Abstract:
Mail reorientation apparatus which transfers horizontally oriented mail stack in an input tray to a vertical orientation in an output tray. The input tray is brought to a rotating station where a plate is brought down on top of the mail stack and a plurality of pusher rods are extended through apertures in the bottom of the input tray to contact the bottom of the mail stack. The rotation process orients the mail stack to the desired vertical orientation and the rods and plate are simultaneously moved to eject the mail from the input tray to the output tray.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/682,409 filed on May 19, 2005, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention in general relates to postal delivery, and more particularly to apparatus and a method for reorienting a stack of mail from an input tray to an output tray for delivery from a mail truck. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In one type of mail delivery operation, mail is sorted at a post office and placed horizontally in a tray. The tray is then placed on a shelf in a mail delivery truck next to the mail carrier. The mail carrier verifies the address on the top piece of mail as the carrier approaches a mail delivery point. 
     The postal service has expressed a desire to have the mail in the tray oriented vertically as opposed to horizontally, to make for easier reading of addresses on the mail. Such mail includes conventional letters as well as flats, which is mail of a larger designated size and includes magazines and catalogs, for example. 
     The present invention provides apparatus and a method to accommodate the postal service desire for vertical orientation of mail. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Apparatus for reorienting a mail stack includes a mail input tray having a horizontally oriented mail stack therein. A rotating station is provided for receiving the input tray with the mail stack. A mail output tray is positioned adjacent the rotating station. An actuator mechanism places a plate adjacent the top of the horizontally oriented mail stack for holding the mail stack in the input tray during a subsequent rotation process. A motor is coupled to rotate the rotating station with the input tray, so that the mail stack therein assumes a vertical orientation. Ejection apparatus ejects the vertically oriented mail stack from the input tray to the output tray for mail delivery. 
     Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific example, while disclosing the preferred embodiment of the invention, is provided by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art, from the detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description provided hereinafter and the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, and are given by way of illustration only, and wherein: 
         FIGS. 1 to 9  illustrate various views of one embodiment of the present invention with  FIG. 1A  illustrating a cut-away side view of a mail input tray and  FIG. 1B  illustrating a plan view. 
         FIGS. 10 to 17  illustrate various views of another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is illustrated mail reorienting apparatus  8  having a mail input tray  10  which is delivered by an input tray feed conveyer  12  to a rotating station  14 . In order to keep the mail stack  16  aligned and prevented from falling over, the input tray  10  may optionally include an insert as illustrated in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , to which reference is now made. 
     As seen in the side view of  FIG. 1A , the insert  18  includes a sloping wall portion  19  and a sloping floor portion  20  upon which the mail stack  16  rests in a horizontal orientation with address labels facing up. With this arrangement the tops of letters and the spines of magazines, and the like, of the mail stack  16 , abut the wall portion  19  to keep the stack stable. As best seen in  FIG. 1B , shown without the mail stack  16 , the floor portion  20  includes a plurality of apertures, or slots  22 . The bottom of input tray  10  ( FIG. 1A ) includes a similar plurality of slots  24 . 
     Referring once again to  FIG. 1 , the rotating station  14 , rotatable by motor  25 , includes a transfer deck  26  having a plurality of apertures  28  through which pusher rods  30  are extendable when moved by pusher plate  32 , activated by actuator mechanism  34 . The rotating station  14  additionally includes a frame member  40  coupled to motor  25  and which carries plate  42 , moveable by actuator mechanism  44 . 
     An output tray  46  is delivered to location  48  of output tray take away conveyer  50 , adjacent rotating station  14 , by means of an output tray feed conveyer  52 , while empty input trays are removed from transfer deck  26  by means of input tray take away conveyer  54 . The empty input tray  10  is moved to the input tray take away conveyer  54  by operation of plate  56  moved by actuator mechanism  58 , both of which are carried by frame  40 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the input tray feed conveyer  12  and input tray take away conveyer  54  are perpendicular to one another, as is output tray feed conveyer  52  and output tray take away conveyer  50 . 
     In  FIG. 2  input tray  10  has been delivered to transfer deck  26  and is prevented from further movement by lip  60  of transfer deck  26 . Output tray  46  has been delivered to location  48  of the output tray take away conveyer  50 . At this point in the process, and as indicated in  FIG. 3 , actuator mechanism  44  lowers plate  42  into the input tray  10  to stabilize the stack of mail. 
     When plate  42  is just above the height of the mail stack as detected by a sensor such as a photo eye (not illustrated) movement of the plate  42  is stopped. This position of plate  42  helps stabilize the mail by constraining the mail between the plate  42  at the top of the mail stack, and the floor portion  20  of insert  18  ( FIG. 1 ). in input tray  10 , during the rotation and transfer process to follow. In the process, plate  42  does not apply a compressive force on the mail stack. Initial rotation is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , input tray  10  has been rotated 90° from its initial position which puts the mail stack in a vertical orientation. The rotation process also places the input tray  10  in the correct relationship with the output tray  46  to facilitate the transfer of mail. 
     In  FIG. 6 , actuator mechanism  34  moves plate  32  such that rods  30  are inserted in the matching slots  24  in the bottom of input tray  10  and push on the back of the mail stack through the slots  22  in floor portion  20  of insert  18  ( FIGS. 1A and 1B ). At the same time, actuator mechanism  44  retracts plate  42  at the same rate of advancement as rods  30  such that the space between the end of the rods  30  and plate  42  remains constant so that the mail stack is loosely supported between the rods  30  and plate  42 . The spacing and pattern of rods  30  are the same as the slots  24  in the bottom of input tray  10 , however rods  30  are somewhat smaller in size than the slots  24  to accommodate for any potential misalignments. 
     The rods  30 , constituting ejection apparatus, are extended all the way, such that, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the mail stack  16  is quickly ejected into the output tray  46 . After this ejection the rotating station  14  is rotated to its initial position, as seen in  FIG. 8 . Rods  30  are then retracted, as illustrated in  FIG. 9 , and actuator mechanism  58  moves plate  56  to push input tray  10  onto the input tray take away conveyer  54  where it is placed in a staging area, while output tray  46 , filled with vertically oriented mail, is moved to a dispatch queue. The apparatus has completed a cycle and is now ready for the next input tray, with the change in orientation process taking about 8 to 10 seconds. 
     Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 10 to 17 . One difference between the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 to 9  and that of  FIGS. 10 to 17  is that in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 to 9  vertical rods  30  rotate with the rotating station  14 , whereas they remain horizontal in the embodiment of  FIGS. 10 to 17 . 
       FIG. 10 . illustrates mail reorienting apparatus  70  having plurality of rotating stations, with two,  72  and  74 , being illustrated by way of example. Similar components at each station have been given similar reference characters. Rotating station  72  is illustrated in an upright vertical position while rotating station  74  is illustrated in a rotated horizontal orientation. 
     Each rotating station  72  and  74  includes a frame  80  in which is positioned a linear actuator arrangement  82 . The linear actuator arrangement  82  has first and second rods  84  and  85  along which a yoke assembly  86  is moveable by means of motor  88 . Yoke assembly  86  is connected to a linear bearing  90  through which passes a rod  92  connected at its end to a plate  94  which will contact the mail stack  16 , similar in operation to plate  42  of  FIG. 1 . Frame  80  is rotated from its vertical position ( 72 ) to its horizontal position ( 74 ) by means of gears  96  and  97  connected for rotation by motor  98 . 
     The apparatus includes an assembly of pusher rods  100  mounted at one end to a rod mounting assembly  102  connected to a linear drive arrangement  104  which functions to move the rods  100  in a horizontal direction from a retracted position shown at station  72  to an extended position shown at station  74 . 
     Motors  98  as well as the linear drive arrangements  104  are mounted on a box frame  106 .  FIG. 10  additionally illustrates the transferred mail stack  16  in an output tray  46  on an output tray take away conveyer  108 . An empty input tray  10  on an input tray take away conveyer  110  is also shown.  FIG. 11  illustrates the apparatus of  FIG. 10 , from the opposite side. An output tray feed conveyer  109  may be seen in  FIG. 11 .  FIG. 11  illustrates that the respective input and take away conveyers are in line, as opposed to being perpendicular to one another, as in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 12  illustrates a single rotating station,  72  for example, from the opposite side shown in  FIG. 10 . For clarity, in  FIG. 12  and subsequent FIGS, various drive mechanisms have not been illustrated. In order to properly orient an output tray  46  to receive mail from an input tray  10 , a pair of tray orientation devices  120  are provided and are secured on opposite sides of conveyer  108 . An output tray  46  traveling along conveyer  108  is forced to the skewed angle shown when the devices  120  are encountered.  FIG. 13  illustrates the arrangement from the opposite side. 
     In  FIG. 14  frame  80  has been rotated to a horizontal position by the gearing including gear  97 . Prior to this rotation, yoke  86  was lowered such that plate  94  is positioned adjacent the top of the mail stack  16  whereupon motion is stopped by a sensor (not illustrated). The arrangement is then ready for the rods  100  to be extended through the slots in the bottom of the input tray  10 . A view of the arrangement from the opposite side is illustrated in  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 16  is included to illustrate that there are actually two rotating stations  72  and  74  and that two mail reorientations may take place at the same time.  FIG. 16  shows the two rotating stations  72  and  74  in a vertical orientation and  FIG. 17  shows the two rotating stations after rotation to a horizontal orientation. While in the horizontal orientation the rods  100  are extended as illustrated with respect to rotating station  74  in  FIGS. 10 and 11  to transfer the mail stack from a horizontal orientation in input tray  10  to the desired vertical orientation in output tray  46  for delivery. 
     The foregoing detailed description merely illustrates the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are thus within its spirit and scope.