Controlled torque document feed system

Claim 2

In a document handling system, a controlled torque document feed system comprising: a document guideway having a plurality of spaced apart guide members for guiding documents singly along the guideway; a document storage means at one end of said guideway for storing a plurality of documents prior to being transported therealong; document drive means adjacent said one end of said guideway and adapted for moving a document from said storage means to said guideway; sensing means positioned along said guideway and downstream from said one end, said sensing means being effective for generating a first and a second signal according to whether or not a document is sensed thereby; and a document control member electrically connected to said document drive means and responsive to said first signal of said sensing means for increasing the torque output of said document drive means when a document is not sensed by said sensing means and responsive to said second signal of said sensing means for decreasing the torque output of said document drive means when a document is sensed by said sensing means.

Claim 3

The controlled torque document feed system according to claim 1 wherein said sensing means is a photoelectric cell responsive to a source of radiant energy for indicating the presence of a document therebetween.

Claim 4

The controlled torque document feed system according to claim 1 wherein said document control member further includes a first transistor responsive to said sensing means in the absence of a document for supplying a first current to said drive means providing a high torque output therefrom and a second transistor responsive to said sensing means in the presence of a document for supplying a second current to said drive means providing a low torque output therefrom.

Claim 5

The controlled torque document feed system according to claim 3 further including a timing member responsive to said sensing means for removing said first and second current from said drive means whenever a document is not sensed by said sensing means for a predetermined period of time.

Claim 6

In a document handling system, a controlled torque document feed system comprising: a document guideway having a plurality of document guide members spaced apart along said guideway for guiding documents singly therealong; a document storage hopper adjacent one end of said document guideway for storing a plurality of documents to be transported along said document guideway; a document drive motor operatively coupled to said storage hopper for removing documents singly therefrom and initially moving the removed document along said document guideway; document sensing means positioned along said document guideway and downstream from said document storage hopper, said sensing means generating a first electrical signal when a document is not sensed by said sensing means and generating a second electrical signal when a document is sensed thereby; a first transistor electrically connected to said document drive motor and responsive to said first electrical signal for supplying a current to said document drive motor developing a first torque therefrom for removing a document from said document storage hopper; a second transistor electrically connected to said document drive motor and responsive to said second electrical signal for supplying a current to said document drive motor developing a second torque therefrom for moving the removed document along said document guideway; and a timer responsive to said first electrical signal and operative to turn off said first transistor after a predetermined period of time in the absence of said second electrical signal.

Claim 7

In a document handling system, a controlled torque document feed system comprising: a document guideway having a plurality of document guide members spaced apart along said guideway for guiding documents singly therealong; a document storage hopper adjacent one end of said document guideway for storing a plurality of documents to be transported along said document guideway; a document drive motor operatively coupled to said storage hopper for removing documents singly therefrom and initially moving the removed document along said document guideway; document sensing means positioned along said document guideway and downstream from said document storage hopper, said sensing means generating a first electrical signal when a document is not sensed by said sensing means and generating a second electrical signal when a document is sensed thereby; a first transistor electrically connected to said document drive motor and responsive to said first electrical signal for supplying a current to said document drive motor developing a first torque therefrom for removing a document from said document storage hopper; a second transistor electrically connected to said document drive motor and responsive to said second electrical signal for supplying a current to said document drive motor developing a second torque therefrom for moving the removed document along said document guideway; and a timer responsive to said first electrical signal and operative to turn off said first transistor after a predetermined period of time in the absence of said second electrical signal.

Claim 8

In a document handling system according to claim 5 wherein said timer additionally includes means for delaying the initial turn off of said first transistor for allowing the first document to be fed along said system a greater time period than the succeeding documents to reach said document sensing means.

Claim 9

In a document handling system according to claim 5 wherein said timer additionally includes means for delaying the application of high current to said drive motor until after a predetermined period of time for allowing the previously fed document to be moved further along the guideway from said document sensing means.

Claim 10

In a document handling system according to claim 5 wherein said timer is a multi-stage ripple counter being counted by a plurality of fixed period timing pulses.

Claim 11

In a document handling system according to claim 8 wherein the last stage of said ripple counter is counted on the initial document fed by the system to allow an additional delay time for turning off said first transistor and said last stage is automatically negated on each succeeding document to be fed.

Claim 12

In a document handling system according to claim 8 wherein said ripple counter is counted to a predetermined count, less than the desired count for delaying the application of high current to said drive motor a predetermined period of time thereby allowing the previous fed document to be moved further along the guideway away from said document.