Patent Publication Number: US-6702284-B2

Title: Method and system for directing an item through the feed path of a folding apparatus

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a divisional of commonly assigned U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 09/442,559, filed Nov. 18, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,958. Reference is made to application Ser. No. 09/442,552, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TABBING FOLDED MATERIAL, assigned to the assignee of this application. Reference is made to application Ser. No. 09/442,561, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FOLDING AND TABBING SHEETS, assigned to the assignee of this application. Reference is made to application Ser. No. 09/442,551, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FOLDING SHEETS, assigned to the assignee of this application. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention is generally related to a self mailing apparatus and, more specifically, to an apparatus for controlling the traveling direction of a piece of folding material exiting a folding machine. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     A self-mailer is conventionally defined as a mailpiece without an envelope. The mailer usually contains one or more sheets of printed material, folded once or twice by a folding machine into a smaller piece for mailing. The folded material has a folded end and an open end. The open end is sealed with one or more tabs before the self-mailer is sent to the addressee. In addition, it may be required for an address label and a postage stamp or indicia to be applied to or printed on the folded material. Thus, the components of a commercially available equipment for self mailers can generally be grouped into a printer, a folding machine, a labeler and a tabbing device. 
     Folding machines are generally designed for folding enclosure material to be inserted into envelopes in an envelope inserting device. Thus, when a piece of folded material folded by such a machine exits the machine, it travels in the direction of the fold. This means that the folded end of the folded material is traveling first and the open end is trailing. While this traveling direction of the folded material is desirable when the folded material is to be inserted into an envelope in an envelope inserting device, it is not suitable for tabbing. 
     In a conventional tabbing device, the tab is facing an incoming piece of folded material so that the tab can be applied to the leading edge of the folded material. Furthermore, the tab must be applied to the open end of the folded material. Thus, when a piece of folded material is fed to a tabbing device, the leading edge of the folded material must be the open end, and not the folded end. In that case, the folded material exiting a folding machine must be rotated by hand or by other means to reverse its the traveling direction, before the folded material is fed to the tabbing device for tabbing. 
     It is advantageous and desirable to provide a method and an apparatus for directing a piece of folded material through the feed path of a folding machine such that the traveling direction of the folded material is corrected according to whether the folded material is intended for tabbing or for envelope insertion. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for directing a piece of folded material through the feed path of a folding machine in order to correct the traveling direction of the folded material according to the requirement for tabbing or for envelope insertion, wherein the normal traveling direction of the folded material in the feed path of the folding machine is the folded end leading the open end. Thus, for envelope insertion, the traveling direction of the folded material in the feed path of the folding machine is kept unchanged. For tabbing, however, the traveling direction must be reversed so that when the folded material exits the feed path of the folding machine, its open end leads the folded end. 
     The apparatus, according to the present invention, is operable in a first mode to maintain the traveling direction of a piece of folded material, and in a second mode to reverse the traveling direction, the apparatus includes: a turn chute having a front end and an opposing rear end, a first side and an opposing second side located between the front end and the rear end, wherein the first side and the second side define a front gap at the front end and a rear gap at the rear end; a first nip located at the first gap adjacent the first side of the turn chute for ingesting the folded material into the turn chute through the first gap with the folded end of the folded material leading the open end; a stop located at the rear end of the turn chute, wherein the stop is moved away from the second gap when the apparatus is operated in the first mode in order to allow the ingested folded material to move out of the turn chute through the second gap, and wherein the stop blocks the second gap when the apparatus is operated in the second mode in order to keep the folded end of the ingested folded material from moving out of the second gap; a second nip located at the first gap adjacent the second side of the turn chute; and means for urging the open end of the ingested folded material to move toward to second nip after the folded material has been moved into the turn chute and become disengaged from the first nip so as to cause the open end of the ingested folded material to be engaged with the second nip when the apparatus is operated in the second mode in order for the second nip to move the ingested folded material out of the turn chute with the open end leading the folded end. 
     Accordingly, in a feed path of a folding machine, a piece of folded material having a folded end and an opposing open end moves in a traveling direction with the folded end leading the open end, the method of reversing the traveling direction of the folded material includes the steps of: ingesting the folded material by a first nip into a turn chute with the folded end leading the open end; stopping the ingested folded material at the folded end by a stopper; disengaging the ingested folded material from the first nip; urging the open end of the ingested folded material to move toward a second nip; causing the open end of the ingested folded material to be engaged in a second nip; and transporting the ingested folded material out of the turn chute by the second nip with the open end leading the folded end. 
     The present invention will become more apparent upon reading the description taken in conjunction with FIG. 1 to FIG.  3 D. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the various paths of a piece of folded material through a folding machine and a path directing apparatus. 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus for controlling the traveling direction of a piece of folded material according to the present invention. 
     FIGS. 3A through 3D are views similar to FIG. 2 for illustrating the operating principal of the path directing apparatus of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As shown in FIG. 1 , a folding machine  100  is used to fold one or more sheets of unfolded material  120  into a piece of folded material  130 , which is either directed to a tabbing device  110  for sealing or to an inserting device  114  for envelope insertion. The unfolded material  120  enters through an entrance  102  of the folding machine  100  along a moving direction  126 . After emerging from an exit  104  of the folding machine  100 , the unfolded material  120  becomes folded and moves along a path denoted by arrow  136 . At this stage the folded material  130  is traveling with its folded end  132  first and the open end  134  trailing. The folded material  130  is fed into a path directing apparatus  10  through an entrance  12 . If the folded material  130  is intended to be inserted in an envelope in the inserting device  110 , it is directed by the path directing apparatus  10  to exit through a first exit  14  along path  138 . The traveling direction of the folded material  130  remains unchanged. If the folded material  130  is intended to be tabbed in the tabbing device  114 , it is directed by the path directing apparatus  10  to exit through a second exit  16 , along a path denoted by arrow  140 . Now its traveling direction has reversed and he folded material  130  is moving with its open end  134  leading its folded end  132 . 
     Now referring to FIG. 2, the path directing apparatus  10  has a front end  17  and a rear end  18 , a lower plate  22  and an upper plate  24  located between the front end  17  and the rear end  18  to form a turn chute  20  having a front gap  26  and a narrower rear gap  28 . A stop  46  is removably and adjustably mounted near the rear end  18 . At the front gap  26 , a lower roller  30  and an upper roller  34  are used to form an ingesting nip  42 . The lower roller  30  rotates in a clockwise direction as indicated by arrow  32  while the upper roller  34  rotates in an opposite direction as indicated by arrow  36 . The ingesting nip  42  is used to ingest a piece of folded material  130  moving along a direction  136  and entering the entrance end  12  of the path directing device  10 . When the folded material  130  is moved into the turn chute  20 , its folded edge  132  travels approximately along a path  150 . In a first operating mode, the apparatus  10  allows an ingested folded material to exit the turn chute without changing its traveling direction. In that case, the stop  46  is moved away from the second gap  28 , as shown in broken lines, allowing the folded material to exit through exit end  14  and moves along path  138 . In a second operating mode, the apparatus  10  reverses the traveling direction of an ingested folded material before allowing the ingested folded material to exit the turn chute. In that case, the stop  46  is moved into the gap  28 , as shown in solid lines. Preferably, the location of the stop  46  is adjustable to accommodate the length of the folded material  130  such that the distance between the ingesting nip  42  and the stop  46  is slightly smaller than the length of the folded material  130 , so that when a piece of folded material has entered the turn chute  20  and its leading edge is stopped by the stop  46 , it becomes buckled, as shown in FIG.  3 C. 
     At the front gap  26  adjacent the upper plate  24 , a reverse roller  38  rotating in a clockwise direction as indicated by arrow  40  is used to form an exiting nip  44  together with the upper roller  34 , for moving an ingested folded material out of the turn chute  20  at the exit end  16  of the path directing apparatus  10  along path  140 . As shown, when the folded material  130  exits the turn chute  20  through exit end  16 , its open end  134  leads the folded end  132 . Within the turn chute  20 , a spring loaded roller  50  is pivotably mounted at pivot  52  for changing the position of an ingested folded material as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D. The roller  50  can be depressed by the leading edge of an ingested folded material and move away from the moving path  150 , as shown in FIG.  3 B. Preferably, a return spring  60  is used to urge the roller  50  to return to its original position when it is not depressed by the leading edge of an ingested folded material, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3D. 
     The principle of traveling direction reversal by the path directing apparatus  10  is illustrated in FIGS. 3A through 3D. In FIG. 3A, there is shown a piece of folded material  130  being moved into the turn chute  20  by ingesting nip  42 . The folded material  130  is traveling with its folded end  132  first and its open end  134  trailing. Originally, the spring loaded roller  52  is at an upright position. As the leading edge  132  of the folded material  130  is moving along path  150  within the turn chute  20 , it depresses the spring loaded roller  50  to a depressed position, substantially away from path  150  as shown in FIG.  3 B. Eventually, the leading edge  132  is stopped by the adjustable stop  46  while the trailing edge  132  continues to be moved into the turn chute  20  by the ingesting nip  42 . Because the location of the stop  46  is adjusted such that the length of the folded material  130  is slightly greater than the distance between the stop  46  and the ingesting nip  42 , the ingested folded material  130  starts to buckle at the trailing edge  134 , and the spring loaded roller  50  starts to move back to its original position, as shown in FIG.  3 C. Once the trailing edge  134  is disengaged from the ingesting nip  42 , with the help of the rotating upper roller  34  and urging force of the returning spring-loaded roller  50 , the open end  134  of the folded material  130  is raised. Because the distance between the exiting nip  44  and the stop  46  is also slightly shorter than the length of the folded material  130 , the open end  134  is caused by the rotating rollers  34 ,  38  to be engaged with the exiting nip  44 , as shown in FIG.  3 D. It is followed that the folded material  130  is moved out of the turn chute  20  along path  140  with the open end  134  leading the folded end  132 . 
     Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and deviations in the form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.