CARD FEED DEVICE

• US 3,618,933 A
• Filed: 11/10/1969
• Issued: 11/09/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Original Assignee: Earl Olsen, Edwin O. Roggenstein
• Inventors: Roggenstein, Edwin O., Olsen, Earl
• Primary Examiner(s): Wegbreit, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stoner, Jr., Bruce H.
• Application Number:
  US04/875,298
• Time in Patent Office: 729 Days
• Field of Search: 271/36,37,39,8A,26E,3A,62B,22,28 221/230
• US Class Current: 271/126
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/103 using mechanical means

Abstract

A mechanism for feeding cards singly from a stack of cards where the feeding is initiated by intermittent forces applied to the stack, each force operating to press the stack against a driven feed roller and to push a foremost card of the stack into a dispensing slot, the application of each force rendering the feed roller effective to eject the foremost card.

Claims

1. A device for feeding cards singly and edgewise from a stack of cards comprising a card stack backing member adapted to engage the broadside of a foremost card of a stack, a card stack retainer plate transversely and laterally disposed to said backing member and anteriorly displaced from said backing member with respect to the direction of card feed, said card stack retainer plate having a broadside thereof adapted to abut the leading edges of the cards with respect to said direction of card feed and having an edge disposed toward and in spaced apart relation to said backing member, a card feed roller havIng its periphery extending along said edge in spaced apart relationship therewith to define a card ejection slot with said edge, the periphery of said roller being continuously effective to frictionally impel the foremost card from the stack upon the application of a predetermined amount of pressure against said roller by the stack and the displacement of the leading edge of the foremost card clear of said retainer plate, a forcetransmitting member adaptable to apply pressure to the rear of the stack toward said card feed roller, and means to reciprocate said force-transmitting member cyclically against the rear of the stack to apply the predetermined amount of pressure thereto, and to displace the leading edge of the foremost card into the card ejection slot, whereby the cyclic rate of said force-transmitting member establishes a corresponding rate of card feed.

2. A device as defined by claim 1 wherein the width of said slot is less than the thickness of a card and said roller is displaceable by said force-transmitting member to widen said slot to receive a card.

3. A device as defined by claim 2 wherein said roller is composed of a resilient material that elastically deforms upon the application of pressure thereto by the foremost card to effectively widen said card ejection slot.

4. A device as defined by claim 1 wherein said means to reciprocate the force-transmitting member is characterized by a pneumatically operated piston coupled by a connecting member to said force transmitting member.

5. A device as defined by claim 1 wherein the broadside of said retainer plate is in a plane intersecting said roller and offset from the axis of rotation of said roller anteriorly thereof with respect to the direction of card feed, said plane being closer to said axis than to a plane tangent to the periphery of said roller and parallel with said axis so that the foremost card normally abuts said backing member, the leading edge of the foremost card being retained on said card stack retainer in close proximity to the card ejection slot so that pressure applied to the rear of the stack by said force-transmitting member is effective to bend the foremost card toward the contour of the periphery of the roller and thus displacing the leading edge into the slot there to be frictionally impelled free of the stack by said card feed roller.