Patent GB-641893-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to the handling of cheques, vouchers or the like in a statistical machine
IPC: B07C3/18
Filed: 1947-04-18
Abstract: 641,893. Statistical apparatus. BRITISH TABULATING MACHINE CO., Ltd., and LAST, J. April 18, 1947, No. 10377. [Class 106 (i)] In apparatus for preparing cheques or other sheet articles and associated record cards for subsequent handling by a statistical machine, data derived from a cheque are recorded on a card and the cheque is automatically folded around the card. As shown in Fig. 3, a card 1, such as that of Fig. 1, provided with a plain upper margin around which the cheque 3 is to be folded and having the highest value index points at the top or leading portion, is punched by a machine 2. The cheque is placed in a box 4 between fingers 5 and a folding knife 6. When the punching is completed, a lever 7 is reciprocated. This, through ratchets 40, 60 and gearing 63 drives a shaft 42 clockwise during both forward and return strokes of the lever, the shaft 42 driving rolls 8,- 10, 48, 49, 14 through gearing (not shown). At the start of the lever movement, the fingers 5 and knife 6 are swung up to fold the cheque between rolls 8 into a guard 51. A knife 9 then moves sideways to tuck the trailing end of the cheque between the roll 10 and the right-hand roll 8, the cheque then being passed to the position 11 in front of rolls 14. The card-receiving table 12 then moves left to tuck the card and cheque through rolls 14 so as to fold the cheque around the card and deliver both to a receiver platform 16. The platform is raised to place the cheque and card on top of resilient ledges 17, counterbalanced by weights, below the previously stacked pile, the platform returning to its lower position. The timing of all these operations is controlled by cams and levers (not shown) operated by the shaft 42. The shaft may be rotated by a motor instead of the lever 7. Sorting cards and cheques. As shown in Fig. 6, the combined card and cheque is fed to a sorting machine of the kind described in Specification 242,654, [Class 106 (i)]. The card, with the cheque around its leading edge, is fed by a picker knife (not shown) between rolls 31 and faster rolls 32, 33, 34. The cheque is thereby accelerated relative to the card to expose all the card index points to the sensing brush 30. During sensing, as shown, the card and cheque move at the same speed and the fold of the cheque engages the shoot blades 36 in place of the leading edge of the card in the sorter of Specification 242,654, [Claas 106 (i)]. When a hole in the card is sensed, an electric contact is made and all the blades 36 not yet engaged by the cheque drop in its path. When the cheque has run clear of rolls 34 it waits for the card and both cheque and card pass together through rolls 35 conveying them to their appropriate receiver. When the folded cheque is not very wide, the card and cheque may not be partially separated as described above. The card and cheque may be passed also through a tabulator, a complete row of brushes then replacing the brush 30. Specifications 291,845, [Class 106 (i)], 295,311, [Class 106 (i)], and 395,704 also are referred to. According to the Provisional Specification, some of the rolls of the sorting machine may be temporarily arrested to separate the cheque and card.