Envelope pressure plate for mailing machine

A mailing machine for conveying envelopes seriatim along a feed path toward a postage meter operatively connected to said mailing machine. The mailing machine includes a housing frame, a deck secured to the frame for supporting the envelopes, the deck having a longitudinal slot therein, a lower, driven, feed roller rotatably mounted on the frame, and an electro-mechanical tripper mounted on the frame for actuating the postage meter, the tripper projecting upwardly through the deck slot adjacent and downstream of the lower feed roller. The mailing machine further includes a first shaft rotatably mounted on the frame perpendicular to the feed path, a second, pivotable shaft flexibly coupled at one end to an end of the first shaft, an upper feed roller rotatably mounted at the end portion of the second shaft remote from the first shaft, means for biasing the upper feed roller against the lower feed roller, a pair of slotted, translatable bushings, each of the bushings having an elongated slot extending substantially perpendicular to the deck, the slots slidingly engaging the second shaft, and a pressure plate having a pair of extensions on the upstream side secured to the translatable bushings and an aperture for receiving the electro-mechanical tripper, whereby the pressure plate may translate vertically and pivot laterally and longitudinally independently of the upper feed roller to thereby assure consistent actuation of the tripper for each envelope being conveyed to the postage meter regardless of the thickness or weight of the envelope.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The instant invention relates to mailing machines, and more particularly to 
mailing machines having a tripper mechanism in the conveying deck for a 
postage meter separately connected thereto. 
When a postage meter is attached or operatively connected to a mailing 
machine which feeds envelopes under a printing die in the postage meter, 
it is necessary that the mailing machine include a tripping mechanism for 
enabling the postage meter to initiate a printing cycle. Typically, the 
tripping mechanism is situated above the feeding deck of the mailing 
machine, and when envelopes of uniform or varying size and weight are fed 
seriatim through the mailing machine, no special problems are presented 
for actuation of the tripping mechanism. 
However, it is desirable from a design standpoint to locate the tripping 
mechanism under the conveying deck of the mailing machine, but this 
location unfortunately poses special problems with respect to consistent, 
reliable actuation of the tripping mechanism. When envelopes of varying 
thickness and weight are being fed seriatim through the the mailing 
machine, it is possible, and happens frequently, that an envelope may not 
engage the tripping mechanism, but rather will pass over it. In such a 
case, the postage meter is not enabled and the envelope passes under the 
printing die of the postage meter without having postage printed thereon. 
Lighter weight or thinner envelopes would have the greater tendency to 
pass over and not engage the tripping mechanism. Thus, a device is 
required to maintain adequate pressure on any size or weight envelope to 
assure that it engages the tripping mechanism and does not pass over it. 
Accordingly, the instant invention provides a pressure plate uniquely 
designed to accommodate envelopes of varying thickness and weight and 
which assures consistent actuation of the tripping mechanism located in 
the conveying deck of the mailing machine. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The instant invention provides a mailing machine for conveying envelopes 
seriatim along a feed path toward a postage meter operatively connected to 
said mailing machine, comprising: a housing frame; a deck secured to said 
frame for supporting said envelopes, said deck having a longitudinal slot 
therein; a lower, driven, feed roller rotatably mounted on said frame; an 
electro-mechanical tripper mounted on said frame for actuating said 
postage meter, said tripper projecting upwardly through the deck slot 
adjacent and downstream of said lower feed roller; a first shaft rotatably 
mounted on said frame perpendicular to said feed path; a second, pivotable 
shaft flexibly coupled at one end to an end of the first shaft; an upper 
feed roller rotatably mounted at the end portion of the second shaft 
remote from the first shaft; means for biasing said upper feed roller 
against said lower feed roller; a pair of slotted, translatable bushings, 
each of said bushings having an elongated slot extending substantially 
perpendicular to the deck, said slots slidingly engaging said second 
shaft; and a pressure plate having a pair of extensions on the upstream 
side secured to said translatable bushings and an aperture for receiving 
said electro-mechanical tripper, whereby said pressure plate may translate 
vertically and pivot laterally and longitudinally independently of said 
upper feed roller to thereby assure consistent actuation of said tripper 
for each envelope being conveyed to said postage meter regardless of the 
thickness or weight of the envelope.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, there is a mailing machine 10 shown, having a cover 12 
and a postage meter 14 mounted thereon. A feed path is provided for stream 
feeding a series of envelopes 18 in succession from a supply of envelopes 
(not shown). An automatic feeding device may be used to feed the envelopes 
18. It is also possible for a machine operator to rapidly and successively 
hand-feed envelopes 18 seriatim through the machine 10. A hand-fed 
envelope 18 is seen moving toward the postage meter 14 and there is seen 
inside the meter 14 a printing drum 24 which cooperates with an impression 
roller 26 (see FIG. 2) which helps to convey the metered envelope 18' away 
from the output end of the mailing machine 10. 
Referring to FIG. 2, the upper cover 12 and the postage meter 14 are 
removed, and the impression roller 26 is clearly seen, and will be 
understood by those skilled in the art to be operatively connected to a 
drive motor (not shown), which is located under a deck 36 of the mailing 
machine 10. Similarly, there is an operative drive connection to a lower 
input feed roller 40 (see FIGS. 4-8) which is rotatably journaled in the 
mailing machine 10. The feed roller 40 and the impression roller 26 are 
understood to be operatively connected to provide a rotatable machine 
cycle, each of which causes an imprint, or indicia on an envelope 18 being 
conveyed through the machine 10. 
Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, there is an upper input feed roller 50 
bonded to a shaft 52 which is rotatably supported by a bushing 54. There 
is a frame partition portion 44 having a slot 58 to receive the bushing 54 
and which enables the shaft 52 and roller 50 to move upwardly against a 
bias spring 60 whenever an envelope 18 enters the nip defined between the 
lower roller 40 and the upper roller 50. The shaft 52 is connected to a 
second, driven, pivotable shaft 53, end to end, by a flexible coupling 55 
(see FIG. 2). 
The impression roller 26 is substantially covered by the deck 36, which 
also covers a major portion of the lower roller 40. An aperture 64 in the 
deck 36 exposes a suitable portion of the roller 26. A pressure plate 66 
snaps over a pair of translatable, slotted bushings 70 and 72 having 
elongated slots 73 (see FIGS. 4-7) extending substantially perpendicular 
to the deck 36 which slidably mount on the shaft 52. The bushings 70 and 
72 are fabricated of a suitable material for functioning as a bearing 
support for the pressure plate 66, which has a pair of curved extensions 
80, defining inverted U-shaped slots 82 which snap over the bushings 70 
and 72. A raised boss 74 on each of the bushings 70 and 72 has an undercut 
76 under which the extensions 80 of the plate 66 snap. The result of the 
assembly of the pressure plate 66 to the bushings 70 and 72 is that the 
plate 66 is captured and located to enable lateral and longitudinal 
pivoting and vertical translation independent of the upper feed roller 50, 
thereby enabling the mailing machine 10 to process envelope of any 
thickness or shape including a wedge shape such as envelope 18a seen in 
FIG. 8. 
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the plate 66 is seen to include an 
elongated slot 90 oriented perpendicular to the shaft 52 and which 
receives an electro-mechanical tripper 92, which is pivotably mounted to 
the base of the mailing machine 10 under the deck 36. The tripper 92 is 
positioned to engage a leading end 94 of the envelope 18, and to then 
enable a switch 96, which causes a clutch (not shown) to be energized, 
thereby initiating a subsequent printing cycle through a drive system 
incorporating the driven shaft 53. The drive system is indirectly coupled 
to the printing drum 24 (see FIG. 1) and directly coupled to the lower 
feed roller 40 through a clutch (not shown). The drive system causes the 
impression roller 26 to cycle, and the printing drum 24 engages the 
envelope 18 to deposit the metered stamp thereon. In FIG. 6, the trip 
member 92 is shown rotated, being held down by a thick envelope 18b which 
is being driven over the member 92, while being guided and held down by 
the pressure plate 66. In FIG. 5, the thick envelope 18b is being conveyed 
through the rollers 40 and 50, while a thin envelope 18c has been advanced 
past the rollers 40 and 50 and is about to emerge from under the pressure 
plate 66 thereby enabling the tripper member 92 to be restored to the 
original upright position where a leading end 94 of the thick envelope 18b 
can engage the tripper member 92. At this time, a succeeding machine cycle 
is enabled wherein the thin envelope 18c is printed upon. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is a flat leaf spring 106 fastened to the 
plate 66 via a pair of rivets 108. The spring 106 is arranged to provide a 
resilient pressure against the plate 66 since an upper portion 109 of the 
spring 106 bears upon a surface 110 of the upper cover 12 of the mailing 
machine 10 (see FIGS. 4-7). The pressure applied to the plate 66 maintains 
control of the moving envelopes 18 so that they are forced downward and 
engage the tripper 92. 
Referring to FIG. 8, one special advantage of the pressure plate 66 is seen 
where a wedge-shaped envelope 18a is pressed against the deck 36. The 
plate 66 pivots laterally to accommodate the thicker end of the envelope 
18a and also pivots longitudinally in the direction of the path of travel 
of the envelope 18a as it must to adapt to varying shapes of envelopes 
being fed through the conveying rollers 50 and 40. It can be seen by 
referring to FIGS. 5-7 that the plate 66 can accommodate a succession of a 
variety of envelopes; accordingly a downstream end 66a of the plate 66 is 
(see FIG. 5) bearing upon the thin envelope 18c and the thick envelope 18b 
has raised an upstream end 66b of the plate 66, thereby maintaining 
pressure on each separate envelope. 
In order for a very thin envelope to travel under the pressure plate 66 
without being crumpled, a small post 102 is provided on the deck 36 out of 
the paper path. Thus, it is clear that the pressure plate 66 and mailing 
machine 10 can handle any envelope regardless of thickness and weight. 
The exemplary embodiments described herein are presently considered to be 
preferred; however, it is contemplated that further variations and 
modification within the purview of those skilled in the art can be made 
herein. The following claims are intended to cover all such variations and 
modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.