Patent ID: 8016281

Claim:
A mail-processing machine comprising: (a) an endless circulating, intermittently or continuously driven first conveyor; (b) a handling station positioned at the output side of said first conveyor; and (c) a first processing arrangement located in the vicinity of said handling station; (d) wherein said first conveyor has an upper reach defining a first conveyor path and forming intermittently or continuously conveyed transport sections for sheet like articles or sets thereof, said sheet like articles or sets thereof being placeable into said transport sections; (e) wherein said handling station comprises a manipulator hand having articulated thereto manipulator fingers; a manipulator drive, a base plate and an actuating arrangement for actuating said manipulator fingers; (f) wherein said manipulator hand is movable by said manipulator drive over said base plate in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of said first conveyor so that sheet like articles or sets thereof fed onto the base plate by said first conveyor, are moved by said manipulator fingers into said first processing arrangement, which is located along side the base plate; and (g) wherein said manipulator fingers are raisable and lowerable, respectively, in relation to the base plate by said actuating arrangement; (h) said manipulator fingers having pushing elements engagable with sheet like articles or sets thereof both in the pushing direction and the pulling direction; (i) said actuating arrangement being selectably switchable such that said manipulator fingers i) either bear on the base plate during advancement of the manipulator hand and are raised of from the base plate during retraction of the manipulator hand; ii) or are raised off from the base plate during advancement of the manipulator hand and bear on the base plate during retraction of the manipulator hand; and (j) free through-passage-channel areas for movement of said sheet like articles or sets thereof being formed in regions above the level of the base plate of the handling station, not alone from the side of the circulating first conveyor and in direction to the first processing arrangement, but also to that side of the base plate which is opposite the side on which said first processing arrangement is positioned.