Franking machine

Abstract: A franking machine module (10) is provided with one or more selectively operated mail item feed modules (19) to feed items such as envelopes or labels from hoppers (25) in the feed modules (19) to the franking module (10). The modules (10,19) are constructed with common interfaces (34,35,36) whereby a number of feed modules (19) may be arranged side by side such that mechanical and electrical drive is transmitted from one module to its adjacent module and feed paths (15,22) of the modules are co-planar to permit items to be fed into and along a common feed path.

Description: This invention relates to franking machines. Known franking machines include a keyboard or other means for selecting a value of postal franking to be printed and means for carrying out accounting functions to maintain a record of the usage of the franking machine. The franking machine also includes means for printing a franking impression having the selected value on a mail item and means for feeding the mail item past the printing means in synchronism with the operation of the printing means. The printing means is arranged to print an officially designated franking which includes variable data such as the value of the franking, the date of franking and a franking machine identification. The printing means may also be arranged to print a slogan alongside the franking impression for advertising or similar purposes. Generally in such franking machines the mail items, consisting of envelopes containing papers, are fed into the franking machine one at a time along a flat bed and are gripped between a printing drum and a pressure roller whereby the franking impression is applied to the envelope by the printing drum. For large mail items which cannot conveniently be fed through the franking machine, the franking is applied to an adhesive label which is then stuck onto the mail item. It will be appreciated that with franking machines of the type described above each envelope has to be handled twice. First a destination address is applied for example by a typewriter and then the envelope has to be passed through the franking machine to apply the franking impression. Accordingly it would be advantageous to apply the destination address and the franking in a single pass through a machine. It would also be advantageous for the envelopes to be fed to the franking machine automatically without manual intervention. It is known from US patent specification 4,285,607 to provide a feeder device for feeding sheets selectively from a plurality of magazine units to a printing cylinder of a printing device. The magazine units are disposed above a conveyor track and a sheet fed from a magazine is fed onto the conveyor track and thence by the track to the printing device. The conveyor track is of sufficient length to accommodate the plurality of magazine units and hence even if only a single magazine unit is to be used, the feeder device occupies the same length as when a larger number of magazines units are used. Furthermore the feeder device can be used only for feeding sheets of a size which can be accommodated within the magazine units. US-A-4,034,669 discloses a pertinent franking machine which, however, does not permit feeding of items into the feed path of the stacking module from an upstream end of this module. According to one aspect of the invention, a franking machine includes a first module including printing means; first feeding means to feed a mail item along a first feed path in the first module past the printing means; control means operable in response to input signals to control the printing means to print a required franking impression on the mail item being fed along the first feed path; a second module including means to receive a stack of mail items; a second feed path in the second module and selectively operable feeding means to feed an item from the stack into the second feed path to the feeding means of the first module, wherein the first and second feed paths are planar and in operation extend horizontally; the second feed path is coplanar with said first feed path and forms a continuation of the first feed path through the second module to permit feeding of items into the second feed path from an upstream end of the second module. According to a second aspect of the invention, a franking machine including a first module including a first feed path for mail items; printing means; and control means operative in response to input signals to control the printing means to print a franking impression on the item in the first feed path; is characterised by a plurality of second modules each including a second feed path, the second feed paths of all the second modules being arranged in end to end mutual relationship and co-planar with said first feed path; hopper means to receive a stack of mail items; first feed means selectively operable to feed a mail item from the hopper of a selected second module into the second feed path of that selected module; and second feed means operative to feed mail items received in the second feed path of the second modules to the first feed path of the first module. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a front view partly in section of a franking machine provided with envelope feeds in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a plan view of the franking machine shown in Figure 1 and Figure 3 shows diagrammatically the interfacing between modules of the franking machine. Referring to the drawings and in particular to Figure 1, a franking machine comprises a base housing 10 and a cover 11 which is hinged to the base housing 10 along the rear thereof. The base housing 10 houses a main drive motor 12, a feed roller 13 and an impression roller 14. The top of the base housing 10 is formed as a flat bed 15 to provide a path for the feeding of mail items. The peripheries of the feed and impression rollers project through and project slightly from the bed. The base housing also accommodates electronic circuitry 44 for carrying out the accounting and control functions required in a franking machine. The accounting and control functions and the electronic circuits for carrying them out are well known and hence will not be described herein. The cover 11 houses a thermal printer 16 located immediately above the impression roller 14. The thermal printer 16 includes two print heads each having a plurality of elements which can be heated selectively to cause the thermal transfer of ink from inked carrier ribbons contained in replacable cartridges. The cover 11 also houses a pressure roller 17 disposed to co-operate with the feed roller 13 in the base housing 10. Further pressure rollers 34 are provided to co-operate with the impression roller 14. These further pressure rollers 34 are located to each side of the thermal printer 16 and, if desired, between the two print heads of the thermal printer. The feed roller 13 and the impression roller 14 are driven by the motor 12 via trains of gears or toothed belts (not shown). The front edge of the cover 11 is supported on the base housing 10 by means of two pairs of support rollers 18, one roller of each pair being mounted on the cover 11 and the other roller of each pair being mounted on the base housing 10 such that the nips of the pairs of rollers lie in a plane between the cover and the base housing. The hinged mounting and the support by the pairs of support rollers of the cover on the base housing is arranged such that a slot in excess of the thickness of the thickest envelope intended to be used extends between the cover and the base housing. The slot is open along the front of the franking machine and hence the use of rollers to support the front of the cover on the base housing permits oversize envelopes to be fed with the excess depth of envelope projecting from the slot. A franking impression and a destination address are printed on an envelope by feeding the envelope face up into the left hand end of the slot between the cover and the base housing with the upper edge of the envelope toward the rear of the franking machine. Thus the envelope will be gripped between the feed and pressure rollers 13,17 and then mechanically fed due to rotation of these rollers, by the motor 12, along the path to the thermal printer against which it is pressed by the impression roller 14. As the envelope is fed past the thermal printer, the elements of the heads of the printer are selectively heated to transfer ink from the ribbons to the surface of the envelope. One of the print heads, positioned toward the rear of the franking machine, is operated selectively to transfer ink in a desired pattern to form the franking impression and, if desired, a slogan along the upper part of the envelope. The other print head, positioned toward the front of the franking machine, is operated selectively to transfer ink such as to print a desired destination address on a central area of the envelope. As will be appreciated the franking machine as described above would require manual feeding of envelopes into it. In order to permit the franking machine to be used as a peripheral device to a personal computer system, as is disclosed in co-pending UK Patent application 8716183, it is desirable to provide means whereby an envelope can be fed into the franking machine in response to a command signal from the personal computer without the need for manual intervention. Accordingly one or more feed hopper modules 19 are provided. In the drawings, three feed hopper modules are shown. The modules 19 are identical units each having a downstream interface 34 on the right hand side, as viewed in the drawings, arranged to provide mechanical and electrical connection to an upstream interface 35 on the left hand side, as viewed in the drawings, of an adjacent module. The base housing 10 of the franking machine is provided with an upstream interface 36 for connection with the downstream interface of an adjacent feed hopper module 19. Each feed hopper module 19 has a base unit 20 and a hopper unit 21. The base unit 20 of each module has a flat bed 22 forming a path along which an envelope may be fed and a feed roller 23 mounted so that its periphery extends through an aperture in the bed 22. The feed roller may be driven by an electric motor 37 housed within the base unit or may be driven from the main electric motor 12 in the base housing 10. In the latter arrangement, the mechanical interfaces provide mechanical drive connections between modules. For example, a gear wheel 38 may project from the downstream interface 34 of the module so as to enter through an aperture in the adjacent module, or base housing 10, for engagement with a gear 39 in the adjacent module or housing. The hopper unit 21 of each module comprises a cover 24 extending over the base unit 20 of that module and a feed hopper 25 to contain a supply of envelopes, indicated by reference 26. A selectively rotatable picker roller 27 extends through an aperture in a wall 28 of the feed hopper into the interior of the hopper. The picker roller 27 may be driven by an electrical motor 40 disposed in the hopper unit 21 of the module or it may be driven through a selectively operable electro-mechanical clutch 41 from the drive to the feed roller 23 in that module. A freely rotatable pressure roller 29 is mounted in the hopper unit to co-operate with the feed roller 23 in the base unit. The envelopes are received as a horizontal stack, ie with the envelopes lying in planes inclined to the vertical, in the feed hopper and are pressed toward the picker roller 27 by a pressure plate 32 pivotted at 33 and acting under spring action (not shown). The bottom of the hopper 25 is closed apart from an exit throat 30 adjacent the wall 28 through which the picker roller extends. Anticlockwise rotation of the picker roller will cause the first envelope to be fed downwards by frictional engagement between the picker roller and the envelope through the throat 30 in the bottom of the hopper onto the bed 22 of the base unit 20. As a result the leading end of the envelope will bend and be quided by the bed into the nip between the feed roller 13 on the base housing and the pressure roller 17 in the cover 11. When the feed roller 13 is powered by the motor 12, the envelope will be carried to and past the thermal printing heads for printing of the franking and destination address. The feed hopper modules are secured to each other and to the base housing by means of releasable latches 42. When latched together, the adjoining upstream and downstream interfaces are connected together to effect electrical interconnection by connectors 43 from the base housing to the modules and, when required, mechanical power drive from the main motor 12 in the base housing to the feed rollers 23 in the modules. When latched together, the beds 22 of the modules are coplanar with and form an extension of the bed 15 of the base housing 10. The operation of an assembly of feed hopper modules in conjunction with the franking machine will now be described. When a command signal, for example from the personal computer 45 to which the franking machine is connected by an input/output interface 46, is received by the control electronics 44 in the base housing, a signal is passed from the control electronics to the adjacent module via the interfaces to energise the drive to the picker roller 27 of that module or via further interfaces to another one of the modules whereby an envelope is fed from the hopper of a selected module to the bed 22 of the module. If the module from which an envelope is fed is the module adjacent the base housing 10, the leading edge of the envelope is fed along the bed 15 to the nip of the feed roller 13 and the pressure roller 17. However if the envelope is fed from one of the other modules, the leading edge of the envelope will be fed to the nip between the feed roller 23 and the associated pressure roller of the adjacent module and thence along the bed 22 to the feed roller 13 and pressure roller 17 of the base housing 10. From this position the envelope is carried to and past the printer as described hereinbefore. As mentioned above the modules are of identical construction and hence, subject to limits imposed by mechanical considerations and software control of module selection, any number of modules may be latched together to the base housing. The usual reason for provision of more than one module is for the selective supply of a number of different sizes of envelope to the franking machine. Accordingly, the hoppers 24 have a depth, from front to back of the machine, sufficient to accommodate the largest size of envelope intended to be handled. A movable bar 31 is provided to extend across the top entry to the hopper so as to allow the depth of the top entry to be adjusted to accommodate and guide envelopes of smaller size. Preferably, the upper portion of the hopper is provided with a series of recesses, corresponding in position to a series of envelope sizes, in which a detent on the movable bar 31 engages. If desired one or more of the hoppers may contain adhesive labels for attachment to mail items. These labels may be of sufficient size to accommodate not only the franking impression but also a destination address or may be such as to receive only the franking impression. The modules are individually identified both for addressing by electrical signals from the control circuits 44 in the base housing and for visual identification by a user of the machine. Thus, the user of the machine is aware of which module contains a particular size of envelope and, for example, by keying in an identification of the module containing the desired size of envelope on the keyboard of the personal computer a command and signal is transmitted to the control electronics 44 in the base housing 10 to activate the picker roller 27 in that identified module. It will be appreciated that data signals also are transmitted from the computer to the electronics 44 in the base housing representing the value of franking to be printed, the date and the destination address. The franking value may be automatically calculated by the computer from look-up tables relating to the number of sheets of paper to be enclosed in the envelope, the size of envelope to be selected, the postal service required and the destination address. The covers 24 of the modules are spaced from the base units of the modules at the front so as to provide a continuation of the open slot of the franking machine and thereby allow oversize envelopes to be manually fed into the left hand side of the left hand module and then fed by the feed and pressure rollers to the printer for franking. While in the above description, the various feed, pressure, picker and impression rollers have been referred to as if they were single rollers extending across the machine any of them may be constructed as a number of rollers spaced along a con on shaft. In order to prevent misfeeding or creasing of the envelopes, the feed rollers and picker rollers or drives thereto may incorporate over-run clutches 45. In order to ensure correct timing of the operation of the printer in relation to the position of the envelope, so that the printing is correctly positioned on the envelope, detection means may be incorporated in the base housing to detect the presence of the leading edge of an envelope and provide a timing signal to the control electronics 44. Since the feed rollers 23 in the modules do not have any action in the actual selection of envelope feed, these rollers may all be driven together. It is only necessary that the picker rollers of the different modules be selectively driven.

Claims: A franking machine including a first module (10) including printing means; first feeding means (13,17,14,34) to feed a mail item along a first feed path (15) in the first module past the printing means; control means (44) operable in response to input signals to control the printing means to print a required franking impression on the mail item being fed along the first feed path; a second module (19) including means (25) to receive a stack (26) of mail items; a second feed path (22) in the second module (19) and selectively operable feeding means (27) to feed an item from the stack (26) into the second feed path to the feeding means of the first module wherein the first and second feed paths are planar and in operation extend horizontally; the second feed path is coplanar with said first feed path and forms a continuation of the first feed path through the second module to permit feeding of items into the second feed path from an upstream end of the second module. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each module has an interface (36,43) connected with an interface (34,43) on the other module for the transmission of electrical signals. A machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein the interfaces (36,34) include means (38,39) for transmission of mechanical power. A machine as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein at least two second modules (19) are provided, each second module (19) having an interface (34,35) connected with an adjacent second module (19). A machine as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second or each second module (19) includes second feeding means (23,29) to feed a mail item along the second path (22). A machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein the first feeding means (13,17,14,34) and second feeding means (23,29) are driven by a common drive motor (12). A machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the selectively operable feeding means (27) in the second or each second module (19) includes a selectively operable drive motor (37). A machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein the selectively operable feeding means (27) and the second feeding means (23,29) in one said second module (19) are driven by a single motor (12), the drive to the selectively operable feeding means being via a selectively operable clutch (41). A machine as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the hopper (25) includes means (31) adjustable to guide mail items of different sizes. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the printing means (16) is operable to print a destination address on the mail items. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim including input/output means (46) for connection of the machine as a peripheral device to a computer. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the input signals to control the printing means (16) are received from an external source (45). A franking machine including:- a first module (10) including a first feed path (15) for mail items; printing means (16); and control means (44) operative in response to input signals to control the printing means (16) to print a franking impression on the item in the first feed path (15); comprising a plurality of second modules (19) each including a second feed path (22), the second feed paths (22) of all the second modules (19) being arranged in end to end mutual relationship and co-planar with said first feed path (15); hopper means (25) to receive a stack (31) of mail items; first feed means (27) selectively operable to feed a mail item from the hopper (25) of a selected second module (19) into the second feed path (22) of that selected module (19); and second feed means (23, 29) operative to feed mail items received in the second feed path (22) of the second modules (19) to the first feed path (15) of the first module (10).

Inventors: GILHAM DENNIS THOMAS, GILHAM, DENNIS THOMAS
Applicants: NEOPOST LTD, NEOPOST LIMITED
Application year: 1988
Main classification: G07B17
IPC codes: G07B17, B65H3