Mailing machine

Abstract

An automatic mailing machine which is computer controlled and has facilities for feeding envelopes from a stack of envelopes, and separating the envelopes so that they are fed one at a time onto a platform of a weighing scale. The scale platform has belts which feed the envelopes in a second pass in an opposite direction from the scale back into the machine, wherein this indicia, such as representing postage, are applied thereto. The envelopes are then ejected onto to a platform which can hold a standard mail tray into which the ejected envelopes may be placed. Inasmuch as the envelopes make a double pass through the machine, the space occupied by the machine and scale is reduced. The machine has an envelope separating mechanism including a plurality of pulleys having teeth which are journaled on one way clutching bearings on a common shaft. During the feeding of each envelope, the shaft is actuated to turn in opposite directions so that the envelope being fed from the bottom of the stack is engaged by the gear teeth and driven in a direction out of the machine towards the scale platform, while the next envelope in the stack is engaged by the teeth of another of the pulleys which turn in the opposite direction which holds that next envelope back and prevents it from being fed. The separation is also enhanced by pulsing of feed rollers which engage and drive the bottom envelope in the stack into the separating mechanism. The simple and effective separating mechanism separates the envelopes in their first pass through the machine and does not interfere with the second pass in the opposite direction of the envelopes through the machine for printing and ejection into the stack.

Description

Priority is claimed to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/504,348 filed Sep. 19, 2003, which is herein incorporated by reference.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to mailing machines, and particularly to an improved mailing machine which makes effective utilization of mailroom space by providing for a double pass of envelopes from a stack onto a scale for weighing and then back to the machine for printing and ejection into an output stack which may be placed in a tray for delivery to the postal or courier service. The mailing machine may be under computer control and a computer, including a monitor, is provided for implementing application programs which control the printer to print different information in desired formats on the envelopes.

Although mailing machines have been proposed, and are also currently available, for automatically processing mail, a single and effective mechanism capable of handling a stack of envelopes, particularly those of different thickness and size so that they can be fed individually, weighed and delivered to a printer which applies or other indicia, has been difficult to implement. The difficulty is manifested by misfeeds (feeding more than one envelope at a time) and jamming which requires manual intervention by an operator.

Typical mailing machines have stacking and feeding facilities, weighing scales, printers, and other modules which are arranged in linear order thereby requiring more floor space in the mailing facility than is desired.

The following patents describe mailing machines and particularly envelope handling and separating mechanisms and arrangement of modules heretofore invented by the inventor hereof and which are improved by his present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,504 issued Oct. 19, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,452 issued Jun. 16, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,234 issued Jul. 23, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,610 issued Dec. 18, 1984.

Accordingly, it is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved mailing machine, wherein a double pass through the machine, for separation from a stack, and then back after weighing for printing of postage and other indicia reduces the space required for the mailing machine.

It is another feature of the invention to provide an improved envelope separator mechanism for use in a mailing machine whereby envelopes of different thickness, size and weight can be separated individually for weighing or other purposes in the machine, which mechanism is simple and effective and is compatible with belts and rollers which drive and feed envelopes into and out of the machine.

It is another feature of the invention to provide an improved mailing machine having a computer module including keyboard and display which can be set up and integrated with the machine for controlling both envelope handling and printing operations.

Briefly described, the present invention may be implemented in a mailing machine which feeds envelopes from a stack into a mechanism which separates the envelopes and feeds them one at a time onto the platform of a scale. The platform has a surface provided by a belt or belts for driving each envelope after weighing thereof on the scale back into the machine, and feeding the envelope along a backward path, which may be spaced from the forward path along which the envelope is fed onto the platform of the scale. A printer may be located in the machine along the backward path from the scale. A drive mechanism, including drive rollers, may be common to these forward and backward paths. The drive rollers intersect the paths on generally diametrically opposite locations of the circumference of the drive rollers. The individual envelopes exit, after printing thereon, onto the platform of a table oriented at an angle to the horizontal so that the ejected envelopes form a stack. The table also has a back forming a receptacle for an envelope-receiving tray. The operator may take the envelopes off the platform and place them in the tray for delivery to the Post Office or other envelope delivery service.

The separating mechanism relies on a single shaft on which toothed pulleys, such as conventional timing pulleys, are journaled via one way clutches so that they can be driven in opposite directions with the shaft when the shaft is driven in such opposite directions. Preferably two of the pulleys, which are clutched to be driven in a direction to follow the path of the envelope out of the machine, are on opposite sides of a pulley of smaller diameter which is driven in the opposite direction (that is, against the direction of movement of the envelopes). The teeth on the pulleys, which drive in the direction which the envelopes are to be transported out of the machine, engage the edges of the bottom envelope and drive it downward to pulleys which engage the envelope and eject it, thereby separating the bottom envelope of the next envelope above the bottom envelope in the stack. The teeth of the pulley which is driven in the opposite direction engages the next envelope in the stack and prevents the misfeed thereof. No special gap setting or gate devices are required thereby making the separation mechanism simple and effective. In addition, another free running roller may be pivotally mounted along the envelope ejection path from the toothed pulleys. This roller may have an abrasive or other high or enhanced friction surface, which inhibits the movement of the next envelope in the stack while the bottom envelope is readily driven past the roller to rollers which eject the separated envelope from the machine onto the weighing scale. The shaft on which the toothed pulleys are mounted, and preferably also rollers which feed the bottom envelope of the stack into the toothed pulleys for separation, are driven by a pulsed motor which requires several pulses for a complete rotation. Pulsed rotation successively in opposite directions of the shaft carrying the toothed pulleys is preferably by a linear actuator, such as a solenoid, which pulls a belt entrained around the shaft against a spring, extending the spring while driving the shaft in one direction and permitting the spring to contract to drive the shaft in the opposite direction.

The foregoing and other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, from the front, of a mailing machine in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the mailing machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view of the platform on which the envelopes are deposited and which is part of the scale unit of the mailing machine;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the mailing machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the mailing machine shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 taken from the right as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the computer control module of the mailing machine which is shown in integrated relationship with the other parts of the machine in FIGS. 1-4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the ejected envelope collection station of the machine in FIGS. 1-4 and having a tray into which ejected envelopes may be placed for delivery to the offices of courier service or the Post Office;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the ejected envelope receiving station taken from the right as viewed in FIG. 6, but with the tray removed;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the location of the transport rollers and the separation mechanism, as well as the platform of the weighing device onto which the separated envelopes are deposited and are driven in the reverse or backward direction along a second pass of the envelopes through the machine;

FIG. 9 is a plan view schematically illustrating the layout of the rollers and the separating mechanism in the machine shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 9A is a side elevation of a drive mechanism in the separating mechanism of FIG. 9;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view also illustrating the spatial relationship and layout of the rollers and separation mechanism of FIG. 9;

FIGS. 11 and 11A are perspective views showing the layout and relationship of the rollers which are disposed along the reverse or second pass through the machine, these rollers being on a carriage in a frame and spring biased so as to move in a vertical direction in the frame;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the separation mechanism shown in FIGS. 8-10; and

FIG. 13 is an elevational view illustrating the layout of the motors and belt drives on pulleys around the ends of the shafts on which the feed and transport pulleys are mounted.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the mailing machine 10 includes an envelope separating and transport module 12 in which the envelopes to be weighed and printed with postage or other indicias are placed on a surface 14 against a movable stop 16. These envelopes are separated and fed along a first or forward path 18 through the machine and deposited on a platform 20 of a scale 22. This scale may be of the type which is commercially available, as from Metler-Toledo. The platform 20 has pulleys 24 and 26 at opposite ends of the platform which drive several side-by-side belts 25 which rotate around the platform and provide a surface upon which envelopes are deposited and driven. One of these pulleys 24 may be driven by a motor 26a as shown in FIG. 2A. The platform 20 is below the path 18, that is below the plane of that path, so that the envelopes are ejected and fall onto belts on the platform 20. The belts 25 are driven in the reverse direction from the direction from which the envelopes travel onto the platform 20. The platform is generally aligned with the plane in which the second or reverse path 28 is located in the transport and separator module 12, where postage or other indicia are printed on the envelopes.

The ejected envelopes, after passing through their second path 28, are received on a platform 30 of an ejected envelope receiving module or station 32. This platform 30 may be tilted, at an acute angle to the horizontal (e.g., fifteen degrees) so that a stack of ejected envelopes forms on the platform 30. A tray 34, in which envelopes collected on the platform 30 may be placed by the operator, is removably received in the module 32. This tray is useful for delivering the printed envelopes for mailing, as to the Post Office or other delivery service.

A printing mechanism, such as an ink jet printer may be included in the transport module 12, along the back part 29 of the reverse path 28. This printer as well as the weighing operation and the timing of motors and actuators in the transport module 12 are under the control of a computer module 36. The scale 22 has its own controls and display of the measured weight in a structure 38 which projects from the scale 22. However this display and the controls are optional and may be used for administrative or scale fault diagnosis, if desired.

The computer module 36 which is also shown in FIG. 5 has a monitor or display 40 and a keyboard 42. Software for application programs, which operate the printer in accordance with the weights measured on the scale or dimensions which may be inputted on the keyboard 42, are installed in the computer 36. The computer also controls the speed of the motors in the transport, that is the rate at which envelopes are processed in the machine. A sensor on the scale, which may be an optical sensor, detects envelopes falling on the platform 20. If the envelopes are weighed immediately, the belts which drive the envelopes in the reverse direction run essentially continuously. However they may be stopped briefly in order to allow weighing or entry of data as to envelope dimensions if desired.

The ejected envelope module is also shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. It has a base 48 with sides 50 and a back 52. The tray 34 sits against the platform which may be at an angle of approximately 60 degrees to the horizontal. Stops 54 and the back 52 provide a receptacle for the lower end of the tray 34. The platform tray surface 30 is preferably disposed at an angle of approximately 14 degrees to the horizontal so that the ejected envelopes stack themselves against the stops 54. The stacked envelopes may then be placed into the tray. After the tray 34 is loaded, it may be replaced with a new tray.

Referring to the FIGS. 8-11, there is shown the layout of the rollers which define the forward path 18 and the reverse or second pass path 28.

The forward path 18 is defined by five rollers 60, 62, 64, 66 and 70. The rollers 60 and 62 are on a shaft 68, another shaft 72 carries the second set of rollers 62 and 64. The fifth roller 70 is on another shaft 74. These rollers may be similar to the rollers used in inline roller skates. They are made of plastic and have hubs which are connected to their shafts so that the shafts rotate these rollers. Two additional pairs of rollers 78 and 80 are attached to spaced shafts 82 and 84. The last set of rollers have spring biased idlers 90 and 92 which are biased against rollers 78. Another set of idler rollers 94 are mounted on the same shaft 94a and spring biased against the rollers 80.

The reverse or second pass path 28 is defined by idler rollers 100 and 102. There are three idler rollers in each set of rollers 100 and 102 which are mounted on spaced shafts 104 and 106, respectively. Two of these rollers oppose the sets of rollers 78 and 80. Rollers 100 and 102 idle on shafts 104 and 106, respectively. These shafts 104 and 106 are mounted in a carriage 107 as shown in FIG. 11A. Plates 108 separate the rollers 100 and 102 from the carriage and from each other. Springs 110 bias the rollers 100 and 102 toward the rollers 78 and 80 so as to nip the envelopes there between as the envelopes travel in the reverse direction along the path 28.

The exiting portion of the reverse path 28 is defined by another two sets of two rollers 116 and 118, each. These rollers are similar to the rollers 60-70. Smaller pinch rollers 120, in three sets of such rollers oppose the ejection rollers 116 and 118 and define the envelope ejection portion 29 of the path 28. The printer 122 which prints the indicia on the envelopes is located in the module 12 between the sets of rollers 116 and 118 and print heads intersect the portion 29 of path 28. The pinch rollers 120 are preferably carried in a frame 124 as shown in FIG. 11. This frame includes separator plates 126 which mounts the shafts which the sets of rollers 120 are mounted to form an assembly which is biased by springs 128 upwardly in the direction against the ejection rollers 116 and 118.

An intermediate portion 31 of the return or reverse path 28 is defined by another driven roller 130 connected to a shaft 132 against which a free running pinch roller 134 is biased. The intermediate portion 31 of the path 28 brings the path 28 down, from a level where the envelopes leave the printer 20, to the exit portion 29 of the path 28 where the envelopes are ejected onto the platform 30 of the collection station 32.

FIG. 10 omits the rollers 60, 62, 64 and 66 in order to illustrate other rollers in perspective.

As best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the separator mechanism had three toothed pulleys 140, 142 and 146, also known as timing gears. The pulley 146 is smaller for example by seven mils in diameter than the pulleys 140 and 142. These pulleys may be timing gear pulleys of the type that are commercially available. They are attached to a common shaft 144 by means of one-way clutching bearings. The pulleys 140 and 142 turn with the shaft 144 when that shaft turns in the clockwise direction. The center pulley 146 turns with the shaft 144 when that shaft turns in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 8. Because of their mounting on the clutch bearings, gear 140 and 142 free wheel on the shafts in the clockwise direction. The center gear pulley 146 works in the opposite direction from the pulleys 140 and 142. This pulley 146 is connected via a one-way bearing which turns with the shaft 144 when it rotates in a clockwise direction. The pulley 146 free wheels in the counterclockwise direction. The bearings connecting the pulleys 140, 142 and 146 therefore provide overrunning clutches. They may be identical, but mounted in reverse to enable pulleys 140 and 142 to turn in one direction and pulley 146 in the opposite direction with the shaft 144.

The shaft 144 is driven by another timing gear pulley 150, see FIG. 9A. A timing belt 152 is entrained around half the circumference of the timing gear pulley 150. This belt 152 is connected at opposite ends to an actuator, preferably a solenoid 154. One end of the belt 152 is attached to the plunger 156 of the solenoid while the other end of the belt 152 is connected to the casing of the solenoid via a spring 158. When the plunger 156 pulls in, the shaft 144 rotates in the counterclockwise direction and extends the spring 156. When the solenoid 154 releases, the spring retracts and allows the belt 152 to turn the shaft 144 in the clockwise direction.

As shown in FIG. 13, there are three belt drives 160, 162 and 164. The pulleys for the belts may be mounted on the exterior panels 170 which are inside the cover 172 for the module 12 as shown in FIGS. 1-4. Pulleys may also be mounted on an internal frame member 174 but are not shown in FIG. 9 to simplify the illustration.

The drives 164 and 162 are run under computer control continuously. The drive 160 is a pulse drive which rotates the shafts 72, 74 and 68 in a pulse mode which turns the pulleys 62, 66 and 70 about one-third a revolution on each pulse. It will be observed that the pulsed pulley 62 and 66 extend through openings 180 and 182 on the surface or deck 14 on which the stack of envelopes to be fed through the mailing machine 10 is disposed. The gear pulleys and their bi-directional drive assures the proper feeding of the envelopes in the stack separately and separated, thereby essentially eliminating misfeeds of two or more envelopes.

In operation when the drive 160 and the rollers 62, 68 and 70 are pulsed, the bottom envelope 200 (FIG. 8) in the stack is fed into the teeth of the gear pulleys 140, 142 and 146. Since the pulleys 140 and 142 are larger than the pulley 146 they engage the leading edge of the envelope first. Simultaneously the solenoid 154 is pulsed under computer control so that the shaft 144 rotates counterclockwise. This drives the envelope 200 into a slight arc so that it moves under the pulleys 140 and 142 and onto the pulsed roller 70. This roller 70 is spring-loaded and therefore may move downwardly to accommodate varying envelope thickness. The pulsed force on roller 62, 66 and 70 and on the pulleys 140 and 142 drives each envelope so that it reaches the rollers 78 and 80 which transport the envelope through the machine and out the exit 201 (FIG. 8). The ejected envelope drops in the direction of the arrow 204 on the scale platform 20 where the envelope is engaged by the belts and driven in the reverse direction along the path 28 past the intermediate section 30 to the outward section 29 of the path where printing may take place before the envelope 200 is ejected onto the envelope collecting station platform 30.

The next envelope, which is on top of the envelope being fed, is not turned down toward the roller 70 because the envelope being fed is underneath it. Between forward feeding pulses, the solenoid 154 is released. Then the shaft 144 moves in the clockwise direction. The gear teeth of the pulley 146 then engage the edge of the next to bottom envelope and prevent it from feeding thereby separating the bottom envelope from the next to bottom envelope.

Optionally additional friction may be used to prevent the next to bottom envelope from passing to the ejection location over the ejection rollers 78 and 80. When engaged by the teeth of the intermediate pulley 46, the next to bottom envelope is moved upwardly away from the pulsed pulley 70 and therefore prevented from any misfeed. The location of the pulse pulley 70 under the toothed pulleys 140, 142 and 146, with respect to these pulleys facilitates the separation process using the toothed pulleys. Since the toothed pulleys are free running in the direction in which they do not feed, they do not interfere with the driving of the bottom envelope onto the rollers 70 and 78 which send them out of the path 18.

A high friction roller 147 is pivotally mounted on arms on the shaft 144 and engages the envelopes under the force of gravity. The roller 147 is mounted on its shaft so as to free to turn. The roller 147 therefore does not interfere with the feeding of envelopes along the desired path 18. Roller 147 has an abrasive or other enhanced friction surface, which inhibits the movement of the next envelope in the stack while the bottom envelope is readily driven past the high friction roller to rollers which eject the separated envelope from the machine onto the weighing scale.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that there has been provided an improved mailing machine. Variations and modifications in the herein described machine, within the scope of the invention, will undoubtedly become apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the collecting station 32 can be shared by another envelope separating and transport module 12 and scale module 20 which may be disposed on the left side (as viewed in FIG. 1) of the station 32. The gusset on the left side 50 may be cut away like the gusset on the right side. The modules 12 and 20 on the left side of the station 32 are mirror images of these stations as shown on the right side of the station 32. Then envelopes are separated, weighed and transported along two passes in opposite directions in both the left and right side modules 12, weighed and printed and transported along the lower reverse pass to the platform 30 of the collection station. The speed or rate of processing is then doubled. Separate computer modules 30 may be used one for each of the left and right side modules 12 and 20 or a single computer module 36 may be shared by both the left and right side modules. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be taken as illustrative and not in any limiting extent.

Claims

1. A mailing machine comprising a mechanism whereby envelopes are driven in opposite directions so as to execute a double pass through the machine along one of which the envelopes are separated and along the other of which the envelopes are ejected to a collecting station, after printing of postage or other indicia on the envelopes.

2. A mechanism for separating envelopes from a stack in a mailing machine which comprises a shaft, a plurality of rollers having teeth along the periphery thereof and mounted on the shaft by one way over running clutches so that when the shaft is driven in a clockwise direction at least one of the rollers turns with the shaft in the clockwise direction, at least another of the rollers turns with the shaft when the shaft is driven in the counterclockwise direction said toothed rollers engaging envelopes at the bottom of said stack and deflecting said envelopes one at a time into engagement with a drive roller which rotates in a sense which directs the envelopes out of the machine, and said toothed roller rotatable in the opposite sense being engagable with the next to bottom envelope of the envelopes of the stack for maintaining said next to the bottom envelope separated from the bottom envelope during feeding thereof.

3. A mechanism which can be used in a mailing machine and which separates envelopes in a stack for processing in the mailing machine, said separating mechanism comprising a drive roller, a shaft, at least a first and a second toothed pulley coupled to said shaft with one-way overrunning clutches which enable the first and second toothed pulleys to turn with said shaft in opposite senses of rotation, said first pulley engaging a leading edge of an envelope at the bottom of said stack and said second pulley engaging a leading edge of an envelope next to said bottom envelope, said bottom envelope being deflected into feeding relationship with said drive roller, while said next envelope is prevented by said second pulley from moving with said bottom envelope.

4. A mailing system comprising a pair of mechanisms as claimed in claim 1 which are mirror images and disposed on opposite sides of the collecting station each of which mechanisms process different envelopes which are separated and printed and can be weighed after separation and before printing.

5. The mailing machine according to claim 1 further comprising along said one pass a mechanism for separating envelopes which comprises a shaft, a plurality of rollers having teeth along the periphery thereof and mounted on the shaft by one way over running clutches so that when the shaft is driven in a clockwise direction at least one of the rollers turns with the shaft in the clockwise direction, at least another of the rollers turns with the shaft when the shaft is driven in the counterclockwise direction said toothed rollers engaging envelopes at the bottom of said stack and deflecting said envelopes one at a time into engagement with a drive roller which rotates in a sense which directs the envelopes out of the machine, and said toothed roller rotatable in the opposite sense being engagable with the next to bottom envelope of the envelopes of the stack for maintaining said next to the bottom envelope separated from the bottom envelope during feeding thereof.

6. The mailing machine according to claim 1 further comprising along said one pass a separating mechanism comprising a drive roller, a shaft, at least a first and a second toothed pulley coupled to said shaft with one-way overrunning clutches which enable the first and second toothed pulleys to turn with said shaft in opposite senses of rotation, said first pulley engaging a leading edge of an envelope at the bottom of a stack and said second pulley engaging a leading edge of an envelope next to said bottom envelope, said bottom envelope being deflected into feeding relationship with said drive roller, while said next envelope is prevented by said second pulley from moving with said bottom envelope.

7. The mailing machine according to claim 1 further comprising a drive mechanism including drive rollers common to said paths, said rollers intersecting said paths generally on diametrically opposite cumferential portions thereof respectively.

8. The mailing machine according to claim 1 further comprising a platform at an end of said one path, a weighing mechanism associated with said platform, a belt drive entrained around said platform, said belt drive being reversible to move said envelopes from said platform after weighing along said other path.

9. The mailing machine according to claim 1 further comprising means responsive to the weighing of said envelopes for controlling said printing and said mechanism.

10. The mailing machine according to claim 1 further comprising a weighing platform at an end of said one path, and a table at an end of said second path said table comprising said collecting station.

11. The mailing machine according to claim 1 where said table is oblique to a horizontal plane thereby causing said ejected envelopes to stack one over the other upon collection on said table.

12. A method for transporting enveloped in a mailing machine comprising the steps of:

feeding an envelope along a first path for deposit on a scale; and

driving said envelope from said scale along a second path opposite said first direction, in which said second path is located below said first path.

13. The method according to claim 12 further comprising the steps of:

weighing said envelop deposited on said scale; and

printing indicia on said envelopes at a location along said second path in accordance with the weight of said envelope.

14. The method according to claim 12 further comprising the step of

exiting said envelop from said backward path to a stacking surface with other ones of said envelope when located on said stacking surface.

15. The method of processing envelopes in a mailing machine comprising the steps of:

driving envelopes successively to execute a double pass, each pass of said double pass being in a direction opposite the other;

separating said envelopes from a stack of envelopes so as to travel along in one of said opposite directions; and

printing postage on said envelopes in another of said opposite directions.