Bell & Howell Company

Bell & Howell Postal Systems, Inc.

Other

Bell & Howell Phillipsburg Company

K George Rabindran

Kenneth L Guenther

Thomas J Faber

Joseph Kalika

David D Filicicchia

Eduard M Svyatsky

Gary L VanderSyde

John R Flint

Michael A Wisniewski

Melvin T Kerstein

John S O'Callaghan

David Haas

Girish B Shah

David Wiley

David Fillcicchia

Mel Kerstein

Paul J Beatty

Gerald D Warden

Raymond W Lee

Jose S Pioquinto

David G Stites

John S O'Callaghan, Sr

Gary L Vander Syde

Myron A Bowles

Edward H Zemke, Deceased

Tom Faber

Kenneth G Viani

Jospeh Kalika

Michael A Wisniewsi

Mel T Kerstein

Edward M Svyatsky

Kevin Beers

Richard Chodacki

Kenneth L Hendrikson

An apparatus for weighing mail pieces being advanced across a transport path including a weighing module having load cells, an in-feed drive module and a takeaway module. The scale platform is mounted independently of the in-feed drive module and the takeaway module, and the scale platform comprises an uninterrupted mail piece support surface. A control system is provided that acquires a mail piece weight signal when the lead edge of a mail piece reaches a sensor at the exit of the weighing module. Sensors also calculate the velocity of a mail piece as it leaves the weighing module, whereby speed of each mail piece is accelerated to its original speed and position in the mail transport path. Mail weighing throughput rates of up to 10 mail pieces per second are achieved.

System for high-speed automatic weighing of items in a mail stream

The invention is directed to an automatic mail tray loading device that is adapted to receive envelopes from an inserting machine or from other mail-processing systems and place them in mail trays. The device has a two-stage envelope buffer, which buffers the envelopes into a shingled array before depositing them into the mail tray. The first stage buffers the envelopes during purging of the second stage and the second stage buffers the mail during a tray change. The mail trays are held on a tray conveyor, at an inclination that ensures proper loading of the tray and reliable transfer of envelopes from the tray. The tray conveyor incrementally moves the envelope tray downward until the tray is full of envelopes. A new, empty tray is then moved into position and the filled tray is moved laterally to the tray offload station. The system comprises an envelope conveyor, a tray conveyor, a lateral tray transfer mechanism and an auxiliary buffer. The envelope conveyor receives the envelopes from the inserter and buffers them in a shingled stream before discharging them into the envelope tray. The tray conveyor positions the envelope tray to receive the envelopes as they are discharged from the envelope conveyor. The tray lateral transfer mechanism advances the filled tray laterally to the offload station. The auxiliary buffer is located at the upstream end of the envelope conveyor and functions as the auxiliary buffer to buffer envelopes arriving from the inserter during purging of the envelope conveyor prior to a tray change.

Mail tray loader for inserters

An in-feed magazine apparatus for loading documents includes a magazine feed ramp having one or more document conveyor belts disposed along a bottom surface, the belts being arranged to engage the bottom boundary of the documents. The conveyor belts are configured to effect forward movement of the stack of documents toward a document shingler mechanism along a linear axis defined by forward movement of the conveyor belts. Also included is a backing plate having a lower portion disposed proximal to the conveyor belt, an upper portion disposed vertically upward from the lower portion, and a generally planar face parallel to the plane defined by the face of the documents. An upper and lower sensor sense contact with the front end of the stack of documents while a controller operatively coupled to the upper and the lower sensors determines when the front end of the stack of documents lies in a plane substantially parallel to the face of the backing plate. A jogger mechanism operatively coupled to the controller and the backing plate is configured to reciprocally displace a portion of the stack of documents approaching the backing plate such that the jogger mechanism is energized when the controller determines that the stack of documents is inclined at a forward angle relative to the backing plate where such reciprocal displacement is configured to urge the stack of documents towards a substantially parallel orientation relative to the backing plate.

In-feed magazine apparatus and method for loading documents

A system for applying linerless labels to mailing items includes a label feeder for feeding a continuous length web of linerless label material from a supply roll through a loop path to a label applying station juxtaposed to the path traversed by mailing items conveyed on edge in sequential fashion by a belt conveyor. The label material passes through a web guide and advance assembly to a cutter station operative to sever the label material transversely and create labels of desired height. A paddle member is operative to engage and hold each successive label as it is being severed from the label material web generally simultaneously to adhere the adhesive side of the label against a mailing items passing through the label applying station. The various operating functions of the linerless label applying system may be coordinated by conventional control logic.

Linerless label applying system

An in-feed magazine apparatus for loading documents includes a magazine feed ramp having one or more document conveyor belts disposed along a bottom surface, the belts being arranged to engage the bottom boundary of the documents. The conveyer belts are configured to effect forward movement of the stack of documents toward a document shingler mechanism along a linear axis defined by forward movement of the conveyer belts. Also included is a backing plate having a lower portion disposed proximal to the conveyor belt, an upper portion disposed vertically upward from the lower portion, and a generally planar face parallel to the plane defined by the face of the documents. An upper and lower sensor sense contact with the front end of the stack of documents while a controller operatively coupled to the upper and the lower sensors determines when the front end of the stack of documents lies in a plane substantially parallel to the face of the backing plate. A jogger mechanism operatively coupled to the controller and the backing plate is configured to reciprocally displace a portion of the stack of documents approaching the backing plate such that the jogger mechanism is energized when the controller determines that the stack of documents is inclined at a forward angle relative to the backing plate where such reciprocal displacement is configured to urge the stack of documents towards a substantially parallel orientation relative to the backing plate.

A buffered stacking system for selectively diverting horizontally disposed documents from a generally horizontal main conveying path, stacking the documents in a horizontal orientation and dropping the documents into replaceable receiving receptacles is provided. The system has a primary horizontal conveyor belt with a lower horizontal reach defining a horizontal primary conveying path. A plurality of sorting stations are located serially along and below the primary conveying path. Each of the sorting stations has at least one diverter arm disposed along the conveying path. The diverter arms are selectively movable from a generally horizontal position which allows passage of the documents along the conveying path to an inclined position to divert the document into the corresponding sorting station. The diverter arms divert the document in a downwardly inclined direction into a stacking station. The stacking station is formed with a lower drop floor assembly for supporting the diverted documents in a stacked generally inclined orientation and for pivoting open to allow the stacked documents to fall into a replaceable receiving bin located below a drop floor which forms a part of the drop floor assembly. The stacking assembly also includes a method of operation whereby the drop floor is activated when the documents in the stacking bin are equal to or higher than a predetermined height and when additional documents are not being diverted into the stacking bin.

Buffered stacker with drop floor assembly

A labeling assembly for applying labels carried on a substrate to a sequential series of moving documents is provided. The assembly transports the document in a generally vertical end on end orientation down a conveying path and peels the label from the substrate to position the peeled label in a generally vertical orientation. The labeling assembly also includes a paddle having a front surface with vacuum ports for attaching and releasably retaining the peeled label on the front surface. An actuating mechanism pivots the paddle to force an end of the retained label into contact with the document. Upon contact, the downstream end of the retained label adheres to the document and the label is pulled off the paddle. As the label is pulled off the paddle the contact between the end of the paddle presses the label against the document.

High speed labeler

Apparatus for shingling a plurality of documents disposed in stacked relation so that the stack extends successively from a first end to a second end, and has at least one boundary defined by substantially coplanar marginal edges of the documents. The stack of documents is conveyed along a predetermined path during which one or more rotatable shingling members engage the coplanar marginal edges of the documents and impart velocity components of progressively increasing magnitude to the marginal edges in a manner to effect movement of the documents into a shingled array. In the preferred embodiments, the rotatable shingling member has a conical shingling surface traversed by the documents in tangential relation so that the velocity components imparted to the marginal edges of the documents lie in the planes of the documents and move them laterally in shingled relation to each other.

Method and apparatus for shingling documents

An apparatus for separating and advancing documents includes a first assembly having movable belts for frictionally engaging and advancing one of the documents along a path, and a second assembly having stationary belts and retrogressingly moving a portion of an endless belt along the path to frictionally engage and halt the remainder of the documents. The retrogressional movement of the endless belt distributing wear experienced by the engaging and halting of documents over the length of the endless belt. The movable belts of the first assembly and the belts of the second assembly are disposed in relative juxtaposition whereby the one document is gripped between the first assembly and second assembly and advanced along the path under the influence of the first assembly.

High speed separator with movable hold back belt for high speed flats

The multi-pass sorting machine of this disclosure includes a supporting structure which has the configuration of an A-Frame. The A-Frame structure has a slanting front side supporting several individually functional devices and a slanting back side supporting other individually functional devices. The devices of the front side include an input feeding means, a first transporting means, a singulating means, an accelerating means, a second transporting means, a bar code reader and associated electronic and computer means, a plurality of first sorting means in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of first pass stacker buffer means, and a reversing member for transporting letters from the front side to the back side while at the same time retaining the same orientation of the letters to the planar surface as the letters go around the corner. The slanting back side supports a plurality of second sorting means in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of second pass stacker buffer means, and an automatic mail tray loader means. The singulation means includes a powered belt means, and a singulation roller overlying and adapted to contact the belt means, with the roller being mounted on one end of a pivotable arm. The arm pivots about an axis spaced from the roller axis, and powered drive means is mounted on the pivot axis for engaging the roller for power transmission without interfering with interaction of the roller with the belt.

Multi-pass sorting machine

A multi-pass sorting machine includes a housing or supporting structure which has the configuration of an A-Frame. The A-Frame structure has a slanting front side supporting several individually functional devices and a slanting back side supporting other individually functional devices. The devices of the front side include an input feeder first transporting mechanisms, a singulating device, an accelerating mechanism, second transporting mechanisms, a bar code reader and associated electronic and computer equipment, a plurality of first sorting devices in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of first pass stacker buffers, and a reversing member for transporting letters from the front side to the back side while at the same time retaining the same orientation of the letters to the planar surface as the letters go around the corner. The slanting back side supports a plurality of second sorting devices in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of second pass stacker buffers, and an automatic mail tray loader.

Carrier sequenced bar code sorter for documents

A speed optimization circuit (140) is employed by an insertion machine to result in a greater actual throughput of successfully enveloped sets of documents. The speed optimization circuit (140) includes a microcontroller (142) which determines whether the machine cycling speed should be changed and which generates a signal for application to a speed adjustment servomechanism (136) for automatically changing the machine cycling speed in accordance with the determination.

Insertion machine with speed optimization

Apparatus for stacking a plurality of documents on one edge thereof in vertically disposed position which comprises a movable stacker carriage adapted for movement between a forward and a rear position. An upper stacking screw worm rotatable about a horizontal axis is rigidly attached to the movable stacker carriage and functions to move documents laterally away from the carriage and into stacked relationship. At least one lower stacking screw worm and preferably two lower stacking screw worms rotatable about horizontal axes are rigidly attached to the movable stacker carriage and function to move documents laterally away from the carriage and into stacked relationship. The upper and lower stacking screw worms are rotatable. The stacking apparatus is adapted for use with a device for delivering single documents thereto and the stacking apparatus can be used with a movable transport element such as a conveyor for transporting stacked documents. The stacking apparatus is adapted for movement in response to the pressure of the stacked documents and a sensor can be cooperatively disposed so as to be actuated by movement of the stacking apparatus whereby movement of the moveable transport element carrying stack documents is controlled in response to actuation of the sensor. The sensor such as an electrical contact switch or a photo electric cell can be used to detect movement of the stacking apparatus.

Document stacking apparatus

Apparatus and method for automatically preparing large mailings in which one or more documents are nested within the fold of a letter sheet prior to insertion into an outer envelope. One or more unfolded letter sheets are transported to a folding operation involving a clamp assembly and a roller folding assembly which is movable into engagement with the clamp assembly. After folding and prior to stuffing into an envelope, one or more inserts can be inserted within the folded letter sheet.

Growing community of inventors

Morton Grove, IL, United States of America

K George Rabindran