Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – Multiple discharge
Patent
1985-01-15
1987-04-14
Schacher, Richard A.
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
Multiple discharge
271179, 271188, 271209, B65H 2940, B65H 2970
Patent
active
046572414
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a compartmented distribution line. In automatic mail distribution systems, a compartmented distribution line serves, for example, to roughly distribute according to postal guide code regions letters arriving successively on a conveyor belt and therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, such a line is composed of a plurality of stacking compartments assigned separately to these regions and arranged one behind the other.
By means of a compartmented path equipped with switches, the pieces of mail are associated with the individual stacking compartments and stacked therein. At the input of this compartmented path, there is a measuring path on which it is determined whether the respective piece of mail is "too long" or the gap between successive pieces of mail is too small. The gap must not be below a certain value since otherwise the switch does not have sufficient time to open or close during the gap.
Mail that cannot be processed or has too small a gap between pieces is stacked in a reject compartment.
It is the object of the invention to align, in such a compartmented distribution line, the leading edges of pieces of mail to be stacked as accurately as possible with one another, to avoid their being folded over and not to stack them with bent-over corners because otherwise this could produce malfunctions during stacking in the respective stack compartment because the stacking triangle would be closed more and more.
This state occurs primarily if pieces of mail which are not very stiff or unstable and bulk mailings are stacked.
When stacking occurs with a minimal gap between pieces of mail, the trailing edge of the preceding piece has not yet left the insertion region so that the next following piece runs onto the trailing edge. The result is that a malfunction (clogging) occurs and the system stops. This means unnecessary down time of the system which is equivalent to less output or reduction in throughput.
It is thus significant for the invention that its use avoids the above-mentioned various causes of possible malfunctions and poor stack quality.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is for use in conjunction with a compartmented distribution line for flat articles, such as letters, which arrive in succession over a conveying path. The device comprises a succession of stacking compartments arranged one behind the other to which the flat articles are supplied by switches separately associated with the individual compartments. On the conveying path, closely before each individual stacking compartment, there is provided a rubber elastic roller-type attachment which faces the upper edge of each flat article against a guide sheet disposed opposite the attachment.
The invention further comprises a stacking spindle of the type disclosed in German Pat. No. 1,253,170. This patent relates to a stacking devices for flat items to be conveyed, such as pieces of mail in particular, in which the pieces of mail arrive on the stack by way of a supplying device, their leading edges abut against a solid wall and they are stacked in a position perpendicular to this wall, with a stiffening curvature being imparted to the pieces of mail to be stacked.
The stiffening curvature is here effected in that the supplying device for the pieces of mail comprises a curved roller which imparts the stiffening curvature to the pieces of mail as they enter the device and which is disposed at a distance from the solid wall only slightly greater than the length of the pieces of mail.
The curved roller advantageously cooperates with a resilient counterroller having a complementary curvature.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a compartmented distribution line for a mail distribution system.
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the present invention showing a stacking compartment.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the stacking compartment of FIG. 2 taken along the line B--B. The figure shows the individual phases through which a piece of mail is carried during th
REFERENCES:
patent: 3078089 (1963-02-01), Maidment
patent: 3131932 (1964-05-01), Maidment
patent: 3628788 (1971-12-01), Simmons
patent: 3865365 (1975-02-01), Hardin et al.
patent: 4345754 (1982-08-01), Willenbring
patent: 4518160 (1985-05-01), Lambrechts
Principles and Applications of Waveguide Transmission, p. 207 Southworth, D. Van Nostrand Co Inc, Jun. 1954.
Licentia Patent-Verwaltungs-GmbH
Schacher Richard A,.
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