Document view station

Claim 2

Document station apparatus for interceptibly removing selected documents from a flow of documents for purposes of viewing and tactile manipulation, said apparatus comprising: a. guideway means including a pair of walls for cahnneling the flow of documents therebetween; b. power means for providing rotational energy along the axis of said power means; c. a pair of frame means disposed on a first of said pair of walls of said guideway means for operatively supporting said power means; and d. externally fingered camming means radially disposed along the axis of said power means and traversing said first wall of said guideway means for frictionally engaging a selected document in said guideway means and for applying sufficient holding pressure on the selected document as backed by a second of said pair of walls of said guideway means to arcably cam the selected document up and out of said guideway means.

Claim 3

The document station apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the pair of walls of said guideway means are substantially parallel in their lower portions and substantially diverging as to each other in their upper portions.

Claim 4

The document station apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said power means includes one or more adjustable projections formed therein to be screwably positioned so that they may be restrained by said frame means for fixing the position of said power means relative to said frame means.

Claim 5

The document station apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said power means is an electric motor.

Claim 6

The document station apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said electric motor is a direct current motor whose direction may be reversed by switching the polarity of the bias applied to the motor.

Claim 7

The document station apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pair of frame means include a pair of axes that are substantially transverse to said guideway means.

Claim 8

The document station apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pair of frame means each include a top side that is substantially planar and transverse to said guideway means, and a side opposite to that disposed on said first wall that is substantially planar and parallel to said guideway means.

Claim 9

The document station apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said power means further includes shaft means axially extending from either end of said power means and radially connected to said externally fingered camming means for transferring power from said power means to said camming means.

Claim 10

The document station apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said pair of frame means further comprises a pair of cap means each disposed to have its axis substantially coincidental with and over each of the pair of said frame means and further being disposed between said power means and externally fingered camming means for supportably restraining said shaft means to rotate in its own axis.

Claim 11

The document station apparatus according to claim 9 wherein each of said pair of frame means has disposed on a side opposite said guideway means, biasing means operative to apply pressure to an end of said cap means also opposite said guideway means for biasing said cap means towards said guideway means.

Claim 12

The document station apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said biasing means is a leaf spring having a planar end disposed on each of said pair of frame means and having a convex end biasing said cap means.

Claim 13

The document station apparatus according to claim 9 wherein each of said pair of cap means is provided with a smooth-sided eccentrical bore having a major axis coincidental to the axis of said cap means, said eccentrical bore being traversed by a metal screw means having a smooth upper portion disposed in cooperating relationship therewith and a threaded lower portion operatively disposed within a threaded aperture formed in said frame means, whereby said cap means and said frame means may be manually or self adjustably positioned along their coincidental axis relative to each other depending on whether said metal screw means shas been relatively screwably tightened or untightened respectively.

Claim 14

The document station apparatus according to claim 9 wherein each of said pair of frame means has formed along the top side thereof a concave raceway whose axis is substantially coincidental to that of said frame means.

Claim 15

The document station apparatus according to claim 13 wherein each of said pair of cap means has formed in its underside a notch in an area adjacent to the concave raceway of said frame means.

Claim 16

The document station apparatus according to claim 14 wherein each of said pair of frame means further comprises a spherical bearing means operative to restrainably travel along the axis of said concave raceway while being restrained overhead by the notch in said cap means, said spherical bearing means being radially transversed by said shaft means for carrying said shaft means as a load and for acting as a buffer as between said cap means and said frame means.

Claim 17

The document station apparatus according to claim 9 wherein each of said pair of cap means further comprises a stop projecting extending out and away from each of said pair of frame means to be in operative contact with said camming means for use as a limit at the arc camming ends thereof when said camming means approaches either end of its camming arc.

Claim 18

The document station apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said externally fingered camming means radially disposed along the axis of said power means comprises a pair of camming devices disposed outwardly of said pair of frame means and said pair of cap means and in cooperating relationship with said shaft means.

Claim 19

The document station apparatus according to claim 17 wherein each of said pair of camming devices comprises a pair of elongated projections radially disposed about said shaft means in a direction opposite to said guideway means and operative to act as an upper and lower limit for the camming arc of said camming device when contact is made with said stop projection.

Claim 20

The document station apparatus according to claim 18 wherein said pair of elongated projections of each of said pair of camming devices are disposed from each other at or less than an acute angle along said camming arc.

Claim 21

The document station apparatus according to claim 18 wherein said pair of elongated projections of each of said pair of camming devices are weighted to counteract the moment generated by said camming means for assisting the generation of a center of gravity substantially about the axis of said shaft means.

Claim 22

The document station apparatus according to claim 18 wherein said pair of elongated projections of each of said pair of camming devices are coated with a resilient material in the area making contact with said stop projecting for insulating the remainder of said camming device from shock and vibration generated by the contact of one of the pair of elongated projections with said stop projection.

Claim 23

The document station apparatus according to claim 17 wherein each of said pair of camming devices includes one or more arms radially disposed from said shaft means towards said guideway means.

Claim 24

The document station apparatus according to claim 22 wherein each of said pair of camming devices further includes externally fingered shoe means disposed on the ends of said arms for cammably engaging the documents in said guideways means, said shoe means being comprised of a predetermined plurality of outwardly extending tooth-like fingers formed of a resilient material having a relatively high friction coefficient so that firm engaging contact with said documents may be assured throughout the camming arc of said camming device.

Claim 25

The document station apparatus according to claim 23 wherein said externally fingered shoe means of each of said camming devices is connected to associated ones of said radially disposed arms by means of a serrated rigid supporting member, the serrations of said supporting member being offset to provide underlying support to said outwardly extending tooth-like fingers during the upward camming of a document engaged thereby, the arrangement of said serrations relative to said outwardly extending tooth-like fingers serving to prevent excessive downward flexing of said fingers during the upward movement of said camming device in said camming arc, and to permit unrestrained upward flexing of said fingers during the downward movement of said camming device in said camming arc.

Claim 26

The document station apparatus according to claim 23 wherein the outwardly extending tooth-like fingers of each of said shoe means are provided with a slightly arcuate configuration for gradually engaging and disengaging the document at the beginning and end of the camming arc and such that engagement with and disengagement from the document will be free of any position jarring high impulse effects.

Claim 27

The document station apparatus according to claim 17 wherein said camming means further includes weighted collar means radially disposed on said shaft means outwardly of said pair of camming devices, said weighted collar means serving to counteract the moment generated by the camming means and to assist in the generation of a center of gravity substantially about the axis of said shaft means.

Claim 28

The document station apparatus according to claim 23 wherein said first wall of said guideway means is provided with a pair of apertures for allowing the externally fingered shoe means of said pair of camming devices to arcably travel therethrough to cammingly engage a document in said guideway means.

Claim 29

The document station apparatus according to claim 27 wherein said second wall in the vicinity of said pair of apertures formed in said first wall diverges relatively less from said first wall than the remainder of said second wall and extends relatively higher than the remainder of said second wall such that the tooth-like fingers of said pair of camming devices may apply a sufficient holding pressure against the document throughout its upward sliding movement relative to said second wall while still permitting tactile manipulation of the document at the top of the camming arc of said camming devices.

Claim 30

The document station apparatus according to claim 27 wherein said second wall in the vicinity of the pair of apertures formed in said first wall is provided with a relatively low friction coefficient on the surface area adjacent to the document.

Claim 31

A document interception device including a guideway having a pair of walls for upwardly removing and downwardly re-entering selected documents from and into the guideways without loss of position in the document queue, said device comprising: a. motor means for providing rotational energy along its axis; b. a pair of frame means disposed on a first of said pair of walls for providing operative support to said motor means; c. aperture means formed in said first wall and providing access to documents disposed in said guideway; and d. externally fingered engaging means radially disposed along the axis of said motor means and traversing said first wall through said aperture means for frictionally camming selected documents in the guideways and for applying a sufficient holding pressure on a selected document as backed by a second of said pair of wall to arcably cam the selected document up and out of the guideway.

Claim 32

A document interception device including a guideway having a pair of walls for upwardly removing and downwardly re-entering selected documents from and into the guideways without loss of position in the document queue, said device comprising: a. motor means for providing rotational energy along its axis; b. a pair of frame means disposed on a first of said pair of walls for providing operative support to said motor means; c. aperture means formed in said first wall and providing access to documents disposed in said guideway; and d. externally fingered engaging means radially disposed along the axis of said motor means and traversing said first wall through said aperture means for frictionally camming selected documents in the guideways and for applying a sufficient holding pressure on a selected document as backed by a second of said pair of wall to arcably cam the selected document up and out of the guideway.

Claim 33

The document interception device as defined in claim 30 wherein said externally fingered engaging means comprises: a. at least a pair of arcuately movable arms coupled to said motor means in cooperating relationship with said aperture means; and b. externally fingered shoe means disposed on the ends of said arms for cammably engaging documents in said guideways, said shoe means being comprised of a plurality of outwardly extending tooth-like fingers formed of a resilient material having a relatively high friction coefficient so that firm engaging contact with said selected documents may be assured throughout the camming arc of said arms.

Claim 34

The documents interception device as defined in claim 31 wherein each of said shoe means is connected to its associated arcuately movable arm by means of a serrated supporting member, the serrations of said supporting member being offset to provide underlying support to said outwardly extending tooth-like fingers during the upward camming of a document engaged thereby, the arrangement of said serrations relative to said outwardly extending tooth-like fingers serving to prevent excessive downward flexing of said fingers during the upward camming of a document in said guideway, and to permit unrestrained upward flexing of said fingers during the downward camming of a document into said guideway.

Claim 35

A document engaging mechanism for arcuately elevating selected documents from a stream of documents for viewing and possible tactile manipulation, and for arcuately lowering said selected documents into the stream following said viewing, said mechanism comprising: a. guideway means including a pair of walls for channeling the stream of documents therebetween; b. power means operatively supported on one of the pair of walls of said guideways means for providing rotational energy along the axis of said power means; and c. externally fingered camming means radially disposed along the axis of said power means and traversing one of the pair of walls of said guideway means for frictionally engaging said selected documents in said guideways means and for applying sufficient holding pressure on said documents as backed by the other of the pair of walls to arcuately elevate the selected documents up and out of said guideway means.

Claim 36

A document engaging mechanism for arcuately elevating selected documents from a stream of documents for viewing and possible tactile manipulation, and for arcuately lowering said selected documents into the stream following said viewing, said mechanism comprising: a. guideway means including a pair of walls for channeling the stream of documents therebetween; b. power means operatively supported on one of the pair of walls of said guideways means for providing rotational energy along the axis of said power means; and c. externally fingered camming means radially disposed along the axis of said power means and traversing one of the pair of walls of said guideway means for frictionally engaging said selected documents in said guideways means and for applying sufficient holding pressure on said documents as backed by the other of the pair of walls to arcuately elevate the selected documents up and out of said guideway means.

Claim 37

The document engaging mechanism as defined in claim 33 wherein said externally fingered camming means comprises shoe means including a plurality of outwardly extending tooth-like fingers formed of a resilient material having a relatively high friction coefficient for arcuately elevating and lowering selected documents from and into said stream, said tooth-like fingers being supported against excessive downward flexing during the arcuate elevation of said selected documents, and permitted unrestrained upward flexing during the arcuate lowering of said selected documents.