The present subject matter relates to techniques and equipment to control the alignment of sheets of paper that are assembled into a document before the document is inserted into an envelope by mail processing equipment, such as an inserter system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,447 B1, entitled “Method And Device For Moving Cut Sheets in a Sheet Accumulating System” and U.S. Pat. No. 7,752,948 B2, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Enhanced Cutter Throughput Using an Exit Motion Profile”, both address sheet alignment by having a velocity motion profile. A first path's initial speed is greater than an adjacent second path until it is determined that it must be decelerated to the adjacent second path's speed to be delivered to the downstream module at the desired lead edge to lead edge distance/offset.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,070 B2, entitled “Path Length Compensation Method and Device for High Speed Sheet Cutters” addresses sheet alignment by increasing the path length at which one document must travel such that the lead edge to lead edge distance/offset is at the desired amount upon entering a Turnover Sequencer (TOS)/Right Angle Turn (RAT).
The existing technology does not address the requirement for positive control of both the left and right sheets' alignment being adjusted in position relative to each other. In addition, existing technology does not account for the initial alignment of the sheets as received from an upstream module.
Current sheet synchronization systems only adjust relative position of the side by side sheets to account for the path length difference that the sheets experience when traveling through the turnover sequencer (TOS). This synchronization is accomplished by using a different velocity motion profile for each sheet. The velocity profile must include an acceleration and deceleration rate that does not cause paper damage or slippage in the sheet drive. The steady state velocity must be maintained between the acceleration and deceleration period such that the total motion profile for each sheet produces the desired overlap of the sheets upon output from the TOS. The total motion profile is a complex command sequence. The total motion profile configuration only accounts for the TOS path length difference and cannot account for the amount of offset between the sheets that results from the cutting and advancement of the sheets out of the cutter.
Hence a need exists for measurement of the sheets initial alignment upon reception from an upstream module and for using separate servo motor position control for both the left and right sheets to employ a sequence of position control adjustments to each sheet during the sheet transition through the hold module.
The teachings herein alleviate one or more of the above noted inserter problems with the use of a device such as photocells of a hold module to capture the angular displacement of servo motors for each parallel sheet transport which are configured to transport sheets as they exit a cutter module of an inserting system. These values are used to determine the initial alignment of the sheets. The alignment of the sheets is adjusted by commanding incremental position changes to the servo drives which control the position of the sheets during their transition through the hold module.
In certain aspects, there is provided a an inserting system configured to adjust alignment of a plurality of sheets of paper outputted from a cutter module. The inserter system includes a hold module positioned downstream from the cutter module. The hold module includes a plurality of parallel sheet transports for transporting the sheets of paper in parallel. A plurality of servo motors are configured to drive each sheet transport and each servo motor including an encoder configured to generate encoder pulses for each rotation of the servo motors. First and second photo sensors are configured to detect a presence of first and second sheets at respective sheet transport entry points. An inserter system control computer is programmed to calculate an alignment adjustment of the sheets in the hold module to account for requirements of one or more modules downstream of the hold module. The system control computer is configured to calculate an initial alignment offset between the sheets based on a difference in encoder pulses received between a first detection of the first sheet by the first photo sensor on a first sheet transport and a detection of the second sheet by the second photo sensor on a second sheet transport; receive established sheet alignment requirements of the one or more modules downstream of the hold module; calculate an alignment correction distance, and control a distance that each sheet in the hold module is to be moved for each cyclic update.
In certain other aspects, there is provided a method for aligning a plurality of sheets processed in parallel by an inserter system. The method includes transporting first and second sheets through parallel first and second transports of a hold module of the inserter system. Photocell triggers are received from first and second photocells, and encoder pulse values are received from first and second encoders that are positioned at the first and second transports in the hold module as the first and second sheets are transported through the hold module. An initial alignment offset is calculated by counting a number of encoder pulses received from the first encoder from a first time at which the first sheet triggers the first photocell until a second time at which the second sheet triggers the second photocell. An amount of alignment correction is divided equally between a first servo motor associated with the first transport path and a second servo motor associated with the second transport path based on requirements of one or more subsequent modules downstream from the hold module. The first servo motor is driven to adjust a first distance moved by the first sheet in the first transport path for each cyclic update, and the second servo motor is driven to adjust a second distance moved by the second sheet in the second transport path for each cyclic update. A total number of cyclic updates sent to each servo motor results in moving the first and second sheets through the hold module while imparting an offset distance between the first and second sheets.
The advantages and novel features are set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The advantages of the present teachings may be realized and attained by practice or use of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations described herein.
The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord with the present teachings, by way of example only, not by way of limitation. In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present teachings.
The description of the
Reference now is made in detail to the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings and discussed below.
In the inserter system 100, the hold module 106 adjusts the sheets' alignment prior to entering the Turnover Sequencer (TOS) entry transport 107. The TOS entry transport 107 moves the two sheets from the hold module 106 into the TOS 108. The cut sheets of paper that make up the document move through the inserter in the direction indicated by arrow 10, as shown in
The TOS 108 (
Referring back to
The position control system of inserter system's 100 hold module 106 is controlled by an inserter control computer 130. Movement of the sheets of a document through the hold module 106 are controlled by the servo master controller 135, which is a software module executed in the inserter control computer 130. The servo master controller 135 communicates position instructions to the right and left side servo drivers 137 and 136 via a fieldbus connection (
Reference is now directed to
A third set of idler assemblies 271 and 272 continue the positive transport control of sheet S1-1 through the hold module 106. The idler assembly 271 is driven by two rollers (input roller 270 and an output roller—not shown) attached to shafts 262 and 263. Idler rollers are mounted above the drive rollers to capture sheet S1-1 and transport the sheet without slippage. Idler assembly 272 is designed to be similar to idler assembly 271. The left side transport 264 is driven by servo motor 195 (not shown) that is connected to the primary drive pulley 260. The individual drive shafts 261, 262 and 263 are driven by a drive belt 159 that wraps around the primary drive pulley 260.
The right side transport 265 is driven independently from the left side transport 264 by servo motor 196 (not visible in
The left and right servo motors 195 and 196 are located under left and right side transports 264 and 265 and therefore are not visible in
Sheets S1-1 and S2-1 enter the hold module 106 with an initial lead edge alignment A-I introduced by the cutter module 104. A-I can vary between each set of sheets due to slippage in the transfer from the cutter module 104 to the input rollers (293, 294; 297, 298) of the hold module 106. An incomplete cut may require the transport drive to rip the sheet from the cutter, causing a misalignment. Switching from roll to fan fold input paper also can effect alignment. Other reasons for misalignment out of the cutter can occur. However, the current disclosure can correct for the cutter alignment at the completion of every cut. The initial alignment may be a positive or negative. Once sheets S1-1 and S2-1 have been processed through the independent transports 264 and 265, the lead edge alignment A-F has been created between sheets S1-1 and S2-1 which is consistent with the requirements needed to process the sheets in subsequent modules of the inserter 100. The hold module's 106 method of measuring the initial alignment A-I and adjusting the alignment of sheets S1-1 and S2-1 to get alignment A-F is explained in reference to
Error detection is accomplished upon exiting the hold module 106 by comparing predicted time of arrival with the measured time of arrival of the left and right sheets S1-3 and S2-3 respectively, as measured by photocells 254 and 255, located within idler assemblies 272 and 273 respectively (
Reference is now directed to
(O-I)=L−W
(A-F)=(O-D)−(O-I)
Missing from the methods employed in prior art is accounting for the initial alignment A-I that is typically non-zero difference.
A unique feature of the hold module 106 of the present application is its ability to measure and account for the initial alignment in the method employed to adjust sheets S1-1 and S2-1 lead edge alignment prior to entering a TOS 108.
By knowing the initial alignment (A-I), the alignment correction (A-C) can be accurately calculated so that the sheets enter the TOS module 108 with alignment (A-F), to obtain the desired overlap (O-D) exiting the TOS module 108.
(A-C)=(A-F)−(A-I)
At this point the servo master controller 135 is incrementing both servo drives' commanded position by D-C each cyclic update period, thus both sheet S1-1 and S2-1 are advanced downstream by the same amount each period. In operation of the present application, the positional control by the servo master controller 135 is utilized to adjust sheets' S1-1 and S1-2 alignment to achieve A-F prior to entering the TOS 108 by changing the amount by which the servo drive's commanded position is incremented. It is desirable to employ this technique so as to maintain smooth paper handling. The change to the servo drives commanded position incremental value should be minimized. In the hold module 106, this is done by first dividing the relative amount to adjust (A-C) between the two servo drives, retarding one drive by approximately one half A-C and advancing the other by approximately one half A-C. The error tolerance in the division of the alignment correction A-C between transports allows for variation in the one half of A-C value from being exactly equal to one half. Second, since it is known that the amount of time the sheets S1-1 and S2-1 are within the hold module 106 is greater than one cyclic update period, the adjustment of ½ A-C to each servo drive's commanded position is spread out over several updates. The number of cyclic updates (N) which adjustment is applied is calculated by dividing the time which it is possible to make this adjustment by the cyclic update period. The allowable time to perform an adjustment (e.g., 42 ms) in the hold module 106 is when sheets S1-2 and S2-2 are free of the cutter 104 and the TOS entry transport 107. The cyclic update period is, for example, 1 ms therefore N=42.
The result is that both servo drive's commanded position incremental value at steady state speed (D-C) is changed for N cyclic updates by:
(D-A)=(A-C)/2N
Therefore, for N cyclic updates, the retarding servo drive's commanded position incremental value (D-R) will be equal to (D-C)−(D-A) and the advancing servo drive's commanded position incremental value (D-L) will be equal to (D-C)+(D-A).
As implemented in the exemplary example, the D-A calculation involves returning an integer value however, in this case, if any remainder exists after the division then it is taken into account and handled with an additional fieldbus update. In addition, some of the word usage and such is in reference to a 90 degree left hand turn TOS module 108 configuration. All measurements and calculations work for other configurations, such as the Right Angle Turn (i.e. RAT) used conventionally, as well as initial alignments where sheet S1-1 is leading sheet S2-1.
If (A-I) and (A-F) are not equal (S35), the alignment correction (A-C) is calculated (S40). With the (A-C) and (A-I) known, the relative change in servo position, per fieldbus command, 2*(D-A) required to achieve an Alignment Correction (A-C) after N field bus cycles may be calculated (step S42). After each servo motor has received N cyclic fieldbus position commands, an offset of (A-C) in position of sheets S1-3 and S2-3 is achieved (S43). The servo master controller 135 then sends (D-C) position updates to return sheets S1-2 and S2-2 to steady state speed prior to entering the TOS entry transport 107 (S45). The sheets S1-3 and S2-3 transfer to TOS entry transport 107 having alignment (A-F) (S50). Sheets S1-3 and S2-3 are transported from the exit of the hold module 106 to the TOS module 108 via the TOS entry transport 107 (S55). S1-4 and S2-4 are merged and overlapped by the desired overlap amount of (O-D) in the TOS module 108 (S60), and are ready for continued processing by the inserter system 100.
As shown by the above discussion, functions relating pertain to the operation of an inserting system wherein hold module control is implemented in the hardware and controlled by one or more computers operating as the control processor 130 connected the inserting system and to a data center processor/server 131 for data communication with the processing resources as shown in
As known in the data processing and communications arts, a general-purpose computer typically comprises a central processor or other processing device, an internal communication bus, various types of memory or storage media (RAM, ROM, EEPROM, cache memory, disk drives etc.) for code and data storage, and one or more network interface cards or ports for communication purposes. The software functionalities involve programming, including executable code as well as associated stored data. The software code is executable by the general-purpose computer that functions as the control processor 170 and/or the associated terminal device. In operation, the code is stored within the general-purpose computer platform. At other times, however, the software may be stored at other locations and/or transported for loading into the appropriate general-purpose computer system. Execution of such code by a processor of the computer platform enables the platform to implement the methodology for tracking of mail items through a postal authority network with reference to a specific mail target, in essentially the manner performed in the implementations discussed and illustrated herein.
For example, control processor 130 may be a PC based implementation of a central control processing system like that of
In operation, the main memory stores at least portions of instructions for execution by the CPU and data for processing in accord with the executed instructions, for example, as uploaded from mass storage. The mass storage may include one or more magnetic disk or tape drives or optical disk drives, for storing data and instructions for use by CPU. For example, at least one mass storage system in the form of a disk drive or tape drive, stores the operating system and various application software. The mass storage within the computer system may also include one or more drives for various portable media, such as a floppy disk, a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), or an integrated circuit non-volatile memory adapter (i.e. PC-MCIA adapter) to input and output data and code to and from the computer system.
The system also includes one or more input/output interfaces for communications, shown by way of example as an interface for data communications with one or more other processing systems. Although not shown, one or more such interfaces may enable communications via a network, e.g., to enable sending and receiving instructions electronically. The physical communication links may be optical, wired, or wireless.
The computer system may further include appropriate input/output ports for interconnection with a display and a keyboard serving as the respective user interface for the processor/controller. For example, a printer control computer in a document factory may include a graphics subsystem to drive the output display. The output display, for example, may include a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or a liquid crystal display (LCD) or other type of display device. The input control devices for such an implementation of the system would include the keyboard for inputting alphanumeric and other key information. The input control devices for the system may further include a cursor control device (not shown), such as a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, stylus, or cursor direction keys. The links of the peripherals to the system may be wired connections or use wireless communications.
The computer system runs a variety of applications programs and stores data, enabling one or more interactions via the user interface provided, and/or over a network to implement the desired processing, in this case, including those for tracking of mail items through a postal authority network with reference to a specific mail target, as discussed above.
The components contained in the computer system are those typically found in general purpose computer systems. Although summarized in the discussion above mainly as a PC type implementation, those skilled in the art will recognize that the class of applicable computer systems also encompasses systems used as host computers, servers, workstations, network terminals, and the like. In fact, these components are intended to represent a broad category of such computer components that are well known in the art. The present examples are not limited to any one network or computing infrastructure model—i.e., peer-to-peer, client server, distributed, etc.
Hence aspects of the techniques discussed herein encompass hardware and programmed equipment for controlling the relevant document processing as well as software programming, for controlling the relevant functions. A software or program product, which may be referred to as a “program article of manufacture” may take the form of code or executable instructions for causing a computer or other programmable equipment to perform the relevant data processing steps, where the code or instructions are carried by or otherwise embodied in a medium readable by a computer or other machine. Instructions or code for implementing such operations may be in the form of computer instruction in any form (e.g., source code, object code, interpreted code, etc.) stored in or carried by any readable medium.
Such a program article or product therefore takes the form of executable code and/or associated data that is carried on or embodied in a type of machine readable medium. “Storage” type media include any or all of the memory of the computers, processors or the like, or associated modules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives, disk drives and the like, which may provide non-transitory storage at any time for the software programming. All or portions of the software may at times be communicated through the Internet or various other telecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enable loading of the relevant software from one computer or processor into another, for example, from a management server or host computer into the image processor and comparator. Thus, another type of media that may bear the software elements includes optical, electrical and electromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces between local devices, through wired and optical landline networks and over various air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such as wired or wireless links, optical links or the like, also may be considered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unless restricted to non-transitory, tangible “storage” media, terms such as computer or machine “readable medium” refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution.
Hence, a machine readable medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, a tangible storage medium, a carrier wave medium or physical transmission medium. Non-volatile storage media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as any of the storage devices in any computer(s) or the like. Volatile storage media include dynamic memory, such as main memory of such a computer platform. Tangible transmission media include coaxial cables; copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a bus within a computer system. Carrier-wave transmission media can take the form of electric or electromagnetic signals, or acoustic or light waves such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media therefore include for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards paper tape, any other physical storage medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave transporting data or instructions, cables or links transporting such a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer can read programming code and/or data. Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to a processor for execution.
In the detailed description above, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant teachings. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present teachings may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and software have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present teachings.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/903,734 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SYNCHRONIZING ITEMS USING POSITION COMPENSATION” filed on Nov. 13, 2013, the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61903734 | Nov 2013 | US |