Bell + Howell Company

Bell & Howell Postal Systems, Inc.

Bowe Bell + Howell Company

Eduard M Svyatsky

Thomas J Faber

K George Rabindran

Frederick P Hegland

George I Paroubek

Pashkeev Nikolai Vladimirovich

James Carl McClain

Sheihon Boris Markovich

Walter Conard

Anatoly Estis

Svyatsky Adolf Michailovich

Vadim Belyaev

Jerry W Loftis

John M Buday

Jose S Pioquinto

David Haas

Gary L Vander Syde

Stephen R Archer

David Schwaba

Wesley Dobrzanski

Peter Heiberg

Gary Vander Syde

Fred Hegland

A method and apparatus for high speed tray unloading and mail transporting includes a tray unloading apparatus which receives a continuous stream of mail trays and sequentially unloads them in proper orientation onto a conveyor assembly; a dual conveyor system for delivering the unloaded mail to a transport system; and a spiral transport system having optimal drive means for controllably moving mail pieces from one location to another.

Method and system for high speed tray unloading and mail transporting

The present invention provides for a continuous flow transfer system designed to transfer the contents of a mail tray into a cartridge for subsequent processing and then, after processing, to transfer the contents of the cartridge back into a mail tray without disrupting the facing or orientation of each piece of mail. The continuous flow transfer system comprises both a cartridge loader and a cartridge unloader, both of which have a tray section, a transfer conveyor and a cartridge section. The tray section, or infeed section, of the cartridge loader is designed to deliver filled mail trays to the transfer section of the loader. At the transfer section, the contents of each mail tray are deposited into an intermediate container that is affixed to the transfer section. The transfer section then delivers the contents of the intermediate container into empty cartridges being fed onto the cartridge section, or discharge section, of the loader. Once filled, each cartridge is then transported away from the cartridge loader for processing, where the mail is removed from each container, processed and place back into a cartridge. After processing, the filled cartridges are then delivered to the cartridge section, or infeed section, of the cartridge unloader. Similar to the loader, the contents of each cartridge are transferred into an intermediate container affixed to the transfer section. The transfer section then delivers the contents of the intermediate container to the mail section, or discharge section, of the unloader, where the mail is transferred back into mail trays. The filled mail trays are then ready for delivery.

Continuous flow transfer system

A document transporting system for conveying documents along a transport path in a first direction from a document infeed station to a document processing station, certain of such documents being advanced along the transport path from the infeed station with an improper facing orientation. A plurality of document re-orienting devices are disposed adjacent the transport path between the infeed station and the document processing station. Each of the document re-orienting devices are adapted to receive an improperly oriented document, to reverse the orientation of the previously improperly oriented document, and to transport the correctly oriented document back onto the document transport path. Control elements operatively associated with each of the plurality of document re-orienting devices deliver improperly oriented documents into a pre-selected empty re-orienting device. Correctly oriented documents are conveyed onto the transport path when a gap is present between documents being transported along the document transport path.

Mail facing transport system

The apparatus is used to remove a generally rectangular container from an unloading device that places the container in a predetermined position. The container has a bottom surface, upstanding sidewalls and forward and rear endwalls. The apparatus includes a base portion for supporting the apparatus and a container removing arm pivotally attached to the base portion configured to releasably engage the container and remove the container from the unloading device. Also included are container engaging clamps operatively connected to the container removing arm arranged to contact and releasably engage at least one of the bottom surface, the upstanding sidewalls, the forward endwall, and the rear endwall of the container. A powered assembly pivotally displaces the container removing arm when the clamps releasably engage the container. A controller is operatively coupled to the powered assembly to selectively control forward and backward pivoting of the arm. The controller is also operatively coupled to the container engaging clamps to selectively control engagement of the clamps such that backward pivoting of the arm while the clamps engage the container facilitates removal of the container from the unloading device when the arm is pivoted in a backward direction.

Pivotal tray unloading apparatus

A pivotal tray unloading apparatus is directed to unloading a plurality of generally rectangular documents onto a feed ramp where the documents are disposed in a generally rectangular container. The container has a bottom surface, upstanding sidewalls and forward and rear endwalls. The apparatus has a primary axis defined to be coaxial with the common edge of the bottom surface and the rear endwall of the container. The apparatus includes a first generally planar reference surface, a second generally planar reference surface fixedly attached to the first reference surface at a substantially right angle, where the second reference surface has a support paddle operatively coupled thereto. The first and second reference surfaces are configured to pivot forwardly and backwardly about the primary axis. The backward pivoting of the reference surfaces effects registration of the plurality of documents toward the first reference surface. The reference surfaces are configured to rotate leftwardly and rightwardly about a longitudinal axis where the longitudinal axis is perpendicular to the primary axis. The leftward rotation of the reference surfaces and the container, simultaneously, effects registration of the plurality of documents toward the second reference surface. Rightward rotation of the reference surfaces and the container, simultaneously, effects positioning the documents in an on-edge orientation in a generally coplanar relationship with the feed ramp.

Document feeding apparatus advances the leading document in a stack of documents against a moveable feed element which moves at a predetermined, load sensitive speed. The torque applied to the leading document by the feed element is maintained at a substantially constant level by sensing the speed of the moveable feed element and electronically controlling the pressure applied by the stack of documents against the moveable feed element in order to maintain the torque applied by the moveable feed element to the leading document of the stack at a substantially constant value.

Method and apparatus for feeding documents

A system for applying corrective mailing labels to documents and the like wherein a plurality of labels are releasably carried in sequential fashion on an elongated flexible substrate. The system includes a label printing station, a label applying drum, and label stripper means including a stripper blade having a free end disposed adjacent the drum and about which the substrate is guided so as to undergo a relatively abrupt reversal in direction. A substrate tractor drive downstream from the stripper blade normally pulls the substrate under tension about the free end of the stripper blade to effect release of labels from the substrate for application to predetermined envelopes, the substrate tractor drive being selectively operable to create a substrate loop path immediately downstream from the free end of the stripper blade to prevent release of an incorrect label from the substrate.

Document forwarding system

A shingling device for use in a mail document sorting apparatus includes a first conveyor belt for receiving a vertical stack of sorted documents. A guide element is oblique to the conveyor belt for shifting the moving vertical stack into a shifted oblique stack and defines a gap between the belt and the guide element to enable passage of documents from the lower portion of the stack. A rotatable roller is disposed adjacent and downstream from the guide element and has a lower surface partially obstructing the gap. The roller rotates opposite to movement of the first conveyor belt for shingling documents passing through the gap. A second conveyor belt cooperates with the first conveyor belt to confine shingled documents advancing on the first belt, and cooperates with the roller so that the second belt has a longitudinal velocity substantially equal to the tangential velocity of the roller.

Shingle device for use in multi-pass sorting machine

A document separation system including at least one separation roller system having a cooperative pair of driver and separation rollers providing a nip for the acceptance of a document between the cooperative rollers, whereby the rollers are capable of rigidifying the document by applying a beam to the document, resulting in an economical system for handling foldover documents mixed in with normal enveloped documents.

Mail feeder

In a combination document feed system and intelligent document separation system, including a document removal assembly associated with the document feed system for removing documents one at a time from a stack of documents disposed in the document feed system and feeding each document into the document transport system: comprising a document removal assembly for providing a contact surface between the document removal assembly and a lead document in the stack of documents, the contact surface adapted to alternately contact the lead document and advance the lead document from the document feed system to the document separation system. A document advancing apparatus is adapted to advance a single document properly removed from the stack of documents, to halt the movement of one of two documents improperly removed from the stack of documents, and to reverse the direction of movement of additional documents improperly removed from the stack of documents. A sensor associated with the document separation system senses the document feed condition of a feed roller assembly forming part of the intelligent document separation system, and generates a signal responsive to document feed condition.

Controllable document drive and separation system

A mail document sorting device includes a document input feeder, and at least one singulation device for orienting and singulating the documents so that indicia on their faces can be disposed at a predetermined level about a data reference plane. Single documents pass to an indicia reader, which generates indicia indicating signals. An electronic/computer mechanism processes the indicating signals, and provides for sorting the read documents into bins. A plurality of the bins is located in side-by-side horizontal array, with an elongated belt disposed along the array of bins for moving documents received therefrom. The elongated belt has an inboard edge adjacent the array of bins and an outboard edge remote from the array of bins. The sorting device further includes a mechanism for moving documents from the bins onto the elongated belt, locating device associated with the elongated belt for positioning an edge of documents on the elongated belt, a shingler for shingling documents received from the elongated belt, transport of the shingled documents as they are discharged from the shingler means, and loading received shingled documents sequentially into mail trays.

Multi-pass sorting machine

A document orientation mechanism is disclosed for reversing the orientation of individual documents delivered from stacks of multiple documents while maintaining a predetermined directional document stream. A predetermined directional stream of documents is fed laterally into the mechanism from an outside source. Inside the mechanism, the documents are removed in a first direction along a first portion of a moving belt, then transferred by a guide to a second portion of the moving belt which is moving in a direction opposite to the first direction, the outer face of the documents being thereby reversed. The documents are then propelled by a third portion of the moving belt out of the laterally disposed mechanism and back into the original predetermined directional document stream.

Document orientation mechanism

This invention relates in general to the handling of mail and, in particular, to an improved document transporter for use in a forwarding address system for mail sorting machines.

Document transporter for use in forwarding system

In a combination document feed system and document removal assembly associated with the document feed system for removing documents one at a time from a stack of documents disposed in the document feed system and feeding each document into a document transport system: comprising a document removal assembly for providing a substantially elongated contact surface between the document removal assembly and a lead document in the stack of documents, the contact surface adapted to alternately contact the lead document and advance the lead document from the document feed system to the document transport system. The document feed system includes belts for advancing the stack of documents toward a document removal assembly, including a back plate adapted to provide a compressive force to the rear of the stack of documents. The back plate is driven at the same speed of travel as the belts advance the stack of documents, and applies a progressively decreasing compressive force to the stack of documents as the stack of documents decreases in size.

Growing community of inventors

Libertyville, IL, United States of America

Eduard M Svyatsky