Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – Multiple discharge
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-12
2001-08-14
Skaggs, H. Grant (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
Multiple discharge
C270S058010, C270S059000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273419
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to an inserting machine for mass mailing and, more specifically, a method and device to cause a large number of separate cut sheets to be collated into individual stacks each having a number of sheets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Multi-station document inserting systems are generally used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mailings where the contents of each mailpiece are directed to a particular addressee. One of the most important features of the inserting systems is speed, which is measured by the number of mailpieces that can be assembled in a given time period. A modern inserting system is expected to assemble over ten thousand mailpieces per hour. A typical inserter system includes a plurality of serially arranged stations including a sheet feeding station, a folding station and an insertion station. In general, the sheet feeder feeds one or a plurality of sheets of mailing materials to an collator, which collects the fed sheets into a predefined collated packet or stack. Mailing materials are usually printed on a continuous web of paper and the printed paper is cut into individual sheets. These sheets are then collated into individual stacks and each stack is stuffed into an envelope for mailing. One of the conventional ways of sheet collation is to slow down or stop the sheets in an impending collation at a certain point until all the sheets have arrived. This conventional method is cumbersome and inefficient because it requires a drastic change in machine speed.
It is desirable to provide a method and a device for sheet collation wherein the sheets can be kept substantially at the same speed throughout the collation process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a method and a device for sheet collation wherein the sheets to be collated are not required to slow down significantly or pause in the collation process.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a method and a device for sheet collation wherein the apparatus can have a small footprint.
In sheet collation, a large number of cut sheets of flat material, such as paper, moving at a certain speed at an entry point of a machine, are gathered in an orderly fashion to become stacks at an exiting point. Each stack contains a number of sheets and the number can be fixed or varied. The sheet collation method, according to the present invention, provides a plurality of paths connecting the entry point and the exiting point, with each path having a different path length. The paths are controlled so that, for each stack of the sheets in an impending collation, a sheet entering the collator will travel a progressively shorter path than the preceding one. In other words, the first sheet travels a longer path than the second sheet, the second sheet travels a longer path than the third sheet, and so forth. The path length difference between two successive paths can be designed in accordance with the requirement in sheet stacking. If the sheets are stacked in a way that one sheet is partially overlapped with another, like the shingle pattern on a rooftop, then the path length difference between two successive paths is smaller than the length of the sheets. If the edges of the collated sheets in a stack are flush with each other, then the path length difference is substantially equal to the sheet length. But the path length difference can also be greater than the sheet length.
In practice, cut sheets of paper enter the collator in a serial fashion, usually from a cutting device upstream that has converted a continuous web of paper into individual sheets. The sheets are gathered or collated into individual stacks before they are stuffed into envelopes. In general, the number of provided paths in an collator is fixed, but the number of sheets in each stack can be varied. It is preferred that the collator includes means for determining the number of sheets in an impending collation. Thus, when the leading edge of the first sheet of a stack enters the entry point of the collator, there is a prior knowledge of the number of sheets to be collated resident in the device's central processor. This information is typically read from a barcode symbol on the first sheet of an impending collation at some point upstream of the collator. For example, if the number of provided paths is five and the number of sheets in a stack is three, then only the three shorter paths should be successively opened for sheet collation, with the shortest path being traveled by the third sheet. If the number of sheets in a stack in an impending collation is greater than five, then two or more smaller stacks can be collated in the collator and later combined at a point downstream of the collator.
One of the major advantages of the method and device for sheet collation, according to the present invention, is that all the sheets entering and exiting the device can be of the same speed. Furthermore, the collated sheets can be moved at the same or a higher speed, if so desired. Thus, the processing speed downstream of the collator is not impeded by the collation process.
The sheet collator, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, includes a plurality of turn-bars for defining the traveling paths, a plurality of flippers to control the opening and closing of the paths so that, for each stack in the impending collation, a sheet entering the entry point will travels a shorter path than the preceding one. Each flipper is connected to a push rod which is controlled by a solenoid. The collator further comprises rollers and belts for guiding the sheets through different paths to exit at the exiting point of the collator.
In the second embodiment of the present invention, the paths are defined by rollers. The opening and closing of the paths are controlled by flippers.
The invention will become apparent upon reading the description of the drawings.
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patent: 4676495 (1987-06-01), Hughes
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patent: 4989853 (1991-02-01), Matysek et al.
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patent: 5258817 (1993-11-01), Acquaviva
patent: 5445368 (1995-08-01), Lester et al.
patent: 000455494A (1991-11-01), None
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Allen Robert J.
Sussmeier John W.
Wright William J.
Capelli Christopher J.
Cummings Michael J.
Melton Michael E.
Pitney Bowes Inc.
Skaggs H. Grant
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