Apparatus for inserting supplementary material into newspaper jackets

A conveyor system comprising in combination:

• a plurality of receptacle means for receiving and conveying vertically oriented newspaper jackets, each receptacle means having an uppermost opening for receiving said jackets and a lowermost opening for discharging said jackets together defining a vertically oriented opening through said receptacle means;
• means operatively connected to each of said receptacle means for moving said receptacle means along a predetermined path;
• support means positioned a spaced distance below the uppermost opening in each of said receptacle means along said predetermined path, said support means for supporting said newspaper jackets at said spaced distance below said uppermost opening in each of said receptacle means;
• and
• means for adjusting the spaced distance of said support means relative to the uppermost opening in each of said receptacle means to accommodate various sized newspaper jackets.

In a conveyor system having a plurality of moving receptacle means for retaining a newspaper jacket into which an insert is to be fed by an insert feeder, wherein the improvement comprises:

• means for sensing the failure to feed insert material into the receptacle means;
• a photoelectric beam mounted at a fixed position at a starting position of the conveyor system, a reflector mounted at a fixed position on said receptacle means, said reflector adapted to be sensed by said photoelectric beam, and a shift register adapted to monitor the position of said receptacle based on input signals from said photoelectric beam striking said reflector, whereby said photoelectric beam, said reflector and said shift register define means for tracking the receptacle means from said starting position to a preselected location;
• control means responsive to said means for sensing the failure of said insert feeder to feed an insert, said control means further adapted to respond to said means for tracking the position of said receptacle;
• means operated by said control means for securing a newspaper jacket in a receptacle if an insert is not fed into the jacket;
• and
• means operated by said control means for releasing said newspaper jacket at said preselected location.