WO2002090127A1

WO2002090127A1 - Device for folding and inserting paper sheets into an envelope

Info

Publication number: WO2002090127A1
Application number: PCT/AU2002/000571
Authority: WO
Inventors: Laurence Bell
Original assignee: Laurence Bell
Priority date: 2001-05-09
Filing date: 2002-05-08
Publication date: 2002-11-14
Also published as: AUPR483801A0

Abstract

A device for folding at paper sheet(s) and inserting into an envelope comprising a means for feeding at least one paper sheet comprising roller assembly comprising feed rollers, at least one folding means comprising a plate assembly comprising plates having a space between the adjacent surfaces, a paper stop and folding rollers, an envelope feeding assembly means comprised of feeding rollers a device for lifting the flap, an envelope and paper transport means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an drive system, an envelope opening means comprising a hinged finger assembly and clamp, additional finger or guide plates, segmented rollers, a drive system and a positioning system, a paper insertion means comprising a roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and a drive system, a sealing means comprising a flap lifting device, a plate with stop, a flap holding device and rollers.

Description

Device for Folding and Inserting Paper Sheets

into an Envelope

This invention relates to improvements in devices for folding a letter sized paper sheet and the insertion of the said folded paper sheet into an envelope. Prior Art

Many businesses and offices frequently have large amounts of mail to be processed for post, which must be folded to an appropriate size and inserted into envelopes. This mail can consist of advertising material, invoices, letters, or circulars. The folding of this type of mail can be time consuming and costly since it requires a great deal of manual labour and is generally viewed by staff as a boring and unpleasant task. There have been several devices that have attempted to overcome the use of manual labour in the completion of this task. All of these devices have either been excessively complex and are not capable of processing self seal envelopes, or they have suffered from frequent jamming of the paper sheet and/or envelope within the machine mechanism. For example previous devices required that the envelope has water applied to activate the glue for sealing adding to the complexity of the devices and requiring constant operator monitoring and maintenance.

Summary of the Invention

These problems are overcome by the present invention, which provides a device for folding at least one paper sheet and inserting the said at least one paper sheet into at least one envelope comprising at least one means for feeding at least one paper sheet comprising a first roller assembly comprising a pair of feed rollers, at least one paper folding means comprising a slotted plate assembly comprising of two parallel plates having a narrow space between the adjacent surfaces, an adjustable paper stop and a pair of paper sheet folding rollers, at least one envelope feeding assembly means comprising a pair of envelope feeding rollers and a device for lifting the main flap, at least one envelope and paper transport means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independent drive system, at least one envelope opening means comprising a hinged finger like assembly and clamping means, additional finger or guide plates, segmented nip rollers, a drive and clutch system and a positioning system, at least one folded paper insertion means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independent reversible drive system, and a filled envelope discharge and sealing means comprising a flap lifting device, a plate with attached stop, a flap holding device and a third set of rollers.

Description of the Drawings

To assist with understanding the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show one example of the invention. Figure 1 is section view of integrated nip rollers and pusher. Figure 2 is section view of hinged or pivoting finger assembly. Figure 3 is a plan view of segmented nip roller assembly. Figure 4 is a plan view of the envelope insertion assembly. Figure 5 is a plan view of envelope and paper pusher assembly. Figure 6 is a plan view of envelope sealing assembly.

Detailed Description of the invention

Referring to the drawings it can be seen that the device for folding and inserting a sheet of paper into an envelope according to the invention comprises a means for feeding at least one paper sheet into the device comprised of a feeding assembly having a pair of feed rollers. The feed rollers are driven at a constant speed such that the paper sheet is dragged through the nip of the rollers at a constant speed thus preventing the paper sheet from being damaged or deformed. The paper sheet is passed into the paper folding means assembly where it is first taken up in the nip between two rollers which are driven at a constant speed. The paper sheet is then partially feed between two parallel plates, which are held apart by a spacer means until the leading edge of the paper comes to rest against the adjustable paper stop. This causes the paper sheet to buckle in the direction towards the nip of the paper sheet folding rollers. The paper sheet is then taken up in the nip of the paper sheet folding rollers which causes the paper to be folded at about the point where the original buckle in the paper sheet first occurred. The paper sheet may be fed through a number of similar folding assemblies if it is required that the paper sheet should be folded a number of times. At an appropriate time in the process an envelope is also being drawn into the device by the envelope feeding assembly during this process a device opens the main flap of the envelope. The envelope passes through the nip rollers to the envelope opening means. It will be noted that as with the folded paper insert that once the envelope has passed through the nip rollers further movement is achieved by pushers (refer figure 1) which are mounted on an idler pulley and belt arrangement incorporated in the nip rollers which can be activated on demand and are driven independently to the nip rollers. It will be noted that this allows the envelope and folded insert to be transported from directly between the nip rollers. The envelope then passes over a hinged finger assembly (refer figure 2) causing the fingers to be depressed until the envelope has passed the end of the fingers at which time the fingers return to their original position. At this point the envelope is reversed by means of a segmented nip roller arrangement (refer figure 3) attached-to the previously mentioned pusher assembly so that the flap is located under the hinged finger like assembly and forcing it downward out of the paper path thereby opening the envelope in preparation for receiving the folded insert. It will be noted that during this operation a second set of fingers are inserted into the body of the envelope such that the opening is held open sufficiently to guide and insert the folded sheet of paper into the envelope. The movement of the folded paper sheet towards the opened envelope and over the hinged finger like assembly causes the hinged finger assembly (refer figure 2) to be again depressed thus clamping the flap of the envelope and thereby holding the envelope in position to receive the folded paper insert . Once the folded paper insert has passed over the hinged finger like assembly the fingers return to their original position thereby releasing the previously mentioned clamp at this point the insert is substantially inside the envelope allowing the envelope and insert to be transported to the closing and sealing assembly. It will be noted at this point that the second flap of the envelope is raised into position by a device such that when contact is made with the main flap sealing is effected. The second flap is held in position against the envelope body until taken up by the sealing rollers.

The folded paper sheet is finally inserted into the envelope. The envelope with the inserted paper sheet is then discharged from the machine in a form, which is easily franked (postage paid) and mailed.

It will be realised by those persons skilled in the art that the paper sheet folding and inserting device according to the invention has been described by way of example only and is not restricted to the form of paper sheet folding and inserting device shown in the example, but may also included numerous variations that would be obvious to the skilled addressee. The scope of the invention is not to be limited to the example that has been used to describe it.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A device for folding at least one paper sheet and inserting the said at least one paper sheet into at least one envelope comprising at least one means for feeding at least one paper sheet comprising a first roller assembly comprising a pair of feed rollers, at least one paper folding means comprising a slotted plate assembly comprising of two parallel plates having a narrow space between the adjacent surfaces, an adjustable paper stop and a pair of paper sheet folding rollers, at least one envelope feeding assembly means comprising a pair of envelope feeding rollers and a device for lifting the main flap, at least one envelope and paper transport means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independentτeversible drive system, at least one envelope opening means comprising a hinged finger like assembly and clamping means, additional finger or guide plates, segmented nip rollers, a drive and clutch system and a reversible positioning system, at least one folded paper insertion means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independent reversible drive system, and a filled envelope discharge and sealing means comprising a flap lifting device, a plate with attached stop, a flap holding device and a third set of rollers.

2. A process for folding at least one paper sheet and inserting the said at least one paper sheet into an envelope wherein the paper sheet is passed between at least one means for feeding at least one paper sheet comprising a first roller assembly comprising a pair of feed rollers, at least one paper folding means comprising a slotted plate assembly comprising of two parallel plates having a narrow space between the adjacent surfaces, an adjustable paper stop and a pair of paper sheet folding rollers, wherein the envelope is passed through an envelope feeding assembly means comprising a pair of envelope feeding rollers and a device for lifting the main flap, wherein the envelope and paper are transported using an envelope and paper transport means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independent reversible drive system, wherein the envelope is held open to receive the insert by an envelope opening means comprising a hinged finger like assembly and clamping means, additional finger or guide plates, segmented nip rollers, a drive and clutch system and a reversible positioning system, wherein at least one folded paper sheet is inserted into the envelope by a means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independent reversible drive system, wherein the filled envelope passes through an envelope discharge and sealing means comprising a flap lifting device, a plate with attached stop, a flap holding device and a third set of rollers. 3. At least one sheet of paper and an envelope wherein the sheet of paper has been folded by passing it between at least one means for feeding at least one paper sheet comprising a first roller assembly comprising a pair of feed rollers, at least one paper folding means comprising a slotted plate assembly comprising of two parallel plates having a narrow space between the adjacent surfaces, an adjustable paper stop and a pair of paper sheet folding rollers, wherein the envelope is passed through an envelope feeding assembly means comprising a pair of envelope feeding rollers and a device for lifting the main flap, wherein the envelope and paper are transported using an envelope and paper transport means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independent reversible drive system, wherein the envelope is held open to receive the insert by an envelope opening means comprising a hinged finger like assembly and clamping means, additional finger or guide plates, segmented nip rollers, a drive and clutch system and a reversible positioning system, wherein at least one folded paper sheet is inserted into the envelope by a means comprising a nip roller with idler pulley, belting with attached pusher and an independent reversible drive system, wherein the filled envelope passes through an envelope discharge and sealing means comprising a flap lifting device, a plate with attached stop, a flap holding device and a third set of rollers. A device for folding at least one paper sheet and inserting the said paper sheet or sheets into an envelope substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A device as described in any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one sheet of paper can be folded and discharged without being inserted into an envelope.

6. A device as described in any one of the preceding claims wherein the process is controlled by motion control system.

7. A process according to any one of the preceding claims with reference to the description and drawings.

8. A product according to any one of the preceding claims with reference to the description and drawings.

9. A device according to any one of the preceding claims with reference to the description and drawings.