Transport and alignment system

A stitcher module for a mail piece inserter, the module binding stacked sheet material, comprising:

• a frame support;
• a deck mounting in combination with the frame for supporting the stacked sheet material;
• first and second pairs of chains, each pair including a conveyor and registration chain, each chain having a portion thereof disposed parallel to the support deck and including a plurality of spaced-apart fingers, the fingers defining a pocket therebetween to accept the stacked sheet material and engaging opposed edges thereof,
• a drive mechanism including a first drive motor, a second drive motor and a controller, the first drive motor coupled to the frame for driving the conveyor chains along the support deck;
• the second drive motor coupled to the frame for driving the registration chains along the support deck, and, the controller issuing command signals to the drive motors to drive the conveyor and registration chains, the chains being driven, in a first operating mode, to effect relative motion of the fingers to jog the edges of the stacked sheet into alignment and, in a second operating mode, to effect concurrent motion of the fingers to transport the stacked sheet material along the support deck;
• the drive mechanism further including drive and idler sprockets for driving and supporting each of the conveyor and registration chains, and wherein the drive sprockets of one of the chains are co-axially aligned with the idler sprockets of the other of the chains, and
• a stitching mechanism coupled to the support deck for binding the stack sheet material following the first operating mode.

A chassis module for a mail piece inserter, the module for adding inserts to a sheet material collation, comprising:

• a frame support;
• first and second pairs of belts, each pair including a conveyor drive and registration belt, each belt having a portion thereof disposed parallel to the feed path of the sheet material collation and including a plurality of spaced-apart fingers, the fingers defining a pocket therebetween to accept the stacked sheet material and engaging opposed edges thereof,
• a drive mechanism including a first drive motor, a second drive motor and a controller, the first drive motor coupled to the frame for driving the conveyor belts along the feed path;
• the second drive motor coupled to the frame for driving the registration belts along the feed path, and, the controller issuing command signals to the drive motors to drive the conveyor and registration belts,
• the drive mechanism further including drive and idler wheels for driving and supporting each of the conveyor and registration belts, and wherein the drive wheels of one of the belts are co-axially aligned with the idler wheels of the other of the belts
• at least one feeding mechanism disposed above the frame depositing inserts into the pockets defined by the fingers,
• the belts being driven to effect to effect concurrent and relative motion of the fingers to transport the stacked sheet material along the feed path, facilitate deposition of the sheet material by the feeding mechanism into the pocket and jog the opposed edges of the sheet material into alignment.