Sheet feeding or delivering – Special articles – Envelope
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-29
2001-08-14
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Special articles
Envelope
C271S009130, C271S264000, C198S586000, C198S861100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273412
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to an envelope insertion machine and, more particularly, to an envelope transport which supplies envelopes to an envelope inserting station in the envelope inserting machine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a typical mail inserting system, there is an envelope feeder on one end of the system that sequentially releases envelopes into the envelope insertion station. On the other end of the inserting system, there is a gathering section where enclosure material is released and gathered. If the enclosure material contains a number of documents, the documents are separately released from a plurality of enclosure feeders. The released documents are then collated into a stack and moved into the envelope insertion station where the document stack is inserted into the envelope. In some mail inserting systems, envelopes are not released directly into the envelope insertion station. Rather, envelopes are released in another section of the inserting system and then moved into the envelope insertion station in order to improve the efficiency of the inserting system. In these mail inserting systems, envelopes are typically fed from below the envelope insertion station and the flap of each envelope is opened as it is transported to an envelope staging area of the envelope insertion station. The transport mechanism which is used to move the envelopes below the staging area is referred to as the lower transport.
The envelope lower transport is a separate mechanical assembly from the envelope insertion station. When an envelope is transported from the lower transport to the staging area, it moves through a gap between the two machine parts. The gap is referred to as a hand-over point and its physical dimensions are very critical. Thus, the relative position o:f the lower transport must be precisely aligned with the staging area so as to achieve the correct dimensions of the hand-over point. It is, therefore, advantageous and desirable to provide a mounting apparatus with all the necessary adjustment mechanism for mounting and adjusting the lower transport. Furthermore, the lower transport is designed such that it can be detached from the envelope insertion station for jam access, maintenance and shipping purposes. In order to retain the alignment of the lower transport relative to the staging area after it is detached from and remounted on the envelope insertion station, the mounting assembly also must have means to ensure that the alignment is not lost due to the detaching, shipping and remounting processes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a mounting assembly for mounting a lower envelope transport onto a chassis of an envelope insertion station, wherein the chassis has a plurality of seating holes on its upper surface and the relative position between the chassis and the envelope staging area is fixed.
The mounting assembly includes mechanisms for a three-plane adjustment in XYZ directions so that the positioning relationship between the lower envelope transport and the envelope staging area in the envelope insertion station can be adjusted to achieve a desired distance at the hand-over point. Furthermore, the mounting assembly allows the lower envelope transport to be removed from the chassis for jam access, maintenance or shipping purposes. In accordance with the present invention, the lower envelope transport can be remounted onto the envelope insertion station without the need for readjusting its positions to achieve the desired distance in the XYZ directions at the hand-over point.
The mounting assembly includes: a base plate having an upper surface and a lower surface facing the upper surface of the chassis; a plurality of bushings fixedly mounted on the base plate, wherein each bushing has a base part extending out of the lower surface of the base plate for fitting in one of the seating holes of the chassis, wherein each bushing has a threaded hole accessible from the upper surface of the base plate; a first locking mechanism to secure the base plate to the chassis at a fixed position; a mounting plate having an upper surface and a lower surface; a plurality of jack screws, each mounted on the threaded hole of a bushing, wherein each jack screw has an upper surface for supporting the lower surface of the mounting plate, and wherein the mounting of the jack screws on the threaded hole of the bushing is adjustable so as to achieve a desirable distance of the hand-over point in the Y direction; an adjustment block fixedly mounted on the mounting plate; an adjustment bracket fixedly mounted on the base plate; an adjustment screw for engaging the adjustment bracket to the adjustment block so that the distance between the adjustment bracket and the adjustment block is adjustable so as to achieve a desirable distance of the hand-over point in the X direction; a mounting bracket for mounting the lower envelope transport in a fixed position; a second locking mechanism for securing the mounting bracket to the mounting base, wherein the locking mechanism is adjustable to achieve a desirable distance of the hand-over point in the Z direction; and a third locking mechanism for securing the base plate to the mounting plate in order to maintain the desired distance of the hand-over point in the X and Y directions.
Preferably, each jack screw has a threaded hole through the upper surface of the jack screw, and the mounting plate further comprises a plurality of slots, each slot being in alignment with the threaded hole of one respective jack screw, so as to allow a plurality of locking screws to engage with the thread holes of the jack screws in order to secure the mounting base to the base plate thereby maintaining the critical setting in the Y direction and the X direction.
With the above described mounting assembly, the lower envelope transport is removable from the mounting assembly by disengaging the lower envelope transport from the mounting bracket without altering the critical setting in the XYZ directions. Thus, when the lower envelope transport is remounted on the mounting bracket, there is no need to adjust the jack screws, the adjustment screw and the mounting screw to re-establish the critical setting in the X, Y and Z directions.
Preferably, the base plate further includes a plurality of through holes, each being aligned with a threaded hole on the upper surface of the chassis to allow a plurality of securing screws to secure the base place to the chassis at a fixed position. Thus, the mounting assembly can be mounted on the chassis at a fixed position, allowing the mounting assembly to be removed from the chassis without losing the critical setting between the lower envelope transport and the envelope engaging area.
The mounting assembly of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the description taken in conjunction with
FIGS. 1
to
4
.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3748442 (1973-07-01), Lovendusky
patent: 4099607 (1978-07-01), Brennan et al.
patent: 4194633 (1980-03-01), Paterson et al.
patent: 4349097 (1982-09-01), Curti
patent: 4512562 (1985-04-01), Moll
patent: 4748740 (1988-06-01), Buck et al.
patent: 4930623 (1990-06-01), Johnson et al.
patent: 5149081 (1992-09-01), Greive
patent: 5197590 (1993-03-01), Prim et al.
patent: 5392710 (1995-02-01), Li
patent: 6086061 (2000-07-01), Vedoy et al.
DeFigueiredo Carlos L
Sussmeier John W.
Cummings Michael J.
Ellis Christopher P.
Mackey Patrick
Melton Michael E.
Pitney Bowes Inc.
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