Abstract: An apparatus for transporting an article through a conduit includes a conduit extending between a sending station and a receiving station, first and second gates remote from the sending and receiving stations for selectively sealing the conduit between a selected one of the gates and the article, a pressure source connected to the conduit between the first and second gates for selectively exhausting or pressurizing the conduit to create a pressure differential across the article in the conduit, a transfer switch connected to the conduit at a predetermined location between the first and second gates, the transfer switch operative to open and close the first and second gates and actuate the pressure source and wherein the conduit between the article and one of the gates is exhausted to propel the article from the sending station toward the transfer switch and the conduit between the carrier and the other of said gates is pressurized in response to a signal from the transfer switch to propel the carrier away fro

Abstract: A blower unit is provided which is suitable for use in a pneumatic transmission system. The blower unit includes a housing having at least two inlet/outlet openings through which air can flow. Disposed within the housing are one or more blower motors, each blower motor for moving a volume of air from one of the at least two inlet/outlet openings to another. Also disposed within the housing are one or more bypass paths, each bypass path providing a route by which air can flow without flowing through an associated blower motor. A valve element is disposed within at least one of the bypass paths for substantially blocking air-flow through that bypass path when the associated blower motor is active.

Abstract: A blower unit is provided which is suitable for use in a pneumatic transmission system. The blower unit includes a housing having at least two inlet/outlet openings through which air can flow. Disposed within the housing are one or more blower motors, each blower motor for moving a volume of air from one of the at least two inlet/outlet openings to another. Also disposed within the housing are one or more bypass paths, each bypass path providing a route by which air can flow without flowing through an associated blower motor. A valve element is disposed within at least one of the bypass paths for substantially blocking air-flow through that bypass path when the associated blower motor is active.

Abstract: A pneumatic transmission system having a carrier automatic braking system contains a transport conduit having a first end and a second end and being capable of permitting the transfer of a carrier therethrough, a first station for sending and receiving a carrier located on one end of the transmission conduit, and a second station for sending and receiving a carrier located on the other end of the transmission conduit. A motor blower, capable of moving a volume of air through a conduit, is enclosed within a supply/exhaust branch which is connected to one of the stations. A valve, capable of closing, to thereby create an air block in the supply line, is also disposed within the supply/exhaust branch. The motor blower blows air to move the carrier from one station to the other. The valve is activated, after deactivating the motor blower, when the carrier is detected at some predetermined location along the transport conduit.

Abstract: A document transport including an endless belt driven by a pair of logic controlled servo motors which precisely move a document from a feeding station through a scanning station and into a stacking station. As documents are passed through the scanning station, images of the characters thereon are projected by a scanner onto a single columnar retina. The scanner includes a single shaft which is repetitively rotated through a preselected arc by a logic controlled servo motor synchronized with the transport control system. An illumination mirror is mounted on one end of the shaft and an image mirror is mounted on the other so that illumination from a lamp is scanned across the characters to be read while the illuminated images are reflected from the image mirror onto the retina.