Paper Collator And Distributor

Abstract

Sheet distributing mechanism in which sheets may be distributed under the control of punched tape to any selected catch tray in any one of a plurality of racks of catch trays with the mechanism being such that, after the selection of a tray, a counter may operate to direct a predetermined number of sheets to the tray without requiring the storing of additional sheet addresses on the tape. The operator may set a number in any one of a plurality of registers which can be selected by the tape to control the number of sheets to be delivered to a catch tray. When a sheet enters the sheet distributing mechanism, it causes the reading of an address from the tape and as it approaches the first rack of trays, it calls the address forward to a rack register. A decoder on the first rack directs the sheet into the rack if the address is for the rack by opening a rack gate if it is not already open and sets a tray gate within the rack to divert the sheet to the proper catch tray. If the address is not for the first rack, the sheet proceeds to the second rack and effects a transfer of its address to the second rack register. The operation of decoding the address is again performed at the second rack and if the address is for the second rack, a rack gate is opened if it is not already open and a tray gate in the rack is set. If the address is not for the second rack, the sheet proceeds to the third rack and the operation is repeated.

Description

RELATED INVENTION

The present invention relates to the type of sheet distributing apparatus disclosed in the copending application of Erwin F. C. Schulze, Ser. No. 802,177, filed Feb. 25, 1969, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. In the apparatus therein disclosed, a sheet may be distributed to different racks, each having a plurality of catch trays. Such sheet distributing mechanisms are commonly used to distribute sheets or documents to catch trays for delivery to corresponding parties or departments. It will be understood that the terms "sheet" and "document" as used herein are each intended to include a single sheet or a plurality of sheets, as for example, a signature or a pamphlet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sheet distributing mechanism in which the reading of a sheet address from stored data and the storing of the address in a first address register initiates the reading of additional stored data to determine if there is an instruction concerning the number of sheets to be delivered. The additional data is stored in a second address register if it is a sheet address.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved sheet distributing mechanism in which a sheet is to be distributed to one of a plurality of catch trays in any one of a plurality of racks in accordance with an address stored in a program and in which the sheet as it approaches a rack of trays causes an address to move forward with the sheet and be registered in a rack register for the rack, the address in the rack register being decoded to cause a sheet gate for the rack to be opened if it is closed, if the sheet is approaching the selected rack, and a tray gate within the rack is to be set to divert the sheet into the selected tray.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sheet distributing mechanism in which a sheet can be directed by a stored program to any particular tray of a plurality of catch trays in a rack, and a desired number of successive sheets can be directed under the control of the stored program to a selected tray without repeating the address of the tray in the program.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved sheet distributing mechanism in which a stored program is operative to select any one of a plurality of presettable registers, preferably manually presettable, for controlling the number of sheets to be delivered to a particular address.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved sheet distributing mechanism in which a plurality of racks of catch trays along a first sheet path each have a rack register into which an address is set as a sheet approaches the rack and decoding means as each rack operates to decode the setting of the register and to set a sheet gate for the rack and to select a tray in the rack for the sheet if the address is for the rack and to allow the sheet to pass the rack without operating a tray gate within the rack if the address is for another rack.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a sheet distributing mechanism including at least two racks of trays and embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view showing a sheet gate for a rack;

FIG. 3 is a partial, detached view showing actuating mechanism for the rack gate shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view taken facing the far side of a rack shown in FIG. 1 and showing the tray gate operating mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a somewhat diagrammatic view showing the structure of the tray gate and its operating mechanism;

FIGS. 6a and 6b are a block diagram showing certain of the components of the control system for distributing sheets;

FIGS. 7a and 7b are a more detail block diagram showing timing circuitry for operating components shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a punch tape for storing coded data.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the present invention, sheets are distributed by a distributing mechanism 10 to selected catch trays 14 in any one of a plurality of racks 11, 12. While only two racks are shown in the drawings, it is understood that the system may comprise several more such racks. The racks are a substantial duplicate of each other and are preferably built as individual modules so that they may be added and subtracted as needed.

The sheets which are to be distributed to a selected catch tray in a selected rack arrive one at a time at an entrance conveyor 16. The sheets may be hand fed or they may be received from other equipment such as the delivery of a reproducing machine. The sheet is moved by the conveyor 16 to a conveyor 17 which transports the sheet to the top of the first rack 11. The sheet moves from the top of the conveyor 17 and as it starts across the top of the rack 11, it is driven by a drive roll 20. When the lead edge of the sheet passes the drive roll 20, it will be diverted into the first rack if a rack gate 24 is open. If the rack gate 24 is open, it directs the sheets downwardly into sheet guides 22 which guide the sheet into a vertical conveyor 26 which moves the sheet downwardly past the entrances to the catch trays 14 of the rack, the trays being spaced vertically from each other along the conveyor. As the sheet is moved downwardly past the catch trays 14, it can be diverted into a selected catch tray 14 by setting a corresponding tray gate 27 disposed adjacent the entrance to the tray. Each tray gate 27 has portions 27a (see FIG. 5) normally in sheet non-diverting positions clear of the path of the sheet moving down with the conveyor 26, the sheet normally moving between the gates and the conveyor. Upon operation of the tray gate, the portions 27a are moved in between spaced belts 26a of conveyor 26 to divert the sheet from the belts into the tray. The sheets are normally held against the belts 26a to move with the latter by rollers 26b indicated in FIG. 1. The tray gates are each actuated by a respective code mechanism 29 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) associated with each gate, there being one code mechanism 29 associated with each gate.

If the rack gate 24 for the first rack 11 is closed, the sheet will move across the top of the guides 22 and into a conveyor 30 for carrying the sheet to the second rack 12. The second rack 12 is essentially a duplicate of the first rack including the rack gate 24, the sheet guides 22, the conveyor 26, the catch trays 14, and the tray gates 27. These mechanical elements of the second rack have been given the same reference numerals as the corresponding elements of the rack 11. In the illustrated embodiment, only two racks are shown. It will be understood, however, that additional racks are or may be utilized and the control circuit to be herein described is adaptable for a system embodying a large number of racks.

In the preferred system, the rack gates 24 are each operated by a pair of electromagnets 36, 37 (see FIG. 3). The electromagnet 36 is to set the gate in an open, i.e., sheet diverting position, to divert the sheet into the corresponding conveyor 26 and an electromagnet 37 is energized to place the rack gate in a closed, i.e., sheet non-diverting position. The electromagnets 36 and 37 for each rack gate are aligned with each other and have an armature 39 therebetween which extends outwardly therefrom to operate a respective lever arm 40 connected to the shaft of the corresponding sheet gate 24. As the armature 39 moves upwardly, as viewed in FIG. 3, the sheet gate 24 is rocked to a closed position and as it moves downwardly, the sheet gate is opened. An overcenter spring device 42 holds the armature 39 in its up or down position.

It will be appreciated that if a gate 24 is set in one position and the electromagnet for moving it to that position is energized, the sheet gate merely remains in the position, also, that only a momentary energization of one of the electromagnets 36, 37 is required to shift the gate and that the gate will be held in its shifted position by the overcenter spring. Thus, the actuating mechanisms for actuating the rack gates 24 are bistable mechanisms whose state can be changed by momentary energization of one of the electromagnets.

In the preferred and illustrated embodiment, the code mechanism 29 associated with each tray gate 27 has four code elements 52 (see FIG. 5). The code elements may be set in either one of two positions and form a permutation code. The periphery of the code elements 52, which are disk-like tumblers, are provided with notches 53 and the notches of the tumblers for a particular tray gate align with each other for a particular binary permutation setting which is the address assigned to the particular tray. When the notches in the tumblers for a given tray are aligned, a corresponding gate control rod 55, which extends across and rides on the peripheries of the tumblers, moves into the notches and the gate rocks from a sheet non-diverting position to a sheet-diverting position. In the illustrated embodiment, each control rod is carried on a corresponding rocker arm 60 which is connected by a corresponding link 61 to a crank 62 on the outer end of a corresponding shaft 63 for supporting and operating the corresponding tray gate 27.

In the preferred embodiment, each rack has four operators, 70, 71, 72 and 73, which are wires in the illustrated embodiment, with each operator being connected to one tumbler of the code mechanism associated with each tray gate. The operators 70, 71, 72 and 73 for a rack can be moved upwardly by energization of respective electromagnets 75a, 76a, 77a and 78a and can be moved downwardly by the energization of respective electromagnets 75b, 76b, 77b and 78b, respectively. If an operator is moved upwardly by the energization of an electromagnet, the operator and the tumblers connected thereto may be said to be set in a logic 1 condition while if the operator is moved downwardly by the operation of an electromagnet, the operator and the code tumblers connected thereto may be said to be positioned in a logic 0 position. By assigning different permutation settings to each of the gates for effecting alignment of the notches in the tumblers for the gate, the operators and the code mechanisms set thereby provide a binary code mechanism for selecting a tray gate in the rack to be set to divert the sheet into the associated bin.

In such a system, it will be understood that the notch in a given tumbler will be located on the tumbler so that it is only opposite to the corresponding control rod for the setting of the tumbler, logic 1 or logic 0, called for by the permutation setting for the corresponding tray. As may be seen by reference to FIG. 4, the operators are actuated by an armature 79 which is positioned between the corresponding pair of electromagnets so that when the a magnet is energized, the wire is moved upwardly and when the b magnet is energized, it is moved downwardly. The operators are each part of a corresponding bistable mechanical mechanism 80 (See FIG. 4) including upper and lower rocker arms 81, 82 for each wire. The arms have first ends to which the corresponding operator is connected and a second wire 83 is connected between the remote ends of the rocker members. The mechanisms 80 are described in detail in the application Ser. No. 827,394, filed May 23, 1969 and suffice it to say here that only a momentary energization of an electromagnet is necessary to set the bistable mechanical mechanism.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the operators and rack mechanism associated with the tray form a binary coding mechanism and that a four stage binary register may be utilized to store a binary address number for selecting the tray within a rack, one stage for each operator and corresponding pair of operating electromagnets. Binary registers are provided for each rack and rack registers 90A, 90B for the first and second racks are shown in FIG. 6b. These registers have four stages for the tray address and additional storage stages for storing rack addresses. Each rack register has sufficient storage capacity for storing the address of any rack which might be present in the system. If the rack address stored in a rack register corresponds to the rack with which the rack register is associated, the rack register will cause the operation of the rack gate 24 to divert the sheet into the rack and will cause the tray address stored in the rack register to effect energization of the electromagnets 75a-78a and 75b-78b in accordance with the settings stages of the register with the a magnet being energized when the corresponding register stages have a logic 1 set therein and the b magnets being energized when the corresponding rack register stages have a logic 0 set therein.

The structure of the sheet distributing mechanism is described in more detail in the copending applications of Schulze, Ser. Nos. 802,177 and 827,394 filed Feb. 25, 1969 and May 23, 1969, respectively and reference is hereby made to such applications for structure not specifically described herein.

In the disclosed embodiment, the sheets are directed to desired trays under the control of a stored program, an eight channel punched tape 100 in the illustrated embodiment as seen in FIG. 8, which is read by a tape reader 102. An eight channel tape was selected because of its common availability and availability of associated punching and reading equipment. The eight channel tape has the information in the channels arranged in rows which are read one at a time. The information is in the form of bits and the bits in one channel, channel 103a, as shown in FIG. 8, is read to indicate whether the information in the row is an address for a sheet or an instruction. For addresses, three channels 103b,103c,103d are used for rack addresses and four channels 103e,103f,103g and 103h are used for the tray addresses within the selected rack.

In the illustrated embodiment, a selected number of sheets may be directed to a given tray without repeating the address of the tray on the tape for each sheet to be delivered. If this is to be done, coded data indicating that a number of sheets are to be delivered is punched in the row immediately following the address and a hole is punched on channel 103a to indicate that the coded data is not an address but an instruction. As will be further explained hereinafter, other instructions might be coded in a row where a hole appears in channel 103a.

In the illustrated embodiment, a plurality of count registers 106A, 106B, 106C (FIG. 6a) may be set to control the number of sheets delivered or this information may be coded onto the tape. The registers 106A, 106B, 106C are preferably set by the operator and one of the registers is selected by information on the tape. This arrangement allows the operator to readily change the number of sheets to be delivered to a selected address. The selection of a register is under control of the "Instruction" code on the tape. Once a register has been selected, sheets will be directed to the preceding address until a counter 216 set in accordance with the store is counted to zero.

The tape reader 102 is a conventional type of tape reader having an input 103 to which an input signal is applied to effect energization of a tape drive relay 104, which is shown in FIG. 7a. When the relay 104 is energized, pins for reading the tape, one for each tape channel, are raised to effect a reading of the row of information in reading position in the reader. When the pins are raised, those pins which pass through an opening in the corresponding channel of the tape activate a corresponding relay in a relay tree 105 and the relay is constructed to latch up upon being activated. Consequently, the relays in the relay tree 105 will be set in accordance with bits of information in the row being read. The relay tree 105 has a relay for each channel and when there is a hole in the channel, the relay is energized and latched up. The relay remains in a non-energized condition in the absence of a hole. The latched-up relays in the tree 105 can be released by opening contacts 164-1 of a tree release relay 164. (See FIGS. 6a and 7b).

In operation, an initial sheet moving onto the conveyor 16 is sensed by a photocell 107 to effect energization of the tape drive relay to cause the tape reader to read a row of information and to set the relays of the relay tree 105 in accordance therewith. The information set in the relay tree 105 is then gated by gating circuitry 159A or 159B, FIGS. 6a, and 7b, to either an address storage register 112 or an address storage register 114. Two registers 112, 114 are provided so that one of the registers can be set while the other register is active to direct the movement of a sheet and to facilitate the checking of the tape for an "instruction" as explained in more detail hereinafter.

As the sheet approaches the first rack, a photocell 115 at the exit end of conveyor 17 (See also FIG. 6b) senses the approach of the sheet to the first rack and activates gating 113 to cause the address in the active one of the registers 112, 114 to be gated to the first rack register 90A. If the address is the address of the first rack, a decoder 116A for decoding the rack address set into the first rack register 90A will activate the first rack gate 24 to cause the sheet to enter the first rack and will activate gating 320A to set the electromagnets 75a-78a and 75b-78b for controlling the tray gates of the first rack to set one tray gate to cause the sheet to be diverted into the selected tray. If the address is not for the first rack, the decoder 116A will not set memory 316 and a close signal will be sent to the first rack gate. The sheet will then move across the top of the first rack to the second rack. As it approaches the second rack, it is sensed by a photocell 119 (FIGS. 1 and 6b) which activates gating 120B and causes the address which is stored in the first rack register to be gated to the second rack register 90B. The sheet will then be diverted into the second rack if the rack address is for the second rack or will proceed to subsequent racks in the manner described. If the sheet proceeds to the subsequent racks, it will call forward the address from the preceding rack register as it approaches the rack in the same manner as was done in the case of the second rack. Consequently, it can be seen that the address will move with the sheet until the sheet arrives at the proper rack, at which time the sheet will be diverted into the rack and distributed to the proper catch tray. After a sheet has cleared the photocell 115 and a sheet is being distributed, a following sheet may have entered the conveyor 16 and if the previous sheet is being directed to a rack beyond the first one, the following sheet will be calling its address forward in a similar manner to control its distribution. It will be appreciated that the timing of the sheets is such that the following sheet does not arrive at the photocell 115 before the preceding sheet has had an opportunity to call forward the address from the first rack register 90A to the second rack register 90B to accommodate the case when the preceding sheet is proceeding beyond the first rack.

A schematic control circuit for effecting distribution of the sheets in the manner described is shown in FIG. 7. The control circuit includes various conventional types of logic elements and multi-vibrator circuits. Multi-vibrator circuits include monostable multi-vibrator circuits which are sometimes hereinafter referred to as "mono". The circuits also include bistable memory circuits of the multi-vibrator type which have set and reset inputs and set (logic 1) and reset (logic 0) outputs which have a signal thereon when the circuits are respectively in their set and reset states. It will be understood that either positive or negative logic can be used. If positive logic is used, the signal on the set output is at a high level when the circuit is set and at a low level when the circuit is in its reset condition and the signal on the reset output is high when the circuit is in the reset condition and low when it is in a set condition. Conversely, if negative logic is used, the output signal on the set output of the circuit is in a set condition and will be a low level signal as compared to its output when the circuit is in a reset condition. Similarly, the signal on the reset output will be at a low level when the circuit is in a reset condition and at a high level when it is in a set condition. The control circuit disclosed herein for setting the relays and electromagnets is essentially a negative logic circuit where an output or signal is a low level signal and wherein all inputs to an AND gate must be low level signals to accomplish the AND function.

Referring to FIG. 7a, as a sheet moves onto the conveyor 16, a pulse which is a positive going pulse, is generated at the output of the photocell pre-amplifier 107a. This pulse is applied after being inverted by an inverter 137 to the input of a tape drive gate 138 whose output is connected to the input of a tape drive mono 140 through an inverting amplifier 139. The tape drive gate 138 has a high level output when all inputs are high and a negative going output when any of the inputs are negative going. In a negative logic system, such a gate is an OR gate. Normally the inputs to gate 138 are all high. Consequently the output of gate 138 is normally high and the input to tape drive mono 140 is normally negative, i.e., low.

The tape drive mono 140 is activated to its unstable state in response to a positive going signal. The leading edge of the pulse from the amplifier 139 as the sheet starts under the photocell 107 goes positive to trigger the mono to its non-stable state. The output of the mono on its set output 140c is at a high level when in its stable state and at a low level when in its unstable state. Consequently, the output signal on its output 140c is a negative going pulse as it switches from its stable to its nonstable state. This negative going pulse is inverted by an inverting amplifier 141 and applied to the tape drive relay 104 of the tape reader. The energization of the tape drive relay causes the pins of the tape reader 102, FIG. 6a, to be raised to read the tape and to energize the relays of the relay tree 105, FIGS. 6a and 7a, when an opening appears in the corresponding channel of the tape.

The positive going trailing edge of the pulse from the tape drive mono as it returns to its stable state is used to trigger a timing mono 148. When the mono 148 returns to its stable state, the change in level on its set output 148c provides a positive going signal which triggers a timing mono 150 and a readout mono 152. The timing mono 150 has an output 150c which is connected to the triggering input of an additional timing mono 151 so that when the timing mono 150 returns to its stable state, the positive going signal triggers the mono 151 to its unstable state. When the timing mono 151 returns to its stable state, an activating signal is applied from its output 151c to an input 154a of a negative logic AND gate 154. When the coded information in relay tree 105 is an address for a sheet, the change in level on input 154a of gate 154 from a high level to a low level when the circuit switches to its unstable state, causes the output of the gate 154 to switch to a low level and then to switch to a high level as the mono 151 returns to its stable state. The return to a high level output from gate 154 causes the setting of a register set circuit 156 (FIG. 7b).

The negative logic AND gate 154 has an input 154b, which is conditioned with a low level signal only when the information read by the tape reader is an address. In this case there will be no hole in the first channel 103a of the tape and the relay in the relay tree corresponding to the first channel will not be energized so that its contacts 160 (see FIG. 7a) will be closed to supply a positive signal to an inverting amplifier 159 to supply a low level signal to the gate 154.

In addition to the input 154a and the input 154b, the gate 154 has an input 154c which is conditioned by the output from the readout mono 152 and when the readout mono is in its nonstable state, a low level is applied to the input 154c. The readout mono 152 has a longer time delay in returning to its stable state than the combined time for the monos 150, 151. Accordingly, when the mono 151 is in its nonstable state, all of the inputs to the gate 154 are low and the output of the gate 154 is low. The return of the mono 151 to its stable state causes the level at input 154a to rise and the output of the gate 154 to rise to provide a positive going pulse to the register set circuit 156 to set the circuit in its set state and to provide a signal on its set output 156c.

When the register set circuit 156 is activated to its set state, the change in level on its reset output 156d effects the triggering of a register select memory circuit 157 for selecting one of the registers 112, 114, (FIG. 6a and 7b) to be set in accordance with the information from the relay tree. The reset output 156d of the register set circuit 156 is connected to both the set and the reset inputs of the bistable memory circuit 157 so that the circuit will change state each time a pulse is applied thereto from the register set circuit 156 to change the levels on its set output 157c and its reset output 157d.

When the register select circuit 157 is in its reset state, its set output 157c has a high level signal which conditions positive logic AND gating 159A to pass signals from the relay tree 105 to the address register 112. When the register select circuit 157 is in its set state, its reset output 157d has a high level signal which conditions positive logic AND gating 159B to pass signals from the relay tree 105 to the address register 114. The register select circuit is powered to its reset condition when the power is initially supplied to the circuitry so that the first sheet which passes the photocell 107 will cause the register select circuit to be operated to its set state to activate the gating 159B to set the register 114.

In addition to conditioning the gating 159A or 159B, by triggering the register select circuit 157, the positive going signal on the reset output 156d of the register set circuit 156 when the register set circuit 156 is set also causes the activation of a mono-stable multi-vibrator 161 to its unstable state to provide a low level signal on its output 161c to supply a reset pulse to the register which has been conditioned to receive an address by the register select circuit 157. The output 161c of the mono 161 is applied to a negative logic AND gate 162 which is conditioned by the set output 157c of the register select circuit 157 and to a negative logic AND gate 163 conditioned by the re-set output 157d of the register select circuit 157. The outputs of gates 162, 163 are connected to respectively effect a resetting of the respective registers 114, 112. Consequently, if the register select circuit is in its set state to select the register 114, the gating 162 is conditioned to be actuated from the monostable multi-vibrator 161 to reset the register 114 preparatory to the address being transferred to the register.

For the first sheet, the address is transferred from the relay tree 105 (FIG. 6a) to the register 114 when the read-out monostable multi-vibrator 152 returns to its stable state. When the read-out monostable multi-vibrator 152 returns to its stable state, a pulse is applied to the relay tree and the relays which are latched up have contacts which are closed to supply the pulse signal to the gating conditioned by the register select circuit 157 to activate the gating to set relays or other corresponding binary stages in the register 114 to their logic 1 states to effect a setting of stages in the address register in accordance with the setting of the corresponding relays in the relay tree 105. If the address register is a relay register, the relays are of the latching type.

The return of the read-out mono to its stable state also resets register set memory 156 since the latter has its reset input connected to the unstable state output of readout mono 152. The resetting of memory 156 causes the energization of the tree release relay 164 to open contacts 164-1 in series with the circuits for latching up the relays in the relay tree 105. The tree release relay is energized upon the activation of a monostable multi-vibrator 166 which is activated to its non-stable condition when the register set circuit 156 is activated to its reset condition so that the negative going signal on reset output 156d changes the output of a negative logic AND gate 167 from high to low. The output of gate 167 is applied to the input of an inverting amplifier 168 to activate the monostable multi-vibrator 166 to its non-stable condition. When the monostable multi-vibrator is in its non-stable condition, it has a low level output which is inverted by inverting amplifier 169 to energize the relay 164 to open contacts 164-1 to release the latched-up relays in the relay tree 105. While the tree release monostable multi-vibrator 166 is activated upon the resetting of the register set circuit 156, when readout monostable multi-vibrator 152 returns to its stable condition to apply a read pulse to the relay tree, the time delay inherent in the operation of electromechanical relays such as the tree release relay and the dropping out of the electromechanical relays of the relay tree 105 is such that the pulse reads the relay tree before these relays operate to destroy the information and sets the address register 112 or 114, as determined by the setting of the relay select circuit 157, in accordance with the relay tree 105. When the register set circuit is reset, the positive going signal on the set output 156c triggers a timing monostable multi-vibrator 180. At the time the timing mono 180 is energized all inputs to gate 138 are at a high level. When timing mono 180 is energized its output 180c which is connected to the gate 138 through a negative logic AND gate 179 goes negative causing the output of gate 138 to negative. The negative going pulse at the output of gate 138 is inverted by the inverter 139 and used to trigger the tape drive mono 140 causing the tape drive to step the tape as outlined above to read the next row of information to determine whether or not it contains an instruction for the first sheet. If an instruction is not present in the next tape row but rather an address, the circuitry will operate to store the address in register 112.

With reference to storing the second address, it will be recalled that the register select circuit 157 was set to a set state by the passage of the initial sheet in response to the setting of the register set circuit 156. When the second address is read, the register select circuit 157 will not be triggered to its reset state in response to the setting of the register set circuit 156 by the second sheet to select the register 112.

The second address is set in the register 112 by the return of the readout mono to its stable state. This will also effect the resetting of the register set circuit 156. It will be recalled that initially the resetting of the register 156 triggered the tape drive mono 140 to read a new row of information. Since both registers 112, 114 are now filled, the tape cannot be stepped since the next row of information may be an address and no storage register is available until a sheet clears the photocell 115. The stepping of the tape drive is prevented at this time by the output from a counter 182 which causes the loss of a conditioning voltage to gate 179. The counter normally conditions an input 179b to pass the pulse from the mono which is activated on the resetting of the register set circuit 156 to provide a signal to gate 138 to effect a stepping of the tape drive.

The counter 182 has a count of 1 output and a count of 2 output 182a, 182b, which have low levels thereon in the absence of a count of 1 and 2 respectively and high levels for the counts of 1 and 2 respectively. The outputs 182a, 182b are connected through a negative logic AND gate 183 to the input 179b of the gate 179 so that the gate is clamped and has a high level output when the counter has a count of 1 or a count of 2 therein. The counter has an input 182c connected to the output of the mono 180 through a gate 184 which is normally conditioned by the low level on the count of 2 output of the counter to pass a signal from the mono. When the output 182b is high, the mono will not activate the counter. When the gate 184 is conditioned, a count of 1 is added to the counter each time the mono is operated to effect a stepping of the tape drive. Consequently, the operation of the mono 180 in response to the first sheet establishes a count of 1 in the counter 182. This clamps the gate 179 and prevents the mono 180 from stepping the tape until the counter 182 is reset.

The setting of the second address in the register 112 will add a 1 count to the counter to establish a count of 2 therein. This will not unclamp gate 179 since the output of gate 183 will remain high in view of the low level on 182a and high level on 182b. When a count of 2 is established in the counter, the high level on the input to gate 184 from 182b clamps this gate and the counter will not be again stepped by the operation of the mono 180. Consequently, the circuitry is such that after a count of 2 is established in the counter, the tape drive will only be stepped once in response to activation of the tape drive gate 138 until the counter 182 is reset.

The counter 182 is reset to enable the mono 180 to effect a stepping of the tape, when an address is set, each time a sheet arrives at the photocell 115 unless there is a count of 2 in the counter 182. Accordingly, the counter 182 will be reset each time a sheet arrives at the photocell 115 unless the sheet caused the reading of two addresses when it triggered photocell 107 as it arrived at the sheet distributing mechanism as it did in the case thus far assumed for purposes of description. Consequently, when both registers 112, 114 are filled in response to the arrival of a sheet, subsequent sheets will only effect a single stepping of the tape as long as the reader continues to read addresses. It will be noted that in this situation the address for the next arriving sheet, for example, the second sheet in the description thus far, is already stored in one of the address registers, the register 112, when the first sheet effects reading of two addresses. Consequently, the second sheet need only step the tape to determine if there is an instruction on the tape for the sheet. If not, there will be an additional address read and it will be stored in the available address register, the register 114 in the case of the third sheet, since the first sheet will have cleared the photocell 115 and will have called forward the original address in register 114 so that the register is available at this time.

If, however, the tape contains an instruction for the second sheet, the circuitry will read the instruction and will operate to effect a resetting of the counter 182 when the sheet clears the photocell 115, or at another appropriate time, since the circuitry may accept two addresses the next time an address is read. This is because the first sheet cleared one address from the register, the arrival of the second sheet did not effect the reading and storing of an additional address but did effect the clearing of the register 114 by calling forward the second address as it arrived at photocell 115. Consequently, both registers are available to receive addresses.

The photocell 115 is connected through an inverter to one input of a gate 185 whose output is connected to an input of a gate 186. The gate 186 has its output connected to the reset input 182d of the counter through an inverter 187. See FIG. 7b.

The gate 185 is a gate which has a low level output unless both inputs are high, at which time it has a high level output, i.e., a positive level AND gate. Normally, the gate is conditioned by the signal on the count of 2 output 182b of the counter 182 applied to an input of gate 185 through an inverter to provide a high level output in response to the positive going pulse from the photocell 115. This high level output changes the level on one input to gate 186 to a high level to make its output go high. This is inverted by the inverter 187 to provide a low level to the counter reset terminal 182d. The trailing edge of the pulse from the photocell causes the gates to return to their normal condition and the counter is reset as a result of the pulse which is applied to its reset input. If the counter is stepped twice before it is reset by the photocell 115, this indicates that both registers 112, 114 have been filled and it is not desirable to have the photocell 115 reset the counter until an instruction is read from the tape. The count of 2 output 182b will have a high level thereon at the count of 2 which will clamp the output of gate 185 at a low level. The counter 182 in this condition will not be reset until the gate 186 is operated by the output of a zero detector 232 (FIG. 6a) or by the output of a No sheet circuit 255 (FIG. 6a) which also provides inputs to the gate 186.

When the counter 216 counts down to zero, the output of zero detector 232 goes from a high level to a low level to change the output from reset gate 186 for the counter 182 from a high level, caused by the establishment of a count in the counter 216 to a low level. This negative going pulse at the output side of gate 186 resets the counter 182 to return the register set circuitry to the condition which existed for the first sheet. The next sheet which arrives at the photocell 107 will now actuate the circuitry in the same manner as the first sheet.

To provide codes, such as stop, delete, and count codes, the relays of the relay tree have contacts which are connected in a tree form. These contacts may be additional to those contacts which are closed to indicate the latched-up condition. The tree contacts are not effective unless a hole appears in the first channel indicating an instruction and the relay for the first channel may have a contact through which all the tree contacts are energized by the read signal for the tree.

If the row of information read by the tape reader in response to the resetting of the register set circuit 156 by the initial sheet was not an address but rather an instruction, such as the number of sheets to be delivered to the tray selected by the preceding row of information or a stop code, the relay for reading the first channel of the tape will be picked up in response to the presence of a hole in the tape. The picking up of the relay will close its contacts 160b (FIG. 7a) to supply high level potential to the input of an inverting amplifier 200 which in turn supplies a low level input to a negative logic AND gate 202 whose output is connected to the set input 204a of a bistable instruction memory circuit 204. The application of the low level input to the AND gate 202 causes the output to change from a high level to a low level since a second input 202b of the gate 202 is connected to the NOT output 152d of the readout mono 152 so that it is a low level output when the readout mono is in its stable state. The readout mono will be in its stable state at this time. However, the readout mono will be triggered in response to a pulse from the timing monostable multi-vibrator 148 which is triggered to its unstable state when the output of the tape drive monostable multi-vibrator 140 returns to its stable state. At this time the level to the input of AND gate 202 from the readout mono will change to a high level to cause the output of gate 202 to switch to a high level to in turn cause a setting of the instruction relay. It will be noted that the instruction relay is set before the AND gate 154 is activated by the resetting of the timing monostable multi-vibrator 151 even though the AND gate 154 has been conditioned by the readout monostable multi-vibrator 152. Thus the timing monos 150, 151 assure that the instruction memory has time to be set when a row of information is read before the gate 154 is actuated. This prevents the setting of the set register circuit in the instruction mode of operation. The register set circuit 156 is to be activated only when the information is an address since it essentially controls the setting of the address registers 112, 114.

When the instruction memory circuit 204 is set, the change in level on its set output 204c from a high level to a low level causes the activation of a negative logic AND gate 206 to trigger a count set monostable multi-vibrator circuit 208 (FIG. 7b) to its unstable state when the timing mono 151 returns to its stable state. The timing mono 151 has its output 151c connected to an input 206b of the AND gate 206. The normal high levels on the set output 151c of the mono 151 and on the set output 204c of the instruction memory 204 normally provides a high level output from the gate 206. This high level output will hold until the setting of the instruction memory and the triggering of the timing mono 151 to its unstable state at which time the inputs to gate 206 will go high, and the count set mono 208 triggered. The instruction memory 204 is reset by the set output from the readout mono 152 going positive.

The triggering of count set mono 208 to its unstable state produces a change in output on its set output 208c from a high level to a low level to change the output of an inverting amplifier 210 to a high level to energize count set relay 212 and the counter reset relay 214.

The counter reset relay 214 when energized actuates contacts to effect a resetting of a counter 216 (FIG. 6a) to a zero condition by breaking the energizing circuits for all relays. As will be seen from FIG. 7b, the counter reset relay 214 is energized through contacts 212-1 of the counter set relay 212 and through a condenser 218. When the relay 214 is energized, it opens contacts in a circuit for latching-up relays in the counter 216 of FIG. 6a). When the condenser charges, the counter reset relay 214 drops out to enable the counter set relay 212 to be effective to parallel set information i.e., a count, into the relay counter 216. The count which is set into the relay counter 216 may be from the relay tree 105, having been set therein by the tape reader, or from any one of a plurality of the count registers 106A, 106B and 106C. The count registers are each settable in response to manually operated switches, 218A, 218B, 218C for the count registers (See FIG. 6a).

Certain relays of the relay tree 105 have contacts which form a tree code to designate whether the counter 216 is to be set from the tape reader, i.e., the relay tree 105, or from a selected one of the count registers 106A, 106B, 106C.

If the counter is to be set from the relay tree 105, the tape has a coding therein which sets relay contacts to condition a gate 222 to parallel set a count in the counter 216 by setting relays of the counter in accordance with the condition of certain relays in the relay tree 105. The counter set relay when energized applies a read signal to the relay tree 105 to read the tree and set the counter 216 by latching-up selected relays.

If the counter 216 is to be set from one of the count registers, the relay tree will have an output on a connection to the count register which will provide a read signal for reading the selected register and setting the counter. The counter set relay 212 provides a signal to each register to render the selected count register effective to set the counter in accordance with the settings of the manually operated switches 218A, 218B, 218C. The counter set relay 212 is de-energized when the count set mono 208 returns to its stable state. The initial triggering of the counter set mono 208 also sets a memory circuit 240 (FIG. 7b) to cause its reset output 240d to asume a high level. This output is connected to an input of tree release gate 167 to cause its output to go high to trigger the tree release mono 166 when the memory 240 is reset. The memory circuit 240 has its reset input 240b connected to the output of mono 166 and is reset when the mono returns to its stable state.

The counter is now set to a predetermined count and the control circuit will operate to count down the counter as sheets move onto the conveyor 16. Additional information will not be read by the circuitry until the number of sheets set in the counter have been directed to the tray selected by the address register.

As the sheets pass the second photocell 115, they will effect a countdown of the counter (FIGS. 6a and 6b). They will not, however, reset the register set counter 182 since the zero detector 232 will have clamped the gate 186 (FIG. 7b). To count down the counter 216, the lead edge of the sheet passing the photocell 115 causes a negative going change in cell output which is inverted at inverter 233 (FIG. 6a) to a positive going pulse signal to the set terminal 230a of a bistable memory circuit 230 to set the circuit to its set state in response to the leading edge of the pulse to effect energization of a relay 231. The energization of the relay 231 enters a count of one in the counter 216 to step it toward zero.

The memory circuit 230 is reset by the pulse from the inverter circuit 233 which is applied to the reset terminal for the memory 230 through a delay circuit 234.

It is possible that when an instruction is read, the information on the tape will indicate a group of selector switches,for example,switches 218A, which have a zero count registered therein. If this occurs, a signal will be applied from the selected register when it is energized, directly to a no sheet memory circuit 255 (see FIG. 7a) to set the latter. When the bistable memory circuit 255 is set, it provides a low level output on its set output 255d which is connected to an input for tape drive gate 138 to trigger the tape drive mono to read the next row of information to obtain a new address for the sheet. The reset output of the memory 255 is connected to an input of counter reset gate 186 to reset the counter since a no sheet will indicate that both registers are available and that the tape should be read twice before the sheet clears the photocell 115 to determine its address and check for a possible instruction.

In a no sheet situation, the tape may be stepped three times in response to a sheet arriving at the photocell 107. The reset output 255c of the no sheet memory circuit 255 is connected to the tree release relay gate 167 so that the tree release relay is activated when the memory circuit 255 is reset to effect a release of the relays in the relay tree. The no sheet memory 255 is reset by the pulse which sets the circuit which is applied to the reset input through a delay circuit 259.

Similarly, the code on the tape might be a delete code which indicates that the information is to be ignored or a stop code. When the relay tree is energized, an output signal will appear from the relay tree to set a delete bistable memory circuit 260 (FIG. 7a) or to set a stop memory circuit 261 in the event that the delete code or stop code is detected. In the case of the delete code, the setting of the memory circuit 260 causes the signal on its reset output 260d to go from a low level to a high level to provide a high level input to the negative logic AND gates 154, 206, so they cannot be activated in response to the readout monostable multi-vibrator 152 and the return of the timing mono 151 to its reset state. This prevents the register set circuit and the count set circuit from being activated in response to a delete code. The reset output 260d of the delete memory circuit is connected to the gate 167 for the tree release relay so that when the delete memory circuit 260 is reset, a signal is applied to activate the tree release relay 164 to release the latched-up relays in the relay tree 105. The set output of the delete memory circuit is connected to tape drive gate 138 to effect the reading of new information. The set output of the readout monostable multi-vibrator 152 is also used to provide a signal for resetting the delete memory circuit 260 on the return of the mono 152 to its reset state.

Similarly, if the stop code is detected, a signal from the relay tree 105 sets the stop bistable memory circuit 261 (FIG. 7a). This causes a loss of a low level signal to the tree release gate 206 so that this gate is activated to release the relay tree. The set output is connected to stop the sheet reproducing machine.

After the initial document or sheet has effected the setting of the address register, the document proceeds to the first rack and as it approaches the first rack, the lead edge of the document causes a change in the output of photocell 115. This change in output causes the address in the active address register, either 112 or 114, to be transferred to the rack register 90A for the first rack. The leading edge of the pulse generated by the photocell 115 is used to activate AND gating 113 (FIG. 6b). The gating 113 has an information input to the address register 112 and also to the address register 114. The register which is gated by the gating 113 is determined by a bistable address select memory circuit 307 (FIG. 6a). The address select circuit is a bistable memory circuit which is set or reset each time a sheet passes the photocell 115, except during a counting operation. The photocell 115 applies a pulse to both the set and reset circuits to effect a change in state of the memory circuit 307. The pulse is applied from the output of the inverter 233 through a positive logic AND gate 308 which has a second input conditioned by the output of the zero detector for the counter circuit 216. It will be recalled that the output for the zero detector has a high level signal thereon when the counter is counting. Since the output to the AND gate 308 from the detector is through an inverter 309, the address select memory circuit 307 will only be switched in response to a sheet when the counter is zero at which time the trailing edge of the sheet pulse will cause a negative going signal at the output of the gate 308 so that the trailing edge of the sheet pulse will operate the address select circuit 307.

At the beginning of the sheet distributing operation, the address select circuit will be powered to its reset state when the power is applied to the circuitry and the first document will cause it to switch to its set state. When in its set state, the select circuit applies a read signal to the address register 112 so that as the document proceeds to the photocell 115 and activates the gating 113, the address in the register 112 will be gated to the first rack register. At the time of the first sheet, the address select register will be in its reset state and conditioning the address register 114 since it is the trailing edge of the sheet pulse which changes the registers. Thus memory 307 will be set by the first sheet so that the following document will operate to gate the address from register 112 to reset the address select circuit 307 to again select address register 114 assuming that the circuit has not been set to operate in the counting mode. At that time, the first rack register will have been reset in response to the setting of the gates in the first rack or in response to the calling forward of the address from the first rack to the second rack. Consequently, the timing of the sheet conveying system is such that the first sheet moves from the photocell 107 to the photocell 115 before the arrival of the following sheet at the photocell 107 and moves from the photocell 115 to the photocell 119 prior to the arrival of the following sheet at the photocell 115. It will be understood that normally the conveyor 16 will be fed from another machine, although it may be fed by hand.

When the gating 113 is activated, the rack register 90A (FIG. 6b) is parallel set to set a plurality of bistable stages, seven such stages in the illustrated embodiment. Each of the binary stages of the register is triggered to a set state if the corresponding stage in the address register is energized. Otherwise the stage will be in a reset state. The first three stages of the rack register have outputs which may be termed set and reset outputs, or logic 1 and logic 0 outputs, to form a permutation code for representing the address of the rack. If the proper outputs are present, the decoder 116A has an output which changes from one level to a second level to set an "allow" memory circuit 316.

The setting of the "allow" bistable memory circuit 316 establishes a logic 1, or set, output on an output 316c which conditions an AND gate 317 to pass a pulse to energize electromagnet 36 for opening the sheet gate 24 for the first rack. The set output also conditions an AND gate 318 to pass a pulse on an input 318b to gating 320A for gating the information set in the other stages of the register 90A to activate respective ones of electromagnets 75a-78a if a corresponding stage of the rack register is in a set state and to activate respective ones of the electromagnets 75b-78b if the corresponding stage of the rack register 90A is in a zero or reset state. One stage of the rack register controls a corresponding set of electromagnets for operating one of the wire operators. The energization of the electromagnets in accordance with the rack register will operate the wire operators 71, 72, 73 and 74 to set the permutation code in the decoding mechanism for the catch tray and when the sheet arrives at the particular catch tray which corresponds to the code, it will be diverted by the sheet gate into the tray.

The signal which is applied to the AND gate 317 opening the first rack gate 24 and the gating input 318b of the AND circuit 318 to set the electromagnets for the wire operators 71, 72, 73 and 74 is the change in level of the leading edge of the pulse generated by the document passing the photocell 115 and this signal is applied with delay to the input 318b of the AND gate 318. The delay is to allow time for the rack register 90A to be set and for the decoder to set the "allow" memory circuit 316 in case the address corresponds to the first rack register 90A.

If the address does not correspond to that first rack register, the decoder 116A will not effect the setting of the "allow" memory circuit 316 and the delayed pulse from the delay circuit 321 will activate an AND gate 322 having an output connected to the electromagnet 37 for actuating the sheet gate for the first rack to its closed position. The AND gate 322 has a second input which is conditioned by the reset output 316d of the "allow" memory circuit 316. With the sheet gate in its closed position, the sheet will proceed across the top of the first rack toward the photocell 119.

As the trailing edge of the sheet clears the photocell 115, the change in level of the trailing edge (T.E.) of the photocell signal effects a resetting of the memory circuit 316 if it has been set by the decoder 116A. If the sheet is proceeding through the second rack, the circuit is in its reset state and the signal has no effect but if the sheet has been directed into the first rack, the "allow" circuit 316 will be set and the resetting of the circuit will provide a signal from the reset output 316d to an OR gate 324 which will reset the rack register 90A to a zero condition. If the sheet is proceeding past the first rack to the photocell 119, the leading edge of the sheet as it reaches the photocell 119 will cause a change in output from the photocell 119 which is used to reset the rack register 90A for the first rack. The change in signal from the photocell 119 as the sheet moves thereby also activates the gating 120B for setting the rack register 90B. The rack register 90B is set in response to signals which are derived by the resetting of the rack register 90A. When the rack register 90B is set, a decoder 116B operates to determine whether or not the address is for the second rack and if so actuates an "allow" memory circuit 316B to condition an AND gate 317B and an AND gate 318B to pass a delayed pulse derived from the leading edge of the sheet document as it passes the photocell 119 to open the sheet gate for the second rack by pulsing the electromagnet and to activate gating 320B for activating the electromagnets for operating the wire operators of the decoding mechanisms of the second rack. Similarly, if the address is not for the second rack but for a rack beyond the second rack, the delayed pulse from the photocell 119 will activate an AND gate 322B to energize the electromagnet for closing the sheet gate for the second rack to assure that the sheet will move across the top of the second rack to the third rack. Thus the sheet will continue to move past racks in sequence until it reaches a rack which corresponds to the address word.

It can be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides a sheet distributing mechanism which is extremely flexible. A program can be prepared to control the distribution of sheets to the various catch trays and the program can be coded to direct a predetermined number of sheets to an address without requiring the address to be repeated for each sheet. Also the provision of the count registers provides flexibility in that it enables the program to select a settable relay store for controlling the number of sheets. This enables the operator to change the number of sheets to a particular catch tray without preparing a new program.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet distributing mechanism, a plurality of sheet receiving locations each having an address, sheet conveying means for conveying sheets sequentially entering the mechanism to selected addresses, memory means having a plurality of locations for storing sequentially accessible data including first data comprising coded address data indicating the addresses to which sheets are to be directed and second data comprising additional coded data associated with at least certain of said addresses, said second data being different from said first data and representing additional instructions for said mechanism relative to the distribution of sheets, reading means for sequentially reading said memory means to sequentially establish addresses for sheets to be distributed, means responsive to an address established by said reading means for controlling said sheet conveying means to direct a sheet to the address, control means responsive to the reading of coded address data from said memory means by said reading means for activating said reading means to effect the next sequential reading of data from said memory means to determine if the next data to be read in sequence is a coded address or said additional coded data representing an additional instruction, and means for storing the data read by said next sequential reading for subsequent use in directing a sheet to the address if the data read is an address and for storing said additional coded data for immediate active use if the data read is additional coded data representing an instruction different from an address.

2. In a mechanism as defined in claim 1 wherein said mechanism includes inhibit means settable in response to the reading of two addresses in sequence to inhibit operation of said control means, and means responsive to an instruction from said memory means for resetting said inhibit means to permit the operation of said control means.

3. In a mechanism as defined in claim 2 wherein said mechanism includes means responsive to said reading means for resetting said inhibit means and activating said reading means in response to coded instructional data indicating no sheets are to be directed to the preceding address.

4. In a sheet distributing machine for distributing sheets entering the machine to a plurality of addresses, memory means having a plurality of locations for storing sequentially accessible data including coded address data indicating addresses to which sheets are to be directed and additional second coded data associated with at least certain of said addresses constituting additional instructions for said mechanism relative to the distribution of sheets, reading means for reading said memory means sequentially to determine addresses in sequence to which sheets are to be directed and to read any of said additional second coded data associated with said certain addresses, register means responsive to said reading means for registering an address read by said reading means from said memory means, means for directing a sheet entering the machine to an address registered in said register means, said additional second coded data associated with at least certain of said address data indicating a particular plurality of sheets which are to be directed to the associated address, and further means responsive to the reading of said additional second coded data by said machine for rendering said machine ineffective to establish a new address for sheets entering said distributor until said plurality of sheets has been directed to the associated address.

5. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 4 wherein said further means comprises a manually settable register for registering a number of sheets to be directed to selected addresses, and means responsive to said coded data for rendering said register effective to direct a number of sheets to a selected address in accordance with the setting of the register and for initiating a new address when said number of sheets has been directed to the selected address.

6. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 5 in which there are a plurality of manually settable registers and said additional coded data is effective to select one of said registers.

7. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 4 wherein said further means comprises a sheet counting means, means responsive to said additional coded data to set said sheet counting means to provide a signal after a predetermined count, means for entering a count into said counting means for sheets directed to the selected address, and means responsive to said signal for enabling said mechanism to direct the next sheet to a new address.

8. In a sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 4 including sheet responsive means responsive to the arrival of a sheet for actuating said reading means to read the next information stored in said program means, means responsive to the reading and registering of an address for initiating a reading of the next information stored in said program means independently of the arrival of a sheet, and means for effecting the storing of said next information when the latter is an address and inhibiting further reading of said storage means until the arrival of another sheet.

9. In a sheet distributing mechanism according to claim 8 wherein said further means comprises means for rendering said sheet responsive means ineffective to actuate said reading means to read the next stored information in response to the reading of said further coded data until the selected number of sheets is directed to the previously read address.

10. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 8 wherein said further means comprises a manually settable register for registering a number of sheets to be directed to a selected address, and means responsive to said coded data for rendering said register effective to control the number of sheets to a selected address and for initiating a new address when said number of sheets has been directed to the new address.

11. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 10 wherein said mechanism includes means responsive to a predetermined setting of said manually settable register for effecting the reading of a new address from said program means for the sheet which last actuated said sheet responsive means.

12. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 10 in which there are a plurality of manually settable registers and said additional coded data is effective to select one of said registers to control the number of sheets to be directed to a selected address.

13. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 10 wherein said further means comprises a sheet counting means, means responsive to said additional coded data to set said sheet counting means in accordance with said manually settable register to provide a signal after a predetermined count, means for entering a count into said counting means for a sheet directed to the selected address, and means responsive to said signal for enabling said mechanism to direct the next sheet to a new address.

14. A sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 8 wherein said further means comprises a sheet counting means, means responsive to said additional coded data to set said sheet counting means to provide a signal after a predetermined count, means for entering a count into said counting means for a sheet directed to the selected address and means responsive to said signal for enabling said mechanism to direct the next sheet to a new address.

15. In a sheet distributing mechanism having a plurality of racks in series, each rack having a plurality of trays therein and each of said trays having a rack address and a tray address within the rack, indexible storage means for storing a plurality of words each indicating the rack address and tray address for a tray and indexible to effect the reading of the words in sequence, a rack register for each rack for registering an address word representing an address to which a sheet is to be directed, sheet gate means at each rack to direct a sheet into the rack, tray gate means at each tray for directing a sheet into a tray corresponding to the tray address, decoding means for each rack for decoding the address word, means responsive to said decoding means for decoding the address word including means responsive to said decoding means for actuating the corresponding rack gate to divert the sheet from the rack or into the rack depending when the rack address in the word matches the address of the rack and for setting the tray gate within the rack corresponding to the tray address when the address matches the rack, sheet conveying and directing means for conveying said sheets to said racks and past said trays to deliver a sheet to an address for the sheet including means for registering an address word for each sheet in the rack register of a rack as the rack is being approached by the sheet.

16. In a sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 15 wherein said storage means includes memory means for storing said words and reading means for reading said memory means, and said sheet conveying and directing means includes first sheet sensing means responsive to a sheet entering said mechanism for actuating said reading means to effect a reading of said memory means and a storing of an address word, sheet sensing means in advance of the first rack of the sequence actuated in response to a sheet approaching the first rack to set the first rack register from said storage means, additional sheet sensing means in advance of each of other racks actuated by a sheet approaching the rack to set the next rack register from the preceding rack register.

17. In a sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 16 including a counting means adapted to be actuated each time a sheet enters said mechanism, said memory means including further code words associated with at least certain of said address words and read in association therewith, said further code words indicating that a plurality of sheets is to be distributed to the address word associated with said further code word, count means responsive to the reading of a further code word by said reading means for setting said counting means, and means effective on the setting of said counting means for rendering each sheet entering said mechanism effective to enter a count in said counting means and rendering said first sheet sensing means ineffective to actuate said reading means and responsive to a predetermined number of counts entered in said counting means to enable the mechanism to direct the next sheet entering the mechanism to another address.

18. In a sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 17 wherein said count means includes a plurality of registers manually settable to a predetermined count and means actuated in response to the reading of said further code word by said reading means to render a selected one of said registers effective to set said counting means to said predetermined count.

19. In a sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 16, wherein said reading means comprises first and second registers for storing an address to be transferred to the first rack register, means responsive to the setting of one of said registers to initiate the reading of the next data stored in said program means and means responsive to reading of an address to store said address in said second register and to render said first sheet sensing means ineffective to actuate said reading means.

20. In a sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 15, wherein said decoding means at each rack includes a permutation code mechanism comprised of mechanically positionable binary elements at each tray, a plurality of mechanical bistable mechanisms each adapted to set one of said binary elements at each gate, and means responsive to the setting of a portion of the rack register to an address corresponding to the rack for setting said mechanical bistable mechanisms.

21. In a sheet distributing mechanism according to claim 15, wherein said tray gate means of each rack includes a tray gate for each tray in the rack and said decoding means includes a binary code mechanism associated with each tray gate for operating the tray gate when the mechanism is set to a particular permutation and binary responsive to the rack register for setting said code mechanism in accordance with the tray address set in the rack register.

22. In a sheet distributing machine for distributing sheets to selected ones of a plurality of catch trays, each of said catch trays have a coded address, addressing means for storing coded address data representing addresses to which said sheets are to be directed, reading means for reading said address means and registering an address to which a sheet is to be directed, means for directing a sheet entering the mechanism to an address registered in said reading means, said addressing means including additional coded data different from said address data associated with the address data for at least certain addresses, sheet responsive means responsive to the arrival of a sheet for actuating said reading means to read said addressing means, means responsive to the reading and registering of an address for initiating a reading of the next information stored in said addressing means independently of the arrival of a sheet, and means for effecting the storing of said next information in said addressing means when the latter is an address and inhibiting further reading of said addressing means until at least the arrival of another sheet.

23. In a sheet distributing mechanism, a plurality of racks each having a plurality of trays distributed along a sheet path within the rack and a tray gate for each tray operable to divert a sheet into the selected tray, conveying means for conveying a sheet past said racks, each of said racks having rack gates for diverting a sheet from said conveying means to follow the said sheet path within the rack, memory means storing a plurality of code words in binary form, each code word having a rack address portion and a tray address portion, a rack register for each rack, means for registering in the rack register of the rack being approached by a sheet one of said code words indicating the address for the sheet, and means at each rack register for opening the rack gate and for setting a selected tray gate in the rack to a diverting position when the rack address in the word set in the rack register matches that of the rack.

24. In a sheet distributing mechanism as defined in claim 23 in which the last said means at each of said rack includes a decoder for decoding an address in the rack register, an allow circuit actuated by the decoder when the address is for said rack, means conditioned by said allow circuit and actuated in response to the approach of the sheet to open said rack gate and for setting a tray gate, means for resetting the allow circuit when the rack and tray gates are set as said sheet moves into the rack, and means responsive to the resetting of the allow circuit for resetting the rack register.