Insert card packaging method

A fan folded product and method for packaging preprinted fan folded cards or other material for attachment and for continuous feeding to a distribution machine. The cards are packaged in a series of rows having multiple stacks of cards in each row. The cards are pre-spliced together between adjacent rows to provide continuous folding of the cards. Alternate rows of cards are reversed fan folded and then packaged so that bottommost cards feed up the side wall of each stack in the opposite direction as the adjacent rows to provide continuous feeding in a serpentine manner of the cards to the distribution machine.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is a method for packaging preprinted fan folded cards or 
other material for continuous feeding to a distribution machine. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Preprinted fan folded continuous feed cards have been packaged for over 20 
years in cartons that contain 15,000 to 16,000 cards. A typical use for 
these cards is for insertion into magazines and newspapers as 
advertisements or order forms. The cartons are currently sent to the 
application or distribution customer on skids or pallets. Within each 
carton the cards are packaged in stacks that may be connected in series to 
an adjacent stack within the same carton. These stacks are handled at the 
distribution site by an employee of the customer. 
The current procedure to feed the preprinted cards into the distribution 
machine requires a considerable amount of attendance time as well as 
physical strength. The process requires that the cartons be moved manually 
from the skids to the floor and placed in line with the distribution 
machine. The stacks of cards are generally packaged in cartons weighing 
approximately 60 pounds when filled. In addition, the employee must be 
constantly available to splice ends of the last card in a stack to a first 
card in another stack or carton to ensure the continuous feeding of the 
fan folded cards. This procedure creates additional handling and manning 
of the process by the application customer; and creates additional manning 
in labor at the packaging facility. 
Recent prior art in the area of handling of fan folded material generally 
dealt with the handling of continuous fan folded computer paper to and 
from a printer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,536 discloses a conveyor 
with spaced apart paper stacking regions for the handling of the computer 
paper discharged from the printer. This patent is not applicable for the 
packaging of preprinted fan folded cards for a distribution machine. In 
the same line, U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,814 discloses a packaging assembly for 
sheet material utilized to feed printing machines, where the fan folded 
computer paper is packaged such that the bottom sheets are placed sideways 
and perpendicularly to the sheet package lie plane. This configuration 
allows the bottom sheets to be picked up for splicing. This patent 
provides a means for packaging a series of stacks in a single row, but is 
not applicable for packaging of hundreds of thousands of cards in multiple 
rows for feeding in a continuous manner to a delivery distribution site. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the invention is to address the concerns mentioned above. 
Although the invention is explained hereinafter as a card packaging 
process, the invention is adaptable for such material as preprinted 
labels, envelopes, fragrance strips, or other preprinted, fan folded 
material used for attachment and particularly material having file hole 
punches along one side of the material. 
It is the desire of the invention to store a number of rows of preprinted 
stacked cards on a pallet or skid, so that the whole pallet may be 
delivered to a customer at its appropriate site and therefore, eliminate 
the manual delivery of a single row of stacked cards to the distribution 
machine. As a result, manual delivery of a single row of stacked cards is 
eliminated. It is the intent of this process to provide a package 
containing approximately 400,000 cards for delivery to the distribution 
machine in one delivery, rather than multiple deliveries in increments of 
15,000 to 16,000 cards as done in the prior art. 
The invention is an insert card packaging process which includes storing 
stacks of continuous fan folded cards in rows so that the cards may 
automatically be retrieved from one stack to another. Once one row of 
stacked cards have been fed into the distribution machine, the card 
packaging method automatically continues to feed from the second row of 
cards. The cards are packaged in an orientation that allows them to feed 
consistently with the preprinted matter facing the same direction so that 
the cards will be inserted at the distribution site in accordance with the 
specific needs of a project. The packaging method includes stacking a row 
of cards that are continuously connected. Once the first row is completed, 
the second row of cards is then started and spliced to the first row. On 
occasions where the material is an expensive card line and waste must be 
kept at a minimum; in order to provide a consistent feeding of the cards 
from the first to second row so that no unnatural bend of the cards is 
formed that may jam the machinery, the cards making up the second row and 
every alternate subsequent row are offset fan folded by advancing the fold 
in the cards the equivalent of one full card width during the printing and 
folding process. This process is referred to as reverse fan folding. After 
the printing and reverse fan folding of the cards is completed, the entire 
completed row of reverse fan folded cards that will be used to make up the 
second row are turned 180.degree. relative to the first row, before 
packaging into stacks. If the card line is not composed of expensive 
material, the process of reverse fan folding can be deleted for the second 
and alternate subsequent rows. To facilitate the proper feeding from the 
first row to the second row, the cards are spliced together such that the 
trailing card from the first row is twisted one-half turn when spliced so 
that the beginning card of the second row will then feed in the proper 
manner that is consistent for the distribution operations that follow. 
Subsequent odd number rows will be formed as described for the first row; 
and even number rows will be formed as described for the second row. 
Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will 
become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description 
of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in 
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Looking first at FIGS. 5 and 6, the invention provides a method for 
providing a continuous flow of preprinted Z-folded or fan folded cards or 
similar material having file hole punches thereon to a processing or 
distribution machine (not shown) wherein rows of stacked cards are placed 
in a container 10 on a pallet 12 such that the entire pallet 12 can be 
positioned one time adjacent the processing machine for feeding into the 
machine. The cards are aligned and stacked in the container in such a 
manner so that the processing machine 100 can be fed approximately 400,000 
cards automatically and continuously thereby eliminating extra manpower at 
the processing machine for carrying and splicing continuous stacks and 
rows of cards. The number of cards or similar material that can be 
continuously fed to the processing machine 100 is not limited to 400,000, 
but is determined by the size of the material and the size and number of 
the pallets 12. 
The top card 20 from the first stack or column 21 of the first row 22 is 
fed into the processing machine. The bottom card 28 of the first stack 21 
is interconnected to the top card 23 of the second stack or column 24. The 
bottom card 30 of the second stack 24 is interconnected to the top card 32 
of the third stack 36 and so on to complete the first row 22 of sequential 
and interconnected stacks. The subsequent rows of stacked cards must be 
packaged in a certain manner to continuously feed the cards in the same 
alignment as the first row. The cards between adjacent rows must also be 
spliced together in a certain manner to prevent bending of the cards or 
needless waste. The stacking and splicing process will be discussed 
hereinafter. 
FIGS. 1a through 1c indicate the process steps for packaging the stacks for 
the odd number rows. FIG. 2a through 2d represent the process steps for 
packaging the even number rows. It would be obvious to persons skilled in 
the art that the processing for the odd and even rows may be reversed, so 
that the steps as shown in FIGS. 2a through 2d may be used for the odd 
number rows and the steps shown in FIGS. 1a through 1c may be used for the 
even number rows. It is only important that the alternate stacking process 
is used for the adjacent rows. 
Looking first at FIGS. 1a through 1c, a body 36 of fan folded cards have 
already been printed and folded in the conventional manner and are 
generally positioned on a table 38 for boxing and packaging to be sent to 
the distribution customer. The box 36 of fan folded cards are positioned 
such that a folded edge 37 of the cards is against the table 38; and so 
that a first edge, defined as the edge having file hole punches 58 is 
positioned either on the right side or left side as predetermined by the 
application. A box 40 having one side an open flap 42 (indicated by dashed 
line) will be fed to one end designated as the bottom 44 of the body 36 of 
cards as shown by the arrow A. The bottom cards 46 will be fed along the 
side of the body 36 of cards so that a number of the bottom cards 46 will 
be exposed at the top 48 of box 40 when the box is fully in place as a 
stack as shown in FIG. 1b. In other words, the bottom cards 46 will be fed 
along the opposite edge 39 from the edge 37 against the table 38. 
Each box is approximately 4 feet high and will only house a portion of the 
original body 36 of cards from the printer machine to form a stack. Once 
each box 40 is filled and the bottommost cards 46 are fed to the top 48 of 
the box, the open flap 42 can be closed and sealed to secure the cards 
within the box. Then box 40 is uprighted as shown in FIG. 1c. A second box 
50 and subsequent boxes will follow the same process as the first box 40 
to stack the cards while forming the first row 22. The top card 41 of box 
40 is connected to the bottommost cards of second box 50, as shown in FIG. 
1c. As the body 36 of cards are being boxed to form stacks, the stacks 
will be positioned adjacent to each other to form a row as shown in FIG. 
6. The first box 40 packaged of the first row 22 will be the last stack of 
the first row 22 that will be fed into the distribution machine at the 
application site. Stack 21 which is the first stack of first row 22 to be 
fed into the processing machine 100 was the last stack from body 36 of 
cards to be boxed. As a result, the bottommost card 46 of the first box 40 
will be the card that must be spliced to the top card 68 of the second row 
54 as will be discussed further hereinafter. Therefore, looking at FIG. 6, 
box 40 was the first box packaged from the body of cards 36 and 
corresponds to box 40 in FIG. 1a. 
FIGS. 2a through 2d show the steps for the next adjacent row or even row of 
stacked and boxed cards. In order to provide a continuous flow of cards to 
the distribution machine such that the fan fold of cards are consistently 
the same as the cards are run through the distribution machine, and so 
that a minimum of cards are scrapped to prevent waste, the next body 56 of 
cards are reverse fan folded. The reverse fan folded procedure includes 
having the body 56 of cards fan folded in the printing machine at an 
offset from the original body of cards, by one card width. For example, a 
typical business reply mail card is 51/2 inches wide. Therefore, the 
printing and folding machine is offset for folding by 51/2 inches, as 
shown in FIG. 2a. For other material having other widths, the folding 
offset will be adjusted accordingly. The reverse fan folded procedure is 
not required, but provides the advantage of saving material, as discussed 
further. 
The body 56 of cards are positioned on the table 38 similarly as done for 
body 36 of cards in FIGS. 1a and 1b with edges 37 of the body against the 
table 38. The body 56 of cards are then turned 180.degree., as signified 
by arrow B, so that the file hole punches 58 are positioned 180.degree. 
relative to the file hole punches 58 as shown in FIG. 1a and edges 39 are 
against the table 38. In other words, if the file hole punches 58 were to 
the right of the body 36 of cards when boxing the first row 22, the body 
of cards 56 for the second row 54 is turned so that the file hole punches 
58 are to the left. A box 61 having open flap 66 is again fed to one end 
designated as the bottom 60 of the body 56 of cards and a portion of the 
bottom cards 62 is threaded up the side of box 61 so that the bottommost 
card 62 is exposed at the top 64 of the box 61. Once the cards have been 
turned 180.degree. as shown in FIG. 2a to 2b, the boxes 61, 63 etc. are 
filled with the cards in a similar fashion as done in FIG. 1a and 1b, 
wherein the open flap 66 is closed and sealed to secure the stack of 
cards. The purpose of the 180.degree. turn of the body 56 of cards is to 
redirect the direction of the bottommost cards 62 when they are fed along 
the side of the box 61 to be exposed at the top of the box 61. As can be 
seen in FIG. 6, the first row 22 feeds the cards into the distribution 
machine in the direction of arrow C. In the second row 54, the cards are 
fed into the distribution machine sequentially in the opposite direction 
as shown by arrow D. The bottommost cards of each stack in the second row 
54 must face the adjacent stack in the same row in the opposite direction 
than the direction of the bottommost cards of the first row 22, as shown 
in FIG. 3. 
Further, to continue the smooth feed transition from one row of cards to 
the next row, when the first stack of cards of the second row 54 is boxed; 
box 61 must be aligned next to the last stacked box 21 of the first row 22 
(see FIG. 6) so that the file hole punches 58 are facing the same 
direction, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. This generally requires that the box 
61, once uprighted, must be turned so that the direction of the file hole 
punches 58 coincide to the direction in the first row 22. The last portion 
of body 56 of cards to be stacked in box 69 will have card 68 on top for 
splicing to the first row. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the stacks of cards 
are positioned successively in a serpentine fashion. 
It can be viewed by FIG. 6 that the packaging of the fan folded cards can 
also be accomplished by eliminating the second row 54 packaging procedure 
as described with reference to FIGS. 2A through FIG. 2D. The last card 46 
from first row 22 would then be connected to top card 76 of third row 74. 
Third row 74 is formed in the same manner as the fan folded row 22, as 
shown in FIG. 1A through FIG. 1C. As a result of eliminating the packaging 
of second row 54, a portion of the fan folded cards would extend from one 
side of carton 10 to the opposite side of carton 10 to form a serpentine 
over some of the boxed stacks in the first row 22. The portion of cards 
extending over the boxed stacks of the first row would possibly interfere 
with the processing of the cards. Therefore, it is preferred to stack the 
fan folded cards having alternating rows, wherein the direction of the 
processing of the cards changes between adjacent rows. 
FIGS. 4a through 4d indicate the process steps for splicing the last card 
of one row to the first card of the adjacent row in the preferred 
embodiment. The first box packaged for each row will be the last box fed 
to the machine per row. The first box packaged for each row will also have 
its bottommost card spliced to the adjacent top card of the next row. For 
example purposes, the last card of the first row 22 from the first stacked 
box 40 is card 46 (FIG. 4a). The first card from second row 54 to be fed 
to the machine is card 68 (FIG. 4a). The first 68 and the last cards 46 of 
the adjacent rows are placed on top of each other to align the file hole 
punches 58, as shown in FIG. 4b. The double cards are cut essentially down 
the middle as in FIG. 4c. And each half card 68a, 46b still connected to 
the series of cards is taped 70 or otherwise attached to the other half 
card that remains attached to its stack of cards. When taping the two half 
cards together, it is essential that the file hole punches 58 remain open. 
Looking at both FIGS. 4d and 7, the resulting connection between the two 
adjacent rows requires a half twist 72 between the half cards in order to 
align the file hole punches 58 and to align the indicia side of the card 
of one row with the indicia side of the card of the adjacent row. The half 
twist 72 of the cards as a result of splicing the two rows together is an 
important aspect in order to provide a smooth continuous feeding of the 
cards from row to row. Without the half twist, the cards will have a 
tendency to bend and tear which may result in jamming of the distribution 
machine. The reverse fan folding as discussed earlier and shown in FIG. 2a 
has the advantage of maintaining the Z-fold configuration as shown in FIG. 
4a when the two end cards 68, 46 are joined together. As a result of 
reverse fan folding, as shown in FIG. 4c, only one-half of the first card 
and one-half of the second card is wasted when the rows are spliced 
together. If reverse fan folding does not occur for alternate rows, 
generally one full card plus the one-half of cards of the first and last 
cards of the row are wasted. Maintaining the continuous Z-formed fan 
folding results in a smoother delivery to the distribution machine. 
As a result of this process for stacking and splicing rows of cards, the 
boxed cards may be packaged in one container or crate 10 set on a pallet 
12 and then delivered directly to the application customer. The 
application customer then needs only to forklift the pallet containing the 
crated boxes to the distribution machine a single time for the processing 
of approximately 400,000 cards without any splicing. Although FIG. 6 shows 
a crate 10 of cards having ten rows with seven stacks of cards in each 
row, the number of rows and stacks may vary depending upon the size of the 
preprinted, fan folded material. If it is desirable to splice cards or 
other material from one pallet 12 to another pallet then it is preferred 
that the crate 10 on the pallet contains an odd number of rows to help 
provide a smooth feed transition. 
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently 
considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be 
understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed 
embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various 
modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and 
scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest 
interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent 
structures as is permitted under the law.