Sheet feeding or delivering – Special articles – Envelope
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-13
2002-04-02
Bollinger, David H. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Special articles
Envelope
C271S010010, C271S264000, C271S272000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06364306
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a configuration for determining the dimensions of printed media, especially of letters or envelopes, in a letter or envelope separating apparatus. In that case, the letters or envelopes can have different thicknesses and permissible formats in an irregular sequence. The processing of letters or envelopes occurring in that way is referred to as mixed mail operation.
Mail processing systems normally include:
a letter or envelope separating apparatus, in which the letters or envelopes are placed successively in stacks, separated and closed as required,
a franking and/or addressing machine with an optional integrated or preceding balance or scale, and
a depositing apparatus.
Reference is made in that regard to German Design Application DE-M 96 09 167.3 in the Registered Design Bulletin of the German Patent Office, dated May 24, 1997, Part Ia, Goods Class 18/02.
In order to determine the necessary postage, various postal carriers need information relating to the dimensions of the letter or envelope, in addition to the destination, the class of mail and the weight.
An apparatus for measuring the thickness of an item of mail is known from European Patent EP 0 376 496 B1. During operation, that apparatus is coupled to a separating apparatus. The separating apparatus essentially includes a stationary circulating transport belt and a movable retaining belt running in the opposite direction, which is deflected in accordance with the thickness of the item of mail. The thickness measuring apparatus has a part which produces a connection with the separating apparatus, in particular with the retaining belt, and can be moved with the latter, as well as a stationary part. The measured thickness is related to the extent of the relative movement between the movable and the stationary parts. The movable part has a magnet and the stationary part has a magnetic field detector.
In addition, an apparatus is known from European Patent EP 0 548 874 B1, for measuring the thickness of a letter sheet moving in a folding and inserting machine for documents before franking. That apparatus operates with a sensing device which supplies electrical signals. The sensing device includes a pair of rollers through which the letter sheet passes. One of the rollers is pivotably mounted on a sensing lever, which is permanently connected to a flag. The flag interacts with a light source and a light detector which responds to the light beams. The flag includes a sector with numerous slits and is disposed in such a way that, through the use of nontransparent areas between the slits, it covers light beams which are directed toward the detector. The detector is an optical encoder, which delivers pulses each time a slit in the flag passes in front of the encoder. The optical encoder is an incremental encoder having two output channels, which are located in phase quadrature and give a signal transition when the thickness varies by a few hundredths of a millimeter. However, only one dimension of the letter is determined with both of the above-described apparatus.
On the other hand, an apparatus for measuring the length, the width and the height of box-like conveyed products is known from German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 196 10 631 A1, in which, for that purpose, sensors are provided that have a transmitting and receiving part and a direction of measurement which is oriented perpendicularly to side surfaces of the conveyed product, which rests in a predetermined attitude on a holding element. The sensors being used are three distance sensors, having directions of measurement that are in each case perpendicular to one another. The holding element essentially includes a baseplate and stop elements for orienting the conveyed product on the baseplate. The distance between the directions of measurement of the sensors and the associated stop elements in each case is about 1 to 50 mm. The distance sensors are constructed as ultrasonic sensors and have circuits working on the echo-sounding principle. In that case, the distance between the direction of measurement and the stop element is preferably 20 mm.
Another variant provides for optical distance sensors. That apparatus can be used only for static and not for continuous operation, in accordance with the feeding conditions for the conveyed products. Furthermore, because of the minimum distance of the directions of measurement from the stop elements, that apparatus is suitable only for packages and not for thin letters or envelopes. Added to that is the fact that a different finish of the material for the envelopes can result in different ultrasonic reflection properties and, consequently, erroneous measurement results can occur.
Furthermore, a franking machine is known from German Utility Model DE 297 16 523 U1, which has a digital printing device, a guide plate and a transport apparatus with a transport belt for printed media, as well as a control device. The control device is used to generate printing signals for a printing head in order to print the surface of the printed medium with an appropriate printed image while the printed medium is transported past the printing head. A pressure sensor in the guide plate is disposed in front of a recess for the printing head. In addition, a preparation sensor is disposed upstream in the guide plate, at a specific distance in front of the pressure sensor. The preparation sensor is constructed as a reflected light barrier, and the pressure sensor is constructed as a transmitted light barrier.
The control device includes a microprocessor, to which an encoder for determining the travel of the transport belt and a number of sensors are connected, with the latter being located at intervals from one another upstream of the printing head. The microprocessor is programmed to determine a valid letter format or a fault on the basis of interrogating the preparation sensor and the pressure sensor and determining the travel of the belt. The microprocessor determines the length of a letter or envelope from the difference between the value for the leading edge of the letter and the value for the trailing edge of the letter. A fault message is output if the length of the letter is greater than the predetermined travel of the belt, or if the length of the letter is less than the predetermined imprint length. Since the length of the letter has to be taken into account in calculating the postage and, consequently, in creating the imprint, an appropriate expenditure on the microprocessor is necessary if the letter transport speed is not to be restricted significantly. With that configuration, likewise only one dimension of the letter is determined.
Furthermore, a configuration for pre-separating printed media is known from German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 196 05 017 A1, in which the letters or envelopes, standing on one edge, are deposited one after another as a letter stack, and the letters are fed laterally away from the letter stack to a separating apparatus. In that case, the letters or envelopes are disposed between a spring-mounted pressure clip and at least one drive roll and a guide plate which is inclined slightly rearward. The standing surface for the letters and the guide plate are orthogonal to each other.
Finally, a further apparatus for separating printed media, especially letters or envelopes, has been found, corresponding to German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 198 36 235 A1, corresponding to U.S. application Ser. No. 09/368,645, filed Aug. 5, 1999. That apparatus will be explained in more detail below with regard to FIG.
1
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The purpose of the invention is to improve the function and to widen the field of use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a configuration for determining the dimensions of printed media, which overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type, in which elements of a separating apparatus c
Kunde Christoph
Schmidt-Kretschmer Michael
Bollinger David H.
Francotyp Postalia AG & Co.
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