Patent GB-827056-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for enabling flexible sheets or the like tobe inserted into or withdrawn from a receptacle
IPC: B65H3/08
Filed: 1956-10-10
Abstract: 827,056. Feeding and delivering sheets. EASTMAN KODAK CO. Oct. 10, 1956 [Oct. 14, 1955], No. 30865/56. Class 100(1) Apparatus for withdrawing flexible sheets 30 or the like from, or inserting them into, a vertical receptacle 20 provided at its lower end with lips 25 or the like for supporting a column of such. sheets within the receptacle, comprises a conveyer 26 intermittently movable beneath the receptacle and provided with a number of apertures spaced apart along its length, and a vertically reciprocating plunger 62 arranged beneath the conveyer and operable during a stationary period of the conveyer for movement through an aperture thereof to withdraw a sheet from the receptacle or to insert a sheet into the receptacle by an operation in which the sheet is flexed past the lips 25 or the like. As described, the sheets 30, Fig. 2, are rectangular pieces of photographic film bearing images of documents and lines of code information, and have apertures 35 therein; but they could be thin metal blanks or made of paper. In the sorting apparatus shown, on each side of an optical reading station 21 are ten receptacles 20 and one reject receptacle 22, each arranged over a plunger 62: sheets 30 are extracted from a single selected receptacle 20 on one side, read at station 21, and inserted into any one of the receptacles 20 at the other side which is automatically selected by a memory device associated with the reading station 21, as described in Specification 771,465 [Group XIX]. The conveyer belt 26 has marginal perforations which engage teeth of sprockets 27, 28, and sprocket 27 is driven intermittently by a Geneva drive from the source of power which operates the plungers 64. The belt 26 has spaced apertures 29 through which the plungers 62 operate, and the sheets 30 are retained on the belt by tabs and lips which engage the outer edges of the sheets. In addition, the sheets 30 are held on the belt 26 by suction which is established through a pipe 48 connected to an opening 47 in a side chamber 46 formed by a casing 45 extending the full length of the apparatus: the casing is secured to a plate 43 on a frame block 41 having openings 49, 50 leading to spaces 51 below each receptacle 20 and covered by the belt 26.  Sheet-separators:-In the block 41,beneath each sheet receptable 20, is a fixed sleeve 53 in which is a vertically-reciprocable hollow plunger 62 having pivoted thereto at 69 a link 68 which is notched at 87 for engagement by a lug 80 on a lever 75 which is constantly rocked about a pivot 76 by a cam 77. A cross-link 84 is pivoted at one end at 86 to the plunger link 68, and at the other end to the armature of a solenoid 44 arranged in a casing beneath the plate 43. The circuits of the solenoids 44 are controlled in accordance with the codes on the sheets 30. Normally, the solenoids are not energized, and the links 68 are held by the crosslinks 84 in a position in which notch 87 is not engaged by the lug 80 on the oscillating lever 75. But if any solenoid 44 is energized by the memory device, as described in Specification 771,465, the corresponding link 68, together with its plunger 62, is reciprocated. Similarly, the appropriate solenoid-operated valve 60 is opened to allow the establishment of a vacuum in a passage 57 adjacent that plunger. The arrangement is such that the plunger passes through the belt aperture to abut the bottom sheet 30 in the receptacle 20; vacuum is now established at the head of the plunger through passage 57, aperture 66 in the wall of the plunger, and a central hole 65 in the plunger so that the bottom sheet is grasped; and in the downward movement of the plunger the sheet 30 is flexed past the receptacle lips 25, brought into contact with the belt 26, and the vacuum is destroyed by the descending plunger which connects the passage 57 to atmosphere through passages 56, 58. The plunger 62 has a head portion 64 to which is attached a rubber pad 90. The surface of the pad which faces the sheets 30 is concave, so that a sharp curvature is imparted to a bottom sheet to prevent the one above being also withdrawn from the receptacle. A special weighting or stabilizing device 88 rests on the top of each column of sheets 30, comprising' an upper block 100, a lower block 101, a rubber pad 96, and a plate 102, all secured together for movement as a whcle. Brake shoes 117, 118, and 119 (not shown) are pivoted about a common axis 116 within recesses in the block 101, and these have outer inserts of a material having a high coefficient of friction which rest against the inner faces of the receptacle 20. Thus the weight 88 can readily follow the stack of sheets 30 downwardly, but sudden upward movements, apart from small initial movements, are resisted by the wedging of the inserts against the sides . of the receptacle. Aligned slots in the blocks 100, 101 are aligned with the apertures 35 in the sheets 30, and permit entry of a carrier 111 thereinto for removing the sheets or withdrawal of the carrier after the sheets have been inserted into the receptacle. A pivoted brake shoe 127 in the block 101 resists the movement of the carrier 111 through the blocks in, the downward direction. The corner 111 is used for removing a column of sheets 30 and the weight 88 from one receptacle to another. In a modification, the weight is wedged against large upward movements in a receptacle by a friction roller on a spindle in an inclined slot near one side of the weight. The roller is lifted to release the weight for withdrawal when the carrier 111 is thrust through the apertures in the weight, since the carrier is arranged to pivot a lever which engages the spindle of the roller. Sheet-delivery apparatus:-Sheets 30, after leaving the reading station 21, Fig. 1, are carried by the conveyer belt 26 beneath a pre-selected receptacle 20. The corresponding plunger 62 rises so that its rubber-faced head 64 passes through the registered aperture in the belt to push the sheet 30 past the lips 25 in the bottom of the receptacle. The weight 88 allows small upward movements of the pile within the receptacle, but serves to damp the impact of the plunger 62 and prevents the upper sheets from fluttering. The solenoid-operated valve 60 in the suction system is closed during this operation. Specification 827,057 also is referred to.