Card separating members for a microfiche storage and retrieval system
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorJohn E. Burbank, III
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microfiche card storage and retrieval system comprising a carousel for storing a plurality of microfiche cards, means for separating microfiche cards adjacent a preselected card in said carousel such that a preselected card may be grasped and moved from said carousel and reinserted. The spreading means comprising fingers that move toward the center and inwardly in relationship to the trays to contact and separate neighboring microfiche cards from a preselected card.
Claims12
In a microfiche card storage and retrieval device having a tray for storing a plurality of microfiche cards with edges of the cards disposed in generally parallel alignment in selective slots formed in opposed flanges defining said tray, the improvement comprising
- a pair of fingers disposed adjacent the flanges,
- means for moving said fingers from a rest position adjacent an edge of a said slot near said flanges toward a position generally centrally of the flanges of said tray, said means for moving said fingers comprising means for moving said fingers on a path from said rest position toward said center position and spaced from each other and from the edge of said slot, and means for returning said fingers to said rest position such that when said fingers are in said position adjacent the center of the tray the cards adjacent a preselected one of said slots in said tray will have the centers bowed away from the preselected slot for supporting a selected card.
In a card storage and retrieval device having a storage tray with a pair of opposed flanges with opposed axially aligned slots for storing a plurality of cards with edges of the cards disposed in generally parallel alignment and means defining a card retrieval station for removing or inserting a card in a preselected pair of said opposed slots, the improvement comprising
- a pair of fingers disposed one adjacent each of said flanges and positioning means for positioning said fingers in a rest position adjacent the flange of said pair of trays,
- means for moving said fingers from said rest position toward a position generally centrally of the flanges of said trays, said means for moving said fingers comprising means for moving said fingers along a path diverging from the plane of a said preselected pair of slots toward said center position, and means for returning said fingers to said rest position adjacent said flanges such that when said fingers are in said position adjacent the center of the flanges the cards adjacent the preselected one of said slots in said trays will have the centers bowed away from the preselected slot for supporting a selected card.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.