Patent GB-880011-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in record card processing apparatus
IPC: G06K13/077
Filed: 1958-02-03
Abstract: 880,011. Feeding and delivering sheets. MAGNAVOX Co. Feb. 3, 1958 [Feb. 4, 1957], No. 3429/58. Class 100(1). [Also in Group XIX] In apparatus for feeding record cards through statistical apparatus there is means for deflecting cards from the normal path of movement and for permitting them to return to that path, and holding means coupled to the deflecting means for exerting a force on the deflected cards to retain them in fixed position in such manner that at least a portion of each retained card lies in the said path. As shown, record cards on which information is recorded are stocked on edge in a container 14 from which they may be removed by a rotating suction drum 10, fed past a transducer head 26, and stacked in a container 44 : or the cards may be stripped off the drum 10 by an air-blast from a member 34, grasped by a second suction drum 32, fed past a second transducer head 36 and stacked in a container 38. A holder 30 may remove any particular card from the drum 10, retain it, and release it for transmission by the drum at a later stage. Pile tables; card-separators: The input card container 14 is mounted on a table 11 adjacent the peripheral surface of the suction drum 10, the cards being urged forwardly by known means so that the face of the leading card engages the drum to which suction is applied continuously. A card-retaining member 16 comprising a suction head 20 which engages the trailing edge of the stack and is connected to a source of suction by a pipe 22, prevents a card being removed from the stack by the drum 10 until a solenoid valve 24 in the pipe 22 is operated to cut off suction to the head 20. A guide 136 on the front wall 14a of the container has a bottom surface bevelled towards the drum 10 to position the cards for removal by the drum. The drum 10, which is similar to the drum 32, comprises a disclike base 118, Fig. 5, an integral annular side portion 120, and a top 130 secured to the base by screws. There are two spaced suction orifices 122, 124 in the side 120 which extend completely, or almost completely, around the side 120. The base 118 is mounted in a recess in the table 11, and is secured to the top of a hollow shaft which extends below the table. This shaft is connected to a vacuum pump, is mounted in ball bearings in a fixed frame, and is driven continuously by a belt. A deflector ring supported within the drum 10 minimizes the turbulence of the air flowing through the drum. Feeding and stacking cards: A Card separated from the container 14 by the suction drum 10 is sensed by the transducer head 26, and is fed to a holder 30 under the control of the transducer. If the card is allowed to pass the holder 30 it may be carried by the drum and stacked in a container 44, as described in Specification 871,546. Alternatively, the card may be stripped from the drum 10 by an air-blast from a stripper 34, under the control of the transducer 26, grasped by a second suction drum 32, fed past a second transducer head 36, and stacked in a container 38, similar to the container 44. The member 34 may have a mechanical construction as described in Specification 876,630. The holder 30 has a pair of fingers which enter the peripheral grooves in the face of the drum 10 to strip off a record card so that it passes behind the fingers, over the face of a suction shoe, and can then be pulled back on to the face of the drum for further transmission thereby provided the suction shoe is inoperative. This shoe is connected by a pipe 318 to a source of suction, through a solenoid valve 320 controlled by the transducer head 26. If suction is applied to the holder 30, the record card is retained by the suction shoe therein, and may be released for further transmission by the drum 10 when one or more record cards have been fed past the retained card. In the retained position in the holder 30 the trailing edge of the card engages the face of the drum 10. A modified form of card holder, shown in Fig. 5, comprises a suction member 310<SP>1</SP> having an arcuate face 312<SP>1</SP> disposed near the periphery of the drum 10, suction slots 314, 316 therein and aligned with the suction slots 122, 124, respectively, in the drum, these slots communicating with a pipe 318 connected through a solenoid valve 320 to a vacuum pump. Fingers 302, 304 on a bracket 306 engage in outer grooves forming the entrances to the drum slots 122, 124, and these fingers and the end of the bracket fit in a recess 322 in the face 312<SP>1</SP> of the member 310<SP>1</SP>. A record card on the face 120 of the drum 10 is stripped off the drum by the fingers 302, 304 and passes behind the fingers, over the face 312<SP>1</SP>, and is normally sucked back on to the drum. If, however, suction is applied to the member 310<SP>1</SP>, the card is retained on the face 312<SP>1</SP>, and succeeding cards stripped from the drum by the fingers 302, 304 pass between the fingers and the first card. A microswitch 311 is mounted on the member 310<SP>1</SP> in such a position that it will be operated by a record card in time to cause the solenoid valve 320 to be opened to establish suction at the face 312<SP>1</SP> to retain the card. The switch 311 and solenoid valve 320 may be associated with an "and" network. The leading edge of a card retained by the holder engages the face of the drum, so that it is fed immediately by the drum when released by the holder. In a modified form of card holder (Fig. 7, not shown), several cards may be held in overlapping relation and then released in any order for further transmission by the drum 10. In this case a series of independently controlled suction orifices is provided in the face of the suction face of the holder. Specification 880,012 also is referred to.