Patent ID: 7152386

Claim:
Envelope-filling machine, having the following assembly parts: a) a framework which extends parallel to an enclosure-conveying direction; b) an enclosure-collating path which is installed on the framework and having conveyors on which enclosure-conveying compartments are formed which can be moved intermittently in the enclosure-conveying direction; c) an envelope-filling station which is arranged on the framework at the end of the enclosure-collating path and, using a push-in apparatus, pushes sets of enclosures in the transverse direction onto an envelope-filling table which lies in front of the push-in station and next to the enclosure-collating path; d) an envelope-supplying apparatus which conveys open envelopes in a synchronized manner and parallel with respect to the conveying direction of the enclosure-collating path in front of the push-in station and prepares them to be filled with a set of enclosures; e) a synchronously driven mail-removal apparatus which adjoins the envelope-supplying apparatus in its conveying direction; f) enclosure-feeding stations which have gripper arms for removing enclosures from the underside of enclosure stacks provided in enclosure cassettes and for inserting them into the enclosure compartments, which gripper arms can be actuated synchronously in each case and are arranged in rows on the framework next to the enclosure-collating path; and g) a drive system for the assembly parts b) to f), which drive system comprises, below the level of the enclosure-collating path, a drive motor, a step-down gear mechanism connected to the drive motor, and, coupled to the said gear mechanism, a bevel gear mechanism and a step-by-step motion linkage, the output of the step-down gear mechanism being oriented in parallel with respect to the framework and serving to drive a main shaft which actuates, via a crank mechanism, a pivoting shaft which is common to the gripper arms of the enclosure-feeding stations, while the output of the bevel gear mechanism is oriented in the abovementioned transverse direction and serves to drive those assembly parts b) to f) which are actuated continuously and in a controlled manner, and the output of the step-by-step motion linkage is likewise oriented in the abovementioned transverse direction and serves to drive those assembly parts b) to f) which are driven intermittently; wherein the main shaft extends substantially over the entire length of the enclosure-collating path and of the push-in station and is guided through the step-down gear mechanism and the bevel gear mechanism; and wherein the drive motor having the step-down gear mechanism attached to it, and the bevel gear mechanism and the step-by-step motion linkage are arranged along the main shaft in a row in a region in a perpendicular projection below the enclosure-collating path and/or the envelope-supplying apparatus, in such a way that the region in the perpendicular projection below the enclosure cassettes is kept substantially free from parts of the drive system.