US2463747A - Card sorting device - Google Patents

Description

March 8, 1949. CONNOR CARD SORTING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed pril 3, 1944 Rose-Q Co/v/voe,

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CARD SORTING DEVICE Filed April 5, 1944 v 4 Sheets-Sheet? 4%652 Cb/v/vo/e, INVENTOR ATTORNEY March 8, 1949. R. CONNOR CARD SORTING DEVICE Filed April :5, 1944 '4 Sheets-Sheet 5 000 000 0000000000 00 5 f2 00 00 00 00 fig 00 0 8 n.

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INVENTORV ATTORNEY March 8, 1949. R. CONNOR CARD SORTING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 3, 1944 foes/e CON/Vole,

ATI'ORNEY Patented Mar. 8, 1949 CARD SORTING DEVICE Roger Connor, Athens, Ohio, assignor to The McBee Company, Athens, Ohio, a corporation Application April 8, 1944, Serial No. 529,378

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to devices for selectively sorting cards of the type widely known commercially as fKeysort cards.

Cards of the type referred to are provided along one or more edges with one or more rows of perforations which are grouped and identified by suitable indicia to represent desired classifications.

In practice, a plurality of these perforations are notched or slotted out to the edge of the card, forming a pattern of notches or slots pertaining to a single classification. The cards when thus notched or slotted may be selectively sorted .by passing one or more sorting rods through the selected perforations of a group of cards, which perforations representing the desired classification. By then elevating the sorting rod or rods, the cards having notches or slots coinciding with the perforations penetrated by the rod or rods will disengage from the rods, while the remainder of the cards will remain suspended from the rod or rods. Thus, the cards of one or more selected classifications are sorted from a stack of cards.

It is the principal object of my present invention to provide an improved sorting device for such cards to enable sorting of a relatively small number of cards from a great number thereof to be accomplished more expeditiously than heretofore. n

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a card sorting device embodying the preferred form of my invention, shown in the position to receive the cards for sorting.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my card sorting device shown in the position it assumes when the sorted cards are disengaged from the remainder of the stack of cards.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of my card sorting device, showing it in the position it assumes when sorted cards are disengaged from the remainder of the stack.

Fig. 4 is a similar view partly broken away, showing the device in the position which it assumes to receive cards for sorting.

Fig, 5 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the selector rod holder of the device.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, in indicates a selective sorting device for cards of the character commercially known as Keysort cards. These cards, as previously set forth, are edge-punched cards, the

punchings of which are notched out to the edge in patterns to represent a desired classification. The card sorting device I0 is what is known as a selective sorting device by means of which punched and notched cards of one or more selected classifications may be separated from a stack of cards. The sorting device I0 is of a construction, size and weight that it is portable and may be ordinarily disposed on a desk or table top for use.

The device [0 is composed of a rigid frame ll having suspended therein a rotatable card receiving tray l2. The frame II is formed of a fiat base 14 of dimensions sufficient to properly support the device Ill on a desk or table top. At one end of the base and extending vertically therefrom is an end frame l5 to which the card receiving tray I2 is rotatably connected for rotation in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis, as will be described.

The card receiving tray l comprises a fiat bottom plate l6 having large openings l1 formed therein. At one end of the bot in plate I6 is a vertically extending end plate I which is disposed adjacent to and in parall lism with the end frame l5 of the frame II. A pintle I9 extends horizontally between the end frame l5 and the end plate l8 of the tray l2 to rotatably connect the same and thereby rotatably suspend the card receiving tray 12 within the frame ll, so that it may revolve in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis. At the front end of the bottom plate I6 is a vertically extending aligning plate 20, extending, of course, at right angles to the end plate I8. The end plate [8 and the aligning plate 20 do, of course,-- extend at right angles to the face of the bottom plate l8.

It is intended, as illustrated, to position a stack of cards to be sorted in the tray in parallelism with the end plate i8 with the front ends of the cards abutting the aligning plate 20. Such abutment will cause proper relative alignment of the cards and proper alignment of the perforations or punchings therein with the end plate l8 and a selector rod guide 2|. This selector rod guide 2| is disposed at the end of the bottom plate l6 opposite the end plate l8 in parallelism with the latter, and it is composed, as illustrated, of two spaced but parallel plates 22. The selector rod guide 2| is formed with a plurality of perforations 23 so disposed relative to the face of the bottom plate l6 and the aligning plate 20 that they will register with the perforations in the cards of the stack disposed in the tray ii. That is to say, the perforations 23 in the selector rod guide 2I are complementary to the perforations of cards to be sorted in the tray I2. The end plate I8 is formed with similar perforations 24 which are likewise disposed so as to be complementary to and register with the perforations in the cards to be sorted, when the latter are disposed in the tray I2, as previously described.

Thus, it is seen that when cards A are disposed in the tray I2 in parallelism with the end plate I8 and with their ends abutted against the aligning plate 20, that the perforations in the cards in the end plate I8 and in the selector rod guide 2| will be in register so that one or more selector rods 25 may be projected through the selector rod guide 2I, the cards and the end plate I8. When selector rods are so projected or positioned, they will be supported at one end, of course, by the selector rod guide 2I and at the other end by the end plate I8.

To properly manipulate the selector rods 25 and to maintain them in a selected pattern for sorting, I provide a selector rod holder 26, which is more clearly illustrated in Fig. of the drawings. This selector rod holder 26 comprises an elongated member 21, which is perforated complementary to the selector rod guide 2| and, consequently, to the cards to be sorted. Further, the member 21 is at all times in alignmentwith the selector rod guide 2| and is perforated in identically the same fashion with the perforations in longitudinal alignment.

The selector rods 25 are provided with en larged heads 28 which will not pass through the perforations in the member 21. Therefore, the selector rods 25 may be projected endwise through the member 21 and into the corresponding perforations in the selector rod guide 21, the spacing and positioning of the selector rods 25 being, of course, determined by the selected classification.

To maintain the selector rods 25' from endwise movement a hinged cover plate 29 is fitted to the selector rod holder 26 so that after the rods have been positioned, this cover plate 29 may be disposed as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 to prevent endwise movement of the selector rods by clamping the heads 28 thereof to the face of the member 21.

The selector rod holder 26 is connected by two telescoping slides 30 to the bottom of the card receiving tray I2. These telescoping and guiding slides 38 extend longitudinally of the card receiving tray I2 and enable the selector rod holder 26 to be ,moved longitudinally relative to the tray I2. The amount of movement permitted the selector rod holder 26 is sufllcient to enable the selector rods 25 to project entirely through a stack of cards disposed in the tray I2 and into the end plate I8 and to be completely disengaged from such stack of cards upon opposite movement. The construction of the telescoping slides 80 is conventional and for this reason their construction is not further illustrated or described.

It is desirable to aid in the alignment of the cards that the card receiving-tray I2 be disposed at an acute angle to the horizontal when in card receiving position, as shown in Fig. 4. For this reason a stop member 3| is fitted to the end frame I5 at a point that it will be engaged by the top edge of the end plate I8 of the tray I2, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, when the tray I2 is in card receiving position. Also, the end plate I8 is fitted with an arcuate latch plate 32 which is fastened to the end plate I6 concentric to the pintle I8. A latch finger 83 is fitted to the top of the end frame member I5 to engage a notch 34 in the latch plate 32, when the card receiving tray I2 is in the card receiving position. The construction of the latch finger 33 and the notch 34 is such that disengagement may be readily effected when desired by merely grasping the card receiving tray and revolving it in a clockwise direction as it appears in Fig. 4.

The position of the stop member 8| is such that when the card receiving tray I2 is inverted to disengage the selected cards from the remainder of the stack, the opposite end of the edge plate I8 will abut against the member 3|, as illustrated in Fig. 3. If desired, a slight jarring action may be produced by impacting the end plate I8 against the member 3 l when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3. I also desire to point out that the openings I! in the bottom plate I6 enable the operator to manually manipulate the cards, if found necessary or desirable.

In operation of the device, it is constructed and assembled substantially as illustrated and described, and when it is desired to sort cards, the selector rod holder is withdrawn, as shown in Fig. 1, and the cover plate 29 upraised to expose the perforations in the member 21 of the holder 26. Selector rods 25 may then be inserted through the selected perforations to form a pattern agree ing with the pattern necessary to select desired classifications from the cards to be sorted. The cover plate 29 is then repositioned to latch the selector rods 25 to the selector rod holder 26. The cards A to be sorted are then iserted in the tray I2 against the end plate I8 and with their ends abutting against the aligning plate 28. Thus, the cards A will extend transversely of the card receiving tray with the perforations along their lower edge registering with the perforations in the end plate I8, the selector rod guide 2| and the selector rod holder 26.

When the cards are so disposed in the tray, the

selector rod holder is moved longitudinally of the tray in a direction causing the selector rods 25 to penetrate through the selected perforations in the stack of cards in the tray and then penetrate into the end plate I8. The operator then revolves the tray I2 about the pintle I9 to the position shown in Fig. 3, at which time those cards B having notches aligned with the perforations through which the selector rods 25 project will drop from the stack and tray and deposit on the base plate I4 in the frame II, as shown in Fig. 3. The remaining cards in the stack, of course, will be held suspended in the tray by the selector rods 25. The operator then removes the cards B which have dropped or have been selected from the stack from the frame and returns the tray to the starting position, as illustrated in Fig. 4. At this point the operator moves the selector rod holder 26 to the left and longitudinally of the tray I2, disengaging the selector rods 25 from the remainder of the cards A in the stack, permitting those cards to be removed.

The operation just described is then repeated on succeeding stacks or batches of cards until they have been allsorted. Obviously, any desired classification or classifications may be selected by merely changing the positions of the selector rods 25 to correspond with the desired classification or classifications.

cially as "Keysort cards. It will be apparent from the foregoing and from the drawings that by means of my improved device selective sorting of a relatively few of a large stack of cards may be rapidly and accurately accomplished in a comparatively short time.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construction by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a card sorting device, an L-shaped frame consisting of a horizontally disposed base and a vertically disposed support member, a tray pivoted to the said support member for rotation about a horizontal axis, cooperating means on the frame and tray whereby the latter is limited to clockwise and counterclockwise rotational movement approximately 180 degrees between two different positions with respect to the frame, a selector rod guide on the tray, a plurality of sorting rods guided in said guide for movement in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the tray, a holder removably connected with said sorting rods, and telescopic connections between said holder and the tray to enable movement of the holder in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the sorting rods.

2. In a card sorting device, an L-shaped frame consisting of a horizontally disposed base and a vertically disposed support member, a tray consisting of an open frame base, an end wall and a side wall, said tray being pivoted to the support member for rotation about a horizontal axis, cooperatin means on the frame and tray whereby the latter is limited to clockwise and counterclockwise rotational movement between two different positions with respect to the frame, a selector rod guide on the tray, a plurality of sorting rods guided in said guide for movement in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the tray, a. holder removably connected with said sorting rods, and telescopic connections between said holder and the tray to enable movement of the holder in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the sorting rods.

3'. In a card sorting device, an L-shaped frame consisting of a horizontally disposed frame consisting of a horizontally disposed base and a vertically disposed support member, a tray consisting of an open-frame base, an end wall and a side wall, said side wall bein pivoted to the support member whereby the tray is rotatable on a horizontal axis in relation to the frame, cooperating means on the frame and tray whereby the latter is limited to clockwise and counter-clockwise rotational movement between two different positions with respect to the frame, a selector rod guide on the tray, a plurality of sorting rods guided in said guide for movement in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the tray, a holder removably connected with said sorting rods, and telescopic connections between said holder and the tray to enable movement of the holder in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the sorting rods.

4. In a card sorting device, an L-shaped frame consisting of a horizontally disposed frame consisting of a horizontally disposed base and a vertically disposed support member, a tray consisting of an open-frame base, an end wall and a side wall, said side wall being pivoted to the support member whereby the tray is rotatable on a horizontal axis in relation to the frame, cooperating means on the frame and tray whereby the latter is limited to clockwise and counterclockwise rotational movement between two different positions with respect to the frame, a selector rod guide mounted on said open-frame base, a plurality of sorting rods guided in said guide for movement in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the tray, a holder removably connected with said sorting rods, and telescopic connections between said holder and the tray to enable movement of the holder in a direction parallel to the direction of movement of the sorting rods.

ROGER CONNOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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