Patent GB-814513-A (GB)
Title: Record card sorting machine
IPC: G06K13/14
Filed: 1957-07-23
Abstract: 814,513. Sorting record cards. SPERRY RAND CORPORATION. July 23, 1957 [July 23, 1956], No. 23240/57. Class 106 (1). In a card sorting machine having a series of pockets into which the cards are to be sorted, photo-electric sensing means and a delay device for opening the appropriate pocket flap at the correct time, a single sensing unit determines to which of the pockets the card is to be directed, the unit being adjustable to select the column upon which sorting is to be effected. General construction.-The cards are fed from a hopper 50, Fig. 5, by a picker 144 actuated by a cam 150, and forwarded through the sensing station by pairs of rollers 152, 154, 189, 190. Two photo-cells, one for the upper and one for the lower card field are arranged in a block 176 which is displaceable across the machine so as to select the column on which the sorting is to be effected. For this purpose the block is slidably mounted on a guide rod 178 and attached to the lower part of a belt 170 which passes round pulleys 168 at each side of the machine. A hand wheel rotates one of these pulleys to set the sensing block in register with the desired column, this being indicated on a scale. As the card passes under the sensing block 176 lamp 188 causes light impulses representative of the data on the card to be applied to the photo-cell. A rod 208 lying closely over the path of the cards is displaced by cards if they become jammed or buckled, and in displacing opens a switch to stop the machine. Sorting pockets; flap timing.-Each pocket is normally closed by a flap 200, Fig. 5, which is raised by the energization of a solenoid to intercept a record and guide it into the pocket. For the purpose of timing this energization there is provided for each pocket a timer disc 250 rotating in step with the movement of the cards through the machine. Each disc has a series of trip pawls 258 which are set to operative position by an actuator 256, Fig. 11, when a magnet L4-L16 is energized. This causes the actuator to be projected into the path of a setting latch 260 associated with each pawl. Each pawl is pivoted on a pin 266 at one corner and carries a pin 272 projecting through an enlarged opening 273. The latches are pivoted on the pin 266 of the next pawl and, under pressure of spring 264, bear by a shaped finger against pin 272. The latch is rotated in a clockwise direction by abutment between its tail piece 276 and the actuator 256. This causes the pawl also to rotate clockwise where it is held by another engaging relationship with the latch. In this set position a pin 262 on the pawl is in position to engage a lever 278 controlling contacts S21-S33 through which the pocket flap magnets are energized. The angular disposition of the lever is appropriate to the spacing between the sensing station and the corresponding pocket, the levers 278 for the several pockets therefore being spaced substantially equally around the row of timing discs as shown in Fig. 5. The time taken for the card to move from the sensing station to the appropriate pocket is the same as the time taken for the pawl on the corresponding disc to move from the setting position adjacent actuator 256 to the lever 278 controlling the pocket. The pawls 258 and latches 260 are reset by engagement with members 284. Adjustable platform springs.-Records falling into the sorting pockets are received on the usual sloping table 62, Fig. 5, and 352, Fig. 18, which is carried on a vertically slidable rod 354 supported by a spring 356. To adjust the spring pressure for different weights and thicknesses of record, one of four auxiliary springs 380 may be brought into engagement with the rod 354. These are carried on a rotatable structure 370 and turned through skew gearing 374, 376 by a hand wheel co-operating with an indicator dial having five positions. In the first position none of the springs 380 is in action, but in the other four positions one or another is engaged with the rod 354 by contact between collars 364 and 362. The four springs 380 are graded in strength so that in all five different spring strengths are available for the table of each pocket. The hand wheel sets all simultaneously. Control.-A control panel is mounted on the front of the machine which includes stopping and starting switches and keys determining the selection upon which the machine is to work. These selections are set up by plug connections on a plugboard and may be, for example, for one key a sort on numerical values 0-9, for another key a sort on alphabetical values A-M and for a third key, values N-Z. An index wheel is provided for setting the machine to sort on data sensed in the upper or lower half of the card. A control knob on the side of the panel is turned to select the column on which sorting is to be made, this column being indicated on a dial on the panel. The plug board in addition to having sockets for controlling the code to be used and the pockets to receive each particular selection of records, has sockets which when plug-connected to counters provide a count of the number of cards in each pocket. These signals are derived from the decoding circuit. Card sensing and decoding.-The cards are sensed in motion by a photo-cell in the sensing station, the output of the photo-cell being amplified and passed through a distributer rotating in step with card feed and applied to a series of thyratrons, one for each column position, the thyratron corresponding to any perforation sensed being fired. Each thyratron is connected to pick up a pair of relays when fired, the contacts of these relays being connected in a decoding network to give an output on numeric or alphabetic terminals as is appropriate. The network includes contacts of relays which are energized according to which of the keys are pressed to select values 0-9, A-M or N-Z. These output terminals are connected as desired on the plugboard to sockets related to the different sorting pockets. For sorting on alphabetical characters two sorting passes are required for each column. For the first the A-M key is pressed, the cards having these characters then falling into the respective pockets, those having N-Z characters falling into the reject pocket. On the second pass the N-Z key is pressed and these cards are sorted into the appropriate pockets. For alpha-numeric sorts, three sorting passes are necessary for each column. Group sorting.-The cards may be sorted in groups under the control of associated master cards, each group of detail cards being preceded by the master card containing punched information used to classify the associated detail cards. The detail cards may be sorted from the sensing of the master card the corresponding column of the detail card not being sensed. When a group sort connection is made on the plugboard, only those cards bearing a control hole, e.g. position " O " in column 45 are sensed. These are the master cards, the data from each master card being stored in the decoding relays until the next master card is sensed. The detail cards are sorted by the stored data. A special photo-cell is provided for sensing the control hole.