Abstract:
An accumulator system and method for collating a plurality of media items wherein the media items enter in seriatim at an media item entry point and become at least partially overlapped with each other at a media item exit point. A media item transport path connects the media item entry point and the media item exit point. A moveable member is mounted along the media item transport path between the entry point and the exit point. The moveable member forms part of a pocket into which media items are moved to create a collation of media items. The moveable member is moveable to change the size of the pocket. A protective member may be mounted to the moveable member and positioned to protect the trailing edge of media items in the pocket from the leading edge of media items to thereafter be moved into the pocket. The media item may be aligned in the collation position when moving the protective member to a media item trailing edge protective position. The transport means for media items can be controlled to partially move a media item along an exit path beyond the collation position. Media items of different lengths can be formed as part of the collation at the collation position with the trailing edge of the media items aligned.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to media handling equipment, such as folder, insertion and other systems and, more particularly, to an accumulation system for processing media items of different sizes and types.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Various systems require the accumulation of media for further processing. Accumulator systems have been developed to assemble packets, often referred to as collations, for further processing. Prior accumulator systems have included fixed pitch pusher chain or belt arrangements, friction belts with a customer adjustable end stop arrangements and various other arrangements. Packets or collations of media items may be utilized in insertion systems, book binding systems and other systems.  
         [0003]     Where the accumulator system is employed with insertion equipment, the accumulator system should, desirably, be capable of reliability handling a large variety of media that are to be processed. The media may be sheets to be folded, pre-folded and unfolded inserts, return enclosure envelopes, and the enclosure envelope into which the media item are to be inserted to build a mail piece. These media items may be of different sizes, thicknesses and types, such as glossy pamphlets, advertising brochures or very thin media. It has been particularly difficult to accumulate media of this variety whether for insertion into an envelope, other enclosure or other application. Often, when accumulating variable media items within the same collation, the collation or variation in fold types and sizes must be limited in order to prevent inter-leaving of materials as they enter the accumulator, as well as slippage and skewing of the completed collation as it exits the accumulator for insertion into an envelope, other enclosure or for a different application. Accordingly, prior accumulators have been  
         [0004]     An accumulator system for collating a plurality of media items, wherein the media items enter in seriatim at a media item entry point and become at least partially overlapped with each other at a media item exit point, embodying the present invention includes a media item transport path connecting the media item entry point and the media item exit point. A moveable member is mounted along the media item transport path between the entry point and the exit point. The moveable member forms part of a pocket into which media items are moved to create a collation of media items. The moveable member is adjustable to change the size of the pocket.  
         [0005]     In accordance with a feature of the present invention a protective shield is mounted to the moveable member and positioned to protect the trail edge of media items in the pocket from the lead edge of media items to thereafter be moved into the pocket.  
         [0006]     An accumulator system for collating a plurality of media items, wherein the media items enter in seriatim at a media item entry point and become at least partially overlapped with each other at a media item exit point, also embodying the present invention includes a media items transport belt connecting the media item entry point and the media item exit point. A moveable shuttle is mounted for reciprocating movement below the media item transport belt and between the entry point and the exit point. The moveable shuttle forms part of a pocket into which media items are moved to form a collation of media items. A member is mounted to the shuttle providing a guide surface for media items moved into the pocket and a protective shield for the trail edge of media items.  
         [0007]     A method of forming a collation of media items embodying the present invention includes the steps of moving a media item over a protective member and into a position for collation with other media items. Moving the protective member to a position where the protective member is not in engagement with the media item. And, moving the protective member to a position where the trail edge of the media item is protected from interference with other media items to be moved into the collation position.  
         [0008]     A feature of the present invention includes the further step of aligning the media item in the collation position when moving the protective member to the media item trail edge protective position.  
         [0009]     A method of creating a collation of media items also embodying the present invention includes moving a first media item of a first length into a position for collation with a second shorter length media item by partially moving the first media item along a collation exit path. And, moving the second shorter length media item into the collation position such that the trailing edge of the first media item and the second media item are aligned.  
         [0010]     In accordance with aspects of the present invention additional shorter media items a first media item may be moved into and beyond the collation position or into but not beyond the collation position, depending on the length of the additional shorter length media items. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     Reference is now made to the various figures wherein like reference numerals designate similar items in the various view and in which:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view of a folder inserter system employing an accumulation mechanism embodying the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged top view of the post-fold accumulator mechanism shown in  FIG. 1  illustrating the shuttle mechanism, including various drive elements, home sensors and the finger elements;  
         [0014]      FIGS. 3-5  are diagrammatic views of the post-fold accumulator components with the shuttle mechanism in various positions forming different lengths of accumulation pockets;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a diagrammatic view of the post-fold accumulator components with the shuttle position for linear paper transport and showing a media item being transported through the system;  
         [0016]      FIGS. 7-21  are diagrammatic views of the post-fold accumulator with the components in various positions helpful to a full understanding of the operation of the mechanism; and,  
         [0017]      FIGS. 22 and 23  are diagrammatic representations of the post-fold accumulator showing partial ingestion of larger items by the insertion station to allow the accumulator to accommodate greater variation in length of media to be processed. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]     Reference is now made to the various figures and more particularly to  FIG. 1 . A folder inserter system  2  includes a vertical tower feed station  4  and having an envelope transport path depicted by line  6  with arrowheads. The inserter  2  includes a pre-fold accumulator station  8 , a folder station  10 , a post-fold accumulator station  12 , an insertion station  14  and an exit area  16 . Exit area  16  includes exits  15  and  17 , respectively, for letters and flats. A reject area is provided at  19 . Details of the paper path feed arrangement are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/084233 filed Mar. 18, 2005 for PAPER HANDLING SYSTEM FEED PATH ARRANGEMENT (Pitney Bowes Docket No. F-953).  
         [0019]     The post-fold accumulator station  14  employs an accumulator mechanism  18 , illustrated in  FIGS. 2-23 . The accumulator mechanism  18  includes a shuttle  20  having four spring-loaded fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28 . The shuttle  20 , which is a moveable member, also supports idler rollers  30 ,  32 ,  34  and  36 , which cooperate with a post-fold accumulator belts  38   a ,  38   b , and  38   c  for the transport of various media items. The shuttle  20  is moved or adjusted in its position by belts  40  and  42  connected via pulley shaft  46  which is driven by a servo motor  48  via pulleys  47  and  49  and belt  51 . The shuttle  20  can be moved to reciprocate along in a linear path to vary the size of the accumulation pocket  50 . The accumulator pocket  50  is the space between the front wall  52  of the shuttle and nip  54 . Nip  54  is at the insertion station  14  and is formed by belt  56  and idler roller  58 . The pocket can be of any form, size shape or orientation that will accommodate the media items to be processed in creating the collation.  
         [0020]     The fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28  provide a protective shield for the rear edge of the mail pieces in the pocket  50  by ensuring that the next media item fed into the pocket  50 , the collation position, does not crash into the trail edge of media already in pocket  50 . Other protective type shield structures may be employed. The protective shield can be a continuous member rather than fingers, segment pieces and other structures that provide the protective function by preventing the next media item fed into the pocket from crashing into the trail edge of media already in pocket  50 .  
         [0021]     The post-fold accumulator mechanism  18  includes fixed idler rollers  60  and  62 , which cooperate with the post-fold accumulator drive belt  38 . No matter what the position of the shuttle in making a changing pocket size, a sufficient number of idler rollers always engage the post-fold accumulator transport belt  38  to securely and properly feed and transport media items of various sizes. This is because the fixed idler rollers  60  and  62  in conjunction with the idler rollers  30 ,  32 ,  34  and  36  mounted on shuttle  20  all engage associated transport belts. Media is fed into the post-fold accumulator mechanism  18  at the nip  64  formed by drive rollers  43  and  45  and the idler roller  66 , which operates in conjunction with drive roller  45 , and an idler roller, not shown, which operates in conjunction with drive roller  43 . This arrangement ensures that the media items will be positively moved into engagement with belts  38   a ,  38   b , and  38   c , and the associated idler rollers for transport within the accumulator mechanism  18 . The entry of media items into the post-old accumulator station  12  can be from either of two media paths, path  68  (where a media item is shown) or path  69 .  
         [0022]     The insertion station  14  includes the belt  56  and idler roller  58 , which drive media items and/or collations past the throat opening of finger  70  and into an envelope  72 . The envelope flap  72   a  is captured between a drive roller  74  and an idler roller  76 . The insertion mechanism is described in the above-identified U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/084,233 (Pitney Bowes Docket No. F-953).  
         [0023]     Reference is now made to  FIG. 4 , which shows the post-fold accumulator components of  FIG. 3  with the shuttle  20  position with a minimum pocket  50  size ( 50   a ).  FIG. 5  shows the shuttle  20  position with a maximum pocket  50  size ( 50   b ). A home sensor  78  detects the position of the shuttle  20 . The home sensor  78  flags when the shuttle is at the home position. As illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , because the shuttle moves under servo control of the motor  48 , the pocket  50  size can automatically be adjusted for all sizes of media items programmed into the system.  FIG. 4  shows a small pocket  50  size ( 50   a ) due to the position of shuttle  20 , for example, where 80 millimeters (mm) inserts may be accumulated.  FIG. 5  shows a large pocket  50  size ( 50   b ) due to the position of shuttle  20  where, for example, 165 inserts may be accumulated. Common size media items normally employed in various countries can be programmed for automatic servo control of motor  48 . This may include media that can vary, approximately 80-165 mm in length. However, the particular size of the pocket  50  and the particular media items that can be accommodated are a matter of design choice. Because of the shuttle operation, depending on the machine design, media of various lengths can be accommodated by creating larger or smaller pockets.  
         [0024]     Reference is now made to  FIG. 6 , which shows the shuttle  20  is in an intermediate position. The shuttle  20  is positioned in an optimum location for a particular length media item to have linear transport of such media items through the system and into the insertion system  14 . With the shuttle so positioned, the post-fold accumulator acts as a linear transport path, such as for the insertion of unfolded sheets into flats-type envelopes.  
         [0025]     Reference is now made to  FIGS. 7-21 , which show the operation of the post fold accumulator mechanism in the normal mode of operation. As shown in  FIG. 7 , media items may enter the post-fold accumulator station  12  upstream from nip  64  either as folded sheets or as unfolded inserts. The media item  80  is moved through the post-fold accumulator mechanism  18  by belts  38   a ,  38   b , and  38   c , and associated idler rollers and onto the shuttle  20 . As the media item  80  travels into the post-fold accumulator, the shuttle fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28 , are deflected downward, as is shown with finger  22 . The media item  80  travels over the fingers and into the post-fold accumulator pocket  50 , as is shown in  FIG. 10 . The shuttle  20  thereafter retracts toward the left, as is shown in  FIG. 11 . When the shuttle  20  is fully retracted, as is shown in  FIG. 12 , the fingers (including finger  22 ) release from the trail edge of the media item  80 . The media items are driven fully into the pocket by the forward motion of the belts  38   a ,  38   b , and  38   c . As is shown in  FIG. 13 , the fingers, including finger  22 , rise up under action of the springs associated with each finger  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28 . Only spring  22   a  associated with finger  22  is shown; however, fingers  24 ,  26  and  28  also each have a similar spring arrangement. Spring  22   a , for clarity in the various other figures, is illustrated only in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0026]     The fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28  rise up and overlap the trail edge of the media item  80 . As is shown in  FIG. 14 , the shuttle  20  moves to the right and the shuttle wall  58  pushes the media item  80  leading edge against nip  54  at the insertion station  14 . The media  80  is thus registered against the nip  54  and positioned for further processing by the insertion station  14  when the entire collation is ready to be processed. As is shown in  FIG. 15 , another media item  82  enters the post-fold accumulator mechanism  18  via path  69  and the fingers of the shuttle  20  shield the trail edge of the first media item  80 . This prevents the leading edge of the second media item  82  from crashing into the trail edge of the first media item  80 . This is shown in  FIG. 16 . As is shown in  FIG. 17 , the shuttle  20  retracts, allowing the second media item  82  to enter the pocket and the fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28  to return above the trail edge of the two media items  80  and  82 , which are both now in the pocket  50 . The shuttle  20  returns to the right, registering the second media item  82  against the nip  54  of the insertion station  14  by the pushing action of the front wall  52  and urging action of the belts  38 . Thus, with the shuttle returned to the right registering position, as shown in  FIG. 18 , both media items  80  and  82  are registered against the nip  54  of the insertion station  14 . The procedure repeats multiple times until an entire collation  83  is accumulated in the pocket  50  and registered against the insertion nip  54 , as shown in  FIG. 19 .  
         [0027]     After the accumulation is complete, the insertion belt  56  is tuned on and the shuttle continues to move to the right, as shown in  FIG. 20 , assisting the collation  83  further into nip  54  and thus into the insertion station  14 , as shown in  FIG. 20 . The insertion belt  56  drives the collation into the open envelope  72 , as shown in  FIG. 21 , and the post fold accumulator  12  is now ready to accumulate the next collation or to function as the media item transport that was described in connection with  FIG. 6 .  
         [0028]     Reference is now made to  FIGS. 22 and 23 . In order to accommodate a larger variation in the size of media items, the insertion station  14  can be controlled to partially ingest the such that the resulting media item lengths will all be equalized. This results in the trailing edge of the longer media items line up with the trailing edges of shorter media items that are part of the same collation. Additionally, this technique can also be employed where one or more larger media items in a collation will not fit into the pocket  50  because of the length of such media items. Whether for the purpose of aligning trailing edges and/or because of not fitting into the pocket, in such operation, the largest media items are fed first into the pocket  50  and thereafter moved, ingested, into the insertion station  12 . This involves moving a media item, such as media item  90 , partially out of the pocket  50 , the collation position, along the collation exit path. For example, a plurality of media items, longest media items followed by shorter media items, could be moved along the collation exit path beyond the pocket  50 . Each of the plurality of media items would be positioned such that the trailing edge of the item in the pocket  50  is located where the tailing edge of the media item will align with any other media items in of the plurality of media items and also with the trailing edge of any other media items in the collation that will fit within the pocket.  
         [0029]     In this arrangement different shorter length media items moved into the pocket  50  after the longer length media items. When all the media items are brought into and/or partially ingested beyond the pocket  50 , the location of the trailing edges of all of the media items in the collation are located such that they can be protected by the fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28 . It should be recognized that the fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28  are of a length to accommodate certain variation in the length of various media items to be part of the collation without employing partial movement of media items out of the pocket and into the collation exit transport path. For example, the fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28 , may be designed to accommodate a variation of media item length of up to 12 mm.  
         [0030]     Because the shuttle  20  moves under servo control of the motor  48 , the pocket  50  size can be automatically adjusted for all common size media and also oversize materials by employing the partial ingestion process. The initial movement or ingestion of the largest media is such that subsequent movement or ingestion of the shorter but still too large media items will have the media items properly situated so that the fingers  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28  will engage and protect the trailing edge of these media items. As is shown in  FIG. 22 , in order to build collations of shorter media items on top of longer ones, the longer media items  90 , once accumulated, are partially driven into the insertion nip  54 , thereby allowing for the creation of a smaller pocket  50  size correctly sized for the shorter media items such as media item  92 . As is shown in  FIG. 23 , the shorter media items are then accumulated on top of the longer media items in a manner similar to that described in connection with  FIGS. 7-21 . Such an arrangement is ideal for an application, such as a collation that consists of half-folded sheets with a No. 9 return envelope. These media can have variations in up to several inches in length and still be formed into a collation by the accumulator mechanism  18 .  
         [0031]     The term media and media items are intended to be a broad term encompassing various items that may be accumulated by an accumulator mechanism. The terms are intended include items such as different types of mail pieces such as letter mail, postcards and flats. The USPS considers mail pieces to be flats when the mail piece exceeds at least one of the dimensional regulations of letter-sized mail (e.g. over 11.5 inches long, over 6 inches tall, or over ¼ inch thick) but does not exceed 15 inches by 11.5 by ¾ inch thick. Flats include such mail as pamphlets, annual reports and the like. Other examples of media items include sheets of paper, checks, compact discs, DVD discs, books, packages of greeting cards, and any other items that can be accumulated by an accumulator mechanism. The term belt is also intended to be a broad term encompassing segmented belt drive systems and single and plural belt drive systems as well as other type drive systems that function similar to a belt drive system.  
         [0032]     It should be recognized that many modifications can be made to the present system. Many different drive arrangements can be employed for moving media items into, within and out of the post fold accumulator station. Any suitable design can be used such as those involving belts, rollers, pushers, lead screws, rack and pinions. Additionally, although the accumulator mechanism  18  is illustrated as a post-fold accumulator station in an inserter system, the accumulator mechanism may be employed in other systems and applications where media items are to be accumulated. Moreover, the pocket, the shuttle, and the guide and protective member can be of any suitable design that provides the various functions of these components. For example, the fingers could be constructed as flexible spring steel or mylar fingers or spring loaded plastic fingers. The shuttle could be various arrangements of sheet metal or plastic parts driven into the desired adjustment by a lead screw or belt or other drive mechanism.