Abstract: Provided is a financial device, which comprises a medium entrance, a medium processing apparatus, and a control unit. A medium is deposited or withdrawn through the medium entrance. The medium processing apparatus processes the medium. The control unit controls the medium processing apparatus. The medium processing apparatus comprises a front guider, a rear guider behind the front guider, a pushing member pushing a medium disposed in a medium processing space, and a supporting guider supporting the medium in the medium processing space. The control unit controls an operation of the medium processing apparatus such that states of the front guider, the rear guider, the pushing member, and the supporting guider when moving of a medium is completed in the medium processing space to deposit the medium are the same as states of the front guider, the rear guider, the pushing member, and the supporting guider when moving of a medium is completed in the medium processing space to withdraw or return the medium.

Abstract: Flat item feeding apparatus (10) having a delivering section (12) for receiving a large batch of flat items on a transport surface (24, 26a, 26b) and a singulating section (14) for extracting these items one by one and transferring them downstream. The delivering section includes a transport device (22) for conveying the stacked on edge flat items towards the singulating section, a pushing device (30) for jogging the stacked on edge flat items during the conveying. The transport device has an endless belt (26a, 26b) protruding a transport deck (24) within a conveying zone B of length d of the delivering section and located a distance d2 from a downstream pulley (29a, 29b) and a distance d1 from an upstream pulley (27a, 27b), the distances d1 and d2 respectively defining determined conveying zone A, C in which the at least one endless belt remains below the transport deck.

Abstract: A sheet material insert feeder device for feeding sheets of material from a substantially horizontal stack of sheets of material onto a transport track. The sheet material insert feeder device includes a trough with a surface to receive the substantially horizontal stack of sheets of material, the surface including a front end and a back end, a conveyor to move the substantially horizontal stack of sheets of material along the surface, an aperture at the front end of the surface, the aperture housing an insert movable between an upper position and a lower position, a breaker plate near the front end of the surface to support the substantially horizontal stack of sheets of material there against, and a suction device near the front end of the surface to suction and separate a sheet from the substantially horizontal stack of sheets of material.

Abstract: A sheet take-out device in which sheets are conveyed in an upright state and sheets having a low height can be stably taken out is provided. A sheet take-out device includes a main floor belt that conveys sheets that are placed in an upright state in a direction intersecting a conveying direction to a take-out portion, and a take-out unit that takes out the sheets conveyed by the main floor belt one by one in order from the frontmost sheet. The device includes a sub-floor belt that is capable of reverse conveyance, in which sheets are conveyed in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the main floor belt, a tightness detection unit, and a height detection unit that detects the height of the sheets immediately prior to being taking out by the take-out unit, and performs sub-floor control.

Abstract: For separating flat articles from a lying stack of articles, each foremost article of the stack is conveyed away one after the other in an upwards direction. For making such separation applicable also for mechanically relatively unstable articles, a preparatory step is implemented prior to the step of conveying-away upwards. In this preparatory step each foremost article of the stack is gripped, then separated from the front end of the stack in a direction essentially perpendicular to the main surfaces of the stacked articles and simultaneously or immediately afterwards accelerated upwards. Only when the article has a speed component in upwards direction of approximately the order of magnitude of the conveying-away speed is the article transferred to the conveying-away means. The preparatory step is carried out with a suction device that moves on a suction device track.

Abstract: Unstacker apparatus (1) for unstacking flat items (E), the unstacker apparatus comprising a flat item feed magazine (M) in which the flat items are disposed in a stack and on edge and are moved in a certain direction (D) until they reach an unstacking plate (6) disposed in alignment with said feed magazine, whereupon they are ejected one-by-one in a perpendicular direction (P) that is perpendicular to said certain direction (D), the unstacker apparatus further comprising a blower member (13) which is disposed so as to blow a jet of air onto the flat items, and which is mounted in a manner such as to be retractable into the unstacking plate.

Abstract: An apparatus of feeding mailpieces such as envelopes is disclosed. The apparatus includes a supply conveyer for supporting thereon an array of mailpieces which are arranged in a tilted-backward position and moving such mailpieces forward, and a suction feeder which is located downstream of the supply conveyer for picking up by suction a forefront mailpiece from the array of mailpieces on the supply conveyer. The suction feeder has a rotary drum, a shaft rotatably supported in the drum and disposed with the axis thereof oriented in parallel to and offset from the axis of the drum. An external gear is fixed on the shaft for rotation therewith and a stationary internal gear engages with the external gear, the gear ratio of the external gear to the internal gear being n:n+1, wherein n represents an integer.

Abstract: A mail destacker is provided that includes a destacker plate and a retractable protrusion that can move between an article erecting position and a retracted position.

Abstract: A mailpiece sorting apparatus is described which includes a feeder, an OCR scanner, a mailpiece transporter, a sanitizer and compartments or bins for receiving sorted mailpieces, an optical character recognition system (OCR) for reading addressee information, an addressee database, and a personal computer (PC) or microprocessor based control system. In one configuration, mailpieces are feed, singulated and sanitized. In another configuration, mailpieces are fed, singulated, sanitized and sorted. In another configuration, the system is contained in a sanitization area and clean room. The system provides for sanitization of mailpieces so as to help deter delays in incoming mail delivery caused by the presence of life harming material and sanitize the mail so as to protect the intended recipients from harm.

Abstract: In a paper-leaves separating/supplying apparatus comprising a rotary separating/supplying belt, a vacuum suction device and a separating/supplying device, the vacuum suction device takes up one by one a plurality of paper leaves set together and conveyed as far as a position at which they come into contact with a belt surface of the separating/supplying belt so that the paper leaf is attached onto the belt surface and is fed toward the downstream side in accordance with the rotary motion of the separating/supplying belt. The belt surface of the separating/supplying belt is placed in a state perpendicular to a traveling plane of the paper leaves or in a state inclined toward the paper leaves.

Abstract: In a paper-leaves conveying means for conveying a plurality of paper leaves, set together in a bundle in a depositing section, toward a paper-leaves feeding position where a separating/supplying belt exists, an arm is provided which is designed to be moved toward the paper-leaves feeding position in a protruding condition into the interior of the depositing section for supporting side surfaces of the paper leaves, and further to be retreated instantaneously from the interior of the depositing section immediately before the last paper leaf existing between the arm and the separating/supplying belt is handed over to the separating/supplying belt side. Thus, the arm can support the paper leaves until immediately before they are handed over to the separating/supplying belt, which eliminates the occurrence of the falling-down of the paper leaves at the paper-leaves feeding position.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: An arrangement for adaptively driving the flag element of a document-handling device, such as a document sorter. The rotation of a first cam exerts a first force on the flag element. The profile of the first cam is such that the first force exerted on the flag element varies in accordance with the size of the document stack of the document-handling device. Alternatively, a second cam, rotatably connected to the first cam, causes a rotation of the first cam such that the first cam exerts a second force on the flag element. The first cam is shaped such that the second force exerted on the flag element is constant.

Abstract: A charging apparatus for handling stations for sheet-like, flexible articles, in particular envelopes, particularly for mail-processing machines, the drive in a feed-channel for stacks of articles standing on edge being controlled in dependence on a detector output signal produced by a light barrier, which responds to the formation of a gap and runs transversely to the conveying direction with the gap forming in the region of a transition between the feed channel and a discharge channel.

Abstract: A method for controlling and adjusting nudger drive friction force. The nudger drive friction force is measured and compared with a desired nudger belt friction force term needed for reliable feeding. Cable drum motor torque is responsively adjusted to obtain a desired nudger drive friction force.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for feeding envelopes in an envelope insertion machine, wherein a rotatable pneumatic feeding head is used to pick up an envelope from an envelope stack by a negative air pressure. The pneumatic feeding head is also used to move the envelope to a pair of take away rollers so that the envelope picked up by the feeding head can be moved further away from the envelope stack. It is preferred that the feeding head includes an outer cylinder having a row of vacuum ports and an inner cylinder having a plurality of apertures for air passage operatively connected to a vacuum pump. The inner cylinder is independently rotatable relative to the outer cylinder so that the negative air pressure is provided to the vacuum ports when the apertures of the inner cylinder are aligned with the vacuum ports, and the negative air pressure is turned off from the vacuum parts when the apertures and the vacuum ports are out of alignment.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: An arrangement for adaptively driving the flag element of a document handling device, such as a document sorter. The invention uses a force generating mechanism to produce torque at the periphery of a cam. A flexible connector that is wrapped around the cam is used to pull the flag element. The cam is shaped such that the force exerted on the flag element produced by constant torque varies in accordance with the size of the document stack in the hopper of the document handling device.

Abstract: An article feeder includes a feeder bin for holding and advancing a stack of articles. A stripper belt mechanism engages the first article contained in the stack and singularly draws the article from the stack. The stripper belt mechanism includes a source of vacuum for drawing vacuum onto the first article. A biasing mechanism biases the stripper belt mechanism against the stack of articles and applies back pressure thereto. The biasing mechanism is adjustable for varying the back pressure against the stack of articles to accommodate articles of varying thickness. A method for operating an article feeder is also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided for controlling the presentation of articles to the singulation head of a system for singulating a stack of edge-mounted articles, for example mixed mail, which mechanism senses the instantaneous pressure at which the lead article of the stack is pressed against the singulation head. A feedback control may be provided responsive to a difference between detected instantaneous pressure and a desired target pressure for controlling at least one drive member in a manner so as to reduce such difference. Where there is a pick window of instantaneous pressure at which singulation can be effectively performed, a control may also be provided to inhibit operation of the singulation head when the instantaneous pressure is outside the pick window.

Abstract: A follower mechanism is provided for use in a system for feeding flat articles, such as mixed mail, which follower mechanism includes a paddle assembly connected to a mount so as to be pivotable between a feed position and an inactive position, and mechanism for permitting the paddle mount to be freely moved in either direction when the paddle assembly is in its inactive position, but to be drivable only in the forward direction when the paddle is in its feed position. A counterbalance mechanism is provided to control downward movement to the paddle and to assist in the lifting of the paddle. A mechanism may also be provided for positively disengaging the mount for the paddle from the drive mechanism.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: In a paper-leaves separating/supplying apparatus comprising a rotary separating/supplying belt, a vacuum suction device and a separating/supplying device, the vacuum suction device takes up one by one a plurality of paper leaves set together and conveyed as far as a position at which they come into contact with a belt surface of the separating/supplying belt so that the paper leaf is attached onto the belt surface and is fed toward the downstream side in accordance with the rotary motion of the separating/supplying belt. The belt surface of the separating/supplying belt is placed in a state perpendicular to a traveling plane of the paper leaves or in a state inclined toward the paper leaves.

Abstract: A unit for feeding flat diecut blanks of wrapping material to a user machine is equipped with a conveyor by which blanks disposed on edge transversely to a given feed direction and ordered in a substantially continuous column are caused to advance along a conveying path extending toward a transfer station where each blank in turn is picked up from the column; the conveyor comprises two sections aligned along the path: the one, an intermittently driven first belt by which the column is advanced toward the transfer station through a step of predetermined length, at a predetermined frequency timed with the operation of a pickup mechanism positioned at the transfer station, the other a continuously driven second belt designed to advance the column toward the first belt at a predetermined velocity.

Abstract: A method and device for feeding blanks on a packing machine, whereby a store, having a horizontal axis, feeds a succession of blanks to a pickup station from which the blanks are withdrawn one by one; and the blanks are fed to an input station of the store in groups, wherein the blanks are positioned on edge and gripped together by a band, which is only removed once the groups are packed together along the store.

Abstract: The invention pertains to a hopper loader apparatus for separating and forming an overlapping shingled stream of individual signatures of sheet materials from a vertically aligned, parallelepiped shaped stack of such signatures for subsequent handling operations. The hopper loader has a slippage resistant belt which engages a bottom edge of each signature and assists in preventing the signatures from slipping by keeping them upstanding. Preferably the slippage resistant belt has an array of projections extending upwardly from a belt surface which secures the signatures in place. This produces a smooth, regular, even signature stream. Individual signatures flow reliably, one-by-one off of the downward conveyor to another conveyor.

Abstract: A method and device for feeding blanks on a packing machine, whereby a conveyor feeds along a horizontal path a succession of blanks positioned perpendicular to the path; the path terminating at a pickup station having a stop surface defined by a frame, which has a withdrawal opening closed partly by fixed teeth and is moved in a direction substantially parallel to the path by the thrust exerted by the blanks and in opposition to a sensor for regulating a traveling speed of the conveyor to keep the thrust exerted by the blanks on the frame constant.

Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a carrier portion, a suction belt, a servo motor, a blower, a solenoid valve, a pressure sensor, a position sensor, a belt hole sensor, and a controller. The carrier portion feeds a plurality of sheets of different sizes in a direction of their thickness in an upright state. The suction belt has a belt hole for drawing each sheet fed from the carrier portion by suction, so as to feed out each sheet drawn by suction with the belt hole. The servo motor drives the suction belt. The blower generates a pressure for drawing the sheet by suction in the belt hole. The solenoid valve enables/disconnects supply of the negative pressure from the blower to the belt hole. The pressure sensor measures a pressure in the belt hole. The position sensor detects the sheet fed out by the suction belt. The belt hole sensor detects the belt hole after the sheet is fed out.