Claims
- 1. In a Phillipsburg-type mail inserter having a 360 degree operational cycle, and a plurality of sub-assemblies including an insert gripper jaw, an insert hopper suction cup, an insert hopper sucker bar, an insert hopper separator foot, an insert track hold down foot, an envelope suction cup, an envelope flap gripper, envelope entering fingers, an envelope flap opener, an envelope flap sprayer, and an envelope reject gate, the improvement comprising:
- (a) computer means for issuing a plurality of electrical control signals, each control signal having a predetermined rotational position and duration within the operational cycle corresponding to a first operational speed of the mail inserter;
- (b) means responsive to a respective one of said electrical control signals, for driving the insert gripper jaw, the insert hopper suction cup, the insert hopper sucker bar, the insert hopper separator foot, the insert track hold down foot, the envelope suction cup, the envelope flap gripper, the envelope entering fingers, the envelope flap opener, the envelope flap sprayer, and the envelope reject gate;
- (c) means for determining a second operational speed of the mail inserter, and advancing said predetermined rotational position of each said control signal, in accordance with the second operational speed.
- 2. An apparatus as in claim 1 further including means for adapting the rotational position and duration of each of said control signals, based upon the product of said second operational speed and a predetermined electro-mechanical lag time for each of said driving means and a respective driven sub-assembly.
- 3. An apparatus as in claim 2 in which said operational speed determining means includes an optical encoder operably communicating with a main drive shaft of the inserter and providing an output to said computer means, and in which said adapting means includes an operational delay look-up table programmed with said electro-mechanical time lags for each of said driving means and a respective said driven component.
- 4. An apparatus as in claim 1 in which said driving means includes a plurality of solenoid valves and a plurality of respective pneumatic drivers.
- 5. A mail inserter machine operable over successive 360 degree operational cycles and a plurality of operational speeds comprising:
- (a) a plurality of stations having a plurality of actuating members, the plurality of stations including an insert picker station and a mail insertion station;
- (b) a computer control circuit adapted to issue a plurality of control signals to the actuating members during each operational cycle, wherein each control signal has a rotational position and duration within each operational cycle determined according to one of the operational speeds of the machine, and each actuating member is operable in response to a respective one of the control signals; and
- (c) a measurement device adapted to send a speed measurement signal to the control circuit representing an instant operational speed of the machine to enable the control circuit to determine the respective rotational positions of the control signals.
- 6. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the insert picker station includes a gripper jaw assembly disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 7. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the insert picker station includes an insert track hold-down foot disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 8. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the insert picker station includes an insert hopper separator foot disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 9. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the insert picker station includes an insert hopper sucker bar disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 10. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 further comprising an envelope vacuum cup disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members and with a vacuum supply source.
- 11. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 further comprising an envelope flap opener disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 12. The mail inserter machine according to claim 11 wherein the envelope flap opener includes a nozzle communicating with a gaseous fluid supply source.
- 13. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the mail insertion station includes an envelope flap gripper disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 14. The mail inserter machine according to claim 13 wherein the envelope flap gripper includes a movable envelope pinching foot.
- 15. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the mail insertion station includes an envelope opener disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 16. The mail inserter machine according to claim 15 wherein the envelope opener includes a nozzle communicating with a gaseous fluid supply source.
- 17. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the mail insertion station includes an envelope insertion finger disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 18. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the mail insertion station includes an envelope flap sprayer disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members and with a liquid supply source.
- 19. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 further comprising an envelope rejection member disposed in operable communication with one of the actuating members.
- 20. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 wherein the measurement device is an optical encoder disposed in operable communication with a rotatable drive shaft of the mail inserter machine.
- 21. The mail inserter machine according to claim 5 further comprising a storage medium including a plurality of operational delay look-up tables, each look-up table corresponding to one of the operational speeds of the machine and including data associated with each actuating member, the data including representations of rotational positions corresponding to each actuating member, and wherein a portion of the computer control circuit is adapted to periodically sample the speed measurement signal from the measurement device and, based on the speed measurement signal sampled, to access one of the look-up tables.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a divisional of allowed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/720,837, filed Oct. 3, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,521.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
720837 |
Oct 1996 |
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