[54] COMPUTER DIRECTED MANUAL SORTING AID
[75] Inventors: William A. Jackson, Lewisville;
Hubert C. Jones, Jr., Austin, both of
Tex.
[73] Assignee: Electronic Data Systems Corporation, Dallas, Tex.
[21] Appl, No.: 803,862
[22] Filed: Jun. 6,1977
[51] Int. C1.2 G06F 15/24; B07C 5/10
[52] U.S. CI 364/478; 209/525;
209/549; 364/400
[58] Field of Search 364/400, 478, 900;
209/524, 525, 530, 546, 549, 706
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,260,999 7/1966 Grammer 364/900
3,829,844 8/1974 Zonneveld et al 364/900
3,889,811 6/1975 Yoshimura 209/549
3,993,193 11/1976 Welch et al 209/549
Primary Examiner—Felix D. Gruber
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Martin Faier; Eugene F.
Friedman
[57] ABSTRACT
A device for the purpose of providing computerized direction and control in the process of manually sorting
documents. A sorting bin is provided containing compartments into which documents are placed to effect the sort. The sorting bin is contained within a sorting console which also houses a power supply; an indicator and document detector array; a control unit which monitors the document detectors, operates the indicators, and communicates with a computer; and control switches and indicators.
An operator sorts documents by depositing them one at a time into a selected compartment of the sorting bin. The control unit, under computer direction, indicates to the operator the correct compartment for depositing each document, by illuminating indicators associated with the proper compartment. Document detectors inform the control unit when a document is deposited in any compartment. When a document is deposited in an incorrect compartment, an alarm alerts the operator.
Depositing a document in the correct compartment turns off the indicators associated with that compartment and enables the control unit to select the compartment for the next document.
When the number of sorted documents approaches the capacity of the sorting bin, the full bin may be removed from the sorting console and replaced with an empty bin.
