GB824076A - Improvements in selection means for letters, small parcels and like articles, and in article conveying and depositing means including said selection means - Google Patents

Abstract

824,076. Letters sorting. PITNEY & BOWES Inc. Nov. 20, 1957 [March 5, 1957], No. 36137/57. Class 78 (1). In apparatus for conveying sorted articles, e.g. letters and small parcels in containers 2 from a sorting station to deposition points corresponding with the addresses on the articles, a shaft 19, Fig. 5, movable with each container and having wheels 29 mounted slidably thereon to two alternative positions, co-operates with a number of blocks 30 equal in number to the wheels and arranged in their path, each block having at least one depression 78 and one flat portion 77, the arrangement being such that the releasing device for the articles is operated only when the shaft moves towards the blocks as shown in Fig. 6 by virtue of each wheel being located in its associated depression. The containers 2 are supported on a track 6, Fig. 1, by rollers 4 and are connected by a linkage 3 so designed that they remain horizontal as they pass from one run of the track to the other. The containers are driven by lugs 9 projecting from a chain drive 8. Each container is divided into compartments 11a, Fig. 2, having hollow walls by metal sheets 12, the bottoms of which are closed by pivoted doors 14. A shaft 19 extends through each hollow wall and passes out through a circular aperture in the wall 181 of the container and through a vertical slot 24 in the other wall 18. A roller 22 at one end of the shaft runs on a track 23 and on the other end of the shaft are mounted a member 26 controlling the operation of the door 14, a roller 27 moving in a channel 28 and preventing endwise movement of the shaft, and the wheels 29. The member 26 has a depending portion 33 in which is formed a shallow groove 38. This groove receives a pin 37 mounted in the end of an arm 36 which is keyed to the door shaft 16. When the shaft 19 is lowered, the part 33 is engaged by a stop 34 and the consequent rotation of the member 26 releases the pin 37 so that the arm 36 drops and the door is opened. When the part 33 becomes disengaged from the stop, the member 26 is returned to normal position by a spring 39. The right hand end of the shaft 16 carries a resetting lever 41, Fig. 10, which on engaging contact 42 closes a circuit including a solenoid 43 when an over-riding switch 44 is closed. This causes a trip 46 to move upwards into the path of the lever 41. The switch 44 may be closed by the passage of a letter into a compartment. A trip 51 is provided for use when the containers are moved in the opposite direction. Each wheel 29 has a garter spring 53, Fig. 11, mounted in a channel 52 in its hub. Each spring can be engaged with either of two grooves 54a, 54b in the shaft to retain a wheel in either of two different positions. The wheels are moved for presetting at equal intervals along the shafts by independently-operable frameworks movable axially of the shafts.