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US 6,203,002 B1Granted
Apparatus and method for sorting mail
AssigneeProfold, Inc.
InventorJeff Ference
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for sorting mail is disclosed. A mail bin receives individual mail pieces in vertical orientation from the discharge end of a feed belt assembly. The feed belt assembly includes at least one brush roll positioned at the discharge end of the feed belt assembly for imparting a concave profile to the mail upon discharge to aid in reducing any damage to a side edge of the individual mail piece discharged into the mail bin.
Claims27
An apparatus for sorting mail comprising:
- a mail bin for receiving individual mail pieces;
- and
- a feed belt assembly for feeding individual mail pieces in vertical orientation along a predetermined path of travel, said feed belt assembly having a mail discharge end positioned adjacent the mail bin for discharging mail pieces into the mail bin, said feed belt assembly further comprising a brush roll positioned at the discharge end of the feed belt assembly for pushing over upper and lower edge portions of an individual mail piece and imparting a concave profile to each individual mail piece upon discharge to aid in reducing any damage to a side edge of each individual mail piece discharged into the mail bin.
An apparatus for sorting mail comprising:
- a mail bin for receiving mail pieces;
- and
- a feed belt assembly for feeding individual mail pieces in vertical orientation along a predetermined path of travel, said feed belt assembly having a mail discharge end positioned adjacent the mail bin for discharging mail pieces into the mail bin, said feed belt assembly further comprising
- first and second brush rolls positioned at the discharge end of the feed belt assembly for imparting a concave profile to the mail to aid in reducing any damage to a side edge of each individual mail piece,
- wherein said first brush roll has a top belt pulley and a flat pulley in a medial portion of the brush roll,
- a flat drive belt received over the flat pulley;
- said second brush roll having a top belt pulley;
- and
- said drive belt received over said top belt pulleys of said first and second brush rolls such that as a driving force is imparted onto the flat belt pulley on the first brush roll, and said driving force is imparted onto the second brush roll via the drive belt.
6 more elements
An apparatus for sorting mail comprising:
- a plurality of mail bins for receiving mail pieces;
- and
- a plurality of feed belt assemblies for feeding individual mail pieces in vertical orientation along predetermined paths of travel to the mail bins, said feed belt assemblies each comprising a mail discharge end positioned adjacent a respective mail bin for discharging mail pieces into a respective mail bin, wherein each of the plurality of feed belt assemblies further comprises a brush roll positioned at the discharge end of each of the plurality of feed belt assemblies for pushing over upper and lower edge portions of an individual mail piece for imparting a concave profile to the mail pieces upon discharge to aid in reducing any damage to a side edge of each individual mail piece discharged into a respective mail bin.
A method for sorting mail comprising the steps of:
- feeding individual mail pieces in vertical orientation along a predetermined path of travel into a mail bin;
- and
- while feeding the mail, imparting a concave profile to the individual mail pieces upon discharge into the mail bin by pushing over upper and lower edge portions of individual mail pieces to aid in reducing any damage of a side edge of each individual mail piece.
A method for sorting mail comprising the steps of:
- feeding individual mail pieces in vertical orientation along a predetermined path of travel into a mail bin;
- and
- while feeding the individual mail pieces, imparting a concave profile to each individual mail piece upon discharge of the individual mail piece into a mail bin to aid in reducing any folding of a side edge of each individual mail piece by pushing over upper and lower edge portions of each individual mail piece by engaging upper and lower brushes positioned on each of respective first and second brush rolls with the respective upper and lower edge portions of an individual mail piece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.