Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-05
2002-12-31
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
active
06499737
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to flat article conveying or transporting systems, and more particularly to a new and improved system for use within, for example, mail sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking systems wherein flat mail pieces or units, or similar articles, such as, for example, post cards, magazines, and the like, which would otherwise tend to roll over on themselves in a semi-circular form, as a result of being pre-curled, or as a result of undergoing curvature or sagging, after being released from its conveyor mechanism and introduced into a stacking chamber or compartment within which a stack of mail pieces or articles are accumulated, are effectively prevented from undergoing or experiencing such rollover so as not to adversely affect the continuous mail sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking operations.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In connection with mail or similar flat article sorting, transporting, stacking, and handling systems, flat units or pieces of mail, or similar articles, are conventionally transported by means of a suitable conveyor, such as, for example, a belt conveyor comprising a plurality of laterally spaced endless belts, and the transported pieces of mail or similar articles are then adapted to be stacked within stacked arrays or piles formed within a stacking chamber or receptacle compartment. In view of the fact that different types of pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, having, for example, different size or length dimensions, are being continuously conveyed or transported by means of the transport conveyor mechanism toward and into the stacking chamber or compartment, care must be taken so as to ensure the fact that the pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, are in fact serially placed upon each other in a flat stacked array. This mode of operation, however, is not always able to be readily achieved, and therefore, problems or difficulties often occur in connection with maintaining the system continuously operative with minimum operational downtime.
For example, in connection with the conveyance, transportation, and handling of conventional stiff post cards, and due to the inherent structural characteristics of stiff post cards, that is, that they exhibit a somewhat greater degree of rigidity than, for example, twenty pound weight paper or the like, as a result of being fabricated from a different type of paper product than, for example, twenty pound weight paper, post cards are easily bent and also tend to exhibit or undergo curling. Similarly, magazines have a relatively low degree of rigidity and therefore tend to readily curve downwardly or sag. Accordingly, when such flat articles are being transported or conveyed within a conventional mail sorting, transporting, stacking, and handling system, they can cause operational problems or difficulties because they do not tend to remain in a relatively flattened state. More particularly, when such flat articles are released from the belted conveyor transport and allowed to fly toward and into the stacking chamber or compartment so as to be placed flatly on top of or into a stacked array within the stacking chamber or compartment, the curling of the flat articles often causes leading edge portions of the flat articles to roll over onto themselves in flight or to trip and roll over when encountering a trailing edge portion of a previously stacked flat article within the stacking chamber or compartment.
As a result of such encounter, the incoming flat article is not in fact deposited, in a face up flat orientation, on top of the stacked array of previously stacked units or pieces, or similar articles, or is improperly deposited upon the stacked array of mail pieces or units, whereby subsequent flat articles are not properly deposited upon the stacked array of previous flat articles. In this case, jamming of the conveyor and stacking system can occur necessitating an operational stoppage of the system until the jammed state of the mail pieces or units, or similar flat articles, is able to be rectified. Equally important, even if a jam does not occur, subsequent mail fed to the stack will not always come to rest fully and completely on top of the previously curled piece which had come to rest in a semi-circular form because such curled piece then causes the following piece of mail to nest inside of it. This nesting of the following piece partially inside of the previous semi-rolled-over piece causes an out of order mixed situation to occur with respect to the previously serially sorted flat articles.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved article conveyor or transportation system, particularly a conveyor or transportation system which is especially useful in connection with the sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking of pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, wherein the various pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, can be conveyed or transported, for example, from the belt conveyor toward and into the stacking chamber or compartment in a substantially flat state regardless of the inherent tendency of the particular pieces or units of mail, or similar flat articles, to either curl, curve, or sag, causing partial or complete rollovers, whereby the pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, can be properly stacked within the stacking chamber or compartment so as not to cause any hindrance to the continuous conveyance or transportation of the pieces or units of mail, or similar flat articles, whereby, further, the article conveyor or transportation system can operate in a substantially continuous manner without experiencing any jamming and wherein the flat articles all stack serially in their previously sorted order.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved article conveyor or transportation system which is especially useful in connection with the sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking of pieces or units of mail, or similar flat articles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved article conveyor or transportation system which is especially useful in connection with the sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking of pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, and which effectively overcomes the various disadvantages or drawbacks characteristic of current conventional article sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking systems.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved article conveyor or transportation system which is especially useful in connection with the sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking of pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, wherein the various pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, can be conveyed or transported, for example, from the belt conveyor toward and into the stacking chamber or compartment in a substantially flat state regardless of the inherent tendency of the particular pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, to either curl, curve, or sag, causing partial or complete rollovers, whereby the pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, can be properly serially stacked within the stacking chamber or compartment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved article conveyor or transportation system which is especially useful in connection with the sorting, transporting, handling, and stacking of pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, wherein the various pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, can be conveyed or transported, for example, from the belt conveyor toward and into the stacking chamber or compartment in a substantially flat state regardless of the inherent tendency of the particular pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, to either curl, curve, or sag, causing partial or complete rollovers, whereby the pieces or units of mail, or similar articles, can be properly stacked within the stacking chamber or compartment so as not to cause any hindr
Blackwell Wayne M.
Fitzgibbons Patrick J.
Slocum Douglas A.
Bower Kenneth W.
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Schwartz & Weinrieb
Walsh Donald P.
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