Diskette finishing unit
AssigneeRimage Corporation
InventorsDavid C. Burns, John S. Lee, Robert L. Skubic, Mark C. Albu, Timothy P. Fitzgerald, Gerry A. Lee, David C. Duncan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for automating the processing and packaging of prerecorded diskettes, including a label printer and applicator for applying the printed labels as the diskette moves along a conveyor, a diverter for rejecting faulty diskettes, a sleever for inserting collator cards into predetermined positions in an output bin where the sleeved diskettes are placed, all under automatic control of a control processor.
Claims44
A system for automating the processing and packaging of prerecorded diskettes supplied by a magnetic recording duplicator, comprising
- (a) a plurality of segmented conveyors arranged along a path of travel, including a first conveyor segment aligned to receive prerecorded diskettes and arranged proximate a labeler/printer;
- (b) said labeler/printer comprising means for printing labels and further means for applying said labels to a prerecorded diskette conveyed by said first conveyor segment;
- (c) a second conveyor segment arranged to receive prerecorded diskettes from said first conveyor segment;
- (d) means for selectively deflecting prerecorded diskettes from said path of travel, said means being arranged along said second conveyor segment;
- (e) a sleever aligned with said second conveyor segment, said sleever having a bin for holding a supply of open-ended sleeves and having means for placing a sleeve into said path of travel and for opening said sleeve open end to receive a prerecorded diskette into said sleeve;
- (f) means for conveying said prerecorded diskettes and sleeves into an output collection bin;
- and
- (g) a collator positioned adjacent said output collection bin, said collator having a bin for holding a plurality of separator cards and means for selectively conveying said separator cards into said output collection bin.
The apparatus of clam 27, further comprising a third sensor positioned along said path of travel after said pivotable tray, said third sensor being connected to said control processor.
A method of processing and packaging prerecorded diskettes by a plurality of workstations sequentially distributed along a single path of travel, comprising the steps of
- (a) conveying said diskettes along said path of travel past a first printer/labeler workstation and controlling the conveying speed past said first workstation at a first predetermined rate;
- (b) applying labels at said first workstation by conveying said labels to said diskettes at the same first predetermined rate;
- (c) conveying labeled diskettes along said path of travel to a second sleeving workstation containing a supply of open-eneed sleeves, including a sleeve interposed into said path of travel;
- (d) inserting said labeled diskettes into said sleeves;
- (e) conveying sleeved, labeled diskettes into an output collection bin by vertically stacking;
- and
- (f) selectively conveying separator cards from a third collator workstation positioned adjacent said output collection bin into predetermined vertical stacking positions in said output collection bin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.