Abstract: A control device for on the fly printing machines, especially machines for franking envelopes, comprises a printing device comprising a rotary print head actuated by a first motor and carrying on a portion of its surface a printing active part. A conveyor device for conveying the envelopes is actuated by a second motor and feeds the envelopes into contact with the printing device at a given conveyor speed and evacuates franked envelopes. The rotation speed of the first motor is optimized so that the tangential speed of the print head is held equal to the conveyor speed during a printing phase corresponding to the period during which an envelope is in contact with the active printing part and as close as possible to the conveyor speed during a complementary catch-up phase. The conveyor speed is optimized so that the conveyor speed is as low as possible whilst preventing overlapping of envelopes arriving on the conveyor device.

Abstract: First and second drive rollers and a slideway feed in an envelope to be opened. A third drive roller drives the body of the envelope in a direction parallel to the fold connecting the flap to the body of the envelope, the drive roller rolling over the face opposite from the face against which the flap of the envelopes folded down, without rolling over the region close to the fold. A counter roller situated facing the drive roller, rolls over the face against which the flap is folded down, without rolling over the flap. An idler wheel situated facing the drive roller has a rim which rolls over the flap close to the fold connecting the flap to the body of the envelope, and which penetrates into the cylindrical volume defined by the straight generator lines of the third drive roller, so as to arch the body about an axis approximately parallel to the fold. A freely rotatable cone moves the flap and the body apart by being inserted into the space created by the arching.

Abstract: A device for inserting sheets into envelopes has a fixed insertion station receiving empty envelopes and a fixed sheet inlet station, which stations are spaced apart from each other, together with a carriage for transferring sheets therebetween and driven between a retracted position beneath the sheet inlet station and an engaged position in an envelope present at the insertion station. The sheet insertion device is characterized in that it includes sheet grasping and pushing fingers (35) fixed to the carriage (33) and projecting slightly above the sheet inlet station (32), together with holding-down fingers (37) mounted above the inlet station and actuated to move between a retracted position and a holding-down position in which they hold a sheet down against the inlet station. The invention is applicable to automatically processing mail.

Abstract: The device comprises control evacuation means (40) mounted substantially level with the envelope inlet into the insertion station (1) and tilting means (43, 44) for tilting the filled envelope, with the tilting means being controlled to take up a low tilting position in which they push down said filled envelope around the inlet to the insertion station, after which it is evacuated. The resulting insertion machine is made compact and is accurately controlled during each insertion cycle by a single driving cam shaft (52, 55) including a coding disk for determining successive angular positions.

Abstract: The envelope opening device comprises a substantially horizontal chute (1) receiving envelopes separate from one another, with the top edges of the envelopes running along the bottom of the chute, an extraction roll (35) mounted above the chute substantially level with the bottom edges of envelopes present in the chute, an associated roll (36) mounted facing the extraction roll on a pivot arm (37) controlled to apply pressure against the extraction roll or to move away therefrom, and a blade (42) mounted beneath the extraction roll and having one end extending beyond a pressure zone defined by the rolls. This device is used in mail processing machines.

Abstract: In an optical mark reader head comprising a light source (57) and two photosensors (58, 59) coupled to light transmission means forming a light emitting head (7) bracketed by two receiving heads (8, 9), all facing the document, and further comprising an analog processing circuit board (50) for the photosensor signals, supporting the light source and the photosensors. The invention provides transmission means in the form of rigid, preformed optical conduits (27, 28, 29) individually assembled and arranged relative to one another and together with the other reader head components in a single, flat case (1).