Envelope opening apparatus
AssigneeStephens Industries, Inc.
InventorsFrederick N. Stephens, Glenford Rowlett, James D. Beard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Envelope opening apparatus in which envelopes with previously slit top edges are supplied, one at a time, to a conveyor belt at a feeder station and are carried by the conveyor belt to an end slitting station in which each envelope is arrested, the faces of the arrested envelope are spread apart, and a pair of bursting members mounted for rectilinear movement in rectangular paths move downward into the envelope through its pre-slit top edge and outward against the respective envelope ends to burst them. Envelopes whose ends have been broken or burst are moved into successive radial slots of a rotary storage member for holding while the contents of the envelopes are removed and sorted.
Claims30
Apparatus for opening an envelope previously slit along one edge thereof, comprising:
- blades;
- means for positioning the envelope with said one edge thereof adjacent said blades;
- means mounting said blades for movement along respective paths, each including a first portion extending from a point outside the envelope to a second point within the envelope and a second and rectilinear portion extending from said second point through an edge of the envelope adjacent said one edge to a predetermined third point beyond said adjacent edge, said means mounting the blades for translational movement along the second portions of said paths;
- and
- means for driving the blades along said paths with a sufficient driving force to move said blades from said second points through the edges of the envelope adjacent to said one edge to said predetermined third points to break said adjacent edges.
Envelope opening and holding apparatus comprising:
- means for opening envelopes fed sequentially thereto;
- a member mounted for rotation on a vertical axis, said member having a plurality of radially extending slots for receiving envelopes, each of said slots opening upwardly and outwardly radially and having a bottom wall and generally vertical side walls for supporting an envelope on edge;
- means for rotating said member in synchronism with the operation of said opening means;
- and
- means for delivering an opened envelope from said opening means to one of said receiving slots in a first predetermined rotary position of said member.
Apparatus for successively delivering envelopes from a stack, comprising:
- support means for receiving a stack of envelopes on edge, said support means including a support surface with an edge;
- lower retainer means disposed slightly above the edge of said support surface;
- a friction roller disposed above said lower retainer means, said friction roller abutting the leading envelope of said stack between the upper and lower edges thereof;
- means for urging the stack of envelopes against said lower retainer means and said friction roller;
- a suction device;
- means for moving said suction device into engagement with the leading envelope of said stack at a point between said friction roller and said lower retainer means to grip said envelope and for sequentially moving said suction device away from the stack of envelopes to pull said leading envelope over said lower retainer means;
- and
- means for rotating the friction roller in such a direction as to move the leading envelope downwardly away from said roller to separate said envelope from said stack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.