Improvements in Electrical Apparatus for Sorting Articles according to one of their Dimensions.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Aug., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 10th May, 1900-Accepted, 10th Aug., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electrical Apparatus for Sorting Articles according
to one of their Dimensions.
We, WILLIAM HENRY LOCK, Manager and Secretary of The Linotype Company
Limited, of No. 188, Fleet Street, in the City of London, and JOHN JAMES MILNER,
of The Linotype Works, Broadheath, in the County of Chester, Electrician, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
1
The present invention relates to improvements in electrical apparatus for
sorting articles according to one of their dimensions.
In carrying it into effect, the articles drop or are otherwise delivered, one by
one, in front of a constantly and regularly reciprocating feeder which pushes the
one in front of it under a gauge. This gauge has a motion corresponding with
that of the feeder; and during each complete one, touches the articie underneath
it, unless that article be of the smallest size, in which case the gauge does not
-touch it. The operative part of the gauge is a series of push pieces, pivotted
bars or the like, aligned one above the other, or one behind each other, in the
direction of the length of the gauge. Each push piece, or its equivalent, is fixed
to the body of the gauge so as to be capable of a reciprocating motion therein.
The number of the push pieces and the distance at which they are fixed from
each other, both correspond with the number of sizes into which the articles in
the series, are to be sorted. When the gauge moves away from the article it has
just gauged, the one then being fed forward by the reeder above mentioned,
drives the gauged article into one of a series of shoots, down which it slides or
rolls. There are as many shoots as there are sizes of articles, one shoot being the
main one, and the others branching off from it at different points in its length.
The junction of each branch shoot with the main one, is provided with a valve
or door adapted to open it to the main shoot and to close the latter on the other
side of the said junction. Each valve is under the control of an electro-magnet
to open the respective shoot to the main one, an automatic detent to lock it open,
and a spring to shut it again. All the detents are unlocked by a device working
in harmony with the feeder and the gauge. Each of the electro-magnets is in a
separate circuit the frame of the machine being included in one
common circuit, and each of the push pieces above described, acts as a circuit
closer by being in electrical contact with the machine frame, excepting the one
nearest the path of the articles to the shoots, a returning spring acting as a circuit
breaker. If the gauge finds an article of the smallest size under it, it does not
touch it, as already stated, but leaves it to be pushed into the main shoot. If it
finds one of the next thickness under it, the first push piece is made by the
working motion of the gauge, to close the circuit containing the next push piece,
thereby energising the magnet of the respective branch shoot. The main shoot
is accordingly closed; and the said branch shoot opened for the article to pass,
and closed again in time for the next action of the gauge. If the article that
it finds beneath at its next action, is of the next thickness larger, the first push
engages the second one and makes it close the circuit containing the third one,

page_text: whereby the respective branch shoot is opened, and so on. At the same time,
the closing of the circuit containing the intermediate push piece is prevented.
The articles sorted in the way above described, drop into continuations of the
respective shoots above described, along which they are pushed by suitable pushers.
These as well as the feeder, the gauge, and the device for unlocking the detents,
are worked from one shaft by suitable connecting devices.
Datadia 10+1
1000
CHAS. S. WOODROFFE, Fel. Ch. Inst. P.A.,
Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in Electrical Apparatus for Sorting Articles according
to one of their Dimensions.
We, WILLIAM HENRY LOCK, Manager and Secretary of The Linotype Company
Limited, of No. 188, Fleet Street, in the City of London, and JOHN JAMES MILNER,
of The Linotype Works, Broadheath, in the County of Chester, Electrician, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement:
The present invention consists in improvements in electrical apparatus for
gauging and sorting articles of conducting material according to one of their
dimensions. It is automatic throughout. The articles to be gauged and sorted
are dropped in bulk down a hopper, with the dimensions to be dealt with vertical,
the bottom one being then in front of a constantly and regularly reciprocating
feeder which pushes it along a groove and leaves it under a gauge. This gauge
consists of a series of contacts or circuit closers arranged one above the other
in a case. The latter has a reciprocating vertical motion from and to the groove,
synchronous with that of the feeder. The distance between the bottom contact
and the bottom of the groove at the moment when the gauge case is at its nearest
to the latter, is equal to the standard dimension of the articles being passed
through the apparatus, and that distance is adjustable for different standards.
Each time that the gauge case drops, its bottom contact finds an article underneath
it and touches it, unless it be smaller than standard in which case it fails to reach
it. If the article is larger than standard, the bottom contact not only touches it,
but the still dropping gauge case brings the second contact down upon the bottom
one, and will do the like with any further contacts it may carry, until it ceases
to drop. The article just gauged is pushed out of the groove by the next one
that the feeder feeds forward under the gauge; and drops down one of a series
of shoots into the respective receptacle. There are as many shoots and respective
receptacles as there are different sizes into which the articles are to be sorted.
The main shoot is a continuation of the groove and is the one down which drop
articles smaller than standard. The other shoots are all branch ones from the
main shoot, and the junction of each one with the main one, is provided with a
gate adapted to open it to the groove and to shut the main shoot to the latter at
the same time, or vice versa. Each gate is under the control of an electro magnet,
the circuit of which includes the respective contact in the gauge case, and that
contact acts as a circuit closer by contacting with the part beneath it, which part
may be either a contact or the article to be gauged. As long as all the circuits
are open, all the branch shoots are closed and the main shoot stands open to con-
duct articles smaller than standard into the respective receptacle. A standard
article under the gauge closes the corresponding circuit and the gate of the

page_text: respective branch shoot opens it to the groove and shuts the main
shoot. If the article under the gauge is larger than standard, the
circuit containing the second contact is closed and the gate of the
respective branch shoot opened while the main shoot is shut. The junctions of
the branch shoots with the main shoots are at different levels in order that the
position of any of the lower gates, may be immaterial because the gate of the
desired junction is holding the main shoot closed above them. Each gate is fitted
with a latch to lock it across the main shoot, and a spring to return it. Each
latch is disengaged from its respective gate, by a device working in harmony
with the feeder and the gauge.
It has already been explained that there are as many shoots as there are sizes
of articles. The number of contact pieces is one less, because no circuit is needed
to open the main shoot to articles smaller than standard, but the number of con-
tacts (with the respective circuits, magnets and gates) and the distance at which
they are fixed from each other in the gauge case, correspond with the number of
sizes into which the articles are to be sorted. Thus, two contact pieces provide
for the articles to be sorted into smaller than standard, standard, and larger than
standard. A third contact piece will provide for the gauging of a second size
larger than standard, and so on.
The accompanying figures illustrate the invention constructed to gauge and
sort according to their thickness, the blanks of matrices for the Merganthaler
linotype machine described in the Specification of Letters Patent 14582, September
16th 1890. All the matrix blanks for one character must be of the same thick-
ness exactly, but experience in the manufacture of them shews that out of a given
quantity of such blanks, there will be some thicker and some thinner than
standard. Now if all the blanks just mentioned are passed through the apparatus
illustrated, it will automatically gauge them and sort them into three receptacles,
one for blanks thinner than standard, one for standard blanks, and a third for
those that are thicker than standard.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the top half of the apparatus.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the bottom half of the apparatus, the two halves
meeting on the line 1-1.
Figure 3 is a plan of the apparatus, partly in section and omitting the shoots
to the receptacles.
Figures 2 and 3 are shortened to bring them within the length of the sheets,
by breaking away a part of each near the middle.
Figure 4 is a front elevation including the shoots omitted from Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a vertical section on the line 6-6 of Figure 3, illustrating the
stop for the gauge case or body.
Figure 7 is a rear elevation partly in section, of the gauge case and contacts.
Figure 8 is a detail plan of the right hand electro-magnet.
Figure 9 is a detail sectional side elevation of the same magnet, its gate, and
the connection between the latter and the armature.
Figure 10 is a detail side elevation of the trip nose that actuates the gate
releasing device.
Figure 11 is a plan corresponding therewith; and
Figure 12 is a diagram of the electrical connection.
Figures 5 to 11 are on an enlarged scale.
THE FEEDER.
The ungauged and unassorted matrix blanks y are fed on the flat, seeing that
they are to be gauged and assorted in respect of their different thicknesses, down
a hopper 1 provided by a pair of parallel standards 2, 3, having their side edges 4
rebated to embrace the corners of the blanks y, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3.
The standards 2, 3, are fixed on the table 5 which is carried by a standard 6 bolted
down upon a base 92. 7 is a groove in the top of the table 5. It extends from

page_text: rear to front of the table and has the hopper 1 over it so that all the blanks y
may drop into it in succession. The depth of it must be not less than the thickest
matrix blank that the apparatus will have to deal with.
8 is a feeder to push the bottom matrix blank forward until it stands fairly
under the gauge described further on, to leave it there, and to return for the
next bottom blank. The feeder 8 is a flat plate of about the same width as a
blank and of the same thickness as the thinnest blank of the lot to be gauged.
It slides in the groove 7 in which it is reciprocated by a disc 9 fast on the shaft 10
and having a stud 11 engaging in a slot 12 in the lever 13 fulcrummed on the
standard 6 at 14 and having its top end connected by a link 15 to the rear end of
the said feeder 8 by a rod 47 working in a slot 113 in the table 5, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 3. The shaft 10 carries the driving pulley 16 of which 17 is the
driving cord.
18 is the port through which the bottom blank y³ is pushed by the feeder 8,
from under its fellows in the groove 7 and the hopper 1. The pressure of the rest
of the column of blanks upon the said bottom one, is likely to make it carry
one or more of them forward upon it through the port 18. To prevent that, the
following device, illustrated in Figure 5, is adopted. A rack 19 is recessed in
and fast to the front face of the standard 3. 20 is a plate adapted to slide up and
down over the said front face in rebates 21, 21 thereon. 22 is a pinion fast on
a spindle 23 turning in bearings in lugs 24, 24, fast on the plate 20. 25 is a
milled head on the end of the spindle 23. The pinion 22 gears with the rack 19
through a slot 26 in the plate 20. 27 is a flap pivotted along its top edge to
the bottom edge of the plate 20, by means of a screw 28 passed through a lug 29
depending from the plate 20, a socket 30 on the top of the said flap 27, and
lastly into a second lug 31. The said flap 27 is pressed backwards against the
column of blanks 31 by a pair of springs 32 having their bases in the lugs 29,
31 respectively. The depth of the port 18 is adjusted to the standard thickness
of the blanks y" by turning the milled head 25 as may be required, and locked
by the set screw 33. Now, bearing in mind that the feeder 8 is of the same
thickness as the thinnest blank y³, it will not push on the blank above the bottom
one, and if the latter is carrying any others forward upon it, the flap 27 will
disengage them from it and hold them back. In the event of there being in
the hopper 1, a blank very much thicker than the standard thickness, say twice
as thick, the springs 32 will allow the flap 27 to yield before it, and it will be
pushed forward to the gauge.
on.
THE GAUGE.
34 is the body or case of the gauge. It has an open side 35 fitted with a sliding
plate 36 and a removeable cover 37 to give access to its interior. 39, 39 are a
pair of ridges fast on opposite sides of the case 34 and engaging in corresponding
and vertical grooves 120 in a pair of standards 38, 38, fast on the table 5, to guide
the reciprocating motion communicated to it by the lever 42 described further
The motion of the gauge case 34 is synchronous with that of the feeder 8,
rising as the latter feeds and dropping as it retires. That motion is communi-
cated to it by a cam surface 40 in the disc 9 already described, a stud 41 engaged.
by the said surface, a lever 42 fulcrummed at 43 on the standard fi and having the
said stud 41 fast to it, a connecting rod 143 pivotally connected by its respective
ends to the front end of the lever 42 and the case 34, and a returning spring 44
pulling on the lever 42 from the standard 6, as shewn in Figures 1, 3 and 4. 45
and 46 are the two contacts-one less in number than the thicknesses to be
gauged and sorted. It is the combination of the contacts (irrespective of their
number) that forms ne gauge of the present invention. They are axially aligned
one over the other and are replicas of each other. The details of a contact are
fully illustrated in Figure 7 in respect of the second contact 46. Referring to
that figure. 48 is a spindle adapted to work up and down through two brackets 49,
49; fast to the gauge case 34 and from both of which it is insulated by insulations

page_text: 50, 50. 51 is a collar fast on the spindle 48 above the bottom bracket 49 and 52
is a spiral spring resilient between that collar and the top insulation 50 to keep
the collar 51 down upon the bottom bracket 49 and the nose 53 of the contact in
its normal position with respect to the case 34. 54 is a cap screwed on the top of
the spindle 48 to form part of it and to provide for the adjustment of the scale
to which the gauge works. 55 is a lock nut to lock the cap 54 in its adjusted
position. 56 is a cap plate for each bracket 49 to hold the respective insulation 50
in position.
The cam surface 40 is set to raise the gauge case 34 high enough to lift the
nose of the bottom contact 45 above the thickest matrix body that the apparatus
will ever be called on to gauge; but the level to which the case 34 will drop the
nose of the bottom contact 45, must be under control. For that purpose, there
is provided an adjustable stop 57 shewn in Figures 1 and 6. This is a spindle
screw-threaded to be set up or down through the table 5 by turning a micrometer
head 58 accordingly and which head 58 works in conjunction with an index plate
59 carried by the standard 6. The stop 57 is fixed in its adjusted position by au
externally screw-threaded gland 60 which embraces a split cone 61 on the spindle
of the said stop, to nip it thereto.
THE SORTING.
62 is the main shoot-see Figure 4-extending from the front end of the
groove 7 down to the receptacle 65,-see Figure 1. 63, 64 are the branch shoots
extending from the top portion of the main shoot 62, down to the respective
receptacles 66, 67. The course of the main shoot 62 is in plan a straight con-
tinuation of the groove 7. The shoot 63 branches off from one side of it near the
top of it and then pursues a course parallel with it, while the shoot 64 branches
off from the opposite side of the said main shoot 62 farther down than does the
shoot 63 and then pursues a course parallel with the other two. These three
shoots are advantageously produced by milling them in a flat plate hereinafter
referred to as the shoot plate 122, leaving four ridges thereon; two of them,
74, 74, extending from the front ends of the sides of the groove 7 down to the
rear ends of the outer sides of the respective receptacles 66, 67, to form the outer
sides of the branch shoots 63 64; and two of them, 71, 71, extending upwards
from the divisions 95 between the receptacle 65 and the receptacles 66 and 67
in the direction of the sides of the groove 7, to form the outer sides of the main
shoot 62 and the inner sides of the branch shoots 63, 64, but stopping short at
the gates described further on. The shoot 62 being the continuation of the
groove 7, is always open to matrix blanks coming therefrom, but the entrance
into each branch shoot 63, 64, from the main one 62, is fitted with a gate adapted
to hold the respective branch shoot 63, 64, closed to the top of the main shoot 62.
at the same time keeping the main shoot open to the groove T. and vice versa.
68
is the gate for the shoot 63 and 69 that for the shoot 64. They are both of the
same size and hung in the same way, so that one description will suffice for both.
70 is the pivot of a gate, the gate being fast thereto. This is situated at the
top end of the respective ridge 71, and a gate is so hung on its pivot 70 that when
it is closed it makes the inner faces of the ridge 71 and of the upper straight
part of the ridge 74 continuous, as shewn by the full lines in Figure 4, and that
when it is open, the nose or striking edge 72 of it. shall rest against the ridge on
the other side of the main shoot 62, as shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 4.
Thus when the main shoot 62 is open throughout its length to the groove 7, both
gates are aligned with the respective ridges 71, but neither branch shoot can be
open unless the respective gate shuts the main shoot 62.
A gate, 68 or 69, is held in the closed position by the armature spring 109
-see Figure 8-described further on. It is held locked in the open position
(i.e., across the main shoot (2) by a spring catch 73 fast by one end on an outer
ridge 74 and reaching across the respective branch shoot clear of the path of the
matrix blanks, the striking edge 72.of the gate being engaged by the operative

page_text: end of the catch 73 as soon as it rests against the respective ridge 71. 85 is a
stop to prevent a catch 73 moving farther than the locking position, in the event
of a gate not being there to be locked. The means for opening and shutting the
gates are described further on.
75 is a trip nose pivotted upon the front end of the lever 42 and standing
normally in the position illustrated in Figures 1, 10 and 11 which shew it as held
by a spring 86 against a stop 87. 76 is a bell crank lever having its fulcrum in
a rod 17 turning in bearings 78 fast to the underside of the shoot plate 122. The
rear end of the lever 76 stands normally just over the trip 75. 79-see Figures 1
and 4-is a bar adapted to slide in guides 80, 80, above the main shoot 62. The
top end of it carries a lateral projection 81 which engages in a slot 82 in the
adjacent or front end of the lever 76. 83, 83, are pins projecting from the sides
of the bar 79 to engage pins 84, 84 on the catches 73, 73, to disengage them
from the respective gates 68, 69. 121 is a spring pulling on the lever 76 from
a fixed point on the adjacent ridge 74, to return it to its normal position.
88 Figures 2 and 3-is a connecting rod from the bottom end of the lever 13
to a block 89 carrying three forwardly projecting pushers 90. The block 89
works with a reciprocating longitudinal motion to and from the receptacles 65,
66 and 67, between guides 91, 91, on the machine base 92, and the pushers 90,
through corresponding holes in the end piece 93 of the said receptacles. 94 is a
spring detent in the inside face of each side wall 95 of the three receptacles 65,
66 and 67, and 96 is a loose block fitting with a sliding fit in each receptacle.
THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE GAuge and the Sorter.
97 see Figure 12-is the battery; 98, the + conductor to a terminal 99 on the
standard 6; 100, the matrix blank being gauged; 101, the conductor from the
contact 45 to the terminal 102 of the magnet 103 that works the gate 69 for the
sheets 62 and 64; and 104, the conductor from the contact 46 to the terminal 105
of the magnet 106 that works the gate 68 for the shoots 62 and 63. The two
magnets with their connections to the respective gates 68, 69, are replicas of each
other, so that a description of one will suffice. Referring to Figures 8 and 9, a
magnet is fixed to the underside of the shoot plate 122 near the respective gate, as
shewn in Figures 4 and 10. 107 is the armature; 108, its pivot; 109 its adjust-
able pulling-off spring: 110, a pin standing up from the outer end of the arma-
ture 107 and working in a hook 111 in the end of a plate 112 made fast to the
pivot 70 which is prolonged through the shoot plate 122 to reach it. 114, 114
are the conductors from the magnets to and through the terminals 115 or the
shoot plate 122 to the battery 97.
THE ACTION OF THE APPARATUS.
The apparatus acts as follows. Let it be assumed that the standard thickness.
of the matrix blanks to be gauged is 3mm. The flap 27 is adjusted to make the
port 18 that depth and the stop 57 is adjusted to stop the dropping gauge case 34
when the nose of the bottom contact 45 is 3mm. above the bottom of the groove 7,
the latter being the surface on which a blank 100 lies whilst it is being gauged.
The pulley 16 being set in motion, the cam 40 raises the gauge case 34 by means
of the lever 42 and connecting rod 43, the nose 75 yielding before the lever 76.
Synchronously therewith, the forward rock of the top arm of the lever 13, makes
the feeder 8 feed the bottom one of the column of matrix blanks previously fed
down the hopper 1, forward from under its fellows, out through the port 18 and
along the groove 7, leaving it centrally under the bottom or first contact 45.
the cam 40 passes the stud 41, the case 34 begins to drop between its standards
38, 38, and the continued motion of the stud 11 in the slot 12 returns the feeder 8
into the rearward position shewn in Figures 1 and 3. The matrix blank that
has been so left under the contact piece 45, is marked with the reference 100
As

page_text: in Figures 1, 4, 6, 7 and 11, to distinguish it from those still awaiting to be fed
forward. If it is of the standard thickness, viz. 3mm., the nose of the contact 45
will rest upon it and close the circuit through the conductor 101 and terminal 102,
thereby energising the electro-maguet 103, whereupon the gate 69 is pulled across
the middle shoot 62 and locked there by the respective spring catch 73. As the
normal position of each gate 68, 69, is to keep the main shoot 62 open through-
out its length, the closure of the circuit 101, 102, has the effect of opening the
branch shoot 64 to the receptacle 67 which is the one for the matrix blanks of
standard thickness. The next rotation of the cam 9 repeats the above described
motions of the gauge case 34 and the feeder S. The advance of the second matrix
blank, pushes the one just gauged, out of the groove 7, whence it drops down the
top portion of the shoot 62 and the whole of the shoot 64 into the receptacle 67.
As the lever 42 is being pulled down by the spring 44 for the second time, and
before the gauge case 34 has reached the stop 57, the nose 75 rocks the lever 76,
thereby moving the sliding bar 79 up through its guides 80 to make it disengage
the respective spring latch 73 from the gate 69, leaving the latter to be returned
into its normal position by the spring 109 of the respective armature. During
the second backward movement of the feeder 8, the slide 89 was moved forward
to up-end the matrix blank that had just slid down the shoot 64 against the
respective block 96 when the respective detents 94 closed on its edges and held
it thereto, the said block 96 being sufficiently heavy to serve as a sliding resistant,
to as many blanks as are held against it.
If the second matrix blank is less than standard thickness, the bottom con-
tact 45 does not touch it and neither of the magnets 103 or 106, is energised. Con-
sequently, neither of the branch shoots are opened, and the matrix blank in
question is sent down the middle shoot 62 into the receptacle 65 for thin blanks.
If on the other hand, the second matrix is thicker than standard, the drop of
the gauge case 34 to the stop 57 will close the circuit 101, 102, and the circuit 104,
105, too by making the two contacts 45 and 46 touch each other. The energisa-
tion of the magnet 106 will close the shoot 62 and open the branch shoot 63,
so making a clear way for the gauged blank to the receptacle 66 for thick blanks.
The energisation of the magnet 103 and the consequent shutting of the gate 69
is immaterial because they are lower down the shoot plate than the magnet 106
and gate 68.
THE SCALE TO WHICH THE GAUGE WORKS.
The distance between the nose 53 of the second contact 46 and the cap 54 of
the first or bottom contact 45, is the scale to which the gauge works. It is
varied as may be required by loosening the lock nut 55 and screwing the cap 54
of the bottom contact farther up or down the spindle 48. Suppose the distance
in the apparatus illustrated, is one thousandth of an inch, then the gauge can
not take cognisance of any excess over standard less than that one thousandth,
that is to say, if the matrix 100 is more than standard by less than one thousandth
of an inch, it will be treated as of standard thickness.
The invention places no limits upon the number of contacts in the gauge. The
more there are, the more sizes can all the blanks thicker than standard be sorted
into. If there are only two contacts as in the apparatus illustrated, all the
blanks gauged to be over standard thickness will be sorted into one receptacle.
But if the number of contacts (with magnets and shoots to correspond) be in-
creased and the distances above mentioned between caps 54 and noses 53 be
adjusted, the apparatus will, with the same gauging, sort out the blanks above
standard according to their respective excess thicknesses. There is the same
distance between each pair of contacts and that distance establishes the scale
to which the gauge works. Thus with four contacts having their caps 54
adjusted to leave a distance of a thousandth of an inch from the next nose 53,
the blanks fed up by the feeder 8 will be sorted into smaller than standard,
standard, larger than standard by a thousandth, larger than standard by two

page_text: thousandths, and larger than standard by three thousandths of an inch, with this
proviso that no excess less than the unit of the scale (one thousandth of an inch)
will be noted.
The nose of the contact 45 is shewn as coned and round in plan. This detail
may be varied as may be desirable to improve the accuracy of its mechanical
contact with the surface of the blank 100. Thus it may be replaced by a shoe
adapted to bear upon the two margins of the blank.
The bottom of the groove 7 may be either flat or channelled with longitudinal
V-shaped grooves 123.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:
-
1. In an electrical apparatus for gauging and sorting articles according to
one dimension, the combination of horizontally, reciprocating feeder; vertically
reciprocating gauge; and means for reciprocating them synchronously.
2. In an electrical apparatus for gauging and sorting articles according to
one dimension, the combination of horizontally reciprocating feeder; vertically
reciprocating gauge; horizontally reciprocating pushers to deliver the gauged
and sorted articles; and means for reciprocating them synchronously.
3. In an electrical apparatus for gauging and sorting articles according to
one dimension, the combination of table for the articles to travel on one after
the other; vertical hopper on the said table down which the articles can drop;
feeder to feed them forward along the said table and leave them one by one
under a gauge; vertically reciprocating gauge; shoots from the table corre-
sponding in number of sizes into which the articles are to be sorted; gates con-
trolling the said shoots; a series of contacts forming part of the said gauge; an
electrical circuit for each shoot after the first, including a contact and an electro-
magnet controlling the gate of the respective shoot and mechanism for actuating
the feeder and the gauge synchronously.
4. In an electrical apparatus for gauging and sorting articles according to
one dimension, the combination with a feeder and a gauge, of a series of shoots;
gates controlling them; means for controlling the said gates; means for locking
them in their controlling positions; means for releasing them; and mechanism
for synchronously actuating the said feeder, gauge and means for releasing.
5. In an electrical apparatus for gauging and, sorting articles according to
one dimension, the hereinbefore described gauge consisting of contacts in a case
capable of motion to and from the article to be gauged; an adjustable stop; an
electric circuit for each contact after the first one, including an electro-magnet;
and a series of shoots controlled by gates actuated by the electro-magnet respec-
tively.
6. In an apparatus for gauging and sorting articles according to one dimension,
the combination of feeder; reciprocating gauge; main and branch shoots; gates
for controlling them; latches for locking the gates in the closed position; means
for holding them in the open position means controlled by the gauge for
actuating the respective gates; means for unlatching the locked gates; means
for delivering the sorted articles into their respective receptacles, and mechanism
for actuating the feeder, gauge and means for unlatching the locked gates and
delivering the sorted articles synchronously.
7. In an electrical apparatus for gauging and sorting articles according to
one dimension, the combination of adjustable stop reciprocating gauge case;
series of contacts the first or bottom one of which is set to touch an article of
standard dimension; an electric circuit comprising an electro-magnet for each
contact and of which circuit the said contact is the circuit closer; and shoots
and gates to sort the gauged articles on their way to their respective receptacles.
8. In an electrical apparatus for gauging and sorting articles according to
'one dimension, the combination of a gauge case capable of motion to and from

page_text: the article to be gauged; a series of contacts moveably supported in a line therein;
means for adjusting the normal distance between any two contacts to establish
the scale to which the gauge works; and electric circuits respectively including
the said contacts as circuit closers with means for controlling the sorting of the
articles as they are expelled from the gauge.