Document air valve

Claim 2

Document control means for stacking documents in a pocket including means for driving said documents in the direction of said pocket, a passageway for guiding said documents in successive manner, an air chamber adjacent said passageway and pivotable in relation to said pocket and having entrance means and exit means downstream of said extrance means for flow of air through said chamber, means providing a continuous flow of air through said entrance means, the movement of a document past said entrance means interrupting the flow of air through said entrance means when passing thereby and after passing said entrance means permitting air to flow through said air chamber and out said exit means to move one document out of the path of a succeeding document, and sensing means responsive to the presence of documents in said pocket to maintain a level of documents therein.

Claim 3

The document control means of claim 1 including a plurality of juxtaposed pockets for receiving documents in selective manner, said air chamber comprising an elongated member associated with each of said pockets, and means for supplying air to each air chamber for controlling the attitude of each document upon deposition into a respective pocket.

Claim 4

The document control means of claim 1 wherein said entrance means comprises a cone-shaped diffusing aperture positioned adjacent said passageway for receiving and for distributing the flow of air to said exit means, and said exit means comprise a plurality of spaced cone-shaped apertures downstream of said entrance means for directing a document downwardly from said air chamber upon exit of air therefrom.

Claim 5

The document control means of claim 1 wherein said air chamber includes an elongated member having an upstanding inlet portion, a passageway over said inlet portion and connected therewith the directing the flow of air forwardly and downwardly toward said exit means, and a generally rectangular outlet portion for distributing the flow of air substantially over a document.

Claim 6

In document sorting apparatus, hopper means, feed and separating means for initiating flow of documents from said hopper means in singular manner, drive means for transporting documents along a predetermined path, a plurality of pockets, and means for selecting documents from said path for distribution to said pockets, the improvement comprising means for stacking the selected documents in said pockets in successive manner, air supply means providing a continuous flow of air, an air chamber pivotable in relation to each pocket and operably associated with said air supply means and having air entrance means and air exit means downstream of said entrance means for flow of air through said air chamber for controlling the attitude of documents entering said pockets, each document being urged by said air supply means against said entrance means and interrupting the flow of air therethrough upon passing said entrance means, and after passing thereof being subjected to the flow of air through said exit means to urge the document downwardly out of the path of a succeeding document, and sensing means responsive to the presence of documents in said pocket to maintain a level of documents therein.

Claim 7

In document sorting apparatus, hopper means, feed and separating means for initiating flow of documents from said hopper means in singular manner, drive means for transporting documents along a predetermined path, a plurality of pockets, and means for selecting documents from said path for distribution to said pockets, the improvement comprising means for stacking the selected documents in said pockets in successive manner, air supply means providing a continuous flow of air, an air chamber pivotable in relation to each pocket and operably associated with said air supply means and having air entrance means and air exit means downstream of said entrance means for flow of air through said air chamber for controlling the attitude of documents entering said pockets, each document being urged by said air supply means against said entrance means and interrupting the flow of air therethrough upon passing said entrance means, and after passing thereof being subjected to the flow of air through said exit means to urge the document downwardly out of the path of a succeeding document, and sensing means responsive to the presence of documents in said pocket to maintain a level of documents therein.

Claim 8

In the apparatus of claim 5 including a plurality of adjacent pockets for receiving documents in selective manner, said air chamber comprising an elongated member pivotably associated with each of said pockets, and means for supplying air to each air chamber for controlling the attitude of each document upon deposition into a respective pocket.

Claim 9

In the apparatus of claim 5 wherein said entrance means comprises a cone-shaped diffusing aperture positioned upwardly from said air supply means for receiving and for distributing the flow of air to said exit means, and said exit means comprise a plurality of spaced cone-shaped apertures downstream of said entrance means for directing a document downwardly from said air chamber upon exit of air therefrom.

Claim 10

In the apparatus of claim 5 wherein said air chamber includes an elongated member having a cone-shaped upstanding inlet portion, a passageway over said inlet portion and connected therewith for directing the flow of air forwardly and downwardly toward said exit means, and a generally rectangular outlet portion having cone-shaped apertures for distributing the flow of air substantially over the document.

Claim 11

In the apparatus of claim 5 including guide means for laterally bowing and curving the side edges of each document upwardly at the time of passing said entrance means and said exit means.

Claim 12

In the apparatus of claim 5 wherein said sensing means includes a differential transformer.

Claim 13

In the apparatus of claim 5 wherein said air chamber includes an elongated member and said air entrance means comprises a cone-shaped aperture diffusing the flow of air upwardly, a passageway for directing the flow of air forwardly and downwardly from said aperture toward said exit means, and said exit means comprise a plurality of spaced cone-shaped apertures for distributing the flow of air substantially over the document.