Magnetic proximity switch dispatch system

Claim 1

A DISPATCH CONTROL SYSTEM FOR USE IN ROUTING A CARRIER ON A CONVEYOR TO A PRESELECTED DESTINATION BEYOND CONVEYOR-ROUTE SWITCHING MEANS, COMPRISING A READ-OUT UNIT FIXED ADJACENT SAID CONVEYOR AHEAD OF SAID SWITCHING MEANS, SAID READ-OUT UNIT HAVING A PERMUTATION PLATE PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF HOLES ARRANGED IN LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE ROWS; AT LEAST TWO MAGNETIC-FIELD RESPONSIVE PROXIMITY SWITCHES CONTROLLING SAID ROUTE SWITCHING MEANS; SWITCH SUPPORTING MEANS ENGAGING SAID PLATE AT SAID HOLES AND SUPPORTING SAID SWITCHING MEANS DEFINITELY POSITIONED IN MUTUALLY SPACED RELATION; AND AN ENCODER UNIT FIXED TO SAID CARRIER AND ORIENTED TO PASS IN CLOSE PARALLEL PROXIMITY TO SAID READ-OUT UNIT, SAID ENCODER UNIT HAVING AN ENCODER PLATE PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF HOLES ARRANGED IN LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE ROWS; A MAGNET FOR EACH OF SAID SWITCHES; MAGNET SUPPORTING MEANS ENGAGING SAID ENCODER PLATE AT SAID HOLES AND SUPPORTING THE MAGNETS DEFINITELY POSITIONED ON SAID ENCODER UNIT TO FORM POSITIONAL PERMUTATIONS, THE POSSIBLE POSITIONED PERMUTATIONS OF THE MAGNETS ON THE ENCODER PLATE CORRESPONDING PRECISELY WITH THE POSSIBLE POSITIONS OF THE SWITCH MEANS ON THE PERMUTATION PLATE SUCH THAT WHEN THE MAGNETS COME INTO OPPOSED SIMULTANEOUS ALIGNMENT WITH PROXIMITY SWITCHES HAVING THE SAME POSITIONAL PERMUTATION THE LATTER WILL BE ACTUATED TO THEREBY CONTROL SAID ROUTE SWITCHING MEANS.