocked (indicating an " equal " condition), no signals are transmitted. Signal control unit. This receives all si