US 4,431,323 AGranted

Envelope feeder method and apparatus

AssigneeKulow Products, Inc.

InventorHoward H. Kulow

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Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for sequentially feeding pieces of stationery such as envelopes from a supply hopper to a conventional printer mechanism for printing addresses or the like thereon, and for sequentially transporting printed pieces to a storage hopper. The system of the invention utilizes a dispensing mechanism for feeding one piece of stationery at a time from the supply hopper, a positioning mechanism for receiving a piece of stationery and positioning it along the path of travel of a pair of transport belts, and a transport mechanism for belt-feeding pieces of stationery around a printing platen for printing.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A stationery feeder for serially transporting discrete pieces of stationery such as envelopes to and from the printing station on a platen-roll-type printer comprising:

(a) a transport mechanism including:
(i) platen roll means for replacing a platen roll normally used by a printer;
(ii) transport belt means reeved around the platen roll means and defining a path of travel along which pieces of stationery may be serially fed to and from a printing station defined by the printer;
(iii) formation means carried on the transport belt means for engaging the trailing edges of pieces of stationery and for pushing the pieces of stationery along the travel path to and from the printing station;
(b) a positioning mechanism including:
(i) platform means movable between a receiving position for receiving thereon in substantially unconfined supported relation one face of a piece of stationery to be fed to the printer, said platform means supporting the piece of stationery by engaging with one face thereof and configured to provide a substantially unobstructed face of said stationery opposite from said supported face adjacent said platform means, and a delivery position wherein said platform means positions said piece of stationery in substantially planar relation in said travel path with said unobstructed stationery face confronting said transport belt means for engagement by the formation means;
(ii) foot means cooperatively associated with said platform means to engage an edge of a piece of stationery delivered to said platform means when said platform means is in said receiving position to retain the stationery piece thereon, and to be retracted from proximity to said platform means when said platform means is in said delivery position thereby to permit ready removal of the stationery piece from the platform means by said transport belt means;
(iii) first power-operated means for moving the platform means between its receiving and delivery positions;
and
(c) a dispensing mechanism including:
(i) feeding means for dispensing pieces of stationery one at a time to the platform means;
and
(ii) second power-operated means for selectively operating the feeding means.

10 more elements

A stationery feeder for serially transporting discrete pieces of stationery to and from a printer, comprising:

(a) a dispensing mechanism including:
(i) structure defining a supply chamber for receiving and holding a stack of stationery pieces to be fed serially to a printer;
(ii) feeding means for dispensing pieces of stationery one at a time from the stack;
(b) a positioning mechanism including structure having a substantially planar surface and cooperating foot means having first and second locations relative to said surface, said positioning mechanism being mounted for movement between a receiving position wherein the positioning mechanism is positioned to receive on said planar surface thereof a piece of stationery dispensed by the feeding means with an edge of said stationery engaged with said foot means in its said first location to retain the stationery in supported relation on said surface, and a delivery position wherein said piece of stationery is oriented in a predetermined plane with said foot means substantially retracted to its said second location with respect to said planar surface to permit removal of said stationery from said surface;
(c) a transport mechanism including:
(i) transport belt means and structure supporting the belt means for defining a path of travel for the belt means which extends along said plane and toward the printer;
(ii) formation means carried on the belt means for engaging an edge of said piece of stationery in passing along said plane;
and,
(d) control means for:
(i) operating the feeding means to dispense a piece of stationery to the positioning mechanism only when:
(a) the positioning mechanism structure is in its receiving position;
and when
(b) there is no piece of stationery already received by the positioning mechanism structure;
(ii) moving the positioning mechanism structure to its delivery position only when the formation means on the transport belt means is approaching the delivery position and is therefore ready to receive a piece of stationery;
and
(iii) retaining the positioning mechanism structure in its delivery position until the formation means has engaged an edge of said piece of stationery and has begun feeding said piece of stationery along said travel path.

13 more elements

A method of feeding discrete pieces of stationery to a printer, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing structure defining a supply station at a location removed from the printer;
(b) providing dispensing means for serially dispensing discrete pieces of stationery in a predetermined direction from the supply station;
(c) providing positioning means for receiving pieces of stationery dispensed by the dispensing means and supporting the pieces on one face thereof in substantially planar relation with the other face of said pieces substantially unobstructed, and
providing means engaging one edge of said pieces while supported to preclude unwanted movement in said predetermined direction from supported relation,
and for serially moving said pieces in said supported planar relation from the position in which said pieces were received and supported to a predetermined position in a delivery station to dispose said unobstructed face of the stationery in position for removal, and providing means withdrawing said edge engaging means thereat to permit removal of the pieces;
(d) providing transport means including at least one transport belt extending alongside the delivery station for receiving and removing pieces of stationery positioned in the delivery station and for transporting such pieces of stationery of the printer;
(e) providing sensing means for:
(i) sensing when the positioning means is ready to receive a piece of stationery;
(ii) sensing when the transport means is ready to receive a piece of stationery;
(iii) sensing when the printer is ready to receive a piece of stationery;
(f) presenting pieces of stationery to the supply station;
(g) operating the dispensing means to dispense a piece of stationery to the positioning means wherever the positioning means is ready to receive a piece of stationery;
(h) operating the positioning means to position a piece of stationery in the delivery station whenever the transport means is ready to receive a piece of stationery;
and
(i) operating the transport means to feed a piece of stationery to the printer whenever the printer is ready to receive a piece of stationery.

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

A stationery feeder for serially transporting discrete pieces of stationery such as envelopes to and from the printing station on a platen-roll-type printer comprising:

(a) a transport mechanism including:
(i) platen roll means for replacing a platen roll normally used by a printer;
(ii) transport belt means reeved around the platen roll means and defining a path of travel along which pieces of stationery may be serially fed to and from a printing station defined by the printer;
(iii) formation means carried on the transport belt means for engaging the trailing edges of pieces of stationery and for pushing the pieces of stationery along the travel path to and from the printing station;
(b) a positioning mechanism including:
(i) platform means movable between a receiving position for receiving thereon in substantially unconfined supported relation one face of a piece of stationery to be fed to the printer, said platform means supporting the piece of stationery by engaging with one face thereof and configured to provide a substantially unobstructed face of said stationery opposite from said supported face adjacent said platform means, and a delivery position wherein said platform means positions said piece of stationery in substantially planar relation in said travel path with said unobstructed stationery face confronting said transport belt means for engagement by the formation means;
(ii) foot means cooperatively associated with said platform means to engage an edge of a piece of stationery delivered to said platform means when said platform means is in said receiving position to retain the stationery piece thereon, and to be retracted from proximity to said platform means when said platform means is in said delivery position thereby to permit ready removal of the stationery piece from the platform means by said transport belt means;
(iii) first power-operated means for moving the platform means between its receiving and delivery positions;
and
(c) a dispensing mechanism including:
(i) feeding means for dispensing pieces of stationery one at a time to the platform means;
and
(ii) second power-operated means for selectively operating the feeding means.

10 more elements