US1710691A - Combined sorter and tabulator - Google Patents

Description

April 30, 1929. F. M. CARROLL 9 COMBINED SORTER AND TABULATOR Filed Dec. 2. 1922 TSheets-Sheet l Mm BY MNWM A14, ATTORNEYS.

April 30, 1929- F. M. CARROLL COMBINED SORTER AND TABULATOR I VENTOR.

flu ATTORNEYS.

Filed Dec. 2. 1922 '7 Sheetsheet 2 BY Cwfh April 30, 1929- F. M. CARROLL COMBINED SORTER AND TABULATOR Filed Dec. 2. 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 M V EN TORr BY W/d/WYW a ATTORNEYS.

April 30, 1929.

F. M. CARROLL COMBINED SORTER AND TABULATOR Filed Dec. 2. 1922 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 30, 1929. g R L 1,710,691

COMBINED SORTER AND, TABULATOR Filed Dec. 2. 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 N m s g 3 3 61M )7] IKVENTOR.

W AQUW ATTORNEYS.

Api'il 30, 1929. CARROLL 1,710,691

COMBI NED SORTER AND TABULATOR Filed Dec. 2. 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 ?M771I.NVENT0. BY W,mY-M

I ATTORNEYS.

April 30, 1929.

F. M. CARROLL COMBINED SOHTER AND TABULATOR Filed Dec. 2, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 WWW/WWW" 3L 7), /lNV ENTOR.

I M ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 30, 1929.

UNITED STATES FRED M. CARROLL, or ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, ASSIGt NQR TQ'Qf1jflIE1- TABULATING' MA- CHINE COMPANY, OF ENDIOO'IT, NEW YORK, A coRroRArrIoN" or NEW JEEsEY.

COMBINED ,SORTER AND 'ra nonii'roit."

Application filed December 2, 1922. S eria1 No."604,563.

This invention relates to tabulating and sorting machines adapted for use in connection with perforated card systems.

Heretofore'in machines of this character, it has been customary to construct tabulators and sorters as separate machines, so that where it was desired to tabulate therecords contained in a stack of cards and to also sort the cards into classification groups,'it was necessary to run the cards through two separate machines.

Attempts have been made to combine the tabulator and sorter, but such machines have heretofore been so involved and complicated that they have never come into general use.

One of the objects of the present invention is to produce a machine capable of performing both tabulating and sorting functions simultaneously, and also of performing either of these functions separately.

Another object is to devise a sorting machine compact and simple in construction, and convenient to operate; wherein the cards may be inserted and extracted with great ease.

A further object is to produce a machine of this character which will be capable of high operating speed.

Referring to the drawings, wherein I have shown what I now consider to be the prefer-red form of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan of a portion of the machine, certain parts being broken away and others being shown in section to more clearly illustrate the operation.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevation partly in section of the lower portion of the machine, showing a part of the rotary card carrying drum and the pocket selecting elements. The view is taken substantially on line 4-4 of F 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the parts shown in Fig. 4, designed to show the relative movements of the different elements, the section being taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 6. v

Fig. 6 is a top view partly in section of the rotary card carrying drum, the adjacent elements being omitted.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary top section of said drum showing the adjacent tabulating and sorting brushes and card lever.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the drum showing the sorting brush and the card lever, the view being taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the drum and tabulating brushes, taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a wiring diagram of the invention.

Fig. 11 is a side view of the card supply pocket with parts broken away.

It may be briefly stated at the outset that the machine in general comprises a card-carrying drum rotating about a vertical axis and surrounded by card-receiving pockets or stations. The cards are fedto the drum from a supply stack. As the drum grips and starts to carry the card on a journey past the several pockets, card-reading elements sense the classification of the card and set up mechanism for causing the drum to deposit the card in its proper pocket. At the same time data sensing elements may be set to read and record certain data contained on the cards.

In the drawings the card-carrying drum 3 is shown as mounted above a platform or table top 1, supported on legs 2. The drum is fixedly attached as at 4, Fig. 5, to a shaft 5 which reaches through a large opening 6 in the table and has upper and lower bearing support at 7, 8 in yokes 9, 10 attached by means of posts 11, 12 to the table 1. More directly, the lower bearing of the shaft is in a sleeve 13 which is secured against rotation by a pin 14 to the yoke 10. Integral with sleeve 13 is a drum 15 disposed about the shaft 5 directly below the card drum 3 and below the table 1. Fixed to the shaft 5 by a spline 16 is a large gear 17 meshing with an idler 18, Fig. 2, which in turn meshes with a gear 19 on the same shaft 20 with a bevel gear 21-. Said bevel gear meshes with a bevel pinion 22 on a shaft 23 which also carries a worm wheel 24 meshing with a worm 25, Fig. 1, on the shaft of a motor 26. Operationof the motor will thus cause rotation of gear 17 and with it the shaft 5 and the card drum 3, but not drum 15.

In the periphery of the card drum are shown a plurality of card clips 27 integral with shafts 28, said clips being adapted to grip and hold a card 29 against the suria'ce of the drum as shown in Fig. 7. Any suitable number of shafts 28 equally spaced,

around the drum, may be used. Six of such shafts are shown in Fig. 6. These shafts may beprovided with guide bearings 30 fastened to the top and bottom'of the drum. 5 The shafts reach through the lower ones of these bearings, and through the gear 17 to a yoke 31 rotatably mounted on sleeve 13. The shaft may be provided with a collar 32 to aid in maintaining the parts in their pro or relative positions. It will also be seen t at the shaft is larger below gear 17 than above, thus affording shoulders 33 to engage said gear and the yoke 31. The shafts 28 carry sleeves 34 upon each of which a roller 35 1 'is rotatably mounted, being held in place upon the reduced portion of the sleeve by a collar 36. The sleeve is adapted to slide up and down the rod 28, but is locked against rotation with respect thereto by a pin 37, Fig. 2 4, cooperating with a keyway 38 in the rod, Fig. 5. The sleeve is provided with a spring pressed plate 39 engaging rod 28 to frictionally hold the sleeve in any position to which it may be raised on the rod. The sleeve is also provided with a projection 40 which, as it is carried around the stationary drum 15, may engage any one of the several lugs 41 fixed. on said drum. The lugs are stepped successively one higher than the other and are differentially disposed around the drum. Each lug 41 corresponds in posi-' tion to one of the several card pockets 42,

- Figs. 2 and 3, which surround the card carrying drum 3. The card clips 27 are normally held closed as seen in Figs. 6 and 7 by a spring 43 tending to rotate the rod 28 in a counter clockwise direction. An inclined guide member 44, Figs. 3 and 4 pivoted on the fixed post 45 is curved to conform to the circular path 4 of the rollers 35, and normally lies in said path under the influence of a tension spring 46, so that as the rollers move by they will ride up the incline, thus sliding the sleeve 34 up the rod 28. The member 44 carries the ar- 4 mature 47 of an electromagnet 48, which as,

we will see later is controlled by the card classification reading elements. Whenever the magnet is energized it withdraws the inclined guide from the path of the rollers and 50 leaves the rollers at some intermediate position with the projection 40 in line with one of the lugs 41 on the drum 15. Thus the projection will strike the lug, causing rod 28 to rotate and open the card clips 27. A

card will thus be released at the entrance to the pocket in which it is to be deposited.

As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, each pocket comprises a pair of parallel walls 49, 50, between which is an inclined back piece 51 for the cards to stand against when fed into the pocket. rearwardly extending bracket 52 and guide rollers 53. A cord attached at 54 to one of the pocket walls and reaching around a pulley wheel 55 may be secured to a spring controlled Said back may be provided with 21 wheel 56 which tends to wind in the cord, thus tending to hold the back piece 51 always in the forward part of the-pocket, but permitting it to be forced rearwardly as the cards are stacked against it. At the entrance to the pocket are positioned rollers 57, 58 on vertical shafts havin upper bearings in member 9 and lower hearings in a bracket 59, Figs. 1 and 4. The lower ends of the roller shafts carry pinions 60, 61 meshing with the large gear 17. When the card is on the card drum it is pressed against the latter by a roller 62, Figs. 2 and 7, so that when it is released by the card clips it continues to be forced forward. Also the resiliency of.the card which is curved against the drum will cause the card to tend to straighten out when released, causing its forward edge to engage the guide 63, Fig. 3,

- which guides it into the rollers 57, 58. These rollers then continue to draw it into the pocket after the rear end passes out from between the roller 62 and the card drum; the card '29 being forced into position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. After the card passes from between the rollers it tends to straighten out and its rear edge will come into the path of a' reciprocating hook 64 which will press the card 1nto pos1tion against the stack. Said hook 64 may be attached to a member 65 reaching rearwardly against the side 50 of the card pocket. A bracket 66, Fig. 2, may be attached to said member and may be engaged by a compression spring 67 acting against a bracket 68 on the pocket Wall. The hook will thus be forced forward into the position shown. A cam-cut portion 69 on the roller 57 will press the hook inwardly once each revolution of the roller.

The cards are fed to the card drum from a supply pocket 7 0. The side walls of this pocket are shown as comprising endless belts 71 mounted on vertical rollers 72, Figs. 2, 3 and 11. One of the rollers of each wall may be provided with a pinion 73, interconnected by a pair of idlers 74, Fig. 1. One of the roller shafts also carries at its lower end a .worm wheel 75 meshing with a worm 76.

Said worm is driven through a shaft 77, a worm wheel 78, a worm 79 and a gear 80 meshing with the gear 19 which as we have 'seen is driven by the motor 26. The walls engaging the edges of the cards may thus be kept in constant motion to feed and hold the cards against the front plate 81. A spring-expanding telescoping back plate 82 adapted to engage the walls of the pocket and to be carried thereby may be placed against the back of the cards. The walls may also be adapted to move slightly toward and away from each other and may be urged toward each other so as to maintain pressure against the edge of the cards. For this purpose the rollers of one of the walls may becarried in a frame 83. The two ends of said Ill) frame may be fixed to a plate 84. Lever members 85 pivotally'mounted'on posts 86 may in turn be pivotally connected to the frame members as at 87 and to each other as shown at 88. Said levers are pressed outwardly by a spring 89 engaging a pro ection 90 on one of the levers and relatively fixed wall 91. It will be seen from this construction that the wall of the pocket will be reslhently forced against the cards. It should be understood, of course, that the movement of the wall and rollers is very slight and does not interfere with the proper enmeshment of the several interconnecting gears which serve to drive the rollers and belt. v

With this type of feeding pocket 1t is possible to remove the backing member 82 to add cards to the stack from time to time without interrupting the operation of the machine,

At the front of the card stack is a claw-llke lever 92 pivoted to a member 93 carried by a reciprocating bracket 94. Member 93 is attached to one arm of a bell crank 95, the other arm of which carries a roller engaging a cam 96 on the shaft 80*, see also Fig. 1. A spring 97 pulls the bell crank and consequently also the lever 92 to the right, and the cam moves them to the left. The lever 92 is pitched slightly forward and is pulled against the card 29 by a spring 98. Thus the lever will slide over the card when moving to the right, but will jam against it on its forward stroke. This will start the feeding of the front card. In the meantime a feeding pawl 99 actuated by a bell crank 100 cooperating with a cam 101 will move back and forth against the face of the card alternately with the reciprocations of the lever 92, a spring 102 being adapted to hold the pawl against the card. Thus, when the card moves forward, the pawl 99 moving rearwardly will slip off the rear edge of the card and on the next forward stroke push the card into position to be gripped between the clips 27 and the drum.

3 as shown in Fig. 7.

In order to open the clip to receive the card, a lug 103 is so positioned on the drum 15 as to trip the projection 40 when the clip is in the proper position,releasing it in time to permit it to close over the edge of the card.

After the projections 40, having been raised to their various positions, engage the lugs 41, they should be returned to their lower position before they start on another revolution and before they reach the lug 103. For this purpose an inclined member 104, carried by a bracket 1.05, is adapted to engage the rollers 35 after they pass the last of the proj cctions 41, sliding them down the rod 28 to their lower positions before they reach the projection 103.

The information sensing elements 'may be similar to those used in the well known Hollerith tabulators and sorters.

Thus, a sort-' ing brush 106 and a plurality of tabulating brushes 107 are shown in the drawings. The sorting brush is carried by a holder 108 slidablymounted on a bar 109 having notches '110, Fig. 8. The brush may be variously and member 9, and may be provided with a spring 113 tending to turn it in its hearings to resiliently hold the brush against the drum 3.- A lever 114 is fixed to the bar and rides upon or close to the surface of the drum. Adjacent to each card clip 27 and in the path of the lever 114 is a cam 115 on the drum 3. When the brush approaches the clips the lever 114 rides upon the cam, rotating the bar 109 and lifting the brush from the drum to permit the clips to pass under it. The lever then rides down from the cam and permits the brush to again engage a card or the drum.

The tabulating brushes, 107, of which there may be one for each column of index points on the card'to be used, are secured to a bar 116. This bar is preferably of insulating material so that the brushes will be electrically insulated from each other. The bar is mounted similarly to the bar 109 and may be acted upon by a spring 117 to hold the brushes resiliently against the drum. A lever 114-may also serve to lift the brushes over the card clips .in the same manner that the sorting brush is so lifted.

An electric wire 118 is shown connected to the rear end of the sorting brush 106, while each of the tabulating brushes is shown as engaged by a separate current introducing brush 119 which is, in turn, carried by a sup porting block 120. Current is led to these brushes which are insulated from each other, by wires 121.

The card carrying drum 3 is shown as provided with circumferential grooves 122 into which the ends 123 of a bifurcated card lever 124 reach. The card lever may be pivotally carried by the bar 109, by being mounted on a member 125 carried by the bar, and may engage at its rear end 126, a resilient arm 127 of electric contacts 128. The contacts are normally open, and by the resiliency of the ,arm 127 hold the ends 123 of the card lever in the grooves 122. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that when a card is being carried by the drum 3 through the reading position it will, by passing under the lever, lift the latter out of the grooves, causing it to rotate upon its axis and to thus close Fig. 10, it will be seen that the tabulating section of the machine for purposes of lllustration' includes but a single counter, which is shown in conventional form at 129, and includes the counter 'wheels 130' connected through a gear 131 to a gear 132 loosely mounted on a shaft 133. A clutch 134, actuated by a lever 135, is adapted to couple the gear 132 to shaft 133 to effect actuation of the counter wheels.

The apparatus is supplied W1th electric current from the main lines 134. Presuming the main switch 135 to be closed, the-apparatus may be brought into operation by pressing the start key to close contacts-136. This will energize the motor 26 through the following circuit: from the positive side of the line, through contacts 136, relay 137, the stop key contacts 138, motor 26, lines 139, 140, and back to the negative side of the line.

Cards will now be fed from the supply pocket to the revolving drum 3. When the first card engages thecard lever 124 it will close contacts 128 and establish the following circuit: from the positive side of the line, through lines 141, 142, contacts 143 which are normally closed, but are opened once during each cycle of operation of the machine for a purpose hereinafter set forth bya cam 144 on the shaft 80, see also Figs. 1 and 2, thence through line 146, contacts 128, line 147, relays 148, 149 and back to the negative side of-the line. The energization of relay 149 will, in turn, close contacts 150 and establish the following circuit through the motor 26 around the start key contacts 136: from the positive side of the line, through contacts 150, contacts 151 which are closed by the energization of relay 137 when the contacts 136 are closed, thence through relay'137 continuing to maintain the contacts 151 closed,'thence through contacts 138, motor 26, lines 139, 140 and back to the negative side of the line. It will thus be seen that after the start key is depressed to start the apparatus, and the cards close the card lever contacts 128, the start key may be released and the apparatus will continue to operate. It will also be seen that after the start key has been depressed and the apparatus begins to operate, the contacts 152 are closed by cam 153 during a portion of each cycle of the apparatus. This establishes a secondary circuit through the motor as follows: from the positive side of the line, through line 141, contacts 152, line 154, contacts 151, relay 137, contacts 138, motor 26, lines 139, 140 and back tothe negative side of the line. The intermittent breaking of contacts 152 will not affect the operation of the motor as long as contacts 128 are closed by the cards. Nor will the opening of contacts 128 for short periods between cards interrupt the motor circuit, as the contacts 152 are closed at such times. But should record cards cease to pass through the machine, as when will be interrupted and the machine will I stop;

As is well known in connection with Hollerith tabulators and sorters, when a hole in the card passes under a tabulator or sorter brush, the brush reaching through the hole engages a back plate and closes an electric circuit to effect the necessary actuation of the apparatus. In the present case the drum 3 acts as the back plate. Thus, the. sorting brush circuit may be traced as follows: from the positive side of the line, through lines 141, 142, contacts 155 which are timed to be closed while a card is'passing between the brushes and the drum, thence by way of distributing point 156, to line 157, contacts 158 which are closed in the same manner and at the same time as contacts 150; thence through line 159 to the drum 3. When the brush 106 reaches through a hole 160 in the card and contacts with the conducting drum, the current continues through said brush, line 161, sorter controlling magnet 48, lines 162, 140 and back to the negative side of the line. Magnet 48 will'then become energized at a time in the cycle of the machine corresponding to the position of the hole 160 in the card, and the card will be delivered to the proper pocket or station as heretofore explained.

The tabulating brush circuit is as follows: from the positive side of the line to the drum as pointed out, thence through the brushes 107 and lines 164 to the plug board 165, thence through lines 166 to the normally closed contacts 167, wire 168, relay 169, wires 170, 171, 140 to the negative side of the line. Energization of the relay 169 releases the lever 135, whereupon clutch 134 closes to actuate the counter wheel 130.

In order toexclude the tabulating mechanism from operation when only sorting is to be effected, suitable means may be shown for disconnecting the same. This is shown in Figs, 1 and 2. A gear 172 of the tabulator is connected through an idler 173 to a gear 174 loosely mounted on the shaft 23. Gear 174 carries one of the elements of a clutch 175, the other element of which may be splined or otherwise secured to shaft 23 for rotation therewith but adaptedto move longitudinally thereon. A lever 176 may serve to actuate the clutch.

.A switch 177, shown also in the wiring diagram, may be connected to the lever 176 to be operated by the lever. Said switch is open when the tabulator counter is not in use, and is closed when. the clutch is closed to "-bring the counter into operation. Thus, as will be seen in Fig. 10, when the counter is not in use the current will be disconnected therefrom.

I claim 1. In combination, a rotatable drum, gripping means carried by said drum, a plurality of pockets disposed about said drum, means for feeding cards to said gripping means, card-controlled means for opening said gripping means, for causing delivery of a card to a selected one of said pockets, said last named means comprising a member movable to different positions to select the several pockets.

2. In a perforated-card-controlled machine, a card-carrying drum, card clips for securing cards to said drum, perforationsensing brushes cooperating with said drum, and means for liftlng said brushes out of the path of said clips.

3. In a record-controlled machine, a plurality of pockets, a conveyor adapted to convey records past said pockets, a clip on said conveyor for holding a record, means for opening said clip, means for timing said opening to occur when the record is passing a selected one of said pockets, and means operative when the clip is open to cause the record to be deposited in the adjacent pocket.

4. In a record-controlled machine, a plurality of pockets, a conveyor adapted to cpnvey records past said pockets, a clip on said conveyor for holding a record, means for opening said clip, means controlled by the record for timing said opening to occur when the record is passing a selected one of said pockets, and means operative when the clip is open tocause the record to be deposited in the adjacent pocket.

5. In a record-controlled machine, a plurality of pockets, a conveyor adapted to convey records past said pockets, a clip on said conveyor for holding a record, an ad ustable trip, a plurality of differentially pos1- tioned lugs adapted to be engaged by said trip to cause opening of the clip, said lugs having a time relation to said pockets.

6. In a record-controlled machine, a rotatable drum, a clip for securing a record to said drum, an adjustable trip associated with said clip, a plurality of differentlally positioned lugs, a plurality of pockets dlsposed about said drum and adapted to receive a record released by said clip, and means for adjusting said trip to engage a selected one of said lugs for opening the clip.

7. In a record-controlled machine, a rotatable drum, a clip for securing a record to said drum, an adjustable trip associated with said clip, a plurality of differentially POSI- tioned lugs, a plurality of pockets disposed about said drum and adapted to receive a record released by said clip, and means controlled by the record for adjusting said trip to engage a selected one of said lugs for open- .a selected one'of said lugs for opening the clip.

9. In a record-controlled machine, a rotatable drum, a clip for securing a record to said drum,- a depending rod connected to said clip and adapted when rotated to open the same, a trip movable up and down said rod and adapted when actuated to rotate the rod, a pluralityof lugs positioned to actuate said trip at different points in the revolution of the drum according to the position on the rod occupied by the trip, and means for adjusting the trip upon the rod.

-10. In a record-controlled machine, a rotatable drum, a clip for securing a record to said drum, a depending rod connected to said clip and adapted when rotated to open the same, a trip movable up and down said rod and adapted when actuated to rotate the rod,

a plurality of lugs positioned to actuate said trip at different points in the revolution of the drum according to the position on the rod occupied by the trip, a plurality of pockets adjacent the drum to receive records therefrom, record-analyzing means, and means controlled by said analyzing means for adjusting said trip upon said rod.

11. In a record-controlled machine, a retatable drum,a clip for securing a record to said drum, a depending rod connected to said clip and adapted when rotated to open the same, a trip movableup and down said rod and adapted when actuated to rotate the rod, a plurality of lugs positioned to actuate said trip at different points in the revolution of the drum according to the position on the rod occupied by the trip, a plurality of pockets adjacent the drum to receive records therefrom, and means for feeding records to said drum.

12. In a record-controlled machine, a rotatable drum, a clip for securing a record to said drum, an adjustable trip associated with said clip, a plurality of differentially positioned lugs, a plurality of pockets disposed about said drum and adapted to receive a record re leased by said clip, means for adjusting said trip to engage a selected one of said lugs for opening the clip, and means for returning said trip to normal position;

13. In a card sorting machine, a rotatable drum, card clips on said drum, actuators for said clips, means for feeding cards to said clips, means acting synchronously with said feeding means for causing said actuators to open theclips to receive'the card, means controlled by the card for-causing said actuators to again open the clips to release'the card, and a plurality of pockets ad acent the drum-adapted to receive the card.

14. In a perforated-card-controlled machine, a card-carrying drum, card-controlling mechanism electrically connected to said drum, and a commutating brush also connected to said mechanism and adapted to engage said drum to close a circuit for operating said mechanism.

15. In a card sorting machine, a card carrying drum adapted to constitute a part of an electric circuit, a plurality of pockets adjacent said drum, means for causing a card to be delivered from said drum to a selected one of said pockets, said means being electrically connected to said drum, and a brush also connected to said means andadapted to engage said drum through aperforation in a card for closing an actuating circuit through said mechanism.

16. In a card-carrying and delivering device, a card carrier, means for holding a card in curved position upon said carrier, a receiving pocket adjacent said carrier, means for rendering said holding means inoperative for permitting the card to straighten out, and means for intercepting a card that has so straightened and causing the same to enter said pocket.

17. 'In a card sorting machine, a rotatable drum, a card clip on said drum, a relatively fixed drum having projections arrangedin stepped relation around and along the drum, an actuating rod connected to said clip and extending adjacent said fixed .drum and adapted to be carried around the latter drum by operation of said rotatable drum, a trip member on said rod adapted to be so adjusted as to engage any one of said projections and adapted by such engagement to cause opening of said clip for releasing a card, and a plurality of pockets adjacent said rotatable drum, said pockets bearing a relation to said projections and adapted to receive a card released by said clip.

18. In a card sorting machine, a drum, a plurality of pockets adjacent thereto, means for causing relative movement of the drum and pockets, means for securing a card to the drum, means comprising a differentially movable member controlled by the card for releasing the same from the drum when the card is adjacent a predetermined pocket, and means for causing the card to be deposited in such pocket when so released.

19. In a perforated card controlled apparatus, in combination with a card conveyer,

card gripping devices for securing cards thereto, means for operating said card gripping devices for positively gripping and positively releasing cards, a plurality of sorting stations, and magnetically controlled means controlled by a sorting circuit established by the index point perforations in the cards for cont-rolling the operation of the card gripping devices to permit their release at their respective sorting stations.

20. In a perforated record card controlled apparatus, in combination, a card conveyer, card gripping devices associated therewith,

a plurality of sorting stations and means for controlling the operation of the grip ing means to cause the delivery of the card; to their proper stations, said means comprising a sorter circuit and a. sorter magnet for controlling the operation of said gripping means.

21. In a perforated record card controlled apparatus, card feeding means including clip devices for securing cards thereto, brush means for sensing the index point perforations in the cards, and means for displacing said brush means out of the passage of the said clips. j

22. In a card sorting machine, a card carrying drum, a clip for securing a card thereto, a plurality of serially arranged card receiving pockets in proximity to said drum, means for releasing said clip to permit deposition and analyzingvmeans for analyzing records while in motion on said drum conveyor and gripping devices carried by the drum for positively gripping the records and for maintaining the grip thereon 'while the records are being analyzed by the analyzing means.

25. A record analyzing device for tabulating cards comprising a drum with gripper devices for positively gripping records and holding them positively in predetermined po sitions on said drum, analyzing devices cooperating with said drum and means for effecting relative motion between said drum and analyzing devices to permit analysis of records on said drum.

26. A record analyzing device comprising a conducting drum with means for attaching records thereto, analyzing brushes cooperating with said drum and means for efl'ecting relative motion between said drum and grushes to permit analysis of records on-said rum.

27. A record analyzing device comprising a conducting drum with means for gripping records thereon, analyzing brushes cooperating with said drum and means for rotating 5 said drum to permit successive searching of index point positions on records gripped thereon.

28. A record analyzing device comprising a conducting drum with means for gripping records thereon, analyzing brnshes cooperating with said drum and means for continuouslyrotating said drum to permit sucsignature.

FRED M. CARROLL.

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