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US3869116A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Decreasing load deflection mechanism

Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1973-10-31
•
Granted: 1975-03-04
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Expires: 1993-10-31
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Abstract

Abstract In the preferred embodiment there is a loading mechanism for providing an initial load on a magnetic card in a card hopper such that when the magnetic card is brought into contact with a feed roller, the card is fed from the card hopper. This mechanism includes a flat permanent magnetic strip mounted on the frame of the card hopper and a steel blade having one end pivotably mounted on the frame. The steel blade is magnetically attracted to the magnetic strip. The other end of the steel blade is attached to a pressure plate resting on the top card in the hopper. When a given number of cards are in the hopper, the steel blade is completely out of contact with the magnetic strip. At this time, the only weight applied to the drive roller is the weight of the cards plus the weight of the pressure plate. As cards are fed from the hopper, the steel blade is lowered into contact with the magnetic strip. The initial contact is adjacent the blade pivot point. As additional cards are fed, the contact area of the blade and spring increases incrementally in a rolling type manner such that the combination of the permanent magnet, steel blade, and pressure plate imparts an increasing downward pressure on the stack of cards to thereby off set the weight decrease resulting from the feeding of cards to provide a fairly uniform weight on the card drive roller which varies within acceptable limits such that reliable card feeding of all the cards in the hopper is accomplished.

Inventors

  • 👤 Elmer Leroy Bob Kroeker

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-31 19:36
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65H; B65H3/00; B65H3/02; B65H3/06; B65H3/063; B65H1/00; B65H1/04; B65H1/06; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S271/00; Y10S271/901

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 111 words
A loading mechanism for applying an increasing force to a stack of cards as they are moved through a card hopper such that the total force made up of the force contributed by the cards plus said increasing force to a card feed roller remains substantially constant as the cards are fed from said stack, said loading mechanism comprising: a pressure plate in contact with said stack of cards, and means connected to said pressure plate for applying said increasing force, including means for producing a magnetic field, with said connected means being forcewise attracted to said means for producing said magnetic field in varying amounts as said cards are fed.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 111 words
A loading mechanism for applying an increasing force to a stack of cards as they are moved through a card hopper such that the total force made up of the force contributed by the cards plus said increasing force to a card feed roller remains substantially constant as the cards are fed from said stack, said loading mechanism comprising: a pressure plate in contact with said stack of cards, and means connected to said pressure plate for applying said increasing force, including means for producing a magnetic field, with said connected means being forcewise attracted to said means for producing said magnetic field in varying amounts as said cards are fed.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 34 words
The loading mechanism of claim 1 wherein said means connected to said pressure plate is a steel blade and said magnetic means is a permanent magnet strip in magnetic association with said steel blade.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 76 words
The loading mechanism of claim 2 wherein said steel blade is flexible and is magnetically attracted to and contacts said magnetic strip in a rolling manner as said cards are fed such that, with a full hopper of cards, at the beginning of feeding no part of said steel blade is in contact with the magnetic strip and at the end of feeding substantially all of said steel blade is in contact with said magnetic strip.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 59 words
The loading mechanism of claim 2 wherein said steel blade is flexible and is magnetically attracted to and contacts said magnetic strip in a rolling manner as said cards are fed and at the beginning of feeding the area of said steel blade initially in contact with said magnetic strip depends on the height of said stack of cards.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 20 words
The loading mechanism of claim 4 wherein said stack of cards are fed sequentially from the bottom of said stack.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 99 words
A card feed mechanism for applying a substantially uniform force to a card in contact with a card feed roller, comprising: a card hopper having therein a stack of cards, a pressure plate applying a varying force to the card in said stack most remote from said card feed roller, and means connected to said pressure plate for applying said varying force including means for producing a magnetic field with said connected means being force wise attracted to said means for producing said magnetic field in increasing amounts as cards are Fed from stack by said card feed roller.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 99 words
A card feed mechanism for applying a substantially uniform force to a card in contact with a card feed roller, comprising: a card hopper having therein a stack of cards, a pressure plate applying a varying force to the card in said stack most remote from said card feed roller, and means connected to said pressure plate for applying said varying force including means for producing a magnetic field with said connected means being force wise attracted to said means for producing said magnetic field in increasing amounts as cards are Fed from stack by said card feed roller.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 35 words
The card feed mechanism of claim 6 wherein said means connected to said pressure plate is a steel blade and said magnetic means is a permanent magnet strip in magnetic association with said steel blade.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 89 words
The card feed mechanism of claim 7 wherein said steel blade is flexible and is magnetically attracted to and contacts said magnetic strip in a rolling manner as said cards are fed from said hopper such that at the beginning of the feeding of cards from said hopper, no part of said steel blade is in contact with said magnetic strip and at the end of the feeding of said stack of cards from said hopper, substantially all of said steel blade is in contact with said magnetic strip.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 68 words
The card feed mechanism of claim 7 wherein said steel blade is flexible and is magnetically attracted to and contacts said magnetic strip in a rolling manner as said cards are fed from said hopper and at the beginning of the feeding of said stack of cards the area of said steel blade in contact with said magnetic strip depends on the height of said stack of cards.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US899133A Cited
US1478464A Cited
US1448705A Cited
US2938721A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1978-03-03 1978-09-02 1979-03-04 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1982-03-03 1982-09-02 1983-03-04 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1986-03-03 1986-09-02 1987-03-04 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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