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Apparatus and method for printing and/or electronically scanning dual face surfaces of a sheet/mailpiece

Apparatus and method for printing and/or electronically scanning dual face surfaces of a sheet/mailpiece description/claims

This invention relates to apparatus for manipulating sheet material and, more particularly, to an apparatus for providing equal access to dual face surfaces of a sheet/mailpiece for printing/scanning on each side thereof.

Material handling systems frequently require that sheet material, such as the internal mailpiece contents or mailpiece envelopes, be turned over to match a specific downstream requirement. For example, mailpiece fabrication equipment typically requires that mailpiece content material be oriented face-up or face down depending upon the orientation of a receiving envelope This requirement has come under increasing demand as new and old equipment have, over the course of time, been merged. That is, some mailpiece fabrication systems require a face-up orientation while others employ a face-down presentation. Effective utilization and coordination of all systems/machines becomes inefficient when specific mailpiece fabrication jobs can only be processed on specific machines.

Furthermore, various inversion modules have been developed to reorient the envelope or mailpiece content material for printing or scanning purposes. That is, a requirement often exists for a mailpiece envelope to have information printed on both face surfaces such as a destination address on one side thereof and a return address on the other side (typically on the rear face of the envelope flap). At other times, a sheet may have content material printed on one side while a destination address is printed on the opposite side such that, when folded, the destination address may be aligned with and seen through a transparent window of an envelope.

One apparatus for inverting the orientation of a mailpiece envelope, or its content material, includes a twist module wherein the sheet material is directed linearly along a spiral path, typically affected by a series of twisted belts or chords. While such twist modules retain the respective leading and trailing edge position of the sheet material, such modules require a lengthy axial path to change the face-up/face-down orientation of the sheet material. Furthermore, twist modules are not reconfigurable to handle straight runs wherein sheet material inversion is not required. Consequently, a substitute module or entirely separate mechanism must be introduced to reconfigure the sheet material handling equipment.

A need, therefore, exists for an apparatus to manipulate sheet material for providing access to the dual face surfaces of the sheet material and for performing additional processing operations such as printing and/or scanning information on each side of the sheet material.

The accompanying drawings illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet handling apparatus according to the present invention including first and second conveyor modules each having a conveyor surface which lies face-to-face along at least a portion thereof such that sheet material may be conveyed and transferred from one module to the other.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the first and second conveyor modules wherein a pneumatic pressure source develops a negative, positive or neutral pressure differential across the respective conveyor surfaces to accept, hold and release sheet material along the conveyor surface.

FIG. 3 depicts an enlarged top view of the conveyor modules wherein a processor controls the pneumatic pressure source such that a negative pressure differential, or vacuum, is developed to secure sheet material to the conveyor surfaces during transport.

FIG. 4 depicts the top view of FIG. 3 wherein the processor controls the pneumatic pressure source to neutralize the pressure differential across the first conveyor surface (i.e., along the face-to-face interface) while a negative pressure differential is developed across the second conveyor surface to transfer the released sheet material from first conveyor module to the opposing second conveyor module.

FIG. 5 depicts the top view of FIG. 3 wherein the processor controls the pneumatic pressure source to develop a positive pressure differential across the first conveyor surface (i.e., along the face-to-face interface) while a negative pressure differential is developed across the second conveyor surface to transfer the released sheet material from first conveyor module to the opposing second conveyor module.

The invention will be fully understood when reference is made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

A sheet handling apparatus is provided for conveying sheet material/mailpieces along a feed path which facilitates access to the dual face surfaces thereof for the purpose of printing, and/or scanning information contained, thereon. The sheet handling apparatus includes first and second conveyor modules each having a conveyor surface, a portion of which is disposed in opposing, face-to-face relation with a portion of the other conveyor surface. Furthermore, the conveyor surfaces cooperate with a means for developing a pressure differential across the conveyor surfaces to hold the sheet material on the conveyor surfaces and transfer the sheet material across the modules during transport. A processor controls the pressure differential means such that the sheet material is held against the conveyor surfaces by a negative pressure differential developed across the conveyor surface and transferred from one conveyor surface to the other by controlling the pressure differential of both modules when the sheet material is interposed between the face-to-face interface. Furthermore, the remaining end portions of each conveyor surface are oppositely disposed and openly accessible to perform other sheet material processes. For example, the sheet material may be scanned along and/or printed on each face surface.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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