Patent GB-739502-A (GB)
Title: Insert gathering and envelope stuffing machine
Inventor: COLBY ZENAS E
IPC: B43M3/04
Filed: 1953-10-12
Abstract: 739,502. Inserting sheets into envelopes. UNIFOLD MAILING MACHINES, Ltd. Oct. 12, 1953, No. 28013/53. Class 94 (1). [Also in Group XVI] The machine assembles stacks of sheets, e.g., letters or circulars, within folded sheets and inserts the assemblies in succession into envelopes which have been fed from a magazine and opened for their reception. The sheets are stacked in inclined magazines 204, 206, Figs. 1, 2 and 9, arranged alongside a table 202 (the magazine 204 containing folded sheets) and are withdrawn in succession and deposited on the table by suction cups 214 carried by arms 216 on a cam operated rocker shaft 220, separation of the sheets from the stacks being assisted by air jets 506, 508. The sheets are then engaged by fingers 240 carried by a longitudinal bar 246, which is reciprocated transversely of the table by a cam operated linkage, and are moved across the table so they are positioned over a slot 242 and between conveyer fingers 260 which are reciprocated longitudinally and vertically in the slot. The folded edge of the first sheet is positioned adjacent a guide rail 294 and its lower and upper portions are engaged respectively by suction cups 304 fixed to the table and a suction cup 300 carried by a pivoted arm 302 which is moving upwardly by cam operated linkage to unfold the sheet partially and cause its upper portion to overlap an adjustable extension 321 of an air conduit 320 having a series of downwardly directed apertures through which pressure air is discharged to hold down the lower portion of the sheet as it is moved along the table by the fingers 260. The latter are carried by a bar which is reciprocated longitudinally by a crank mechanism in a guide which is periodically raised and lowered by cam operated push-rods, the arrangements being such that the fingers are raised on the forward stroke and lowered on the return stroke to feed the sheets intermittently along the table in steps corresponding in length to the spacing between the magazines. The folded edge of the first sheet passes under leaf springs 328 which arrest it after each movement. As each folded sheet is moved along the table with its upper portion riding on the conduit 320, it receives a sheet from each magazine 206, the sheets being superimposed on its lower portion and held down by the air jets discharged from the conduit. During the last feeding step, the upper portion rides off the conduit and is depressed by a guide plate 332, and the completed assembly is positioned in front of cam operated, bifurcated pushers 340 which move it transversely into an envelope, shown in broken lines, which has been positioned with its flap 78 open by spring- loaded grippers 40 on an intermittently operated endless chain conveyer. The panels of the envelope are separated by adjustable cam operated fingers 366, 368 co-operating with a fixed plate 362 and assisted by an air jet 360. The envelopes are withdrawn in succession from a magazine 14, Figs. 2 and 4, by suction cups 24 carried by a rod 26 which is reciprocated vertically by a camoperated linkage, each envelope then being moved to the left along a table 12 by a cam operated finger 38 and positioned between the jaws of one of the grippers 40 which are temporalily held open by a cam-operated arm 50. When the arm is lowered, the jaws grip the envelope and convey it under a plate 56 which is lowered simultaneously into a recess in the table 12 under the action of a cam to raise the flap 78 preparatory to its being folded back by a knife 66. When the envelope reaches the loading station, the jaws are temporarily opened by a cam-operated arm 90 while the assembly of sheets is inserted and then reclose to convey the filled envelope to a printing station and a discharge station where it is deposited on a vertically reciprocable platform 105. Electrical devices are provided which operate to stop the machine or sound an alarm if an envelope is absent from one of the grippers or its flap is not opened correctly or if an excessive or insufficient number of sheets are assembled for insertion into an envelope.