Rail support for document queuing station

Document registration apparatus, including: a deck for supporting documents along a document path from an upstream position to a downstream position; a pair of transport belts for transporting the documents along the document path; a plurality of laterally spaced registration stops defining a document registration position in the document path, the stops being located at a downstream position substantially perpendicular to the document path for both stopping the documents at the document registration position and for aligning the documents relative to the document path; a pinch roller situated above each of the pair of transport belts at an upstream position for urging the stopped documents against the transport belts; and a pair of laterally spaced belt/paper supports secured to the deck. Each of the belt/paper supports has a belt supporting surface for supporting the transport belt and a pair of paper supporting rails for supporting the documents above the transport belt when the documents are against the registration stops.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The instant invention relates to a sheet accumulator with continuously 
moving belts, and more particularly to a rail support mechanism for 
supporting the belts and paper sheets at a document queuing station. 
Various document processing systems, such as in an inserting machine 
require that a document is aligned relative to a particular station in the 
system prior to being processed at the station. Typically, this is 
accomplished by registering a particular edge of the document in a 
particular direction in the system. For example, documents must be aligned 
before being conveyed to a folding apparatus in order to achieve a proper 
fold. Also, enclosures which are to be inserted into an envelope should be 
aligned relative to the envelope prior to insertion in order to avoid 
processing difficulties. Furthermore, some documents which are to be 
transported away from a particular queuing station, to another adjacent 
document raceway, should be aligned at the queuing station relative to the 
raceway, in order to facilitate the processing of the documents. 
Devices which register a particular edge of a document to a particular 
direction are known. See, for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,637,203, 4,078,790 
and 4,925,180, which utilize stops that pivot into position to stop the 
advancement of documents being conveyed in a particular direction. Some 
registration devices, such as stationary side guides, perform the task of 
aligning the document while the document is being conveyed. Other devices, 
such as a "queuing" station, perform the dual task of aligning the 
document and stopping the document until tile next successive station is 
ready to receive the document for further processing. Typically, queuing 
stations comprise mechanisms which register the document by stopping, 
i.e., queuing the document. Queuing stations are typically configured to 
handle documents of a particular length and are not easily reconfigured to 
handle sheets of a different length. 
Generally, during the stacking and registration of documents at a queuing 
station there is always the potential for the documents to become 
shingled, i.e., the top document in the stack is not directly above the 
lower documents but slightly shifted forward or backward, as they are 
conveyed from the queuing station. 
Currently available commercial queuing stations include pinch rollers 
cooperating with transport belts to remove documents from the queuing 
station. The pinch rollers pivot into engagement with the stack of 
documents as the registration stops pivot out of the way. Although this 
arrangement has been found to reduce the shingling of the stack of 
documents, it has not eliminated such shingling. 
In an attempt to eliminate such shingling, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. 
No. 5,253,861 issued Oct. 19, 1993 to the assignee of the instant 
invention an improvement to a document registration apparatus that 
includes a plurality of laterally-spaced registration stops which pivot 
about a horizontal axis for stopping the motion of documents and 
registering the leading edge of the documents to a particular direction in 
the apparatus. The apparatus also includes at least one pinch roller 
cooperating with conveying structure for moving the registered documents 
away from the apparatus for further processing. The improvement includes 
structure for supporting the documents above the conveying structure when 
the documents are situated against the registration stops. The conveying 
structure includes a pair of transport belts and the supporting structure 
includes at least a pair of deck rails laterally positioned between the 
transport belts. A pair of pinch rollers urge the documents against the 
transport belts when the registration stops move away from the document 
path. 
The aforementioned '861 improvement has been found to reduce shingling at 
the queuing station, but has not eliminated shingling. Shortcomings in the 
'861 improvement were noticed with thin paper, which sagged between the 
laterally positioned deck rails and contacted the transport belts. Thus, 
the lowermost sheet of thin documents was moved away from the queuing 
station before the pinch rollers urged the stack of documents against the 
transport belts. Thus, the stack of documents was not moved away from the 
queuing station in total registration but rather the stack had suffered 
the effects of shingling. 
Accordingly, the instant invention provides a support for the paper and 
transport belts at the queuing station that is able to lift the registered 
sheets of paper of any thickness away from the moving belt surfaces to 
thereby eliminate any shingling effects in the registered sheets as they 
are moved away from the queuing station. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The instant invention provides document registration apparatus, comprising: 
a deck for supporting documents along a document path from an upstream 
position to a downstream position; a pair of transport belts for 
transporting the documents along the document path; a plurality of 
laterally spaced registration stops defining a document registration 
position in the document path, the stops being located at a downstream 
position substantially perpendicular to the document path for both 
stopping the documents at the document registration position and for 
aligning the documents relative to the document path; a pinch roller 
situated above each of the pair of transport belts at an upstream position 
for urging the stopped documents against the transport belts; and a pair 
of laterally spaced belt/paper supports secured to the deck. Each of the 
belt/paper supports has a belt supporting surface for supporting the 
transport belt and a pair of paper supporting rails for supporting the 
documents above the transport belt when the documents are against the 
registration stops.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In describing the preferred embodiment of the instant invention, reference 
is made to the drawings, wherein there is seen a document registration 
apparatus, generally shown as 10, used in conjunction with a document 
transport system, generally designated 11. Registration apparatus 10 
cooperates with transport system 11 in transporting a document 12' along a 
path defined by a deck 13 in an upstream to downstream direction, shown 
left to right in FIGS. 1 and 2. There is a document registration position 
16 on a deck plate 224 where each document 12' is stopped in its path by 
registration unit 10 and is held or "queued" until the next successive 
station in the processing system is ready to process a stack of documents 
12. Document registration apparatus 10 simultaneously stops and aligns 
each document 12' relative to deck 13. 
Each document 12' is separately transported, for example, from a sheet 
feeder (not shown), by the transport system 11. In the preferred 
embodiment of the present invention, transport system 11 includes two 
transport belts 11A and 11B which move in synchronization. Registration 
apparatus 10 includes a top plate 18 and a pair of pinch rollers 202A and 
202B that are respectively mounted to one end of arms 204A and 204B. 
(Roller 202A and arm 204A are not shown but are designated to show 
cooperative relationship to belt 11B). Arms 204A and 204B are mounted at 
their other ends to top plate 18 of registration apparatus 10 and are 
biased toward belts 11A and 11B respectively by springs 206A (not shown) 
and 206B. Thus, pinch rollers 202A and 202B apply a normal force to 
document 12' as it is transported by belts 11A and 11B to registration 
position 16. Side guides 17A and 17B maintain side alignment of document 
12' as it is transported to registration position 16. 
Document registration apparatus 10 is suitable for use in a queuing 
station, for example after a sheet feeder or an enclosure feeder, or in an 
inserting station of an inserting machine wherein documents 12 must be 
stopped, accumulated and aligned before further processing. The 
registration apparatus 10 is suitably mounted to the frame (not shown) of 
the inserting machine. For example, apparatus 10 can be pivotably mounted 
at the upstream end to provide easy access for document jams. 
The document registration apparatus 10 comprises a document registration 
unit 20 pivotably mounted to the top plate 18. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 
8, document registration unit 20 is preferably formed from a one piece 
document registration unit holder 45, to which a one piece frame member 
20B is attached. Frame member 20B includes four registration stops 21, 22, 
23 and 24 on the downstream end thereof and two pinch rollers 25 and 26 on 
pinch roller arms 25A-B and 26A-B, respectively, on the upstream end of 
unit 20. Pinch rollers 25 and 26 are spaced at lateral positions between 
the lateral positions of registration stops 21 and 22 on the one hand, and 
the lateral positions of registration stops 23 and 24 on the other hand, 
respectively. Frame member 20B pivots vertically around pivot axis 31. A 
rotary solenoid 27 is linked to a pivoting arm 14 by a pin 28 which rides 
in a slot 15 of the arm 14. Pin 28 moves along a circular path on each 
actuation of solenoid 27 and reciprocates in slot 15, thereby rocking 
pivot arm 14. As pivot arm 14 rocks, frame member 20B of document 
registration unit 20 pivots vertically around pivot axis 31. 
The combination of registration stops 21-24 and pinch rollers 25 and 26 is 
used to stop and align documents 12 at document registration position 16, 
and then to release them for further processing. Documents 12 are aligned 
at this position so that they can subsequently be processed with minimal 
skew relative to deck 13. For example, if documents 12 are collected to 
form a stack of documents which will subsequently be folded, then 
registration stops 21-24 ensure that the documents are aligned so that the 
folder can make a square fold of the documents. 
In order to stop documents 12 at document registration position 16, 
registration stops 21-24 are urged clockwise to a registration position, 
shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, by actuating the solenoid 27. In this position, 
registration stops 21-24 extend downward so as to block documents 12 from 
being transported further downstream. Preferably, transport belts 11A and 
11B are each approximately 0.5 inch wide. Laterally spaced on each side of 
each transport belt 11A and 11B are the registration stops 21, 22 and 23, 
24 respectively. Registration stops 21-24 are laterally spaced along 
document registration unit 20 so that when documents 12 are stopped at 
document registration position 16, the downstream edges 49 of documents 12 
are aligned with respect to deck 13. 
Heretofore, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,861, the documents 12 were 
accumulated on a transport deck at registration position 16 and belts 11A 
and 11B were flush with the transport deck. Since the bottom document of 
the documents 12 accumulated at the registration position 16 was in 
contact with the continuously moving transport belts 11A and 11B, belts 
11A and 11B were continuously urging document 12 against stops 21-24. 
Stops 21-24 were projected below the plane of transport belts 11A and 11B 
to assure that documents 12 could not slip through. Thus, when in the 
lowered or registration position, registration stops 21-24 prevented the 
advancement or shingling of documents 12. However, when registration stops 
21-24 were raised to release documents 12, a certain amount of shingling 
of documents 12 was caused by continuous moving belts 11A and 11B until 
pinch rollers 25 and 26 provided adequate force against documents 12 so 
that belts 11A and 11B could transport documents 12 as a stack. 
In accordance with the instant invention, the documents 12 are accumulated 
at registration position 16 on a deck plane that is above the belts 11A 
and 11B. As seen in FIGS. 1-4, a pair of belt/paper supports 220 and 222 
are secured to the deck plate 224 by means of a plurality of snaps 226. 
The supports 220 and 222 are located beneath the belts 11A and 11B 
respectively and are mirror images of each other. Accordingly, a detailed 
description will now be provided for the support 222 seen in FIG. 7, it 
being understood that the same description applies to the support 220. The 
support 222 includes belt supporting surface 230, an adjacent groove 232 
and an interior paper supporting rail 234 and an exterior paper supporting 
rail 236. The top of the rails 234 and 236 have a height "d" over the top 
of the belts 11A and 11B. The supports 220 and 222 are spaced laterally 
such that documents 12 remain above and do not touch the belts 11A and 11B 
while the documents 12 are being accumulated at the position 16, in this 
manner, the continuous travel of the transport belts 11A and 11B do not 
affect the documents 12 at the registration position 16 until the pinch 
rollers 25 and 26 are caused to urge the documents 12 against the belts 
11A and 11B. When it is time to release the documents 12, solenoid 27 is 
actuated to pivot the registration stops 21-24 to a raised position and 
the pinch rollers 25 and 26 to a lowered position, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 
4. The pinch rollers 25 and 26 urge the documents 12 against the transport 
belts 11A and 11B, thus providing frictional force between documents 12 
and transport belts 11A and 11B. The frictional force moves documents 12 
downstream for further processing. 
The distance "d" between the top of the rails 234 and 236 and the top of 
the belts 11A and 11B is preferably about 0.025", with a range of 0.023" 
to 0.027" being acceptable. As seen in FIG. 3, the interior registration 
stops 22 23 are seated in the grooves 232 when in their lowered positions. 
However, depending upon design and space considerations, the groove 232 
can be eliminated from the supports 220 and 222 and all of the stops 21-24 
can be situated outside the supports 220 and 222. 
As documents 12 move in the downstream direction, they encounter exit pinch 
rollers 32 and 33 which are mounted on independent sets of support arms 
34A, 34B and 35A, 35B, corresponding to exit pinch rollers 32 and 33, 
respectively, and which also pivot about pivoting axis 31. Arms 34A, 34B 
and 35A, 35B and thus rollers 32 and 33, are respectively spring biased by 
separate torsion springs (not shown) to pinch rollers 32 and 33 against 
transport belts 11A and 11B. Rollers 32 and 33 move away from belts 11A 
and 11B when documents 12 are released, but move back into engagement with 
transport belts 11A and 11B as soon as documents 12 are conveyed beyond 
rollers 32 and 33. The released stack of documents 12 is thus urged 
against transport belts 11A and 11B and transported for further 
processing. The mounting of pinch rollers 32 and 33 on separate support 
arms 34, 34B and 35A, 35B helps prevent any shingling of documents 12 when 
they exit registration position 16. This is because rollers 32 and 33 and 
sets of arms 34A, 34B and 35A, 35B can move away from transport belts 11A 
and B as required by the thickness of the stack of documents 12 to allow 
the stack to pass, without lifting the remainder of registration unit 20. 
Downstream from rollers 32 and 33 is a pinch roller assembly 130 which 
comprises a pair of pinch rollers 132 (only one is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) 
which are rotatably mounted to support arm 134. Pinch roller assembly 130 
provides the last normal force that is applied by document registration 
apparatus 10 to documents 12 as they are conveyed away from its control. 
From the foregoing description, it can be see that the bottom sheet in a 
stack of documents 12 is prevented from advancing prematurely beyond the 
registration position 16, thereby eliminating any shingling effects in the 
registered documents. 
While the present invention has been disclosed and described with reference 
to a single embodiment thereof, it will be apparent, as noted above that 
variations and modifications may be made therein. It is thus intended in 
the following claims to cover each variation and modification that falls 
within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.