US2697514A - Mail sorting device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 21, 1954 w, STAHL MAIL SORTING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 3, 1952 FIG 1.2.

IN V EN TOR.

m 3% T s W w L 4 W Dec. 21, 1954 w STAHL MAIL SORTING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 5, 1952 1954 w. A. STAHL MAIL SORTING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 3, 1952 FIG. 35..

INVENTOR. 61/447542 A $74.41.,

ATTOZNEYS Dec. 21, 1954 w STAHL MAIL SORTING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 3, 1952 IN V EN TOR.. W44 TEe .4. s 7441.,

6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 3, 1952 FIG. 8.

7 y 3 6 6 Q 3 4 M w MW 6. m F m 5 M INVENTOR.

WALTEE A. STA/-14,

ATTOEA/EYS.

MAIL SORTIN G DEVICE Walter A. Stahl, Cleveland, Ohio Application July 3, 1952, Serial No. 297,105 Claims. (Cl. 209-72) This invention relates to a device for sorting objects in accordance with predetermined classifications thereof and more particularly to a device for sorting mailing envelopes in accordance with their destinations.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a device which is operative with special envelopes to rapidly and automatically sort the envelopes into groups according to their destination;*which can be used to sort various objects, such as envelopes, cards and documents in accordance with a code provided on the objects; which can be operated by a single operator and will place the sorted objects into suitable receptacles, such as mail bags; which occupies a small amount of space in proportion to the amount of work accomplished; and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, easy to use, and positive and effective in operation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a sorting device illustrative of the invention;

Figures 2, 2a and 2b constitute a longitudinal cross sectional view of the device on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figures 3, 3a and 3b together constitute a longitudinal cross sectional view of the device on the line 3-3 of Figure l; v

Figure 4 is a transverse cross sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3b;

Figure 5 is a transverse cross sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 3a;

Figure 6 is a transverse cross sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 3a;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 7-7 of Figure 3a but with the parts in a somewhat different operative position from that illustrated in Figure 3a;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 8-8 of Figure 3a;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 9-9 of Figure 2a;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a special envelope used in the sorting device; and

Figure 11 is an electric wiring diagram of the device.

With continued reference to the drawings, the device includes an elongated, hollow housing of rectangular cross sectional shape, generally indicated at 10, and including a top wall 11, a bottom wall 12 spaced from and substantially parallel to the top wall 11, a partition wall 13 disposed substantially midway between and parallel to the top and bottom walls, and side walls 14 and 15 extending along the respectively opposite longitudinal edges of. the top, bottom and partition walls in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other.

The housing also has end walls 16 and 17 and the side wall 15 is provided at its end adjacent the end wall 16 with an inlet opening 18 which also extends into the adjacent portion of the end wall. The partition wall 13 provides a bottom wall for the opening 18 and a deflector wall 19 extends inwardly of the housing from the side wall 15 at the end of the opening 18 remote from the end wall 16, this deflector wall being disposed substantially perpendicular to the partition wall 13 and inclined from the side wall 15 inwardly of the housing and away from the end wall 16.

The side wall 15 is also provided with spaced apart outlet openings of rectangular shape, as indicated at 20,

States Patent 0 21 and 22 and receptacles, as indicated at 23, 24 and 25 are disposed one below each of the outlet openings to receive articles ejected from the housing through these outlet openings. it is contemplated that when the device is used for sorting mail the receptacles 23, 24 and 25 will be in the form of frames or hoppers having open bottoms and supporting mail bags depending therefrom so that the sorted mail can be deposited directly into the bags in which it is shipped to its destination.

The end wall 17 is provided with a reject opening 26 therein and a receptacle for this opening may be provided on the housing, if desired.

A belt conveyor mechanism extends longitudinally through the housing 10 from the end wall 16 to the end wall 17 and from the inlet opening 18 to the reject opening 26 past the several outlet openings, as indicated at 20, 21 and 22.

While only three outlet openings have been shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that, when the device is used for sorting mail there may be as many as fifty outlet openings, one for each of the fortyeight States, one for the District of Columbia and one Territorial. ln addition to sorting mail for destination by States, the device may be used to sort mail for destination to post oflices in a selected area,

The belt conveyor means includes a shaft 27 journaled at its ends in the top wall and the partition wall of the housing and disposed adjacent the end wall 16, a shaft 28 journaled at its ends in the top wall and partition wall of the housing at a location spaced from the shaft 27, rollers 30 and 31 on the shafts 2/ and 28 respectively and a flexible, endless belt 32 trained around the rollers 31) and 31, this belt constituting with the associated rollers and shafts a first belt conveyor section. A belt tightening roller 33 is journaled at its opposite ends in the top wall 11 and partition wall 13 of the housing adjacent the roller 31 and bears against the side of belt 32 adjacent the side wall 14 of the housing to maintain the belt in a tight condition around the rollers 30 and 31.

A shaft 34 is disposed adjacent the shaft 28 and journaled at its upper and lower ends in the top wall and partition wall of the housing and a complementary shaft 35 is journaled at its upper and lower ends in the top and partition walls of the housing at a location spaced longitudinally of the housing from the shaft 34. Rollers 36 and 37 are mounted on the shafts 34 and 35 respectively and a flexible, endless belt 38 extends around the rollers 36 and 37 and constitutes with these rollers and the shafts 34 and 35 a second section of the belt conveyor assembly.

Belt tightening rollers 39 and 40 are journaled at their respective opposite ends in the top Wall 11 and partition wall 13 of the housing 10 one near the shaft 34 and the other at a location spaced from the shaft 35, and bear against the side of the belt 38 nearest the side wall 14 of the housing to maintain the belt in a tight or taut condition around the rollers 36 and 37.

A shaft 41 is journaled at its ends in the top wall and partition wall of the housing at a location near but spaced from the shaft 34 and a shaft 42 is journaled at its opposite ends in the top and partition walls of the housing near the end wall 17 of the housing. Rollers 43 and 44 are mounted on the shafts 41 and 42 respectively and an endless, flexible belt 45 is trained around the rollers 43 and 44 and together with these rollers and the shafts 41 and 42 constitutes a third section of the belt conveyor assembly.

An idler roller 46 is journaled at its upper and lower ends in the top and partition walls of the housing and is positioned between the two sides of the belt 45 at a loca tion near but spaced from the roller 44 and a belt tightening roller 47 is journaled at its opposite ends in the top and partition walls of the housing and bears against the side of the belt 45 nearest the side wall 14 of the housing at a location spaced beyond the roller 46 from the roller 44.

A shaft 48 carrying a roller 49 thereon is disposed between two sides of the belt 38 at a location spaced from the roller 37 and is journaled in and extends through the top and partition walls 11 and 13 respectively of the housing 10. An electric motor 50 is mounted on the bottom wall 12 of the housing at a location near the shaft 48 and a speed reduction unit 51 is mounted on one end .of .the motor 50 and includes a vertically disposed output shaft 52. A ,spur gear 53 is mounted on the shaft 52 and disposed immediately below the partition a .3 o thc housin .A spur car .54 is mounted on he shaft .48 i. .mcd at b lo h partition wall 313 nd gear mon :56 and .57 are sp s d in sp ced apart relaiishi to Qthc between th gears 3 and 5a. The

arbor 56 h i as subs anti ly on a l ne connecti g e a es of t shafts :52 and 4. a d a spurg r 5s 1s m u ted on this arbo 56. An dler gear 59 is mounted n he a gr 5 and ni shc w h the gea s. 53 and 58 nd an idlef r 69 simi ar to h car 5.9 is mounted on the arb r .57 an ingshcs wi h the g a s 58 an 54. with his rah cmcnt th shaft 48 is dri en a a reduc d speed fromthe motor 50. The upper end of the shaft 48 projects ovs hg ton a l 1 f th housi g and carries a belt pulley .61. The upper end of the shaft also extends e. I1 t p wa 1 o t e ho ing n carri s w spaced apart belt pulleys 62 and 63. The belt pulley 61 is connected to the lower pulley 62 on the shaft 35 by a V-belt or similar driving connection 64 so that the roller 37 is driven from the rriotor and drives the belt 38.

The shaft 41 also projects above the top wall 11 of the housing and carries on its upper end a belt pulley 65. The upper pulley 63 on the shaft 35 is connected to the belt pulley 65 by a V-belt or similar driving element 66 so that the belt 45 is also driven from the motor 50.

The shafts 28 and 34 both project above the top wall of the housing and carry belt pulleys 67 and 68 respectively above the housing top wall and these pulleys 67 and 68 are connected bya suitable belt 69 so that the conveyor belt 32 is also driven from the motor 50, the belts in the three belt conveyor sections all being driven in the same direction and at the same speed.

A flat pressure plate is disposed against the side of the belt 32 nearest the side wall 15 of the housing and extends along the belt from the inner end of the deflector wall 19 to a location spaced from the outlet opening 20 in the side wall 15. This plate is held in position against h a jac n id; of he bel y pi t l y oun w ing arms 71 and 72 each pivotally connected at one end to the plate and at its upper end to posts, as indicated at 73 74 extending between and secured at their opposite ends to thc top and partition walls of the housing. The arrns are preferably arranged in pairs with an upper and a lower arm pivotally connected to each post and to the pressure plate at vertically spaced apart locations on the latter and a corresponding upper and lower arm connected to the post 74 and to the pressure plate at spaced apart locations thereon. The arms, 71 and 72 are resiliently urged in a rotational direction around the posts 73 and 74, to force the pressure plate 70 against the adjacent side of the belt by tension springs 75 and 76 each connected at one end to the corresponding arm and at its other end to the housing.

A guide wall 80 extends from the side of the outlet opening 20: remote from. the end wall 16 of the housing inwardly of thehousing and is inclined toward the end wall 16. This guide wall terminates. short of the belt 32 and agate 81 in the form of a curved, thin plate is pivotally connected at one end to the inner end of the guide wall 80 and has its end remote from the guide wall disposed adjacent the nearest side of the belt 32 at a location spaced from the rear end of the pressure plate 70. An electric solenoid 82 is mounted on the partition wall 13 and connected by a link 83 to the gate 81 so that, when the solenoid is energized the gate 81 will be swung into contact with the side of the belt 32 nearest the side wall 15 of the housing and will, in that position, deflect mailing envelopes passing between the belt 32 and the pressure plate '70al011g the guide wall 80 and out of the housing through the outlet opening 20.

Energization of the solenoid 82, is controlled by a pair of spaced apart contacts 84 and 85 carried by the pressure plate 70 near the rear end of this pressureplate and exposed at the side of thepressure plate adjacent the belt 32.

The mailing envelopes to be sorted by the device are provided with elements of electrically conductive material at selected locations thereon, as will: be later described in detail, and when such an element on a; mailing envelope passing along theconveyor assembly between the belt 32 and the pressure plate 70 bridges the contacts 84 and 85, thesolenoid 82 is energized moving the distal end of the gate 81 into engagement with the side of the belt 32 nearest the side wall 15 at a location rearwardly of the rear end of the pressure plate 70 and deflecting the envelope along the gate and the guide wall 80 through the outlet opening 20 into the receptacle 23. After leaving the pressure plate 70 the envelope is propelled along the gate 81 and guide wall 80 by an ejecting roller 86 disposed adjacent the proximal end of the gate 81 and journaled in the top and partition walls of the housing. This roller 86 is driven from the motor 50 by means presently to be described in detail.

A second pressure plate 87 is disposed against the sides of the belts 32 and 38 nearest the side wall 15 and extends along these belts from a location spaced from the rear end of the pressure plate 70 to a location in advance of the next outlet opening in the side wall 15 of the housing. Since there will be one pressure plate between the inlet opening 18 and the first outlet opening and between each two adjacent outlet openings, there will be a number of pressure plates equal to the number of outlet openings or fifty pressure plates in the case of a device having fifty outlet openings as indicated above.

The pressure plate 87 is resiliently held against the adjacent side of the belts 32 and 38 by pivoted arms 88 and 89 pivotally mounted each at one end on the housing 10 and pivotally connected at its other end to the pressure plate 87, and tension springs, as indicated at 90 and 91 urging the arms to swing in a direction to hold the pressure plate against the adjacent sides of the belts 32 and 38.

The pressure plate 87 carries spaced apart contacts 92 and 93 which control the energization of a solenoid 94 mounted adjacent the outlet opening 21 in the housing. A guide wall 95 and pivoted gate is provided adjacent the outlet opening 21 in the same manner as the guide wall 80 and gate 81 adjacent the outlet opening 20 and the solenoid 94 is connected to the gate 96 by a link 97 to move the gate to a position at which the gate deflects maihng envelopes from the belt 38 along the gate 96 and guide wall 95 through the opening 21 when the solemold is energized. A pressure plate 97 extends from the gate 96 rearwardly past the roller 37 and is held against the belt 38 by pivoted arms 98 and 99 and tension springs 100 and 101 in the manner described above. A pressure plate 102 extends along the belt 45 from a location spaced rearwardly from the rear end of the plate 97 to a locatron spaced somewhat forwardly of the outlet opening 22 near the rear end of the housing and a pressure plate 104 extends from a location adjacent the last outlet openmg 22 to the reject opening 26 in the end wall 17 of the housing along the side of the belt 45 nearest the side wall 15 of the housing.

The pressure plates disposed rearwardly of the pressure plate 97 are mounted on pivoted arms, as indicated at 105, 106, 107 and 108 and are forced against the corresponding belts by tension springs, as indicated at 109, 110, 111 and 112 connected between the corresponding lcver arms and the housing.

A guide wall 113 is inclined inwardly and forwardly of the housing from the rear edge of the outlet opening 22 and a gate 114 is pivotally connected at one end to the wall 113 at the inner end of the latter and extends from the wall 113 to the adjacent side of the belt 45. A solenoid is mounted on the partition wall 13 adjacent the guide wall 113 and a link 116 connects the solenoid to the gate 114.

Spaced contacts 118 and 119 are carried by the pressure plate 102 and exposed at the side of this plate adacent the belt 45 for controlling the energization of the solenoid 115, the solenoid 115 being energized when the contacts 118 and 119 are bridged by an element of electrically conductive material carried by an envelope passing through the sorting device.

An ejecting roller 120 is journaled in the housing and "positioned adjacent the proximal end of the gate 96 and a similar roller 121 is journaled in the housing adjacent the proximal end of the gate 114. The shafts of the e ecting rollers 86, 120 and 121 extend below the partition wall 13, as indicated at 122, 123 and 124 and are provided on their lower ends with beveled gears, as in dicated at 125, 126 and 127. A line shaft 128 extends longitudinally of the housing 10 adjacent the bottom wall of the housing and carries beveled gears, as indicated at 129, 130 and 131 meshing with the beveled gears 125, 126 and 127, to impart rotational movement in the same direction and at the same ing rollers 86, 120 and 121.

A second gear 132 is mounted on the motor output shaft 52 below the gear 53 and this gear 132 meshes with a gear 133 on the ejecting roller shaft 123 to directly drive the ejecting roller 120 and drive the ejecting rollers through the line shaft 128 and beveled gear connections.

The belts 32, 38 and 45 of the main belt conveyor system are mounted on rollers which rotate about substantially vertical axes and this main belt conveyor assembly is supplemented in its function of moving mailing envelopes longitudinally of the housing in a direction away from the inlet opening 18 by a secondary or auxiliary belt conveyor assembly including belts mounted on rollers which rotate about substantially horizontal axes.

In the arrangement illustrated the secondary conveyor system comprises belts 135 and 136 disposed in end to end relationship to each other and extending longitudinally of the housing 10. The belt 135 is mounted on rollers 138 and 139 disposed adjacent the vertically disposed rollers 30 and 37 respectively. The rollers 138 and 139 are mounted on horizontally disposed shafts 140 and 141 disposed below the partition wall 13 and the partition wall 13 is provided in its upper surface with a longitudinally extending, flat groove 142 which receives the upper part of the belt 135. The upper part of the belt 135 is disposed at the lower edges of the sides of the belts 32 and 38 nearest the side wall of the housing so that the bottom edges of mailing envelopes moved along the housing by the belts 32 and 38 will rest on the upper portion of the belt 135 and this belt will also assist in moving the envelopes longitudinally of the housing in a direction away from the end of the housing having the inlet opening 18.

An idling roller 143 is disposed between the upper and lower portions of the belt 135 intermediate the length of this belt to assist in maintaining the belt 135 in a tight condition and in proper position relative to the walls of the housing.

The belt 136 is mounted on rollers 144 and 145 disposed at the front and rear ends respectively of this belt and the upper portion of the belt 136 runs in a groove in the upper surface of the partition wall 13 at the lower edge of the belt 45.

A belt pulley is provided on the ejector roller shaft 123 and a complementary belt pulley 147 is provided on the shaft 141 of the auxiliary belt roller 139. A V- belt or similar connector 148 drivingly connects the pulley 146 to the pulley 147 so that the belt 135 is driven by the motor 50 whenever the device is in operation. A belt pulley 149 is mounted on the shaft of the roller 144 and a corresponding belt pulley is mounted on the shaft 141 and drivingly connected by a belt 150 to the pulley 149 to drive the roller 144 and belt 136 whenever the belt 135 is driven.

With the above described arrangement, the main and auxiliary belt conveyor assemblies will move the envelopes or other objects to be sorted longitudinally of the housing of the device in a direction away from the end of the housing having the inlet opening therein as the envelopes or other objects are manually fed into the conveyor system through the inlet opening in the housing and the several gates will be operated by the associated solenoid, as the solenoids are energized, to deflect the envelopes away from the conveyor system and through the several outlet openings in the side wall of the housing in accordance with a predetermined code provided on the envelopes or other objects to be sorted.

As illustrated in Figure 10, the envelope particularly arranged for use in the sorting device of the present invention is of elongated, rectangular shape and has code strips 152 and 153 on one side thereof extending one along one end edge and the other along one longitudinal edge of the envelope. Each of the strips 152 and 153 comprises an elongated body of electrically conductive material, such as a wire or a strip of sheet metal or metal foil, disposed adjacent the surface of the envelope, and a strip of electrically non-conductive material, such as paper, secured to the envelope and covering the body of electrically conductive material. The covering strip is divided into a plurality of consecutively arranged tabs joined together by perforated portions of the strip so that any selected tab can be removed from the corresponding strip of electrically insulative material to exspeed to the ejectpose the portion of the corresponding body of electrically conductive material within the area of the removed tab.

If it were desired to provide as many as fifty tabs to provide one tab for each of the forty eight States, one for the District of Columbia and one for territorial destinations, there would not be sufiicient room across any one edge of the envelope to provide the entire number of tabs and it has therefore been found desirable to arrange the tabs in two strips disposed one along an end edge and one along a side edge of the envelope, as described above.

The pairs of contacts carried by the pressure plates such as 70, 87, etc. are arranged at different heights from the partition wall 13 of the housing, the height of these contact pairs above the partition wall progressively increasing or decreasing longitudinally of the housing in a direction from the end wall 16 to the end wall 17.

The envelopes to be sorted are first placed in the inlet opening 18 of the device with their longitudinal edges horizontally disposed and the strips 152 and 153 thereon at the sides thereof adjacent the pressure plates. If one of the tabs has been removed from the strip 152 exposing the portion of the conductor body under this tab, as soon as the envelope reaches a pair of contacts in line with the tab which has been removed these contacts are bridged and the next adjacent solenoid is energized to operate the corresponding gate and deflect the envelope out of the housing through the adjacent outlet opening. If none of the tabs of the strip 152 has been removed, the envelope will pass by a number of contact pairs and associated outlet openings corresponding to the number of tabs in the strip 152 and is then uprighted to bring the strip 153 to a vertical position and is carried along the conveyor assembly until a pair of contacts is bridged by a portion of the conductive body in the strip 153 exposed by the removal of one of the tabs in this strip. If no tab has been removed in either of the strips 152 or 153 the envelope will be carried to the end of the housing and ejected through the reject opening 26 in the end wall 17 and will fall into the reject receptacle 154.

The belt rollers 37 and 139 are located substantially at the position along the housing 10 at which a number of contact pairs corresponding to the number of tabs in the strip 152 along the end edge of the envelope will be passed if none of the tabs in this strip have been removed. At this location the side walls 14 and 15 are extended upwardly raising the rearward portion of the top wall 11 above the forward portion of the top wall so that the rearward portion of the housing will accommodate the envelopes in upright position, that is, with their longitudinal edges vertically disposed, the two portions of the top wall being joined by a transverse shoulder 155 in the housing.

Immediately to the rear of the belt roller 37 mechanism is provided for turning the envelopes through approximately ninety degrees from their horizontally disposed to their vertically disposed position and this mechanism includes a shaft extending transversely of the housing immediately above an opening 161 in the partition wall 13 and journaled at its ends in bearings 162 and 163 mounted on the partition wall 13.

A flat clamp plate 164 projects radially from the shaft 160 and is fixed thereon by a collar 165 formed on the shaft and bearing against the outer side of the clamp plate 164. A movable clamp plate 166 is slidably mounted on the shaft 160 and projects radially from the shaft in superposed relationship to the plate 164. A base 167 is mounted on the shaft 160 between the clamp plate 166 and the bearing 162 and a solenoid 168 is mounted on this base and has its armature connected to the plate 166 at the outer side of the latter. Guide pins 169 extend from the base 167 through apertures in the plate 166 to maintain the plate 166 in alignment with the opposed plate 164.

When the solenoid 168 is energized it forces the clamp plate 166 toward the clamp plate 164 to engage an envelope between the two clamp plates, the plate 166 having detents 170 on its inner side for firmly engaging the envelopes, and when the solenoid is deenergized the plate 166 is moved away from the plate 164 to release an envelope clamped between the plates by a compression spring 171 acting between the solenoid armature 172 and housing 173.

An arm 174 projects from the shaft 160 adjacent the bearing 163 and a solenoid 175 mounted on the partition wall 13 of the housing has its armature 176 pivotally connected at one end to the arm 174 at the distal end of the arm.

A substantially rigid contact bar 178 is carried by the base 167 substantially in alignment with the rearward ends of the clamp plates 164 and 166 and a spring contact bar 179 is carried by the base 167 immediately ahead of the bar 178. When the clamp plates 164 and 166 are in their horizontal position and an envelope is forced by the conveyor belt mechanism between these clamp plates and into engagement with the spring contact bar 179, the bar 179 is moved into engagement with a contact on the bar 178 thereby completing energizing circuits for the solenoids 168 and 175. As soon as the solenoid 168 is energized it moves the clamp plate 166 toward the fixed clamp 164 to clamp an envelope between these clamp plates. As soon as the solenoid 175 is energized it rotates the shaft 162 to an angle of approximately ninety degrees bringing the clamp plates 164 and 166 from a horizontal to a vertical position. As the clamp plates are brought to a vertical position the spring contact bar 179 engages the upper part of the belt 136 and is moved away from the contact bar 178 thereby breaking the solenoid energizing circuit. As soon as this circuit is broken a compression spring 180 acting between the armature 176 and the housing 181 of the solenoid 175 rotates the shaft 160 back through an angle of approximately ninety degrees to return the clamp plates 164 and 166 to their horizontal position and, at the same time, the spring 171 moves the movable plate 166 away from the fixed clamp plate 164 to release the envelope from between the two clamp plates. The spring 171 acts in time to leave the envelope in upright position on the belt 136 and engaged between the belt 45 and the pressure plate 102 so that the envelope will be carried rearwardly of the housing in upright position and the clamp plates will be positioned to receive and upright the next envelope reaching the uprighting mechanism.

The tabs provided by the perforated strips of electrically non-conductive material on the envelopes will carry indicia denoting the several States, District and Territorial destinations and in order to prepare an envelope for sorting it is necessary merely to remove the tab carrying designation of the desired State, District or Territorial destination. The envelopes, each with a single tab removed, are then fed into the front or intake end of the sorting device through the inlet opening 18, one at a time, and, as they are moved rearwardly of the machine by the belt conveyor assemblies, they are ejected selectively through the several outlet openings and into the corresponding receptacles in accordance with the location of the tabs removed therefrom. A large number of objects, such as mailing envelopes, can thus be automatically sorted by the sorting device in a short time and grouped in accordance with a code designation carried by the objects.

The motor 50 is controlled by a manually operated reversing switch 185 mounted on the side wall 15 of the housing at a location within convenient reach of an operator feeding envelopes into the housing through the inlet opening 18. This switch 185 can be closed by the operator in one position so that the motor will turn in a direction to drive the belt conveyor assemblies rearwardly of the housing and the switch can be changed to reverse the motor and drive the belt conveyor assemblies in the opposite direction to return the envelopes back to the inlet opening in the event the conveyor assemblies should become jammed or an envelope should fail to pass through the device.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for sorting articles in accordance with a predetermined code indication provided on the articles comprising an elongated housing having a top wall, a bottom wall, a partition wall between said top and bottom walls, and side walls extending along the longitudinal edges of said top, bottom and partition walls, one of said side walls having an inlet opening at one end thereof and outlet openings spaced apart longitudinally thereof, belt conveyor means extending longitudinally of said housing between said top and said partition walls and including belt rollers journaled in said top and partition walls at spaced apart locations along said housing, flexible endless belts trained around said rollers and disposed in end to end relationship to each other, pressure plates disposed one between each two adjacent openings in said one side wall and against the sides of said belts adjacent said one side wall, spring means resiliently urging said pressure plates against said belts, power means disposed in said housing between said partition wall and said bottom wall and drivingly connected to said belt rollers for driving said belts, movable gates disposed in said housing one between each of said outlet openings and said belts for selectively deflecting objects from said conveyor means through said outlet openings, and electrically actuated means carried partly by said pressure plates and connected to said gates for operating the latter in response to code designations on objects passing along said conveyor means.

2. A device for sorting articles in accordance with a predetermined code indication provided on the articles comprising an elongated housing having a top wall, a bottom wall, a partition wall between said top and bottom walls, and side walls extending along the longitudinal edges of said top, bottom and partition walls, one of said side walls having an inlet opening at one end thereof and outlet openings spaced apart longitudinally thereof, main belt conveyor means extending longitudinally of said housing between said top and said partition Walls and including belt rollers journaled in said top and partition walls at spaced apart locations along said housing, flexible endless belts trained around said rollers and disposed in end to end relationship to each other, pressure plates disposed one between each two adjacent openings in said one side wall and against the sides of said belts adjacent said one side wall, and spring means resiliently urging said pressure plates against said belts, auxiliary conveyor means comprising belt rollers disposed immediately below said partition wall at spaced apart locations along said housing and journaled in said side walls, and belts trained over said rollers and disposed in end to end relationship with one part of each belt disposed above said partition wall and extending along the bottom edges of the belts constituting said main belt conveyor, power means mounted in said housing between said bottom wall and said partition wall and drivingly connected to said belt rollers for driving said main and auxiliary conveyors, movable gates disposed in said housing one between each of said outlet openings and said belts for selectively deflecting objects from said conveyor means through said outlet openings, and electrically actuated means carried partly by said pressure plates and connected to said gates for operating the latter in response to code designations on objects passing along said conveyor means.

3. Mechanism for sorting mailing envelopes comprising electrically conducting elements disposed one on each envelope at a location spaced along one edge of the envelope a predetermined distance from a second edge disposed at right angles to said one edge, an elongated support, conveyor means mounted on said support and including an endless belt, movable gates carried by said support at locations spaced apart along said conveyor means, pressure plates disposed one between each two adjacent gates with flat surfaces opposed to the adjacent flat surface of said belt and resiliently pressing envelopes against said belt with said one edge of each envelope extending transversely of an edge of said belt, and means connected to said gates and responsive to code designations on the envelopes passing along said conveyor means to selectively open said gates in accordance with predetermined code designations and discharge the envelopes from said conveyor means including detectors carried one by each of said pressure plates with the detectors on the several pressure plates disposed at different predetermined distances from common edges of said pressure plates parallel to the edges of said belt and each detector including a pair of spaced apart contacts interconnected by an envelope carried element located to engage the contacts of a specified detector.

4. Mechanism for sorting mailing envelopes comprising selectively exposable detector actuating elements spaced apart along at least two perpendicularly related edges of each envelope, an elongated support, conveyor means mounted on said support for carrying envelopes along said support with one of said two edges of each envelope extending transversely of the direction of travel of said conveyor means, movable gates carried by said support at locations spaced apart along said conveyor means, detector means disposed at locations spaced apart along said conveyor means and connected one to each of said gates and responsive to the location of the actuator elements on envelopes passing along said conveyor means to selectively open said gates in accordance with predetermined locations of said actuator elements and discharge envelopes in sorted condition from said conveyor means, and means carried by said support at the end of a series of detector means corresponding in number to the number of detector actuating elements along said one of said two edges of an envelope effective to receive envelopes passing along said conveyor means, turn each envelope to a position at which the other of said two edges thereof extends transversely of the direction of travel of said conveyor means and return the envelopes to the conveyor means for movement of the envelopes past a second series of detector means.

5. Mechanism for sorting mailing envelopes comprising detector actuating elements exposed one on each en velope at predetermined locations along corresponding edges of the envelopes, conveyor means having an envelope receiving end at which envelopes are fed consecutively into said conveyor with their edges adjacent which the corresponding actuator elements are disposed extending transversely of the direction of travel of said conveyor means and disposed at the front ends of the envelopes in the direction of travel of the envelopes along said conveyor means, gates disposed at spaced apart locations along said conveyor means and selectively movable to deflect envelopes from said conveyor at the locations of the selected gates, detectors disposed one between each two adjacent gates and at difierent predetermined positions from one edge of said conveyor means for selective engagement by said envelope carried actuator elements in accordance with the positions of the elements along the front edges of the associated envelopes, electrically energized means controlled by said detectors and selectively moving said gates in accordance with the actuation of said detectors by said detector actuating elements to discharge envelopes from said conveyor means in a sorted condition, and a manually operated control for said conveyor means effective to temporarily reverse the direction of operation of said conveyor means to clear the sorting mechanism from a clogged condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,217,092 Hopp Feb. 20, 1917 1,573,174 Lasker Feb. 16, 1926 1,707,755 Bryce Apr. 2, 1929 1,997,157 Tauschek Apr. 9, 1935 2,056,382 Ayres Oct. 6, 1936 2,171,556 Higginbottom et a1 Sept. 5, 1939 2,254,933 Bryce Sept. 2, 1941 2,275,396 Johnson Mar. 3, 1942 2,353,061 Oldenboom July 4, 1944 2,609,928 Doust Sept. 20, 1952

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