Document handling counting and examining device incorporating high speed

Abstract

Document handling apparatus for determing the fitness of documents such as paper sheets, paper currency and the like and including a feed mechanism for feeding documents in a single file through an examining location. Documents pass through the examining location and are examined for relative limpness or stiffness, density (i.e. clean or dirty,), perforations, cuts, tears, holes and the like, missing and/or folded corners and a test for document genuineness. Based upon the results of the tests, the sheets, which are still moving at high speed in a single file after examination, are directed toward a rotatably mounted gating roller which, dependent upon the condition of the examined sheets, is rotated either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, at extremely high speed, to deflect sheets toward either of two possible output paths. The gating roller may be either a continuous or dicontinuous member. Sheets, after undergoing deflection, are collected by associted output stackers, which include feeding and guiding belts for guiding the sheets and aiding in the insertion of the sheets into a rotary stacker member, and stripping and guiding belts for stripping sheets from the rotary stacker member and for driving sheets to the supporting surface of a stacker plate to facilitate formation of a neat, compact stack. The gating roller may have a continuous or discontinuous surface, preferably of low mass, to facilitate rapid acceleration and deceleration thereof, and may be utilized with control circuitry to advance sheets towards one of the three possible paths.