Patent Application
20090057998
This invention relates to apparatus for manipulating sheet material and, more particularly, to an apparatus for providing equal access to dual face surfaces of a sheet/mailpiece for printing/scanning on each side thereof.
Material handling systems frequently require that sheet material, such as the internal mailpiece contents or mailpiece envelopes, be turned over to match a specific downstream requirement. For example, mailpiece fabrication equipment typically requires that mailpiece content material be oriented face-up or face down depending upon the orientation of a receiving envelope This requirement has come under increasing demand as new and old equipment have, over the course of time, been merged. That is, some mailpiece fabrication systems require a face-up orientation while others employ a face-down presentation. Effective utilization and coordination of all systems/machines becomes inefficient when specific mailpiece fabrication jobs can only be processed on specific machines.
Furthermore, various inversion modules have been developed to reorient the envelope or mailpiece content material for printing or scanning purposes. That is, a requirement often exists for a mailpiece envelope to have information printed on both face surfaces such as a destination address on one side thereof and a return address on the other side (typically on the rear face of the envelope flap). At other times, a sheet may have content material printed on one side while a destination address is printed on the opposite side such that, when folded, the destination address may be aligned with and seen through a transparent window of an envelope.
One apparatus for inverting the orientation of a mailpiece envelope, or its content material, includes a twist module wherein the sheet material is directed linearly along a spiral path, typically affected by a series of twisted belts or chords. While such twist modules retain the respective leading and trailing edge position of the sheet material, such modules require a lengthy axial path to change the face-up/face-down orientation of the sheet material. Furthermore, twist modules are not reconfigurable to handle straight runs wherein sheet material inversion is not required. Consequently, a substitute module or entirely separate mechanism must be introduced to reconfigure the sheet material handling equipment.
A need, therefore, exists for an apparatus to manipulate sheet material for providing access to the dual face surfaces of the sheet material and for performing additional processing operations such as printing and/or scanning information on each side of the sheet material.
The accompanying drawings illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts.
The invention will be fully understood when reference is made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A sheet handling apparatus is provided for conveying sheet material/mailpieces along a feed path which facilitates access to the dual face surfaces thereof for the purpose of printing, and/or scanning information contained, thereon. The sheet handling apparatus includes first and second conveyor modules each having a conveyor surface, a portion of which is disposed in opposing, face-to-face relation with a portion of the other conveyor surface. Furthermore, the conveyor surfaces cooperate with a means for developing a pressure differential across the conveyor surfaces to hold the sheet material on the conveyor surfaces and transfer the sheet material across the modules during transport. A processor controls the pressure differential means such that the sheet material is held against the conveyor surfaces by a negative pressure differential developed across the conveyor surface and transferred from one conveyor surface to the other by controlling the pressure differential of both modules when the sheet material is interposed between the face-to-face interface. Furthermore, the remaining end portions of each conveyor surface are oppositely disposed and openly accessible to perform other sheet material processes. For example, the sheet material may be scanned along and/or printed on each face surface.
An apparatus is described for handling sheet material which enables access to both sides thereof for performing additional operations. Though, in the broadest sense of the invention, the apparatus enhances the ability to manipulate and/or handle sheet material along a continuous feed path while facilitating other sheet material processing operations such as printing, scanning, collation, cutting, folding, insertion, etc. In the context used herein, “sheet material” means any page, document, or media wherein the dimensions and stiffness properties in a third dimension are but a small fraction, e.g., 1/100th of the dimensions and stiffness characteristics in the other two dimensions. As such, the sheet material is substantially “flat” and flexible about axes parallel to the plane of the sheet. Hence, in addition to individual sheets of paper, plastic or fabric, objects such as envelopes and folders may also be considered “sheet material” within the meaning herein. The embodiments disclosed herein, therefore, are merely illustrative of the inventive teachings and should not be construed as limiting the invention to a particular type or construction of sheet material, but interpreted broadly in context of the specification and appended claims.
The invention employs two principle features including the ability to share/transport documents along a common, coplanar feed path, and a system configuration which enables access to both sides of a document for performing additional operations such as printing and/or scanning.
More specifically, the conveyor modules 12, 14 are arranged such that an end portion of one conveyor surface 14C opposes the other conveyor surface 12C along a face-to-face interface FF. Furthermore, while the remaining portions 12EP, 14EP of the conveyor modules 12, 14 are diametrically opposite, i.e., 180° out-of-phase, the end portions 12EP, 14EP are openly accessible for other sheet material processes. The import of this arrangement/feature will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent paragraphs when discussing the operation for controlling the sheet handling apparatus.
To facilitate the description, only one of the conveyor modules, e.g., the first conveyor module 12 will be described inasmuch as the structural configuration of each module is essentially identical. Furthermore, when structural elements are common to both modules 12, 14, a similar/common reference numeral or character will be employed for identification purposes. In
The means 16 for developing a pressure differential across the conveyor surface 12C includes, inter alia, one or more pneumatic pumps S1, S2 and a plenum 30 disposed in fluid communication with the pneumatic pumps S1, S2. The plenum 30 is disposed between the linear segments 26 of the conveyor surface 12C and the rollers 22, 24 at each end of the conveyor module 12. The plenum 30 includes a plurality of apertures 30A disposed through a sidewall structure 30W of the plenum 30. Furthermore, the sidewall structure 30W is disposed adjacent the conveyor surface 12C and, in addition to tensile loads which may be imposed by the rollers 22, 24 on the conveyor surface 12C, the sidewall structure 30W provides a degree of lateral and/or vertical support for the conveyor surface 12C. Moreover, the apertures 30A are sufficiently close to the conveyor surface 12C such that air/fluid will flow substantially normal to the conveyor surface 12C (i.e., through the openings 12CO) rather than in a direction parallel to and/or between the sidewall structure 30W and the interior conveyor surface 12C.
Finally, the plenum 30 comprises at least one chamber 34-1, but may include additional chambers 34-2 to facilitate the transfer of sheet material from an upstream conveyor module 12 to a downstream conveyor module 14. The significance and use of a multi-chambered plenum 30 will become apparent when discussing the operation of the sheet handling apparatus 10
The pneumatic pumps S1, S2 are capable of generating a positive, negative and/or neutral pressure differential, P, V, N, respectively, across the conveyor surface 12C. For example, to develop a negative pressure differential V, a command or signal is issued by the processor 20 to the pneumatic pumps S1, S2 to generate a vacuum V (see
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Alternatively, and referring to
In addition to providing a means for conveying sheet material, various processing devices may be disposed adjacent each of the accessible end portions 12EP, 14EP of the conveyor surfaces 12C, 14C. For example, if the conveyor modules are processing mailpieces, various mailpiece processing operations may be performed on the exposed face surfaces of the mailpieces. For example, a first printer 50a (see
In summary, the present invention provides an apparatus for transferring sheet material from one conveyor surface to another. Complexity is minimized and reliability optimized by reducing the number of moving parts. That is, aside from a common conveyor system, the apparatus employs a pneumatic system to hold, transfer and convey the sheet material. Moreover, the apparatus provides access to dual face surfaces of the sheet material, e.g., a mailpiece envelope, to perform various other processing operations such as printing and/or scanning.
Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and deviations in the form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the scope of this invention. For example, while the apparatus 10 shows only two conveyor modules 12, 14 disposed in linear, coplanar relationship, multiple conveyor modules, e.g., three modules, may be joined in overlapping relation to return the sheet material 40 to its original orientation, i.e., face up or face down. Furthermore, while the invention shows a substantially linear feed path, it should be understood that the upstream and downstream modules 12, 14 need not be linear or aligned, but may be staggered or misaligned, i.e., forming an angle relative to each other.
Moreover, the invention has been described in the context of a device wherein processing operations, whether in connection with a mailpiece 40 or other sheet of material, may be performed along an open or accessible portion of one of the conveyor surfaces 12C, 14C or conveyor modules 12, 14. It should also be appreciated that the sheet handling apparatus 10 is a device capable of transporting sheet material 40 along a co-planar feed path which prepares or presents the sheet material 40 in a suitable orientation for use by a downstream processing device. That is, the sheet handling apparatus 10 may be used to convey, transfer and deliver sheet material so as to present one face surface or another to a subsequent processing station including, but not limited to a printing and/or scanning station.
