In-feed magazine apparatus and method for loading documents

An in-feed magazine apparatus for loading documents includes a magazine feed ramp having one or more document conveyor belts disposed along a bottom surface, the belts being arranged to engage the bottom boundary of the documents. The conveyer belts are configured to effect forward movement of the stack of documents toward a document shingler mechanism along a linear axis defined by forward movement of the conveyer belts. Also included is a backing plate having a lower portion disposed proximal to the conveyor belt, an upper portion disposed vertically upward from the lower portion, and a generally planar face parallel to the plane defined by the face of the documents. An upper and lower sensor sense contact with the front end of the stack of documents while a controller operatively coupled to the upper and the lower sensors determines when the front end of the stack of documents lies in a plane substantially parallel to the face of the backing plate. A jogger mechanism operatively coupled to the controller and the backing plate is configured to reciprocally displace a portion of the stack of documents approaching the backing plate such that the jogger mechanism is energized when the controller determines that the stack of documents is inclined at a forward angle relative to the backing plate where such reciprocal displacement is configured to urge the stack of documents towards a substantially parallel orientation relative to the backing plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to document handling systems, and 
more specifically to a novel method and apparatus for efficiently feeding 
a stack of documents toward a shingling station. 
It is common practice in the automated handling of documents, such as 
mailing envelopes and flats, to progressively feed a stack of documents in 
a feeder station or magazine to a shingling station and then to a 
singulating station. The documents are then directed from the singulating 
station as separated single documents to sorting stations or other 
processing stations or devices. 
Postal requirements demand that a high volume of documents be handled in a 
short period of time. Typically, document handling devices are required to 
process thousands of documents per hour with a minimum of sorting defects 
and product damage. If documents cannot be fed rapidly enough to the 
processing stations, system throughput is reduced. 
Typically, the first stage in the document handling process after the 
documents have be placed in a container or tray with the labels facing the 
same direction, is to load the stack of documents onto some form of 
transport mechanism, such as a conveyor belt mechanism. The transport 
mechanism then directs the documents toward the various separators, 
shinglers and sorting devices. 
Known systems and methods typically require substantial human intervention 
and action to load the stacks of documents from the tray or container onto 
the document transport mechanism. The operator must gather the stack of 
documents and place the documents on the conveyor belt so that all of the 
documents are in an on-edge configuration. This must be performed while 
taking steps to prevent the stack from falling over. Additionally, these 
steps are typically performed as the conveyor belt is continuously 
advancing the stack of documents toward the various processing stations. 
This is a time-intensive process and is often the limiting factor in 
achieving high-speed document processing and throughput. Such steps 
increase document processing costs and may even cause operator injury, 
such as repetitive stress injuries. 
The documents are typically transported to an initial processing station, 
such as a shingling station, prior to singulation. Shingling results in 
orienting either the top or bottom document in a vertical stack, or the 
front or lead document in an on-edge stack, so that the forward or leading 
edge of each successive top, bottom or front document is disposed slightly 
forwardly or laterally of the leading edge of the next adjacent document, 
preferably by a distance of approximately one inch. By shingling the 
stacked documents, only one document at a time will enter a nip defined by 
singulating belts or rollers, thereby substantially reducing the 
possibility that more than one document at a time will be fed 
simultaneously through the singulating belts or rollers. The singulating 
belts or rollers then transport each document in an on-edge single file 
manner toward other sorting and processing devices. 
Known systems feeding the stack of documents towards the shingling station 
encounter difficulty when the stack is leaning or is oriented at an angle 
relative to the shingler input. Since typical shinglers divert the 
documents at a right angle relative to the feed transport mechanism, the 
face of the documents must be essentially parallel to the plane defined by 
the input of the shingler. Such systems often utilize complex and 
expensive devices to align the stack of documents in a plane parallel to 
the shingler input and are often failure-prone. Typically, the transport 
mechanism is adjusted or halted in order to fix the alignment of the 
stack. This is inefficient and time-consuming and decreases the throughput 
of the system. 
Thus, a method and apparatus which significantly increases the efficiency 
of loading stacks of on-edge documents on a conveyor system and transports 
the documents so that the leading document is substantially parallel to 
the input of a shingling station would greatly improve the rate at which 
documents could be handled in a document processing system. 
Accordingly, it is a object of the present invention to substantially 
overcome the above-described problems. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel in-feed 
magazine apparatus which allows rapid and efficient loading of documents 
onto a conveyor system. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel in-feed 
magazine apparatus having a throughput of over ten thousand documents per 
hour. 
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a novel in-feed 
magazine apparatus configured to urge the edges of the documents against 
registration surfaces. 
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel 
in-feed magazine apparatus that senses when the face of the stack of 
documents is not parallel to the plane of a shingler input. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel 
in-feed magazine apparatus that automatically urges the documents toward a 
parallel orientation relative to the plane of a shingler input. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The disadvantages of known document handling systems are substantially 
overcome with the present invention by providing an in-feed magazine 
apparatus and method for loading documents. 
An important feature of the present invention is the use of two parallel 
paddles which are successively repositioned on the documents feed path 
within a stack of documents in a non-overlapping manner and where such 
paddles are driven separately for purposes of maintaining the documents in 
a substantially vertical array. The paddles allow an operator to quickly 
and with a minimum of effort, load additional documents onto a moving feed 
conveyor belt while providing support for the forward portion of the stack 
of documents approaching the shingling station. This in part, allows the 
document throughput of the system to meet or exceed ten thousand documents 
per hour. 
Another important feature of the present invention is a novel sensor and 
jogger mechanism used in conjunction with the forward paddle to urge the 
stack of documents into a parallel orientation relative to the input of 
the shingling station. If the stack of documents is leaning forwardly, the 
jogger reciprocally loosens and displaces the stack while the conveyor 
belt that engages the bottom edge of each document continues to advance 
the stack toward the shingling station input. This tends to urge the stack 
of documents toward a vertical or parallel orientation relative to the 
input plane of the shingler station. If the stack of documents is leaning 
backwardly, the forward paddle displaces the upper portion of the stack 
relative to the conveyor belts to vertically orient the stack. Since the 
documents entering the shingler station are vertically aligned, each 
document is fed into the shingler without jamming the shingler station. 
This provides an extremely high level of system throughput. 
More specifically, the in-feed loading apparatus for feeding aligned stacks 
of documents toward a feed-roller mechanism where the stacks of documents 
extend successively from a front end to a back end, the documents having 
at least a bottom and a side boundary each defined by substantially 
coplanar marginal edges of the documents, includes a feed ramp having one 
or more document conveyor belts disposed along a bottom surface of the 
ramp, where the belts engage the bottom boundary of the documents. The 
conveyer belts are configured to effect forward movement of first and 
second stacks of documents toward the feed-roller mechanism along a 
predetermined path, where a face of each document is parallel to the face 
of adjacent documents and transverse to a linear axis of forward movement 
of the documents. 
A forward paddle and a rear paddle, which is parallel to the forward paddle 
are included. Each paddle has a planar face transverse to the direction of 
movement of the first and second stacks of documents and each paddle is 
generally parallel to a face of the documents. A paddle transport 
mechanism is operatively coupled to the forward paddle to effect 
controllable forward motion of the forward paddle in selective linear 
correspondence with forward motion of the conveyor belts to urge to 
maintain the first stack of documents in a substantially vertical position 
relative to the conveyor belts. Similarly, the rear paddle is operatively 
coupled to the conveyor belts to effect forward motion of the rear paddle 
in linear correspondence with the conveyor belts such that the second 
stack of documents is bounded between the rear paddle and the forward 
paddle. 
The apparatus transports documents to a feed mechanism, such as a shingler 
station, which is operative to impart velocity to the marginal edges of 
the documents in a direction substantially at right angles to the feed 
ramp. The apparatus includes a backing plate having a lower portion 
disposed proximal to the conveyor belts, an upper portion disposed 
vertically upward from the lower portion, and a face parallel to the plane 
defined by the face of the documents. An upper sensor is disposed in the 
upper portion of the backing plate and a lower sensor is disposed in the 
lower portion of the backing plate to sense contact with the front end of 
the stack of documents. 
A controller system or module is operatively coupled to the upper sensor 
and the lower sensor to determine when the front end of the stack of 
documents lies in a plane substantially parallel to the face of the 
backing plate, and further determines when the face of the stack of 
documents is disposed at an angle relative to the backing plate. 
A jogger mechanism is operatively coupled to the controller system and 
extends from the backing plate and is configured to reciprocally displace 
a portion of the stack of documents approaching the backing plate. The 
jogger mechanism is energized when the controller system determines that 
the stack of documents is inclined at a forward angle relative to the 
backing plate where such reciprocal displacement urges the stack of 
documents towards a substantially parallel orientation relative to the 
backing plate. The jogger mechanism maintains the efficiency of the 
document feed operation by keeping the bottom edge of the documents in 
contact with the driving surfaces of the shingling device. Further, the 
jogger mechanism rotates in a forward direction as it controls the lead 
document in the stack, thereby aiding the forward motion of the lead 
document as the document is advanced by the shingling device. 
More specifically, the method for feeding stacks of documents towards a 
shingling mechanism includes the steps of: a) separating a forward and a 
rear paddle by a predetermined distance along a conveyor mechanism; b) 
placing a first stack of documents on the conveyor mechanism ahead of the 
forward paddle; c) placing a second stack of documents on the conveyor 
mechanism between the forward paddle and the rear paddle as the documents 
are transported in the forward direction toward the feed-roller mechanism; 
d) transporting the first and second stacks of documents toward the 
feed-roller mechanism in a forward direction along a predetermined path, 
the forward and rear paddles moving in linear correspondence with the 
documents, the first stack of documents being directed into the 
feed-roller mechanism, said transporting performed under control of a 
controller to selectively and variably control the speed of the conveyer 
mechanism and the forward and rear paddles; e) upwardly rotating the 
forward paddle about a linear axis defined by the forward motion of the 
documents when a predetermined portion of the first stack of documents has 
been directed into the feed-roller mechanism, the rotation configured to 
disengage the forward paddle from between the first and the second stack 
of documents causing the second stack of documents to merge into the first 
stack of documents; f) rearwardly displacing the forward paddle to a 
position adjacent and forward of the rear paddle; g) downwardly rotating 
the forward paddle such that the forward paddle is disposed between the 
rear paddle and the first stack of documents; h) rearwardly displacing the 
rear paddle to form a gap of predetermined length between the forward 
paddle and the rear paddle such that the forward paddle is adjacent the 
back end of the first stack of documents; and i) continuously repeating 
the steps (c) through (h).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to FIG. 1, the in-feed apparatus 10 for loading documents is 
shown generally. The apparatus 10 includes an in-feed magazine 12 having a 
frame 14, a ramp portion defining a generally inclined rectangular feed 
ramp 16 and a rectangular upstanding sidewall portion 18 disposed at right 
angles to a bottom surface 20 of the feed ramp and extending substantially 
along the length of the feed ramp. The generally rectangular bottom 
surface 20 provides a document conveying path defined by a plurality of 
five parallel endless toothed conveyor belts 30 spaced transversely across 
the bottom surface. The surfaces of the conveyor belts 30 are 
substantially flush with the bottom surface 20 of the feed ramp 16 and 
include timing notches or teeth 32 that project upwardly from the conveyor 
belts 30 to engage the bottom edges 34 of documents 36 placed on the feed 
ramp. 
The apparatus 10 is configured to receive the stack of documents 36 and 
feed the documents to "downline" processing devices (not shown). The 
documents 36 may include mailing envelopes of conventional personal or 
commercial letter size, or "flats" which are mail pieces generally between 
approximately 71/2 by 101/2 inches and 111/2 by 141/2 inches along their 
edges, and up to approximately 3/4 inches thick or more, such as 
magazines, catalogs, large envelopes and the like. In the illustrated 
embodiment, the stacked documents 36 are supported in a generally 
upstanding on-edge orientation and are fed along the feed ramp 16 in a 
forward direction while disposed generally transverse to the direction of 
travel. 
The conveyer belts 30 are configured to effect forward movement of the 
stack of documents 36 toward a feed-roller mechanism 38, such as a 
shingler station, as will be described in greater detail hereafter. Upon 
reaching the shingler station 38, the stack of documents 36 is moved 
laterally in substantially the plane of the documents by the shingling 
device so as to feed the documents, in shingled fashion to the downline 
devices, such as singulating devices and sorting devices (not shown). A 
face 40 of each document 36 is generally parallel to the face of adjacent 
documents and transverse to a linear axis (forward axis) of forward 
movement of the documents, as shown by arrow 42. 
Each conveyor belt 30 is supported at opposite ends of the feed ramp 16 by 
rollers 50 which define a continuous loop formed by the conveyor belts. 
Each roller 50 is fixedly supported by a transverse shaft 52 having ends 
supported by brackets 54 mounted in the frame 14 at opposite ends of the 
in-feed magazine 12. The belts 30 are rotatably driven by a conveyor belt 
motor 56 via a drive belt and pulley assembly 58 disposed internal to the 
frame 14, and diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1. The conveyer belt 
motor 56 may be, for example, a servo-motor under control of a computer 
control system 60, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter. 
When the conveyor belt motor 56 is energized, the conveyor belts 30 rotate 
to effect forward motion of the documents 36 disposed on the conveyor 
belts. 
A paddle assembly 70 includes a forward paddle 72 and a rear paddle 74 
disposed parallel to the forward paddle. Each paddle 72 and 74 is 
generally flat having a planar surface or face 76 transverse to the 
forward axis 42. Thus, the face 76 of each paddle is generally parallel to 
the face 40 of the documents 36. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a paddle transport mechanism 78 includes a 
guide shaft 80 horizontally disposed along the length of the feed ramp 16 
and fixedly mounted between two guide shaft brackets 82. Each guide shaft 
bracket 82 upwardly projects from the frame 14 at a position slightly 
leftward of the upstanding sidewall 18 to permit unimpeded linear movement 
of the paddles 72 and 74 along the guide shaft 80. A paddle transport belt 
84 forms a continuous loop and is disposed parallel to the guide shaft 80 
at a position directly below the guide shaft to effect movement of the 
paddles 72 and 74 along the shaft, as will be described hereinafter. 
The paddle transport belt 84 is supported on opposite ends by a roller 86 
disposed about a belt support mechanism 88 which provides an upper surface 
90 upon which the paddle transport belt rests. The upper surface 90 is 
relatively smooth so that forward movement of the paddle transport belt 84 
is substantially unimpeded by the friction between the upper surface 90 
and the paddle transport belt. A shaft 92 projecting from the center of 
the forward roller 86 is coupled to a paddle transport motor 94 through a 
pulley and belt 98 arrangement, as is well known in the art. The paddle 
motor 94, may be, for example, a servo-motor under control of the computer 
control system 60, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter. 
Activation of the paddle transport motor 94 results in forward movement of 
the paddle transport belt 84 and hence, forward movement of the forward 
paddle 72. 
The forward paddle 72 and the rear paddle 76 are each fixedly secured to 
the guide shaft 80 by extension arms 110 and 111, respectively, mounted at 
substantially right angles to each paddle. The extension arms 110 and 111 
may be bent or angled outwardly toward the guide shaft 82, as shown by 
arrow 112 to facilitate linear displacement of the forward paddle 72 to a 
position forward of and adjacent to the rear paddle 74. The extension arm 
110 includes a throughbore 114 disposed through a portion of its length 
through which the guide shaft 80 passes. A bushing 116 mounted within the 
throughbore 114 allows the extension arm 110 and attached forward paddle 
72 to slide linearly relative to the guide shaft 80. The angle or outward 
bend 112 in the extension arm 110 permits the forward paddle 72 to slide 
along substantially the entire length of the feed ramp 16 without 
interference from the guide shaft 80 and also permits the forward paddle 
72 to be positioned forward and adjacent the rear paddle 76 without the 
extension arms 110 and 111 of each paddle impeding movement of the 
paddles. 
A gear mechanism 120 fixedly attached to a lower portion 122 of the 
extension arm 110 of the forward paddle 72 projects directly downward from 
the extension arm and includes a transport gear 124 rotatably mounted on a 
gear shaft 126. The transport gear 124 is configured to project directly 
downward and contact the paddle transport belt 84 disposed directly below 
the guide shaft 80. 
As best shown in FIG. 2, the transport gear 124 selectively engages teeth 
or notches 128 on the paddle transport belt 84 depending upon the 
rotational orientation of the forward paddle 72 about the guide shaft 80. 
The forward paddle 72 is configured to rotate about the guide shaft 80 
since the guide shaft simply rides inside of the bushings 116 affording 
linear and rotational displacement of the forward paddle 72. In the 
illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, the forward paddle 72 is shown in an 
upwardly rotated position where an operator rotates the forward paddle 
about the guide shaft 80. Such upward rotation disengages the transport 
gear 124 from the paddle transport belt 84 so that movement of the paddle 
transport belt 84 has no effect on the linear position of the forward 
paddle 72. Thus, in the upwardly rotated position, the forward paddle 72 
can be independently displaced along the guide shaft 80 by the operator. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, when the stack of documents 36 is disposed on 
the conveyor belts 30 and the forward paddle 72 is in a non-rotated or 
downwardly rotated position, the forward paddle essentially separates the 
stack of documents 36 into a first or forward stack 140 and a second or 
rearward stack 142. Upward rotation of the forward paddle 72 about the 
guide shaft 80 disengages the forward paddle from between the first stack 
140 and the second stack 142 of documents causing the second stack to 
merge into the first stack forming one large stack of documents. Since 
such upward rotation also disengages the transport gear 124 from the 
paddle transport belt 84, the forward paddle 72 may be linearly displaced 
along the guide shaft 80 by simple hand movement of the operator. 
A one-way clutch 148 disposed within the transport gear 124 allows the 
transport gear to rotate in the clockwise direction (shown by arrow 150) 
but not in the counter-clockwise direction (shown by arrow 152). The 
one-way clutch 148 permits the paddle transport belt 84 to propel the 
forward paddle 72 in an indexed fashion relative to the transport belt 
since the transport gear 124 cannot rotate in the counterclockwise 
direction 152. Thus, forward travel of the transport belt 84 causes the 
forward paddle 72 to move in the forward direction regardless of the state 
of the conveyor belts 30. Movement of the forward paddle 72 is completely 
controlled by movement of the paddle transport belt 84. The controller 60 
selectively synchronizes movement of the paddle transport belt 84 with the 
movement of the conveyor belts 30 and corresponding documents 36. 
The rear paddle 74 is attached to the paddle transport mechanism 78 in a 
similar manner as attachment of the forward paddle 72 except that no 
transport belt coupling exists. The rear paddle 74 is fixedly secured to 
the guide shaft 80 by the extension arm 111 mounted at substantially right 
angles to the rear paddle. The extension arm 111 may also be bent or 
angled outwardly toward the guide shaft 82, as shown by arrow 162. The 
extension arm 111 also includes a throughbore 164 disposed through a 
portion of its length through which the guide shaft 80 passes. A bushing 
166 mounted within the throughbore 164 allows the extension arm 111 and 
the attached rear paddle 74 to slide linearly relative to the guide shaft 
80. 
The angle or outward bend 162 in the extension arm 111 permits the rear 
paddle 74 to slide along substantially the entire length of the feed ramp 
16 without interference from the guide shaft 80 or the forward paddle 72. 
The rear paddle 74 is similarly upwardly rotatably about the guide shaft 
80 and linearly displaceable therealong. Note that the bend 162 in the 
rear paddle extension arm 111 is more pronounced than the bend 112 in the 
forward paddle extension arm 110 to allow the forward paddle 72 to be 
placed adjacent the rear paddle 74 without interference between the 
extension arms 110 and 111. 
The rear paddle 74 does not engage the forward paddle transport belt 84, 
but rather, is propelled in the forward direction 42 solely through 
engagement with the conveyor belts 30. A rear paddle gear 180 disposed at 
the bottom of the rear paddle 74 engages the teeth 32 of the conveyer 
belts 30. Such engagement propels the rear paddle 74 along with the 
conveyor belts 30. A one-way clutch 181 disposed within the rear paddle 
gear 180 allows the gear to rotate in the clockwise direction (shown by 
arrow 182) but not in the counter-clockwise direction (shown by arrow 
184). This permits the rear paddle 74 to move in an indexed fashion along 
with the conveyor belts 30 in the forward direction 42 while allowing the 
operator to linearly displace the rear paddle in the forward direction 
relative to the conveyor belts 30 without disengaging the rear paddle gear 
180 from the conveyor belts 30. To linearly displace the rear paddle 74 in 
the backward direction, the operator rotates the rear paddle upward to 
disengage to rear paddle gear 180 from the conveyer belts 30 and slides 
the rear paddle backwards while the conveyor belts are in motion. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3A-3D, the rear paddle 74 includes a handle 
188 rearwardly projecting from its rear surface and a spacer 190 
projecting from its front surface. The spacer 190 separates the second or 
rear stack of documents 142 from the rear paddle 74 by a predetermined 
distance for example, by about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch. The spacer 190 may, 
for example, be a metal wire standoff shaped in the form of an arc. 
Alternatively, a plurality of upstanding studs may be used. When the 
second stack of documents 142 is disposed adjacent the rear paddle 74, the 
spacer 190 provides a gap therebetween so that a small space exists 
between the second stack of documents 142 and the surface of the rear 
paddle. The spacer 190 is shaped in the form of an arc, the locus of which 
corresponds to the circumference of an imaginary circle having a center 
located at the guide shaft 80. 
The forward paddle 72 includes a handle 195 and a channel 196 configured to 
engage the spacer 190 during rotation of the forward paddle about the 
guide shaft 80 and subsequent adjacent engagement. The channel 196 is 
formed through the entire thickness of the front paddle 74 and extends 
along an arc corresponding to the arc defined by the spacer 190. The 
channel 196 and the spacer 190 are used to position the forward paddle 72 
between the rear paddle 74 and the second stack of documents 142 without 
physically moving the second stack of documents away from the rear paddle. 
Thus, rotation of the forward paddle 72 about the guide shaft 80 allows 
the channel 196 to operatively engage the similarly shaped spacer 190 
during rotation of the forward paddle when the two paddles 72 and 74 are 
adjacently positioned. 
When the second stack of documents 142 is bounded between the rear paddle 
74 and the forward paddle 72, the forward paddle may be rotated upwardly 
and then backwardly displaced along the guide shaft 80. When the forward 
paddle 72 is linearly positioned adjacent and just forward of the rear 
paddle 74, it is then downwardly rotated so that the channel 196 engages 
the spacer 190. This allows the forward paddle 72 to essentially "slip" 
into position between the rear paddle 74 and the second stack of documents 
142. By placing the forward paddle 72 behind the second stack of documents 
142, but just forward of the rear paddle 74, the second stack of documents 
142 essentially merges into the first stack of documents 140 which are 
then advanced along the conveyor belts 30 toward the feed-roller mechanism 
38. 
The ability to non-overlapingly reposition the forward paddle 72 and rear 
paddle 74 along the length of the feed ramp 16 allows the operator to 
continuously add documents to the feed ramp to create the second stack of 
documents 142 and add documents 36 thereto while the documents 
continuously advance toward the feed-roller mechanism 38. Such 
non-overlapping repositioning allows rapid and efficient delivery of 
documents to the feed ramp 16. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 4A-4E and 5A-5E, the operation of the forward 
paddle 72 and the rear paddle 74 are pictorially illustrated in FIGS. 
4A-4E and corresponding side views of FIGS. 5A-5E. First, the forward 
paddle 72 and the rear paddle 74 are separated by a predetermined distance 
along the feed ramp 16. This allows the first stack of documents 140 to be 
placed forward of the forward paddle 72 and the second stack of documents 
142 to be placed forward of the rear paddle 74. Thus, the second stack of 
documents 142 is bounded between the forward paddle and the rear paddle, 
as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 5A as the first stack of documents 140 is 
advanced toward the feed-roller mechanism 38. Once the first and second 
stacks of documents 140 and 142 have been loaded onto the feed ramp 16, 
the operator slides the rear paddle 74 forward to eliminate any space 
between the second stack of documents 142 and the forward paddle 72, as 
illustrated in FIGS. 4B and 5B. 
Once loaded, the first stack of documents 140 and the second stack of 
documents 142 are advanced along the conveyor belts 30 toward the 
feed-roller mechanism 38 where the first stack of documents is processed. 
For example, the feed-roller mechanism 38 may be a shingling device which 
removes the lead documents from the first stack 140 of documents. Both 
stacks of documents 140 and 142 are simultaneously advanced toward the 
feed-roller mechanism 38 in the forward direction 42 along the 
predetermined path defined by the conveyor belts 30. The forward paddle 72 
and the rear paddle 74 move in linear correspondence with the documents 36 
as the first stack of documents 140 are directed into the feed-roller 
mechanism 38. 
As the documents from the first stack 140 are fed into the feed-roller 
mechanism 38, the size of the stack decreases. When the size of the first 
stack of documents 140 has been reduced by a predetermined amount, for 
example, by 80% of its original size, the operator upwardly rotates the 
forward paddle 72 about the guide shaft 80 to disengage the forward paddle 
from between the first and second stack of documents 140 and 142. This 
causes the second stack of documents 142 to merge into the first stack of 
documents 140 to form a single larger first stack of documents, as 
illustrated in FIGS. 4C and 5C. 
Next, while the forward paddle 72 is in the upwardly rotated position, the 
operator rearwardly displaces the forward paddle to a position adjacent 
and just forward of the rear paddle 74 and then downwardly rotates the 
forward paddle such that the forward paddle is disposed between the rear 
paddle and the documents 36, as illustrated in FIGS. 4D and 5D. In this 
position, the channel 196 in the forward paddle 72 engages the spacer 190 
in the rear paddle 74 and allows the two paddles to be adjacent without 
physically dislodging any of the documents in the stack. 
At this point, the operator rearwardly displaces the rear paddle 74, to 
form a gap of predetermined length between the forward paddle 72 and the 
rear paddle 74 leaving the forward paddle adjacent the back end of the 
first stack of documents 140, as illustrated in FIGS. 4E and 5E. The 
operator then repeats the process by placing additional documents between 
the forward paddle 72 and the rear paddle 74, thus forming the second 
stack of documents 142. The above-described operation occurs continuously 
as the conveyor belts 30 advance the first stack 140 and the second stack 
142 of documents toward the feed-roller mechanism 38 so that the 
feed-roller mechanism receives a continuous supply of documents. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 6 and 7A-7C, the in-feed magazine 12 may be 
rotated about a tilt axis, as shown by arrow 300. The tilt axis 300 is 
coplanar with the forward axis 42 and coaxial along the intersection of 
the bottom surface 20 of the feed ramp 16 and the upstanding sidewall 18. 
Tilting the in-feed magazine 12 effectively tilts the plane of the 
conveyor belts 30, the bottom surface 20 and the upstanding sidewall 18 
affixed thereto. Tilting the in-feed magazine 12 by about between five and 
fifteen degrees effectively urges the side boundaries of the stack of 
documents 36 against the sidewall 18 to facilitate registration of the 
documents thereagainst. The feed ramp 16 is also slightly inclined for 
example, by about eight degrees, as shown by arrow 301, so that the 
documents 36 rest against the face of the paddles 72 and 74. Documents 36 
which have edges in alignment with a common boundary are less likely to 
become jammed or otherwise become misdirected within the apparatus 10. 
As described above, the feed-roller mechanism 38 may, for example, be a 
shingler device 302 which preferably includes between five to twenty 
conically shaped rollers 304 disposed toward the forward end of the feed 
ramp 16, which defines the mouth or input 305 of the feed-roller 
mechanism. However, any suitable number of conical rollers 304 may be 
used. Each conical roller 304 rotates about a shaft 306 and each shaft is 
operatively coupled to a conical roller motor 307 which controls the 
rotational speed of the conical rollers. Alternately, multiple conical 
roller motors 307 may be used to control individual conical rollers 304 or 
selected groups of rollers such that individual groups of five rollers, 
for example, may be rotated at a different rate relative to adjacent 
groups of rollers. The conical roller motor 307 may be, for example, a 
servo-motor under control of the computer control system 60, as will be 
described in greater detail hereinafter. 
Each shaft 306 is disposed below the level of the bottom surface 20 of the 
feed ramp 16 and is tilted relative to the plane of the bottom surface 20 
so that a rotating surface portion 308 of each conical roller 304 is 
essentially parallel to the plane of the bottom surface. A guide plate 310 
partially covers the conical rollers 304 and allows the rotating surface 
308 of each conical roller to be exposed. The guide plate 310 may be 
formed, for example, from a plurality of triangular metal or plastic 
plates which are positioned and secured between adjacent conical rollers. 
Alternatively, guide plate 310 may be a planar sheet of metal or plastic 
having cut-out triangular portions 312 that expose the rotating surfaces 
308 of each conical roller 304. Accordingly, the rotating surfaces 308 of 
each conical roller 304 must project slightly above the plane of the guide 
plate 310 such that the lower marginal edges of the documents 36 contact 
the rotating surfaces as the documents 36 move forward. 
The feed ramp 16 may be slightly elevated relative to the guide plate 310 
such that the level of the conveyor belts 30 are slightly above the level 
of the conical rollers 304. Documents 36 exiting the feed ramp 16 are 
carried downward by the notches or the teeth 32 of the conveyor belts 30 
as the documents reach the forward end of the conveyor belts. The 
documents 36 are carried downwardly a slight distance, for example, one 
inch, prior to contacting the guide plate 310 and the feed rollers 304. 
All documents 36 reaching the end of the feed ramp 16 are carried onto the 
guide plate 310 which partially covers the conical rollers 304 and 
provides a substantially smooth transitional surface along the conical 
rollers. 
Since each conical roller 304 is disposed having its axis of rotation 
parallel to the length of the feed ramp 16, the surface 308 of each 
conical roller 304 rotates tangentially relative to the direction in which 
the documents 36 travel along the feed ramp 16. Each conical roller 304 
has a proximal end 314, or the end having the smallest diameter disposed 
closest to the forward portion 316 of the feed ramp 16. The diameter of 
each conical roller 304 increases from the proximal end 314 toward a 
distal end 318 of each conical roller. Thus, the speed of the rotating 
surface 308 presented to the lower marginal edges of the documents 36 
contacting the conical rollers 304 increases as the documents are fed into 
the shingler 302. 
As the lower marginal edges of the documents 36 engage the rotating conical 
surfaces 308, the documents traverse the conical drive surfaces along a 
relatively linear or straight path from the proximal end 314 to the distal 
end 318 of the conical rollers 304 with the lower marginal edges of the 
document in substantially point contact with the rotating conical drive 
surfaces. As each successive document 36 traverses the conical drive 
surfaces 308, the conical rollers 304 impart velocity components of 
varying magnitude to the lower marginal edges of the documents 36 and 
effect movement of successive documents into a shingled array. 
The conical drive surfaces 308 impart a velocity vector or force component 
of progressively increasing magnitude to the lower edge of each successive 
document 36 as these documents are pushed forward onto the conical drive 
surfaces by the conveyor belts 30. Such progressively increasing velocity 
or force components lie substantially in the plane of the documents 36 and 
impart lateral movement to each document in a plane substantially 
transverse to the conveyor belts 30. This causes the documents 36 to be 
moved laterally out of the stack at progressively increasing velocities as 
they advance farther from the apexes of the conical rollers 304. 
This produces differential lateral movement between successive documents 36 
which cause the lateral lead edges of the documents to be shingled 
relative to each other. Such a shingling device 302 is described in 
greater detail in a patent application entitled "A Method and Apparatus 
For Shingling Documents" filed on Jan. 3, 1994 having a Ser. No. of 
08/176,966, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,276, in the name of Farber et al. and 
assigned to Bell & Howell Company, the same assignee to which the present 
patent/patent application is/will be assigned. 
An upstanding backing plate 320 is disposed in a plane substantially 
parallel to the plane of the face 40 of the documents 36 and has a face 
portion 322 parallel thereto. The documents 36 may be inclined at about an 
eight degree angle relative to the backing plate 320 since the feed ramp 
16 and conveyor belts 30 may be inclined at an eight degree angle, as 
previously described. The backing plate 320 is disposed transverse to the 
direction of travel 42 of the conveyor belts 30 and is set back toward the 
distal end 318 of the conical rollers 304 and partially overlaps the guide 
plate 310. The backing plate presents a "stop", or a barrier beyond which 
documents 36 cannot pass. Thus, documents 36 approaching the backing plate 
320 in a plane substantially parallel to the face 322 of the backing plate 
are imparted with transverse velocity by the rotating conical rollers 304 
as the documents travel across the guide plate 310 and contact the 
rotating surfaces 308. 
Preferably, the documents 36 approaching the backing plate 320 are 
substantially parallel to the face 322 of the backing plate. However, the 
forward paddle 72 supports only a rearward portion 324 of the first stack 
of documents 140 and does not provide support for a forward portion 326 of 
the first stack of documents. Thus, the first stack of documents 140 may 
have documents that are leaning forward relative to the face 322 of the 
backing plate 320, as illustrated in FIG. 7A. 
Conversely, the documents may be leaning backward relative to the face 322 
of the backing plate 320, as illustrated in FIG. 7B. Ideally, the 
documents 36 are substantially parallel to the face 322 of the backing 
plate 320, as illustrated in FIG. 7C. 
To urge the documents 36 toward a substantially parallel orientation 
relative to the face 322 of the backing plate 320, an upper sensor 350, a 
lower sensor 352, and a jogger mechanism 354 are used in conjunction with 
control of the forward paddle 72 and the conveyor belts 30 provided by the 
controller 60. The lower sensor 352 is disposed toward a lower portion of 
the backing plate 320 such that a bottom portion 356 of the lower sensor 
slidingly contacts the guide plate 310 and rides over the distal end 318 
of the conical rollers 304. 
The lower sensor 352 is constructed as a substantially rectangular bar 
disposed parallel to the backing plate 320 between the face 322 of the 
backing plate and the distal end 318 of the conical rollers 304. The lower 
sensor 352 overlaps a portion of the distal end 318 of the conical rollers 
304 but does not make contact therewith. Semicircular arches 358 or 
"cut-outs" disposed in the bottom portion 356 of the lower sensor 352 
prevent contact between the bottom portion of the lower sensor and the 
distal end 318 of the conical rollers 304. 
Documents 36 traveling across the guide plate 310 and over the conical 
rollers 304 contact the lower sensor 352 before they are imparted with 
transverse velocity by the conical rollers since rotation of the conical 
rollers is controlled by the controller 60, as will be described 
hereinafter. Such contact causes the lower sensor 352 to be transversely 
displaced toward the backing plate 320 since the lower sensor is spring 
mounted. A set of springs (not shown) allows the lower sensor 352 to be 
reciprocally displaced relative to the backing plate 320. However, any 
mechanism allowing reciprocal displacement of the lower sensor 352 may be 
used. As the lower sensor 352 is displaced in the forward direction toward 
the backing plate 320 by the documents 36, a circuit is activated 
indicating to the controller 60 that a document 36 has contacted the lower 
sensor. 
The upper sensor 350 is disposed vertically upward from the lower sensor 
352 and transversely projects from a slot or aperture 362 in the face 322 
of the backing plate 320. The upper sensor 350 may be configured as a 
wheel that is transversely displaced when contacted by a document 36. A 
spring 370 similarly allows the upper sensor 350 to be reciprocally 
displaced relative to the backing plate 320. However, any mechanism 
allowing reciprocal displacement of the upper sensor 350 may be used. The 
minimum and maximum allowable reciprocal displacement of the upper sensor 
350 and the lower sensor 352 are substantially equal so that the edges of 
the sensors form an imaginary plane essentially parallel to and spaced 
apart from the backing plate 320. This allows the controller 60 to 
determine when the documents 36 are parallel to the backing plate 320. 
To provide precise control of the conveyor belt motor 56, the paddle 
transport motor 94 and the conical roller motor 307, each motor may be, 
for example, a servo-motor under control of the controller 60, as is well 
known in the art. The jogger mechanism 354 is operatively coupled to the 
backing plate 320 and includes four wheels 374 partially projecting 
through slots 376 in the backing plate. The wheels 374 are disposed 
vertically upward from the upper sensor 350 and contact the documents 36 
at a point toward the upper reaches of the documents. Each pair of wheels 
374 has a vertically disposed drive shaft 378 passing through an 
"off-center" aperture in each wheel forming an eccentric cam arrangement. 
When the drive shaft 378 rotates, the wheels 374 rotate eccentrically 
about the drive shaft causing the surface of the wheels to be transversely 
and reciprocally displaced relative to the backing plate 320. 
When the jogger mechanism 354 is activated, any documents 36 in proximity 
with the wheels 374 are essentially "jogged" or "bumped" or repeatedly and 
reciprocally displaced relative to the backing plate 320. This causes 
forwardly leaning documents 36 to be backwardly displaced to become 
vertically aligned so that they are substantially parallel to the backing 
plate 320. Such reciprocal displacement of the documents 36 urges the 
first stack of documents 140 toward a substantially parallel orientation 
relative to the backing plate 320. However, the wheels 374 need not be 
configured as an eccentric cam arrangement and may be, for example, linear 
actuators that traverse a linear path. 
Each drive shaft 378 is coupled to a jogger motor 382 through a belt and 
pulley arrangement 384, as is well known in the art. The jogger motor 382 
is operatively coupled to the controller 60 so that it is activated by the 
controller depending upon the condition of the upper sensor 350 and the 
lower sensor 352. 
Referring now to FIGS. 1, 6, 7A-7C and 8, FIG. 8 illustrates a specific 
embodiment of a block diagram of the controller 60. The controller 60 is 
disposed within the frame 14 and is operatively coupled to the upper 
sensor 350 and the lower sensor 352 and receives input signals from the 
sensors. The controller 60 includes a computer 400 which may be, for 
example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a discrete processor or any 
other suitable control device, as is well known in the art. Not shown are 
various memory circuits such as RAM and ROM and input/output circuits 
which are integral to such computer devices. The controller 60 may be 
disposed anywhere on or near the apparatus 10 and may be remotely 
connected to the apparatus by lengths of wires. 
The controller 60 includes first, second and third servo-motor control 
circuits 402, 404 and 406. The first servo-motor control circuit 402 
controls the conveyor motor 56 which in turn, controls the conveyor belts 
30. The second servo-motor control circuit 404 controls the paddle 
transport motor 94 which in turn, controls the paddle transport belt 84. 
The third servo-motor control circuit 406 controls the conical roller 
motor 307 which in turn, controls the conical rollers 304. The third 
servo-motor control circuit 406 may be duplicated multiple times depending 
upon the number of conical roller motors 307 that exist since the conical 
rollers 304 may be individually controlled or may be controlled according 
to predetermined groups. For example, if twenty conical rollers 304 are 
divided into four groups of five conical rollers, then four servo-motor 
control circuits 406 are used such that all five conical rollers in the 
group operate at the same speed. 
Servo-motors, such as the conveyor motor 56, the paddle transport motor 94 
and the conical roller motor(s) 307 are used due to the inherent ease and 
precision in which they may be controlled. The speed of each motor 56, 94 
and 307 is easily and efficiently controlled from a minimum speed, for 
example, zero inches per second, to a maximum speed, for example, sixty 
inches per second. 
A jogger motor control circuit 410 controls the jogger motor 382 and need 
not be a servo-motor control circuit, since the jogger motor is operated 
at a constant speed and is either activated or deactivated. However, a 
servo-motor circuit may be used to control such a motor even if variable 
speed control is not required, depending upon the availability of such 
circuits in the controller module 60. 
The sensors 350 and 352 allow the controller 60 to determine when the 
documents 36 lie in a plane substantially parallel to the face 322 of the 
backing plate 320. The controller 60 also determines when the documents 36 
are disposed at an angle relative to the backing plate 320 by inspecting 
the state of the upper sensor 350 and the lower sensor 350. 
In operation, if the stack of documents 36 has not yet reached the document 
shingler device 38, the upper sensor 350 and, the lower sensor 350 are not 
contacted. During this condition, the controller 60 deactivates the 
conical roller motors 307 so that they do not rotate. To advance the stack 
of documents 36 forward, the conveyor belt motor 56 and the paddle 
transport motor 94 are both operated at their maximum forward speed and 
are synchronized relative to each other to operate at identical speeds. 
The controller 60 determines that the stack of documents 36 is inclined at 
a forward angle relative to the backing plate 320 when the upper sensor 
350 senses contact with the stack of documents while the lower sensor 352 
does not sense contact, as illustrated in FIG. 7A. To urge the first stack 
of documents 140 toward a substantially vertical position, the controller 
60 directs the first servo-motor control circuit 402 to activate the 
conveyor belts 30. This causes the bottom of the stack of documents 36 to 
move forward by a predetermined distance. Simultaneously, the controller 
60 directs the jogger motor control circuit 410 to activate the jogger 
mechanism 354 while the paddle transport belt 84 and hence, the forward 
paddle 72 are stationary. This moves the bottom of the documents 36 toward 
the lower sensor 352 as the eccentric wheels 374 reciprocally displace the 
upper reaches of the documents away from the backing plate 320. Such 
displacement in combination with movement of the bottom portion of the 
documents 36 urges the documents towards a vertical position substantially 
parallel to the backing plate. 
When a parallel orientation of the documents 36 has been achieved, as 
indicated by simultaneous activation of both the upper sensor 350 and the 
lower sensor 352, the controller 60 directs the third servo-motor control 
circuit 406 to activate the conical roller motor 307. This causes the 
conical rollers 304 to rotate, thus transporting the on-edge documents at 
right angles to the feed ramp 16 and towards other processing stations. At 
this point, the controller 60 directs the first servo-motor controller 402 
to activate the conveyor belts 30 and directs the second servo-motor 
controller 404 to activate the paddle transport motor 94 so that the 
documents 36 are transported in the forward direction 42. During 
simultaneous activation of the conveyor belts 30 and the paddle transport 
belt 84, the forward paddle 72 moves in an indexed manner along with the 
conveyor belts 30. The above process is repeated so that the documents 36 
are continuously processed and fed into the shingler device 302. 
The controller 60 determines that the documents 36 are inclined at a 
backward angle relative to the backing plate 320 when the lower sensor 352 
senses contact with the stack of documents 36 while the upper sensor 350 
does not sense contact, as illustrated in FIG. 7B. To urge the documents 
36 toward a substantially vertical position, the controller 60 stops the 
conveyor belts 30 so that the bottom of the documents 36 remain fixed 
relative to the feed ramp 16. The controller 60 then directs the second 
servo-motor control circuit 404 to activate the paddle transport motor 94 
causing the paddle transport belt 84 to move the forward paddle 72 in the 
forward direction 42. 
Movement of the forward paddle 72 urges the upper reaches of the first 
stack of documents 140 from an angled position toward a substantially 
vertical position. When the forward paddle 72 has moved forward a distance 
sufficient to vertically align the first stack of documents 140, the 
documents simultaneously contact the upper sensor 350 and the lower sensor 
352. When such a parallel orientation of the first stack of documents 140 
has been achieved, as indicated by simultaneous activation of both the 
upper sensor 350 and the lower sensor 352, the controller 60 directs the 
third servo-motor control circuit 406 to activate the conical roller motor 
307. This causes the conical rollers 304 to rotate, thus transporting the 
on-edge documents at right angles to the feed ramp 16 and toward other 
processing stations. At this point, the controller 60 activates the 
conveyor belts 30 to move the documents 36 in the forward direction 42 as 
the forward paddle 72 moves in an indexed manner along with the conveyor 
belts driven by the paddle transport belt 84. The above process is 
repeated so that the documents 36 are continuously processed and fed into 
the shingler device 302. 
When the upper sensor 350 and the lower sensor 352 substantially 
simultaneously sense contact with the first stack of documents 140, the 
stack of documents is substantially parallel to the face 322 of the 
backing plate 320, as illustrated in FIG. 7C. No adjustment need be 
performed and the controller 60 directs the conical rollers 304 to rotate 
by directing the third servo-motor controller 406 to activate the conical 
roller motor 307, thus transporting the on-edge documents at right angles 
to the feed ramp 16 and towards other processing stations. At this point, 
the controller 60 continues to cause the conveyor belts 30 and the forward 
paddle 72 to move the stack of documents 36 in the forward direction 42 as 
the forward paddle 72 moves in an indexed manner along with the conveyor 
belts. The above process is repeated so that the documents 36 are 
continuously processed. 
A specific embodiment of an in-feed magazine apparatus and method for 
loading documents according to the present invention has been described 
for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may be 
made and used. It should be understood that implementation of other 
variations and modifications of the invention and its various aspects will 
be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that the invention is not 
limited by these specific embodiments described. It is therefore 
contemplated to cover by the present invention any and all modifications, 
variations, or equivalents that fall within the true spirit and scope of 
the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein.