Bell & Howell Mail and Messaging Technologies Company

C2it

James M Guberski

Gerard A Derome

Neal J Middelberg

Robert B Bennett

Vincenzo Tucci

Edward J Kapturowski

Jason R Kolesar

A right-angle sheet stager apparatus for merging multiple input sheet streams into a single output sheet stream includes one or more input channels and an output channel. Each input channel includes a transport surface and a staging surface. Each transport surface communicates with its corresponding staging surface at a transitional member interposed between the transport surface and the staging surface. Each transitional member includes an upper surface disposed at an elevation greater than an elevation of the corresponding staging surface. The output channel includes an output surface, and is oriented in a right-angle relation with respect to the input channels and communicates with the input channels at a merger location. The stager apparatus permits a sheet from the transport surface to enter the staging surface and overlap with a preceding sheet already present on that staging surface, prior to the preceding sheet's complete exit from the staging surface.

Right angle stager apparatus

Right angle stager apparatus and method

A right-angle sheet stager apparatus for merging multiple-input sheet streams into a single output sheet stream includes one or more input channels and an output channel. Each input channel includes a transport surface and a staging surface. Each transport surface communicates with its corresponding staging surface at a transitional member interposed between the transport surface and the staging surface. Each transitional member includes an upper surface disposed at an elevation greater than an elevation of the corresponding staging surface. The output channel includes an output surface, and is oriented in a right-angle relation with respect to the input channels and communicates with the input channels at a merger location. The stager apparatus permits a sheet from the transport surface to enter the staging surface and overlap with a preceding sheet already present on that staging surface, prior to the preceding sheet's complete exit from the staging surface.

A portable viewer for viewing bar codes and other markings printed at least in part with invisible inks includes a light source for illuminating and exciting the ink of the bar code, a camera for detecting light emitted by the excited bar code and for outputting image data, a display for creating a visible image of the bar code from the image data output from the camera, and an optical system for projecting the visible image onto a viewing screen. The display may be a miniature, transmissive active matrix liquid crystal display with high resolution that produces a sharp, bright image. A backlight and lens project the image produced by the display to generate an enlarged virtual image that can be easily viewed by a user. The portable viewer is compact in size and can be accommodated in a small package and requires only a small amount of power.

Portable viewer for invisible bar codes

Growing community of inventors

Holly Springs, NC, United States of America

James M Guberski