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US 4,886,596 AGranted
Address reading apparatus for mail article
AssigneeNEC Corporation
InventorsTsutomu Sasage, Masahiko Noguchi
Life of this patent
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AssigneeNEC Corporation
InventorsTsutomu Sasage, Masahiko Noguchi
Estimating the term…
The invention maintains the focus of a reader in a postal sorting and transporting system which is equipped to read an image of an address on either side of a mail article. The address reading apparatus uses two address readers disposed on opposite sides of a transfer path over which the mail articles travel. An address-carrying surface detector is disposed along the transfer path and upstream of the two address readers. Two floating roller pairs are provided at the inlet and the outlet of the address readers, to hold the mail article therebetween. A pressure roller driving mechanism responds to an output signal delivered from the address-carrying surface detector for selectively fixing one roller of either roller pair at a predetermined distance from the mail article's address carrying surface so that the distance between the address carrying surface and the appropriate address reader is kept constant. This constant distance fixing compensates for variations in the thickness of the mail article in order to maintain an accurate focus.
An apparatus for reading information on a flat article, the apparatus comprising:
An apparatus for reading the address on a mail article, said apparatus comprising:
An apparatus for reading information on a sheet, said apparatus comprising two information readers disposed in opposition to each other on opposite sides of a sheet transfer passage for reading information written on one surface of a sheet, information-carrying surface detecting means disposed along said transfer passage and disposed upstream of said information readers for detecting which surface of said sheet is carrying information, two pairs of pressure rollers disposed at an inlet and an outlet of said information readers, rollers in each of said pairs of rollers engaging each other and being disposed on opposite sides of said transfer passage, pressure roller driving means responsive to an output signal delivered from said information-carrying surface detecting means for driving said pressure rollers in a direction which is perpendicular to a transfer direction, and stopper means associated with said pressure rollers for restricting the movement of said pressure rollers for restricting the movement of said pressure rollers so that a distance between said surface having said information thereon and one information reader facing said surface is a fixed distance.
A machine for reading information appearing on the surface of an article which may have any of many different thicknesses, said machine comprising a pair of opposed reader means confronting opposite surfaces of said article whereby one of said reader means is able to read said information regardless of which of said opposite surfaces has said information appearing thereon, means for detecting which of said opposite surfaces has said information thereon, means responsive to said detecting means for holding the surface having said information thereon a fixed distance from the one of said reader means which confronts the surface having said information thereon, means for transporting at said fixed distance said article past said reader means confronting the surface having said information thereon, said transporting means comprising at least one pair of nip rollers through which said article passes, means for floatingly mounting each of said nip rollers to move between a surface of said article and a fixed stop, and wherein said means for holding comprise means for pressing said rollers so that they move to a stop adjacent said reader means confronting said surface with said information thereon.
A machine for reading information appearing on the surface of an article which may have any of many different thicknesses, said machine comprising a pair of opposed reader means confronting opposite surfaces of said article whereby one of said reader means is able to read said information regardless of which of said opposite surfaces has said information appearing thereon, means for detecting which of said opposite surfaces has said information appearing thereon, means responsive to said detecting means for holding the surface having said information thereon a fixed distance from the one of said reader means which confronts the surface having said information thereon, means for transporting at said fixed distance said article past said reader means confronting the surface having said information thereon, said transporting means comprising two pair of nip rollers through which said article passes, means for floatingly mounting each of said nip rollers to move between a surface of said article and a fixed stop, means for pressing said rollers so that they move to a stop adjacent said reader means confronting said surface with said information thereon, one of said pairs of rollers engaging said article as it approaches said reader means and the other of said pairs of rollers engaging said article as it leaves said reader means, each of said rollers being floating mounted to move between said surfaces and said stops, and means responsive to said detecting means for pressing all of said rollers against said stop adjacent said reader means confronting said surface with said information thereon.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.