Claims
- 1. A method of stacking flats mail having bound edges and opposed unbound edges comprising the steps of: edge justifying the unbound edges by aligning the unbound edges against a planar surface; and placing the edge-justified flats mail into a vertical stack with the unbound edges aligned on one side of the stack.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the flats mail is from a group consisting of magazines or newspapers.
- 3. The method of claim 2 further including the steps of: transporting the flats mail along a conveyor with a major face thereof supported on the conveyor and all unbound edges facing a same side of the conveyor; and tilting the flats mail toward said planar surface to thereby direct the unbound edges of the flats mail against the planar surface.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of tilting is performed by skewing a top surface of a portion of the conveyor toward said planar surface, said planar surface being disposed transversely of a longitudinal axis of the conveyor.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said planar surface is defined by a back wall of a C-shaped channel.
- 6. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of: transporting the flats mail along a conveyor with a major face thereof supported on the conveyor and all unbound edges facing a same side of the conveyor; and tilting the flats mail toward said planar surface to thereby direct the unbound edges of the flats mail against the planar surface.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of tilting is performed by skewing a top surface of a portion of the conveyor toward said planar surface, said planar surface being disposed transversely of a longitudinal axis of the conveyor.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said planar surface is defined by a back wall of a C-shaped channel.
- 9. A system for stacking flats mail having bound edges and opposed unbound edges comprising:
means for edge-justifying the unbound edges by aligning the unbound edges against a planar surface; and means for placing the edge-justified flats mail into a vertical stack with the unbound edges aligned on one side of the stack.
- 10. The system of claim 9 wherein the flats mail is from a group consisting of magazines or newspapers.
- 11. The system of claim 10 further including the steps of: means for transporting the flats mail along a conveyor with a major face thereof supported on the conveyor and all unbound edges facing a same side of the conveyor; and means for tilting the flats mail toward said planar surface to thereby direct the unbound edges of the flats mail against the planar surface.
- 12. The system of claim 11 wherein the means for tilting includes a top surface of a portion of the conveyor skewed toward said planar surface, said planar surface being disposed transversely of a longitudinal axis of the conveyor.
- 13. The system of claim 12 wherein said planar surface is defined by a back wall of a C-shaped channel.
- 14. The system of claim 9 further including: means for transporting the flats mail along a conveyor with a major face thereof supported on the conveyor and all unbound edges facing a same side of the conveyor; and means for tilting the flats mail toward said planar surface to thereby direct the unbound edges of the flats mail against the planar surface.
- 15. The system of claim 9 wherein the means for tilting includes a top surface of a portion of the conveyor skewed toward said planar surface, said planar surface being disposed transversely of a longitudinal axis of the conveyor.
- 16. The system of claim 9 wherein said planar surface is defined by a back wall of a C-shaped channel.
- 17. The system of claim 9 wherein the flats mail has various dimensions in width between the bound and unbound edges thereof.
- 18. The method of claim 1 wherein the flats mail has various dimensions in width between the bound and unbound edges thereof.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/310,221, filed May 12, 1999, and is assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09310221 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
09820944 |
Mar 2001 |
US |