Control mechanisms for document-handling apparatus

Claim 2

A sensor for detecting the presence of gaps between documents fed in a first direction at spaced intervals with said gaps occurring between the trailing edge of a document and the leading edge of the next document, said sensor comprising: a light source positioned to one side of the path of movement of the documents; light sensitive means positioned to receive light of maximum intensity from said light source when the trailing edge of each document passes said light sensitive means to activate said light sensitive means and to receive light of a minimum intensity when a document is positioned between said light sensitive means and said source, said light sensitive means developing a signal at its output which varies with the intensity of light; energy storage means; first means coupled to said light sensitive means output for rapidly charging said energy storage means when said light sensitive means is activated by light of maximum intensity; comparator means having first and second inputs for generating an output signal when the signal level at its first input exceeds the signal level at its second input; said first input being coupled to the output of said light sensitive means; second means coupled between said first means and said comparator means second input for coupling a portion of the signal level developed by said storage means to said second input; said second means providing a discharge path for said energy storage means and being adapted to cause said energy storage means to discharge at a rate much slower than the charging rate to cause a substantial portion of the signal level developed by said storage means to be retained when said light sensitive means is deactivated due to the movement of the document past said light source.

Claim 3

A sensor for detecting the presence of gaps between documents fed in a first direction at spaced intervals with said gaps occurring between the trailing edge of a document and the leading edge of the next document, said sensor comprising: a light source positioned to one side of the path of movement of the documents; light sensitive means positioned to receive light of maximum intensity from said light source when the trailing edge of each document passes said light sensitive means to activate said light sensitive means and to receive light of a minimum intensity when a document is positioned between said light sensitive means and said source, said light sensitive means developing a signal at its output which varies with the intensity of light; energy storage means; first means coupled to said light sensitive means output for rapidly charging said energy storage means when said light sensitive means is activated by light of maximum intensity; comparator means having first and second inputs for generating an output signal when the signal level at its first input exceeds the signal level at its second input; said first input being coupled to the output of said light sensitive means; second means coupled between said first means and said comparator means second input for coupling a portion of the signal level developed by said storage means to said second input; said second means providing a discharge path for said energy storage means and being adapted to cause said energy storage means to discharge at a rate much slower than the charging rate to cause a substantial portion of the signal level developed by said storage means to be retained when said light sensitive means is deactivated due to the movement of the document past said light source.

Claim 4

A sensor for detecting the presence of gaps between documents fed in a first direction at spaced intervals with said gaps occurring between the trailing edge of a document and the leading edge of the next document, said sensor comprising: a light source positioned to one side of the path of movement of the documents; light sensitive means positioned to receive light of maximum intensity from said light source when the trailing edge of each document passes said light sensitive means to activate said light sensitive means and to receive light of a minimum intensity when a document is positioned between said light sensitive means and said source, said light sensitive means developing a signal at its output which varies with the intensity of light; energy storage means; first means coupled to said light sensitive means output for rapidly charging said energy storage means when said light sensitive means is activated by light of maximum intensity; comparator means having first and second inputs for generating an output signal when the signal level at its first input exceeds the signal level at its second input; said first input being coupled to the output of said light sensitive means; second means coupled between said first means and said comparator means second input for coupling a portion of the signal level developed by said storage means to said second input; said second means providing a discharge path for said energy storage means and being adapted to cause said energy storage means to discharge at a rate much slower than the charging rate to cause a substantial portion of the signal level developed by said storage means to be retained when said light sensitive means is deactivated due to the movement of the document past said light source.

Claim 5

The sensor of claim 1 wherein said second means is a voltage divider comprised of resistance elements and said storage means is a capacitor coupled in parallel across said voltage divider; said voltage divider forming a discharge path for said capacitor.

Claim 6

The sensor of claim 1 further comprising a bistable circuit having first and second inputs and a first output; said first input being coupled to the output of said comparator means; gate means having first and second inputs coupled respectively to said comparator means and said second output, and having an output coupled to said second input; energy storage means coupled to the output of said gate means and being adapted to charge rapidly and discharge slowly; said bistable circuit being reset when said comparator detects a gap to discharge said energy storage means; said energy storage means being adapted to prevent resetting of said bistable circuit until it has discharged within a predetermined time interval thereby preventing said bistable circuit from being reset during a time interval less than the time of Passage of a gap to prevent spurious pulses, developed as a document is passing said light sensitive means, from setting said bistable circuit; until it has been reset whereby apertures in said documents passing said detecting means are prevented from being detected as a gap.

Claim 7

Sensing means for counting documents fed in a predetermined direction at spaced intervals with a gap between the trailing edge of each document and the leading edge of the next following document comprising: detecting means for detecting said gaps to generate a first output level during the occurrence of each gap as the trailing edge of each document passes said detecting means and a second output level as the leading edges of each succeeding document passes said detecting means; bistable means having first and second inputs and and output, said first input coupled to said detecting means for generating a first output level at the output of said bistable circuit when each leading edge passes said detecting means; gate means having inputs coupled to said detector means and the output of bistable circuit for coupling a setting signal at its output to said bistable circuit second input to permit said bistable circuit to be set when the leading edge of a document is sensed by said detecting means; energy storage means being charged by the output of said gate means, means coupled to said energy storage means to prevent said second input from being reset for a predetermined time interval after the passage of each trailing edge during which time interval said energy storage means is prevented from discharging below a predetermined level to prevent setting of bistable means due to the detection of apertures in said documents by said detection means.

Claim 8

Sensing means for counting documents fed in a predetermined direction at spaced intervals with a gap between the trailing edge of each document and the leading edge of the next following document comprising: detecting means for detecting said gaps to generate a first output level during the occurrence of each gap as the trailing edge of each document passes said detecting means and a second output level as the leading edges of each succeeding document passes said detecting means; bistable means having first and second inputs and and output, said first input coupled to said detecting means for generating a first output level at the output of said bistable circuit when each leading edge passes said detecting means; gate means having inputs coupled to said detector means and the output of bistable circuit for coupling a setting signal at its output to said bistable circuit second input to permit said bistable circuit to be set when the leading edge of a document is sensed by said detecting means; energy storage means being charged by the output of said gate means, means coupled to said energy storage means to prevent said second input from being reset for a predetermined time interval after the passage of each trailing edge during which time interval said energy storage means is prevented from discharging below a predetermined level to prevent setting of bistable means due to the detection of apertures in said documents by said detection means.

Claim 9

The sensing means of claim 4 wherein the energy storage means is a capacitor adapted to charge rapidly during setting of said bistable circuit and to discharge slowly when said first level generated by said detecting means is to prevent reset of said bistable circuit.

Claim 10

The sensing means of claim 5 wherein the capacitance of said capacitor is selected to prevent resetting of said bistable circuit when said first level persists for a time less than the interval of a gap between documents.

Claim 11

Control means for operating apparatus for counting and stacking documents comprising: first means for receiving a stack of documents; stacking means; second means for separating said stack of documents and advancing said separated documents, one at a time to said stacking means whereby a gap is provided between the trailing edge of each document and the leading edge of the next document; sensing means arranged at a predetermined location for detecting the presence of each gap to generate counting pulses; means coupled to said sensing means for counting said documents; jam detector means for generating a first output level when the time interval between succeeding count pulses is greater than the time required for one document to pass said sensing means, said jam detector being reset by said sensing means each time a count pulse is generated by said sensing means to normally prevent generation of said first output level; gate means coupled to said jam detector means for preventing said sensing means for transferring count pulses to said counting means when said jam detection means generates said first output level.

Claim 12

Control means for operating apparatus for counting and stacking documents comprising: first means for receiving a stack of documents; stacking means; second means for separating said stack of documents and advancing said separated documents, one at a time to said stacking means whereby a gap is provided between the trailing edge of each document and the leading edge of the next document; sensing means arranged at a predetermined location for detecting the presence of each gap to generate counting pulses; means coupled to said sensing means for counting said documents; jam detector means for generating a first output level when the time interval between succeeding count pulses is greater than the time required for one document to pass said sensing means, said jam detector being reset by said sensing means each time a count pulse is generated by said sensing means to normally prevent generation of said first output level; gate means coupled to said jam detector means for preventing said sensing means for transferring count pulses to said counting means when said jam detection means generates said first output level.

Claim 13

The control means of claim 7 further comprising second gate means coupled to said jam detection means for halting said second means upon the occurrence of said first output level.

Claim 14

Control means for operating apparatus for counting and stacking documents comprising: first means for receiving a stack of documents; second means for separating said stack of documents and advancing said separated documents one at a time in a feed direction; stacking means; third means for accelerating documents advanced by second means toward said stacking means to create gaps between adJacent documents; motor means; clutch means for selectively coupling said second means to said motor means; braking means for selectively halting said second means; means coupled between said motor means and said third means for operating said third means so long as said motor means is energized; sensing means for detecting the presence of each gap to geneate counting pulses; means coupled to said sensing means for counting said documents; settable means for setting said counter means to any predetermined count N, said settable means including first gate means responsive to said counting means for generating an output when said counting means reaches a count of N-1; diverter gate means for normally extending into the path of movement of said documents diverting documents accelerated by said third means away from stacking means; second gating means coupled between said gate means and diverter means for moving said diverter means out of the path movement of said documents when said first gate means detects a count of N-1; said second gating means including means for operating said braking means and said clutch means to decouple said second means from said motor means and to abruptly halt said second means to provide sufficient time for said diverter means to move out of the path of movement of said documents; means coupled between said sensing means and said second gating means for causing said second gating means output to terminate after a predetermined time interval to cause said braking means to be released and said clutch means to couple said motor means to said second means; third gating means coupled to said counting means for generating an output when said counting means reaches a count of N; means coupled between said third gating means and said diverter means for moving said diverter means into the path of movement of the documents; said third gating means including first bistable means coupled to said brake and clutch means for decoupling said second means from said motor means and abruptly halting said second means when a count of N is achieved; delay means coupled to said third gating means for resetting said bistable means after a predetermined interval to release said brake means and cause said clutch means to couple said motor means to said second means after said diverter means is moved into the path of movement of said documents.

Claim 15

Control means for operating apparatus for counting and stacking documents comprising: first means for receiving a stack of documents; second means for separating said stack of documents and advancing said separated documents one at a time in a feed direction; stacking means; third means for accelerating documents advanced by second means toward said stacking means to create gaps between adJacent documents; motor means; clutch means for selectively coupling said second means to said motor means; braking means for selectively halting said second means; means coupled between said motor means and said third means for operating said third means so long as said motor means is energized; sensing means for detecting the presence of each gap to geneate counting pulses; means coupled to said sensing means for counting said documents; settable means for setting said counter means to any predetermined count N, said settable means including first gate means responsive to said counting means for generating an output when said counting means reaches a count of N-1; diverter gate means for normally extending into the path of movement of said documents diverting documents accelerated by said third means away from stacking means; second gating means coupled between said gate means and diverter means for moving said diverter means out of the path movement of said documents when said first gate means detects a count of N-1; said second gating means including means for operating said braking means and said clutch means to decouple said second means from said motor means and to abruptly halt said second means to provide sufficient time for said diverter means to move out of the path of movement of said documents; means coupled between said sensing means and said second gating means for causing said second gating means output to terminate after a predetermined time interval to cause said braking means to be released and said clutch means to couple said motor means to said second means; third gating means coupled to said counting means for generating an output when said counting means reaches a count of N; means coupled between said third gating means and said diverter means for moving said diverter means into the path of movement of the documents; said third gating means including first bistable means coupled to said brake and clutch means for decoupling said second means from said motor means and abruptly halting said second means when a count of N is achieved; delay means coupled to said third gating means for resetting said bistable means after a predetermined interval to release said brake means and cause said clutch means to couple said motor means to said second means after said diverter means is moved into the path of movement of said documents.

Claim 16

Sensing means for counting documents fed in a predetermined direction at spaced intervals with a gap between the trailing edge of each document and the leading edge of the next succeeding document and for preventing the generation of spurious counts due to apertures, slits or other openings in said documents comprising: means for detecting said documents to generate a first level as the trailing edge of a document passes said detection means and to generate a second level signal as the leading edge of the next succeeding document passes said detection means; charge storing means coupled to said detection means for storing electrical energy developed by said detection means during the time that each leading and trailing edge passes said detection means and for discharging electrical energy that the gaps between documents pass said detection means; bistable means having inputs coupled to said storing means and to said detection means for being set when the output of said detection means is at said second level and reset when said energy storing means discharges to a predetermined threshold level and the output of said detection means is at said first level; second means coupled between said energy storage means and said detection means for enabling said energy storage means to charge rapidly after said detection means reaches said second level and for causing said energy storage means to discharge at a slow rate after said detection means reaches said first level; said second means being adapted to permit said enerGy storage means to discharge to a level below said threshold level before the leading edge of the next document is detected by said detection means to permit resetting of said bistable means and being further adapted to prevent said energy storage means from discharging below said threshold level when said detection means detects openings, slits or other mutilations in said documents which cause said detection means to generate said first level output for a time duration shorter in length than the time interval for a gap to pass said detection means whereby the detection of openings, slits or other mutilations in said documents are prevented from being interpreted as the gap between documents; means coupled to said bistable means for generating a count pulse when said bistable circuit is set.

Claim 17

Sensing means for counting documents fed in a predetermined direction at spaced intervals with a gap between the trailing edge of each document and the leading edge of the next succeeding document and for preventing the generation of spurious counts due to apertures, slits or other openings in said documents comprising: means for detecting said documents to generate a first level as the trailing edge of a document passes said detection means and to generate a second level signal as the leading edge of the next succeeding document passes said detection means; charge storing means coupled to said detection means for storing electrical energy developed by said detection means during the time that each leading and trailing edge passes said detection means and for discharging electrical energy that the gaps between documents pass said detection means; bistable means having inputs coupled to said storing means and to said detection means for being set when the output of said detection means is at said second level and reset when said energy storing means discharges to a predetermined threshold level and the output of said detection means is at said first level; second means coupled between said energy storage means and said detection means for enabling said energy storage means to charge rapidly after said detection means reaches said second level and for causing said energy storage means to discharge at a slow rate after said detection means reaches said first level; said second means being adapted to permit said enerGy storage means to discharge to a level below said threshold level before the leading edge of the next document is detected by said detection means to permit resetting of said bistable means and being further adapted to prevent said energy storage means from discharging below said threshold level when said detection means detects openings, slits or other mutilations in said documents which cause said detection means to generate said first level output for a time duration shorter in length than the time interval for a gap to pass said detection means whereby the detection of openings, slits or other mutilations in said documents are prevented from being interpreted as the gap between documents; means coupled to said bistable means for generating a count pulse when said bistable circuit is set.

Claim 18

The sensing means of claim 10 further comprising means coupled to said pulse generating means for accumulating a count of said pulses.

Claim 19

The sensing means of claim 10 wherein the gap distance between documents in a minimum of 0.6 inches and wherein said second means enables said energy storage means discharge below said threshold in slightly less time than the time interval during which a gap passes said detection means to prevent openings in said documents less than 0.4 inches long (measured in the direction of travel) are thereby prevented from being interpreted as a gap between documents.

Claim 20

The sensing means of claim 10 further comprising timing means coupled between said detection means and said bistable means for preventing setting of said bistable means when said bistable means has not been reset within a predetermined time interval which is greater in duration than the time required for a document to pass said detection means.

Claim 21

The sensing means of claim 13 further comprising second timing means coupled to said bistable means for generating a signal a second predetermined time after said bistable means is reset to generate a jam signal, said second predetermined time being greater in duration than the time required for the leading edges of two successive documents to pass said sensing means; means coupled to said second timing means for halting the feeding of said documents.