Patent GB-1173776-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for Folding Sheets to Form Packages
Inventor: MICHEL MARCEL PIERRE MAX
IPC: B43M5/04
Filed: 1966-12-14
Abstract: 1,173,776. Making envelopes. M.P.M. MICHEL. 14 Dec., 1966 [14 Dec., 1965; 23 July, 1966; 14 Oct., 1966], No. 55949/66. Heading B5D. [Also in Divisions B6 and B8] An apparatus for folding sheets to enclose letters in envelopes or to form simple circular pamphlets includes at least three rollers, a support table 10 having a first switch means 17 which is engageable by a sheet 19 being folded to disengage the drive means of the rollers and arrest feeding of the sheet 19 and second switch means 20 for re-engaging the drive means so that the rollers may continue to feed and fold the sheet 19. The envelope blank may be a plain sheet with adhesive coated margins folded twice, Fig. 8 (not shown), or once only, Fig. 9, to enclose the letter. In one embodiment, using the envelope of Fig. 8, after the rollers have stopped, a folded letter 13 is dropped on to the sheet 19 which bends actuating a switch 20 to cause the rollers to restart. The envelope 19 and letter 13 are fed into the nip of the rollers 2, 3 which feed them to a table 11 against a stop 15, whereupon the envelope 19 is bent between the nip of rollers 2, 4 which deliver the enveloped letter on to a table 12. The letter 13 may be folded together with the envelope, the letter sheet 13 passing down the table 16 beneath a roller (19) (Fig. 4, not shown) which actuates a switch to restart the rollers. Alternatively, a pre-folded letter 13 may be placed on the envelope sheet (20) (Fig. 7, not shown) on the infeed table 9. In a further embodiment, an envelope web 41, Fig. 11, is drawn by driven rollers 50, 51 between the envelope folding rollers 31, 32, roller 31 being cammed upwards. The roller 51 is then cammed upwards to cause the web 41 to be drawn backwards by a counterweight roller 45 until a stylus 58 engages a perforation 56 or (57), Figs. 9 and 10 (latter not shown), to locate the web relative to cutters 52, 53. The. web is then cut to form an envelope blank. The roller 31 is cammed downwards to cause the blank 54 to strike the stop 34, which stops the movement of the rollers, whereupon a folded letter 13 is dropped on to the blank 54 from a conveyer 16. The enveloped letter is finally dropped on to a conveyer 38, which carries it beneath a central flattening roller 89 and lateral rollers 87 which complete the sealing of the envelope by engaging the side margins. The letter 13 is pre-folded at station A by a roller arrangement 1-4 similar to that of Fig. 6. A plate (64) (Fig. 12, not shown) guides the letter on to a table 12, from which it is passed via a flattening roller (62) which may have projections (63) to engage and lower a leading edge of the letter to the conveyer 16, on which it is held by blade springs 67 and 69. The folding mechanism A may be turned through 180 degrees about the vertical axis x-x to ensure that the address may be correctly positioned in the envelope, whether it occurs at the top or bottom of the folded letter. The drive to the folding rollers 31-33 may alternatively be restarted by a photoelectric cell arrangement. In another embodiment, the envelope blanks, cut from a web (41), are dropped vertically (Fig. 14, not shown) into the envelope folding mechanism (C). The rollers are sheathed in resilient material or spring urged against each other with the spindles except for the spindle of one roller, arranged on slides. Detection means (not shown) may be operated by completed packages to trigger off the next enveloping sequence.