DOCUMENT PICKER
United States Patent 3735976
Vacuum-operated document picking and transporting apparatus includes a moving belt formed with two rows of apertures therein extending in the length direction of the belt either row of which may be coupled to a vacuum source. Apertures in one row may be located at different positions than those in the other and the apertures in one row may be spaced apart different distances than those in the other. Then as a portion of the belt containing an aperture passes between a stack of documents and the vacuum source, a document may be separated from the stack and transported by the belt. The phasing of the pickup and/or the number of documents picked up in a given interval of time may be changed without changing the belt speed by switching the vacuum to the other row of apertures.
US Patent References:
Mail handling apparatus
Makrides - September 1959 - 2905309
AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT PROCESSING APPARATUS
Street - February 1971 - 3563532
Vacuum device for pulling a continuous web
Stewart - July 1964 - 3140030
Timed bottom feeder
Fischer - September 1958 - 2852255
Mail handling apparatus
Makrides - September 1959 - 2905309
AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT PROCESSING APPARATUS
Street - February 1971 - 3563532
Vacuum device for pulling a continuous web
Stewart - July 1964 - 3140030
Timed bottom feeder
Fischer - September 1958 - 2852255
Application Number:
05/198108
Publication Date:
05/29/1973
Filing Date:
11/12/1971
View Patent Images:
Export Citation:
Assignee:
RCA Corporation (New York, NY)
Primary Class:
Other Classes:
271/34
International Classes:
B65H3/12; B65H5/22; B65H3/12
Field of Search:
271/26ES,34,35,74,27,30,32
Primary Examiner:
Hornsby, Harvey C.
Assistant Examiner:
Stoner Jr., Bruce H.
Claims:
What is claimed is
1. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:
2. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:
3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2 wherein adjacent apertures in said one row are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the length of a document.
4. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:
1. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:
2. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:
3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2 wherein adjacent apertures in said one row are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the length of a document.
4. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In many present day data processing devices, records or documents must be picked from a stack and transported to some utilization mechanism. Where the documents are relatively light or flexible, a moving belt having a plurality of spaced apertures is often utilized. Then a vacuum acting through the apertures attracts the documents one at a time to the moving belt to be transported thereby.
In some applications it is desirable to be able to pick documents at various rates. In prior art apparatus this has been accomplished by, for example, cutting off vacuum to a vacuum head located adjacent the belt during passage past the head of every other belt aperture. However, it is found in practice, that the means for cutting off the vacuum wears out in a very short time.
It is also sometimes desirable to alter the timing that the belt apertures pass other mechanisms. In prior art apparatus, this has been accomplished by physically moving the belt, relative to the rest of the apparatus. This involves rather complicated mechanical elements and, as is often the case, if accomplished while some of the apparatus is in motion, may prove dangerous to an operator making the change.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An arrangement for picking documents from a document stack includes a driven belt the front surface of which passes the stack and which has two rows of apertures extending in the length dimension of the belt, apertures in one row being located at different positions than apertures in the other row. Also included is a means for creating a vacuum in the region of the belt which overlaps the leading portion (when considering belt movement direction) of the stack and extends for some distance beyond, and means for selectively applying the vacuum to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly schematic, of apparatus embodying one form of the invention; and
FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1, being the vacuum head employed in the apparatus of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In FIG. 1 a pair of identical timing belts 50a and 50b (shown broken away) pass over a pair of idler gears 70 and 71, respectively, follow a path adjacent to a vacuum head generally labeled 10 to a driving means 72. Driving means 72 may comprise a motor 78 which is coupled to a pair of gears 73 and 74 by shaft 76. The belts 50a and 50b pass over the gears 73 and 74, respectively, to be rotated in the direction of arrow 80.
Each belt 50 is an endless timing belt having a groove 51 formed around the inner periphery leaving teeth 52 on either side thereof. Teeth 52 are engaged by teeth 82 on gears 73 and 74 to provide synchronization between the belts as they are driven. Each belt is also formed with a first row of spaced apertures 53 and a second row of spaced apertures 54. The apertures 54 on belt 50b align with apertures 54 on belt 50a; similarly, apertures 53 on the two belts are also aligned, that is, as viewed in the drawing, any aperture 53 on belt 50b lies directly beneath a corresponding aperture on belt 50a. The apertures of one set, such as apertures 54, may be spaced half the distance apart as the apertures 53 of the other set. Further, where one aperture 53 is located close to an aperture of set 54 on the same belt, aperture 53 may lead an aperture 54. A strip of high friction material 56 may be bonded to belt 50 in the vicinity of each aperture 53 and 54. Successive apertures in a row are spaced apart a distance greater than the length of documents to be transported by the belts.
FIG. 2 should now be referred to. Head 10 is provided with two shoes 11 and 12 to accommodate the two vacuum belts 50a and 50b, respectively. Shoe 11 contains two slots 13 and 14 while shoe 12 contains slots 15 and 16. The slots extend almost the length of the shoes, as illustrated in FIG. 1. A bore 17 in head 10 connects slots 13 and 15. It is sealed off from slot 14 by sleeve 18 which is pressed into a counterbore in head 10 after bore 17 is formed. A cap 19 closes the bore and may be attached to head 10 in any suitable manner. Slots 14 and 16 are connected in a similar manner by bore 21 (shown in phantom). A second sleeve 18 (shown in phantom) seals bore 21 from slot 15 and a cap 19 closes bore 21 at surface 62.
A bore 22 intersects bore 17 and pierces the wall of valve chamber 23. It is sealed at the opposite end by a plug 24. In a similar fashion a bore 25 (shown largely in phantom) intersects 21 and also passes through wall 23. The opposite end is sealed by a plug 26. A vacuum supply line 27 connected to head 10 extends to a vacuum source 64 (FIG. 1). A bore 28 in head 10 continues to supply into valve chamber 23.
Rotatable valve 31 is retained in the chamber 23 by retainer 33 which encircles the valve and is secured by a suitable means to head 10. valve 31 contains a large bore 35 extending along a major portion of the length of valve 31. The valve also contains a number of smaller ports connecting the large bore to various ones of the other bores previously described. In the position shown in FIG. 2, port 28a in valve 31 connects vacuum supply bore 28 to the interior bore 35. A port 22a connects bore 35 to bore 22. Therefore, by means of bore 28, port 28a, bore 35, port 22a, bore 22 and bore 17, vacuum source 64 is connected to slots 13 and 15.
Valve 31 also contains ports 25a and 28b which are at right angles respectively to ports 22a and 28a. A handle 66 connected to valve 31 permits it to be rotated 90° in the clockwise direction (as illustrated in FIG. 1). When valve 31 is rotated 90° from the position shown, a vacuum path is formed from vacuum source 64 through bore 28, via port 28b, bore 35, port 25a, bore 25, and via bore 21 to slots 14 and 16.
Returning to FIG. 1, a stack of documents 100 shown in phantom is positioned opposite belts 50 and head 10 the belt lying adjacent the face of the nearest or end document of the stack. At least a portion of the documents (typically the portion commonly known as the leading edge when the document is in motion) is positioned adjacent the rightmost portion (as illustrated in FIG. 1) of slots 13 through 16. Document stackers are well known. Any type will perform satisfactorily which urges the stack of documents toward belts 50.
In operation, assuming that valve 31 is in the position shown in FIG. 2, i.e., that slots 13 and 15 are connected to vacuum source 64, belts 50a and 50b will be driven until an aperture 53 on each belt is moved to a position interposed between the stack of documents 100 and vacuum slots 13 and 15 respectively. At that time, a document 102 shown in phantom is attracted against the belts or rather against the frictional pads 56 and carried along as the belt is moved. Before apertures 53 reach the left side (as illustrated in FIG. 1) of slots 13 and 15 another mechanism (not shown) may engage document 102 and move it out of the way of the belts 50 and head 10. Since the spacing between adjacent apertures 53 is greater than the length of the documents, the operation just described is repeated every time a pair of apertures 53 is opposite document stack 100. Document picking may be halted by disconnecting vacuum source 64.
If it is desired to move a greater number of documents in a given time internal, valve 31 is rotated 90° to disconnect slots 13 and 15 from the vacuum source 64 and to connect slots 14 and 16 to the vacuum source. Then if documents 100 are shorter in length than the distance between adjacent apertures 54, as each set of apertures 54 becomes interposed between stack of documents 100 and slots 14 and 16, a document will be attracted to the belt to be transported thereby.
Since apertures 54 are more closely spaced than those of sets 53, more documents will be handled by the system in a given unit of time.
Further since the usual reason for varying pick rate is variation in document length, and since long documents accelerate more slowly than short ones, it has been found necessary in the past when transporting long documents to shift the pick belts 50 in the direction of arrow 80 relative to the balance of the transport system. With the belts thus repositioned, documents will be picked up earlier in time. In the present apparatus the displacement, along the belt length, shown between the first group of apertures 53 and the second group 54, accomplishes the same timing change. That is, apertures 53 which are used to pick longer documents are positioned ahead (i.e. to the left) of apertures 54.
The number of belts illustrated and the number of apertures in each group illustrated are purely matters of engineering choice. For example, if very light-weight documents are to be transported, only a single belt may be necessary. If heavy documents are to be transported, a cluster of relatively closely spaced apertures per document in each belt 50 would be necessary rather than the single aperture illustrated. Further while only two sets of slots and, therefore, two different document pick rates have been illustrated, the principle would be applicable to any number of different rates merely by adding more rows of apertures on belts 50 and a corresponding number of slots in head 12. In addition, opposite sets of apertures may be offset as illustrated in FIG. 1 or in line depending on the particular application. Finally, while a head having a shoe containing two slots, either one of which is selectable, has been described a head with a single slotted shoe may be utilized.
In that event the belt is shifted relative to the head in a direction normal to belt travel direction so that one or the other row of apertures is aligned with said slot. Either the belts or the head may be shifted but it may be more desirable to shift the head.
In many present day data processing devices, records or documents must be picked from a stack and transported to some utilization mechanism. Where the documents are relatively light or flexible, a moving belt having a plurality of spaced apertures is often utilized. Then a vacuum acting through the apertures attracts the documents one at a time to the moving belt to be transported thereby.
In some applications it is desirable to be able to pick documents at various rates. In prior art apparatus this has been accomplished by, for example, cutting off vacuum to a vacuum head located adjacent the belt during passage past the head of every other belt aperture. However, it is found in practice, that the means for cutting off the vacuum wears out in a very short time.
It is also sometimes desirable to alter the timing that the belt apertures pass other mechanisms. In prior art apparatus, this has been accomplished by physically moving the belt, relative to the rest of the apparatus. This involves rather complicated mechanical elements and, as is often the case, if accomplished while some of the apparatus is in motion, may prove dangerous to an operator making the change.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An arrangement for picking documents from a document stack includes a driven belt the front surface of which passes the stack and which has two rows of apertures extending in the length dimension of the belt, apertures in one row being located at different positions than apertures in the other row. Also included is a means for creating a vacuum in the region of the belt which overlaps the leading portion (when considering belt movement direction) of the stack and extends for some distance beyond, and means for selectively applying the vacuum to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly schematic, of apparatus embodying one form of the invention; and
FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1, being the vacuum head employed in the apparatus of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In FIG. 1 a pair of identical timing belts 50a and 50b (shown broken away) pass over a pair of idler gears 70 and 71, respectively, follow a path adjacent to a vacuum head generally labeled 10 to a driving means 72. Driving means 72 may comprise a motor 78 which is coupled to a pair of gears 73 and 74 by shaft 76. The belts 50a and 50b pass over the gears 73 and 74, respectively, to be rotated in the direction of arrow 80.
Each belt 50 is an endless timing belt having a groove 51 formed around the inner periphery leaving teeth 52 on either side thereof. Teeth 52 are engaged by teeth 82 on gears 73 and 74 to provide synchronization between the belts as they are driven. Each belt is also formed with a first row of spaced apertures 53 and a second row of spaced apertures 54. The apertures 54 on belt 50b align with apertures 54 on belt 50a; similarly, apertures 53 on the two belts are also aligned, that is, as viewed in the drawing, any aperture 53 on belt 50b lies directly beneath a corresponding aperture on belt 50a. The apertures of one set, such as apertures 54, may be spaced half the distance apart as the apertures 53 of the other set. Further, where one aperture 53 is located close to an aperture of set 54 on the same belt, aperture 53 may lead an aperture 54. A strip of high friction material 56 may be bonded to belt 50 in the vicinity of each aperture 53 and 54. Successive apertures in a row are spaced apart a distance greater than the length of documents to be transported by the belts.
FIG. 2 should now be referred to. Head 10 is provided with two shoes 11 and 12 to accommodate the two vacuum belts 50a and 50b, respectively. Shoe 11 contains two slots 13 and 14 while shoe 12 contains slots 15 and 16. The slots extend almost the length of the shoes, as illustrated in FIG. 1. A bore 17 in head 10 connects slots 13 and 15. It is sealed off from slot 14 by sleeve 18 which is pressed into a counterbore in head 10 after bore 17 is formed. A cap 19 closes the bore and may be attached to head 10 in any suitable manner. Slots 14 and 16 are connected in a similar manner by bore 21 (shown in phantom). A second sleeve 18 (shown in phantom) seals bore 21 from slot 15 and a cap 19 closes bore 21 at surface 62.
A bore 22 intersects bore 17 and pierces the wall of valve chamber 23. It is sealed at the opposite end by a plug 24. In a similar fashion a bore 25 (shown largely in phantom) intersects 21 and also passes through wall 23. The opposite end is sealed by a plug 26. A vacuum supply line 27 connected to head 10 extends to a vacuum source 64 (FIG. 1). A bore 28 in head 10 continues to supply into valve chamber 23.
Rotatable valve 31 is retained in the chamber 23 by retainer 33 which encircles the valve and is secured by a suitable means to head 10. valve 31 contains a large bore 35 extending along a major portion of the length of valve 31. The valve also contains a number of smaller ports connecting the large bore to various ones of the other bores previously described. In the position shown in FIG. 2, port 28a in valve 31 connects vacuum supply bore 28 to the interior bore 35. A port 22a connects bore 35 to bore 22. Therefore, by means of bore 28, port 28a, bore 35, port 22a, bore 22 and bore 17, vacuum source 64 is connected to slots 13 and 15.
Valve 31 also contains ports 25a and 28b which are at right angles respectively to ports 22a and 28a. A handle 66 connected to valve 31 permits it to be rotated 90° in the clockwise direction (as illustrated in FIG. 1). When valve 31 is rotated 90° from the position shown, a vacuum path is formed from vacuum source 64 through bore 28, via port 28b, bore 35, port 25a, bore 25, and via bore 21 to slots 14 and 16.
Returning to FIG. 1, a stack of documents 100 shown in phantom is positioned opposite belts 50 and head 10 the belt lying adjacent the face of the nearest or end document of the stack. At least a portion of the documents (typically the portion commonly known as the leading edge when the document is in motion) is positioned adjacent the rightmost portion (as illustrated in FIG. 1) of slots 13 through 16. Document stackers are well known. Any type will perform satisfactorily which urges the stack of documents toward belts 50.
In operation, assuming that valve 31 is in the position shown in FIG. 2, i.e., that slots 13 and 15 are connected to vacuum source 64, belts 50a and 50b will be driven until an aperture 53 on each belt is moved to a position interposed between the stack of documents 100 and vacuum slots 13 and 15 respectively. At that time, a document 102 shown in phantom is attracted against the belts or rather against the frictional pads 56 and carried along as the belt is moved. Before apertures 53 reach the left side (as illustrated in FIG. 1) of slots 13 and 15 another mechanism (not shown) may engage document 102 and move it out of the way of the belts 50 and head 10. Since the spacing between adjacent apertures 53 is greater than the length of the documents, the operation just described is repeated every time a pair of apertures 53 is opposite document stack 100. Document picking may be halted by disconnecting vacuum source 64.
If it is desired to move a greater number of documents in a given time internal, valve 31 is rotated 90° to disconnect slots 13 and 15 from the vacuum source 64 and to connect slots 14 and 16 to the vacuum source. Then if documents 100 are shorter in length than the distance between adjacent apertures 54, as each set of apertures 54 becomes interposed between stack of documents 100 and slots 14 and 16, a document will be attracted to the belt to be transported thereby.
Since apertures 54 are more closely spaced than those of sets 53, more documents will be handled by the system in a given unit of time.
Further since the usual reason for varying pick rate is variation in document length, and since long documents accelerate more slowly than short ones, it has been found necessary in the past when transporting long documents to shift the pick belts 50 in the direction of arrow 80 relative to the balance of the transport system. With the belts thus repositioned, documents will be picked up earlier in time. In the present apparatus the displacement, along the belt length, shown between the first group of apertures 53 and the second group 54, accomplishes the same timing change. That is, apertures 53 which are used to pick longer documents are positioned ahead (i.e. to the left) of apertures 54.
The number of belts illustrated and the number of apertures in each group illustrated are purely matters of engineering choice. For example, if very light-weight documents are to be transported, only a single belt may be necessary. If heavy documents are to be transported, a cluster of relatively closely spaced apertures per document in each belt 50 would be necessary rather than the single aperture illustrated. Further while only two sets of slots and, therefore, two different document pick rates have been illustrated, the principle would be applicable to any number of different rates merely by adding more rows of apertures on belts 50 and a corresponding number of slots in head 12. In addition, opposite sets of apertures may be offset as illustrated in FIG. 1 or in line depending on the particular application. Finally, while a head having a shoe containing two slots, either one of which is selectable, has been described a head with a single slotted shoe may be utilized.
In that event the belt is shifted relative to the head in a direction normal to belt travel direction so that one or the other row of apertures is aligned with said slot. Either the belts or the head may be shifted but it may be more desirable to shift the head.