Patent ID: 7942405

Claim:
Mail processing machine, comprising: an envelope stuffing station comprising an envelope stuffing table; an envelope closing section; an envelope turning station downstream of the envelope stuffing station and the envelope closing section, the envelope turning station comprising: an envelope turning table; an envelope turning cylinder; and a plurality of tongs disposed on a circumference of the envelope turning cylinder, the tongs being actuable between an open position and a closed position as a function of a rotational position of the turning cylinder; and an intermittently driven gripper chain comprising a plurality of grippers for gripping respective filled envelopes and conveying the filled envelopes from the envelope closing section in a conveying direction, wherein the gripper chain is adjustably displaceable with respect to the envelope turning station parallel to the conveying direction such that the grippers pull respective filled envelopes of different lengths into the envelope turning station to such an extent that the tongs of the turning cylinder grip respective filled envelopes irrespective of the envelope length, after which the grippers release the envelopes and, by means of the gripper chain, are pulled off the envelopes, each of which is then turned through 180° by the envelope turning cylinder and deposited onto the envelope turning table.