Patent GB-191211681-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to Devices for Setting the Selective Controlling Apparatus on a Moving Automatic Goods Conveyor or Trucker from a Fixed Station.
IPC: B65G47/50
Filed: 1912-05-16
Granted: 1913-05-08
Abstract: 11,681. Rottenburg, L., and New Transport Co. May 16. Mechanical dispatch apparatus.-Relates to apparatus, of the kind described in Specifications 17,344 / 08 and 15,920/10, for controlling the distribution of parcels in a clearing- house constituted by a series of groups of bays or stations, each group being served by an endless series of travelling carriages or truckers and communicating with the bays in the. other groups by a main series of truckers, and comprises modified means at each bay whereby the operator is enabled to set the register on a passing trucker while this is receiving its load from the bay. Each bay is provided with a keyboard, Fig. 9, comprising two series of keys 1, 2, &c., one numbered corresponding to the numbers of the group of bays, and the other to the number of bays in each group. Each key carries a connecting piece d<1>, d<2>, &c., Figs. 3 and 5, normally under the action of a spring s, connecting a chain of contacts e<1>, e<2>, &c. in series with a lead +<1>. Each contact e is connected by a wire w with a contact 1<1>, 2<1>, &c., which is engaged by a wiper r<1> leading to the register R on the trucker. Each key, Fig. 5, is formed with cylindrical guiding - portions b, and a square portion a, provided with slots h and a catch f. When any key is depressed, the catch f is moved to the position f' and is held by a spring plate g. When any other key is depressed, it moves aside the plate g and releases the depressed key. The main switch r, Fig. 9, for energizing the contacts 1<1>, 2<1>, &c, is closed through the leads +, +<1> by a lever l connected to a sliding frame j, which engages in the slots h and locks the keys 1, 2, &c. in the position set by the operator. When any key is depressed and the lever l operated, certain of the contacts are energized, and, when the trucker passes, its register R is actuated step by step by impulses of current transmitted through the live contacts. The lever l is retained by a catch on a spring-controlled lever m pivoted at m<2>. During a transfer to a trucker, a solenoid p is energized and lifts a spring - suspended core n. When the transfer is complete, the current is cut off and the core falls sufficiently to engage the lever m and release the catch. Fig. 3 shows the arrangement of the circuits at one of the dispatching-stations in a system comprising twelve groups of twelve bays each, whereby a setting is given to the register R on the passing trucker determining the bay at which the load is to be delivered. In this case, if the load is delivered in the same group, no transfer of the setting of the register to another trucker takes place, while if it is delivered to another group the setting is transferred, firstly, to a main trucker, and then to a trucker on the other group, that is to say, an even number of times. In these circumstances, and considering the ninth bay, the contact e on the righthand side of the key 9 is broken and joined to the lead +<1>. The depression of any key then results in allowing only those contacts 1<1>, 2<1>, &c. between the two keys to be energized. In the case of the group register, which has to be transferred an odd number of times, and considering the ninth group, the lead + <1> is connected to a broken contact e on the lefthand side of the ninth key, so that, when any key is depressed, only the contacts 1<1>, 2<1>, &c. that are not between the keys in question can be energized. Means are provided for redirecting a load to an emergency bay or to a bay of an emergency group in case of a congestion of goods or a breakdown.