Pitney Bowes Inc.

Pitney Bowes Deutschland Gmbh

Eddy Edel

Axel Brauneis

Wolfgang Hartl

Dieter Sonnack

John W Sussmeier

Gregory P Skinger

Thomas Denzinger

Andreas Ripken

Axel Sralineis

A method includes feeding an envelope along an envelope transport path in a paper-handling machine to a flap-opening station. The method further includes opening the flap of the envelope at the flap-opening station and printing on the envelope with the flap in an open position. After printing, a collation is inserted into the envelope.

Methods and apparatus for simultaneous printing on front face and flap of an envelope

A mailing system includes a mailing machine having an envelope feed path, a sealing system configured to apply a liquid to an envelope in the envelope feed path, a capacitive sensor located in the envelope feed path downstream from the sealing system, and a controller connected to the capacitive sensor. The sealing system may include a liquid reservoir and a liquid applicator. The capacitive sensor is configured to measure a quantity of liquid on a portion of the envelope applied by the sealing system and to generate a signal based on the measured quantity. The controller is configured to perform an operation based on the measured quantity signal from the capacitive sensor.

Envelope moistening detector

In a mail processing machine, a fixed mounting of an envelope turning station relative to an upstream stuffing station, and therefore a simple construction of the drive for the envelope turning station, can be achieved in that the items of goods for despatch to be turned through 180&#xb0; are drawn by grippers of a gripper chain into the region of horizontally opening tongs of the envelope turning cylinder of the envelope turning station, in such a way that, in each case irrespective of the longitudinal format of the items of goods for despatch, the latter are gripped by the turning cylinder tongs over their entire length, for which purpose the gripper chain, together with the stuffing table supporting it, is designed to be displaceable with respect to the turning station in the conveying direction of the goods for despatch, in a manner dependent on the envelope format.

Mail processing machine for conveying filled envelopes

A drive apparatus for a mail-processing system is specified, which apparatus has an enclosure-collating path, which is intermittently driven at least in one end section, an adjoining inserting station for sets of enclosures and an envelope-filling table, which extends parallel to the enclosure-collating path and in front of the inserting station and over which envelopes pulled from a stack of envelopes are pulled by means of an envelope-gripper chain in front of the inserting station and held open there and, once filled with the sets of enclosures, are conveyed away by the gripper chain. A reduction of mass moments of inertia of the drive for the envelope-gripper chain together with simplification of the structure of this drive and a conveying system of a modular design are achieved by a drive section as a chain drive or toothed-belt drive being guided downwards from an intermittently rotating drive shaft out of the region of the enclosure-collating path to a chain wheel or a belt pulley which is mounted in a substructure of the envelope-filling table. From there, a chain drive or toothed-belt drive leads in the substructure of the envelope-filling table to a chain wheel or a toothed-belt pulley which is mounted at the free end of a rocker, the free end of the rocker undergoing an approximately vertically oriented guidance in the substructure of the installation, while the upper end of the rocker is supported and mounted coaxially in relation to a drive shaft for the envelope-gripper chain on the envelope-filling table which is displaceable in relation to the substructure. A chain drive transmits the intermittent drive movement finally from the lower end of the rocker to the upper end of the rocker, onto the drive shaft which is coaxial to the rocker pivoting axis and is intended for the driving-chain wheel of the envelope-gripper chain.

Drive apparatus for a mail-processing system

In a mail inserting machine that a user uses to process mailpieces for a prepaid quantity, a counter is installed in an inaccessible manner to keep count of the processed mailpieces. The machine is disabled when the prepaid quantity is used up. In order to allow the user to pay for additional quantity, the manufacturer embeds a finite number of unlocking codes in the machine. Each code for the particular machine is activated in sequence. When the user needs to replenish the inserter counter, he calls the service counter and gives his machine serial number. The user is given the next unlocking code after he agrees to pay for the additional amount. The user can enter the code to unlock the additional preset quantity. The same code will not work again. In a further embodiment, the rate of mailpiece processing is also monitored to ensure that design limitations are not exceeded. The machine is automatically shut down when a predetermined processing rate is exceeded.

Method and system for prepaid inserter machine

In the case of an envelope-turning station with a turning cylinder which is oriented parallel to the mail-conveying direction and is equipped with openable and closable jaws on its circumference, it is possible, following charging of the turning-cylinder jaws with horizontally flat items of mail and rotation of the turning cylinder through 90&#xb0; and/or 270&#xb0;, for a mail removal arrangement to remove items of mail in the mail-conveying direction, in a state in which they are standing on one of their longitudinal edges, and to feed them to further processing or handling stations of a mail-processing installation.

Envelope-turning station

A simplification of the drive for an inserting station for envelope-filling machines is achieved by a carrier on which inserting fingers for inserting material for envelopes into opened envelopes held ready next to a base plate are articulated having the form of a carriage which is horizontally displaceable, transversely in relation to the conveying direction of an enclosure-collating path charging the base plate with enclosures or sets of enclosures, on pushing-guiding paths freely spanning the base plate, the carriage being coupled by means of a link connected to it in an articulated manner to a rocking lever, which is fastened on a rocking shaft which is mounted on the machine frame at a specific distance above the base plate and the carriage, is parallel to the conveying direction of the enclosure-collating path and forms in particular part of a rocking drive shaft, on which the gripping arms of the enclosure and discharge stations lined up along the enclosure-collating path are fastened.

Inserting station for envelope-filling machines

In an envelope-filling machine, a clear and simplified construction of the drive system is achieved for the enclosure-collating path, for the enclosure-feeding stations and for the parts of the envelope-filling station, in that a drive motor and a step-down gear mechanism, a bevel gear mechanism and a step-by-step motion linkage are arranged in a row along a main shaft which extends in the longitudinal direction of the machine and is arranged so as to be offset out of the region below the enclosure cassettes of the enclosure-feeding station, and the main shaft is guided through the step-down gear mechanism and the bevel gear mechanism as far as a coupling point for a crank mechanism in order to actuate a pivoting shaft which is common to the gripper arms of the enclosure-feeding stations.

Growing community of inventors

Friedberg, Germany

Eddy Edel