Pitney Bowes Inc.

Accent Color Sciences, Inc.

John J Mercede, Jr

Steven A Supron

James A Salomon

Eric A Belec

Anthony E Yap

Leo L Wologodzew

Shae Lynn Wilson

Christopher Julius Stefan

Edward M Ifkovits

Carlos L DeFigueiredo

Steven J DaCunha

Norman L Milliard

Joseph R Vassallo

Don Barker

Joseph Vasallo

Mike Raymond

John Hamma

A feeding module for use in an envelope inserting machine. The feeding module comprises a mounting support fixedly mounted on the chassis of the machine, and a sheet feeder releasably mounted on the mounting support, wherein the sheet feeder comprises a tray for supporting a stack of the sheets and a retrieving mechanism for retrieving one sheet at a time from the bottom of the stack. The retrieved sheet is guided through a curved channel to the moving belt of the inserting machine. The channel is formed by two curved panels, one of which can be lifted away from the other for jam clearance.

Removable sheet feeder with jam clearance for use in an envelope inserting machine

A method and apparatus for reducing burden in retrieving sheets of material from the bottom of a substantially vertical stack of sheets in a sheet feeder. The apparatus comprises a first convex surface at the bottom half of the stack protruding into one side of the stack for pushing the sheets toward the other side, and a second convex surface on the second side below the first convex surface for pushing the sheets toward the first side. The first and second convex surfaces each provide a counteracting force resisting the downward movement of the stack, and these countering forces have upward vertical components partially countering the downward vertical force due to the weight of the stack.

Sheet feeder with counteracting forces

The present invention provides an aligner apparatus which bottom edge aligns documents and separates documents and provides adequate gap between documents for subsequent processing. The an aligner apparatus includes first and second guide walls, forming an alley along the document feed path in which the documents are relieved of interdocument forces allowing bottom edge alignment of the documents with the document feed path. A trap assembly including first and second trap levers is lever mounted along the document feed path on a side of the guide wall and when actuated, cause opposing forces on one-another in order to grab the documents as they move along the feed path in the aligner apparatus so as to control the gap between the documents. It apparatus further provides an adequate gap between documents while reducing noise. Each trap lever has a head portion, which is fitted with a resilient pad, which is attached to the trap arm in a manner that forms a gap between the head and the pad. The resilient pad and the gap operate to reduce noise created by the trap arm when actuated.

Aligner mechanism for a mail handling system

The present invention provides an aligner apparatus which bottom edge aligns documents and separates documents and provides adequate gap between documents for subsequent processing. The an aligner apparatus includes first and second guide walls, forming an alley along the document feed path in which the documents are relieved of interdocument forces allowing bottom edge alignment of the documents with the document feed path. A trap assembly including first and second trap levers is lever mounted along the document feed path on a side of the guide wall and when actuated, cause opposing forces on one-another in order to grab the documents as they move along the feed path in the aligner apparatus so as to control the gap between the documents. It apparatus further provides an adequate gap between documents while reducing noise. Each trap lever has a head portion which is fitted with a resilient pad which is attached to the trap arm in a manner that forms a gap between the head and the pad. The resilient pad and the gap operate to reduce noise created by the trap arm when actuated.

A hybrid printing system adds color accents to documents produced by high speed black on white printers using wax based inks. The color indicia is printed while the moving documents are supported against a curved surface and the documents are heated to an appropriate temperature for use of a wax based ink between black printing and color accent printing.

Printer assembly

A method and apparatus for reverse accumulation of folded documents. The apparatus includes: a device for feeding folded documents seriatim along a path of travel; an entrance deck adjacent and downstream of the feeding device for receiving the folded documents from the feeding device, the entrance deck forming an angle with the path of travel between 5 and 10 degrees; an accumulation deck extending downwardly from the entrance deck, the accumulation deck forming an angle between 25 and 35 degrees with respect to the entrance deck; a curved deflector situated above the entrance deck for guiding the folded documents onto the entrance deck; a pair of pinch roller situated downstream of the accumulation deck for receiving a plurality of folded documents in the same order as the folded documents are fed by the feeding device, wherein the length of the accumulation deck is between 75% and 85% of the length of the folded documents; the means for cylically driving the pinch rollers to feed an accumulation of folded documents away from the pinch rollers.

Method and apparatus for reverse accumulation of folded documents

In an inserter system, an apparatus for bar code scanning includes a scanner, a travel bar attached to a frame of an inserter, and adjustable brackets for slidably fastening said scanner to the travel bar. The travel bar is positioned wherein said scanner is moveable transverse to a paper path travelled by a sheet having a bar code symbol thereon. The apparatus further includes a plate attached to the adjustable brackets, and nylon and hook type fasteners for fastening the scanner to the plate. A transparent medium deck is positioned between the scanner and the paper path. The transparent medium deck is resistive to abrasion and has optical characteristics which would allow scanning by the scanner through the transparent medium deck.

Apparatus for adjustably securing a bar code scanner device using nylon

Apparatus for marking an edge of an envelope moving in a first, substantially horizontal plane. The apparatus includes: a supporting arm; a mechanism for simultaneously rotating the arm in a second plane substantially parallel to the first plane and translating the arm perpendicular to the second plane; and a marker for applying ink to the envelope edge secured to the supporting arm. The marker includes a roller for contacting the envelope edge, a reservoir for storing a supply of ink, and a device for feeding the ink from the reservoir to the roller, whereby at an appropriate time the marker may be rotated and translated from a nonmarking position into a marking position adjacent the envelope edge for marking the envelope edge.

Growing community of inventors

Easton, CT, United States of America

John J Mercede, Jr