Patent GB-959120-A (GB)
Title: Card processing system
IPC: G06K13/073
Filed: 1962-02-05
Abstract: 959,120. Feeding and delivering sheets. D. A. PEARS. (Magnavox Co.). Feb. 5, 1962, No. 4335/62. Headings B6B and B6H. [Also in Division G4] A record card collator or sorter comprises four card-holding stations 26, 40, 48 and 56, Fig. 1, capable of feeding or stacking cards suction drums 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 carrying the cards between the stations, means for sensing the data on the record cards and means controlling the paths of the record cards in response to the data sensed, the apparatus operating on successively higher digits in a series of passes in each of which cards are taken from the two stations 20, 22 or 18, 24 and transferred to stations 18, 24 or 20, 22 respectively. The cards rest on one edge on a table 12 having openings to receive the drums. Each card station consists of a pair of guides 28, 30, Fig. 4, a stacking head 32 and a feeding head 34. During a stacking operation the head 32 is turned towards the guide 28 fitted in a bifurcated end. Teeth 250 engage in a pair of slots in the drum so that every card on the drum is positively stopped. The feed head 34 is swung to the inoperative position during stacking. A lifter 36 has teeth 38 permanently engaged in the slots on the drum to lift the cards away from the drum at this point. When the leading edge comes into contact with the head 32 the trailing edge of a card is overhanging the lifter so that a following card goes under it and the cards are pushed into the stack between guides 28, 30. For feeding the head 32 swings away to an inoperative position and the feed head moves to the position shown where a suction surface 254 is in contact with part of the first card in the stack thereby holding it from movement with the drum. When the suction is removed the cards are carried away one at a time by the associated drum. The heads 32 and 34 are controlled by a cam under the table 12 which is rotated half a revolution for feeding or stacking by a motor acting through a half-revolution clutch. Energization of the clutch-release magnet changes the operation from feeding to stacking or vice-versa. Between the central drum 16 and each other drum is a pair of deflectors one of which may be operated to transfer the card from one drum to the other. The deflectors consist of fish tail shaped members adapted to blow jets of air tangentially to the surface of the adjacent drum to lift the card away from the drum to transfer to the adjacent drum. Magnetic sensing heads 64, 66 are provided to sense data from the records as they pass from the top pair of stations to the bottom pair or from the bottom to the top respectively. The records carry columns of magnetic marks there being three binary scale digits and a clock mark in each column. Sets of four sensing units in each of the heads 64, 66 are connected through Or gates to four amplifiers. The clock track sensing unit passes clock signals to a counter which is set to give a signal at a preselected count. This signal gates the three digit values of that column into three flip-flops. On the first sorting pass the lowest significant digit is used for the sorting, the cards in station 26 being divided between stations 40 and 48 according as to whether their lowest digit is "0" or " 1 " as shown in Fig. 1a, n. Each station has provision for indicating when the cards are exhausted, contacts 35, Fig. 1, on the feed head being bridged by a conductor on the presser member 27. This signal initiates the next phase of operation in which "0" cards are first fed out of the station 40 until it is empty and, being sensed at 66, are stacked in stations 26 or 56 according as to whether the next significant digit is " 1 " or "0." The " 1 " cards from 48 follow in the same way to give the arrangement shown in Fig. 1a, III. Sorting on the third digit follows to give the condition shown in IV and the contents of station 40 are transferred to station 48 by way of station 26 as shown in V and VI to avoid reversal of their order. The cards are therefore finally arranged in order in the station 48. The control circuit is described in detail. The form of Fig. 12 has no central drum, the four drums each being in contact with two others, sensing stations being placed at 730 and 728. Deflectors 718, 720, 722, 724 and 726 control the transfer of cards from one drum to another. In operation cards from station 716 are sorted into stations 710 and 712 and from these stations they are sorted into stations 714, 716. The last sort brings them back to stations 710 and 712 and the contents of station 712 are transferred via station 714 to station 710. Further sorting may be made on other columns of the cards. The process may be automatic by arranging that the column selector steps on to a new value after each operation. Specification 871,548 is referred to.