Patent GB-498429-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to record or check sorting machines with card punching attachment
IPC: B07C3/04
Filed: 1938-01-31
Abstract: 498,429. Sorting cheques. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. Jan. 31, 1938, No. 3001. Convention date, Feb. 25, 1937. [Class 117] [Also in Groups XIX and VIII] In a machine of the type described in Specification 435,139, [Group XIX], wherein cheques are sorted into a series of pockets, each with an associated record tape and totalizer, selected by depressing keys on a keyboard in accordance with the classification of the cheques, and wherein the amount of each cheque is set up by a ten-key keyboard and the item and total printed on the tape corresponding to the selected pocket, one pocket is usually kept for miscellaneous cheques and the corresponding tape would normally record only the items and totals of the cheques in that pocket without any sub-classification. To enable this sub-classification to be made, the key which selects the miscellaneous pocket automatically brings into action an associated punching machine to punch a card to record the amount of the corresponding cheque, the cards being piled in the same order as are the cheques in the miscellaneous pocket. By replacing the cards successively in the punching machine, which has a separate keyboard, after a batch of cheques has been sorted, the cards can be punched with the classifications of the corresponding cheques and by subsequently passing the cards through a known form of statistical machine, separate lists may be obtained of the amounts of all cheques of the same classification in the miscellaneous group. The punching machine is controlled by the set-up devices of the cheque-sorting machine when the selector key associated with the miscellaneous pocket is depressed, after which each digit set-up is successively and automatically punched by the punching machine independently of the cheque-sorting machine and the next cheque cannot be fed into a pocket until the punching operation is complete. The amount of the next cheque, however, may be set up and the pocket selected in readiness for the feeding and printing operation, which is initiated by a separate key, so that no time is lost. Sorting mechanism. The sorting mechanism is generally similar to that described in Specification 435,139 but differs in detail. The drum 51, Fig. 1, having twenty-four peripheral pockets, is driven by a chain 58 from a sprocket 57 which is clutched to a shaft 45 when a selector key 98 is depressed. Simultaneously, a driving motor 39 is started in the direction of the shortest travel to the selected pocket, an electromagnet 78 is energized to release a brake 74 acting on a drum on the motor shaft and another magnet releases a detent 86 which normally holds the drum in the last selected position. By means of a hunting switch and a system of relays, the brake is re-applied as the drum approaches the selected position, the current through the motor is momentarily reversed and then restored through a resistance and the brake again released. Also a bolt 255, Fig. 2, carried on a pivoted arm 256 is moved into contact with the drum by a magnet 254 and as the bolt engages a notch 89 in the drum any residual momentum is taken by a spring 272 acting between fixed abutments so that the drum is centred in its final selected position. Simultaneously, the current is shut off, the clutch released, the brake applied and the detent 86 allowed to re-engage a notch 89. The magnet 254 remains energized until the next key 98 is depressed which releases the previously depressed key. The pockets are formed by bent metal plates 149, Fig. 12, overlapping one another at their inner ends and bent to cover transverse rods 146 at their outer ends. Pivoted on the rods 146 are pairs of levers 152 connected by sleeves and carrying plates 154 urged to the left by springs 155. Cheque feeding mechanism. The cheque feed rollers 350, 351 are carried on arms 359 pivoted on a shaft 360. On depression of the motor release key 97, Fig. 1, the shaft 94, Fig. 12, makes one counterclockwise revolution and by means of cams 367 the arms 359 bring the feed rollers close to the mouth of the pocket. A roller 380 on the arms 359 engages arms 379 on the appropriate levers 152 and moves the corresponding plate 154 over to the right. The rollers 350, 351 are simultaneously rotated to feed downward a cheque dropped into the shoot 135, and fingers 386 pivoted on a bar 387 carried by a pair of arms 388, move inwards to press the cheque against the plate 154 as a result of the rotation of a casing 393 on the shaft 94. The feelers are guided by grooves in a rod 395 against which tail arms 394 are pressed by springs 396. At the conclusion of the revolution of the shaft 94, the parts are restored to their initial position. Motor control key. When the machine is not in use, a detent 508, Fig. 8, engages a projection on the key stem, but as soon as current is switched on a magnet 505 removes the detent. Depression of the key initiates the mechanical coupling of the shaft 94 to the constantly driven wheel 96 for one revolution, and a detent 340 is moved by a spring 338 to engage a projection 339 on the key stem so that the key is held depressed until the end of the cycle. Normally, the detent is tripped at the end of the cycle by the action of a catch 345 on the key stem which couples the detent to a bar 331 actuated by a lever 333 and cam 334. When the key for selecting the miscellaneous pocket is depressed, however, a relay ensures the opening of the circuit of the magnet 505 at the commencement of the punching operation and the detent 508 consequently re-engages the projection 509 when the key is released by the detent 340 and the key cannot again be depressed until, at the end of the cardstacking operation, the magnet 505 is reenergized.