Sheet feeding equipment

Claim 2

Card feed equipment for feeding perforated cards or the like from a supply deck comprising; feed means offset from one edge of the deck for sequentially feeding cards in a feed path extending in a direction paralleling the plane of the cards in the deck, and transfer mechanism for transferring individual cards edgewise from an end of the deck in a direction transverse to said one direction and into said feed path, said transfer mechanism including a support member mounted on an axis spaced from and paralleling the cards in the deck and further including a barrel shaped roller carried by said support member, said support member being rotatable about said axis and said roller being freely rotatable on an axis which is generally tangent to a circle having as its center the axis of the support member and which lies in a plane which is generally normal to the face surface of the cards in the deck, said barrel roller being positioned to engage the face surface of the card at the end of the deck, intermittently operable means for rotating said barrel roller about the axis of said support member to move a card into said feed path, the barrel roller and said support member being positioned in relation to the sequential feeding means so that the barrel roller remains in contact with the card when the card is offset and freely rotates when in engagement with said offset card as the card is fed in said one direction by the sequential feeding means.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said transfer mechanism further comprises a plurality of barrel shaped rollers spaced about said mounting shaft, each of said rollers being freely rotatable on an axis which is generally tangent to a circle having at its center the axis of the shaft and which lies in a plane which is generally normal to the surface of cards in the deck.

Claim 4

Mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said sequential feed means comprises a constantly rotating friction roller and holding means for urging the sheet into contact with the periphery of the friction roller after it is transferred by said offsetting means.

Claim 5

Mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the holding means comprises a pivotally mounted pinch roll spaced from the friction roll and means for moving the pinch roll towards the friction roll when the card is transferred by the offset means.

Claim 6

Punched card equipment for feeding punched cards from a supply deck, feeding means offset from one edge of the deck for sequentially feeding cards in a path in a direction paralleling the plane of cards in the deck, and mechanism for transferring individual cards edgewise from an end of the deck in a direction transverse to said one direction and into said feed path, said mechanism including a transfer assembly, said assembly being mounted for rotation on an axis offset from and paralleling the cards in the deck and further including a plurality of rotatable friction elements, each said element having its rotative axis generally oriented so that it is tangent to a circle having as its center the axis of the assembly, said elements being oriented so that upon rotation of the assembly a friction element engages with the surface of a card and transfers the card to the sequential feeding means, intermittently operable means for rotation of the assembly by an amount which offsets said card into said feed path, the friction elements being freely rotatable about their own axis so that any element in contact with the card as it is advanced by the sequential feeding means permits unrestricted card advancement in said direction paralleling the plane of cards in the deck.

Claim 7

Punched card equipment for feeding punched cards from a supply deck, feeding means offset from one edge of the deck for sequentially feeding cards in a path in a direction paralleling the plane of cards in the deck, and mechanism for transferring individual cards edgewise from an end of the deck in a direction transverse to said one direction and into said feed path, said mechanism including a transfer assembly, said assembly being mounted for rotation on an axis offset from and paralleling the cards in the deck and further including a plurality of rotatable friction elements, each said element having its rotative axis generally oriented so that it is tangent to a circle having as its center the axis of the assembly, said elements being oriented so that upon rotation of the assembly a friction element engages with the surface of a card and transfers the card to the sequential feeding means, intermittently operable means for rotation of the assembly by an amount which offsets said card into said feed path, the friction elements being freely rotatable about their own axis so that any element in contact with the card as it is advanced by the sequential feeding means permits unrestricted card advancement in said direction paralleling the plane of cards in the deck.

Claim 8

Equipment according to claim 5, wherein said assembly comprises a cage element rotatable about said assembly axis, said cage element having arms for supporting said rotatable friction elements.

Claim 9

Equipment according to claim 6 wherein said rotatable friction elements have a generally circular cross section.

Claim 10

Equipment according to claim 1 wherein said rotatable friction elements have a generally barrel shaped profile.

Claim 11

Equipment according to claim 8 wherein said cage element arms extend radially by amounts which permit contact with the surface of a card and further have an outline which is curved to form with said barrel shaped friction elements an assembly having a wheel shaped profile.

Claim 12

Equipment according to claim 9 wherein the outer surfaces of said cage element arms have a relative low coefficient of friction whereby said surfaces do not restrict card movement upon card feed by said sequential feed means.

Claim 13

Sheet feeding equipment for feeding punched cards or like sheets from a stack comprising means offset from one edge of the stack for sequentially feeding sheets in a direction paralleling the plane of sheets in the stack, intermittently operable offsetting means for moving sheets edegwise of the stack by an amount less than the dimension of the sheet in the direction of movement but sufficient to bring punch locations on one card out of registry with punch locations on the next caRd when the first named card is moved in said one direction, whereby the offset sheet overlaps over sheets in the stack, said offsetting means comprising barrel roller means including a rotatable barrel element, a carrier for said barrel roller means said carrier being rotatable on an axis offset from and paralleling the sheet in the stack, said barrel element having its axis in a plane which is generally normal to the plane of the sheets and being movable upon rotation of said carrier into contact with the surface of the end sheet in the stack with its rotative axis generally parallel to the surface of the sheet upon rotation on said shaft, to thereby move said sheet to the offset position, said barrel roller being rotatable about its own axis whereby card movement is not impeded when the barrel roller is in contact with the surface of the sheet as the card is fed in said one direction by said sequential feed means.

Claim 14

Sheet feeding equipment for feeding punched cards or like sheets from a stack comprising means offset from one edge of the stack for sequentially feeding sheets in a direction paralleling the plane of sheets in the stack, intermittently operable offsetting means for moving sheets edegwise of the stack by an amount less than the dimension of the sheet in the direction of movement but sufficient to bring punch locations on one card out of registry with punch locations on the next caRd when the first named card is moved in said one direction, whereby the offset sheet overlaps over sheets in the stack, said offsetting means comprising barrel roller means including a rotatable barrel element, a carrier for said barrel roller means said carrier being rotatable on an axis offset from and paralleling the sheet in the stack, said barrel element having its axis in a plane which is generally normal to the plane of the sheets and being movable upon rotation of said carrier into contact with the surface of the end sheet in the stack with its rotative axis generally parallel to the surface of the sheet upon rotation on said shaft, to thereby move said sheet to the offset position, said barrel roller being rotatable about its own axis whereby card movement is not impeded when the barrel roller is in contact with the surface of the sheet as the card is fed in said one direction by said sequential feed means.

Claim 15

Mechanism according to claim 11 wherein said barrel roller means comprises a plurality of rotatable barrel elements disposed on said carrier and wherein each said barrel element being mounted with its axis in a plane which is generally normal to the plane of the sheets, the outer most part of the side surfaces of said barrel elements generally forming a circular assembly having as its center the axis of rotation of the carrier when the elements and said carrier are viewed in profile.

Claim 16

Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said carrrier is provided with support arms for said barrel elements, the outer surfaces of said arms having a relatively low coefficient of friction and being curved to conform to said circular profile.

Claim 17

Mechanism according to claim 13, wherein said sequential feed means comprises a constantly rotative friction roller and selectively operable means for pressing the sheet into contact with the periphery of the friction roll after it is transferred by said offsetting means.

Claim 18

Mechanism according to claim 14, wherein the pressing means comprise a pivotally mounted pinch roll spaced from the friction roll and means for moving the pinch roll towards the friction roll when the card is transferred by the offsetting means.

Claim 19

Card feed equipment according to claim 1 wherein the punch location on said cards are organized into a pattern of columns with the positions within the columns being aligned with positions in adjacent columns so that unpunched bands between punch positions extend lengthwise of each card, and wherein said transfer mechanism includes means for limiting the extent to an movement of each card in the transverse direction an amount necessary to position the unpunched bands on one card in alignment with the punch locations on the next cards.

Claim 20

In a card feed mechanism, first and second card hoppers, each being adapted to store a deck of cards and being positioned so that the cards in the hopper are oriented in planes which are acutely angled with respect to one another, feeding means located between the two hoppers, and comprising continuously driven friction roll means adjacent each magazine, said roll means being offset from the cards in each magazine, said friction roll means being oriented to move cards along converging feed paths, there being one feed path for each hopper selectively operable mechanism for offsetting individual cards edgewise from the end of the deck in each hopper into position to be advanced by said friction roll means along the feed path associated with that hopper, said offsetting mechanism including a mounting shaft adjacent each deck being spaced in parallel relationship with the cards in the deck and including a friction roller element carried by each said shaft and being freely rotatable on an axis which is normal to a radius extending from the axis of the shaft, said roller element being movable upon rotation of said shaft into contact with the surface of the end sheet to offset the end card in the magazine, means for selectively operating said offsetting mechanism to ofFset cards from one or the other of said decks, and pinch roll means operable when a card is in offset position for pressing the offset card into contact with said friction roll means and means for operating said pinch roll means following movement of a card to said offset position.

Claim 21

In a card feed mechanism, first and second card hoppers, each being adapted to store a deck of cards and being positioned so that the cards in the hopper are oriented in planes which are acutely angled with respect to one another, feeding means located between the two hoppers, and comprising continuously driven friction roll means adjacent each magazine, said roll means being offset from the cards in each magazine, said friction roll means being oriented to move cards along converging feed paths, there being one feed path for each hopper selectively operable mechanism for offsetting individual cards edgewise from the end of the deck in each hopper into position to be advanced by said friction roll means along the feed path associated with that hopper, said offsetting mechanism including a mounting shaft adjacent each deck being spaced in parallel relationship with the cards in the deck and including a friction roller element carried by each said shaft and being freely rotatable on an axis which is normal to a radius extending from the axis of the shaft, said roller element being movable upon rotation of said shaft into contact with the surface of the end sheet to offset the end card in the magazine, means for selectively operating said offsetting mechanism to ofFset cards from one or the other of said decks, and pinch roll means operable when a card is in offset position for pressing the offset card into contact with said friction roll means and means for operating said pinch roll means following movement of a card to said offset position.

Claim 22

Card feed equipment according to claim 17 wherein the punch locations on said cards are organized into a pattern of columns with the positions within the columns being aligned with positions in adjacent columns so that unpunched bands between punch positions extend lengthwise of each card, and wherein said transfer mechanism includes means for limiting the extent of movement of each card in the transverse direction to an amount necessary to position the unpunched bands on one card in alignment with the punch locations on the next cards.