EP0788990B1 - Transporting device for postal items - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to the field of mail processing and relates more particularly to a device for transporting and driving articles mail which may have varying thicknesses.

Prior art

Conventionally, a franking machine must be adapted to receive different types of mail items such as documents, envelope envelopes or packages with more or less significant thicknesses. European patent application EP 0 382 497 shows such a franking machine, the base of which is provided, in addition to a input feed roller and output ejection roller, roller free complementary and flexible mounted to cooperate with the ejection roller and thus allow, by adjusting the vertical distance between this movable roller and the roller ejection, taking into account the variation in thickness of the driven article.

However, this structure still has many disadvantages due to the times to its great complexity (this additional roller must be placed at the level of printing mechanism) and above all the fact that it exerts an identical and very important (the pressure of this roller must indeed be adjusted according to the thickness maximum admissible) whatever the type of document involved.

Furthermore, as shown by the device of the prior art illustrated in FIG. 3, when the transport device 2 comprises a motorized input roller 4 acting at against a counter roller 6, there frequently occurs a blockage of the articles of incoming mail from this transport device due to the fact that an article having a strong thickness 8 abuts first against the counter-roller 6 and lifts it, which has tendency to immobilize this mail item before it reaches in contact with the motorized roller 4 intended to drive it, inside a base 10 of the postage meter, to the printing mechanism. Another example of a postage is given by US Patent 5,203,263 which shows a drive device of mail items in accordance with the preamble of claim 1.

Definition and object of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks by proposing an automatic drive device for mail items, arranged just upstream of the printing mechanism, and provided with means allowing optimum consideration of variations in thickness of these mail items.

These goals are achieved by a device for driving articles of mail along a transport path of a postage meter base, device arranged upstream of a printing mechanism and comprising first and second motorized drive rollers cooperating with associated movable counter rollers mounted on articulation means which can pivot around a common articulation axis against return springs fixed to attachment support means, at least one of the counter rollers comprising a median counter roller mounted on a lever articulated around the common axis and surrounded by two external counter-rollers twinned each mounted on a lever also hinged around the axis common, so that the mail items brought in the way transport depending on whether or not they have a lower thickness respectively at a predetermined thickness are in contact with only one of the external counter rollers or median counter roller or all of these counter rollers.

By this particular structure of the drive device, a low pressure will apply on thin items and pressure more important will be exerted on those having a strong thickness, allowing so take better account of the different variations thickness of these mail items.

To ensure uniform pressure, the articulation levers external counter rollers are advantageously made integral with one another through a spacer.

The articulation levers of the outer counter rollers have a polygonal notch intended to cooperate with the two faces of a stop to define high and low limits of pivoting of these levers. The upper stop position is fixed by the very structure of the transport of mail items in the postage meter and position low stop determines the thickness from which the counter rollers act together.

Preferably, the counter-rollers are mounted in cantilever at a end of their respective hinge lever.

Advantageously, the counter-rollers have a determined radius lower than that of the associated motorized drive roller, so that when inserting a document into the base of the machine postage, the document is driven by the motorized roller before coming in contact with the counter-rollers. So blocking these documents in input from the drive can be avoided.

Brief description of the drawings

• la figure 1 montre une vue partielle en coupe longitudinale d'une machine à affranchir munie d'un dispositif d'entraínement d'articles de courrier selon l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue de dessus du dispositif d'entraínement illustré à la figure 1, et
• la figure 3 montre en coupe partielle longitudinale un dispositif d'entraínement de l'art antérieur d'une machine à affranchir.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly from the following description, given by way of non-limiting illustration, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

• FIG. 1 shows a partial view in longitudinal section of a franking machine provided with a device for driving mail items according to the invention,
• FIG. 2 is a top view of the drive device illustrated in FIG. 1, and
• Figure 3 shows in partial longitudinal section a drive device of the prior art of a franking machine.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

Let's first return to Figure 3 which represents a device drive of mail items of the prior art arranged in the base 10 a franking machine upstream of a printing mechanism (not represented). This drive device 2 includes first 4 and second 14 motorized drive rollers mounted on a fixed support 12 and which face two movable counter rollers 6, 16. These counter rollers are held at one end with fork-shaped means 18, 20, articulated around a common axis 22 and which can pivot at against return springs 24, 26 fixed between the other end, shaped hook 28, 30, of these forks and a common fastening pin 32 integral of a flange 34 of the base 10 of the franking machine. In the position of rest represented, in the absence of any article of mail and under the action of return springs 24, 26, the rollers and counter-rollers are in contact with with each other temporarily closing a transport route 36 of these mail items.

Now consider Figures 1 and 2 which represent respectively in sectional elevation and in top view of a device mail items drive according to the invention 40 also arranged in base 10 of a franking machine upstream of its mechanism printing. For the clarity of the description, the elements of this device 40 which are common with those of the drive device 2 of the prior art will bear the same references.

The drive device 40 comprises, as before, first and second motorized drive rollers 4, 14 for transport mail items 8 facing sets of counter rollers mobile. The second motorized roller 14, placed furthest downstream in relation to the direction of movement of the mail items, cooperates also with the counter-roller 16 mounted on the fork 20 which is articulated on the common axis 22 and held on the attachment support axis 32 by the return spring 26. On the other hand, the first motorized roller 4, arranged in input of the drive device 40, now cooperates, no longer with a single counter roller, but with a set of counter rollers 42, 44, 46 whose radius or positioning is advantageously determined in such a way so that, when a mail item 8 is introduced, it comes in contact, first, with the motorized drive roller 4.

This set of counter rollers comprises, in the preferred example of illustrated embodiment, on the one hand a central or median counter-roller 44 mounted flexible cantilevered at one end of a median articulation lever 50 the other end of which, advantageously in the form of a hook, is connected to a return spring 56 fixed to the common fastening support pin 32 and, on the other on either side of this central counter-roller, two external counter-rollers 42, 46 also mounted each at a flexible cantilever at one end a respective articulation lever 48, 52 of which the other end, advantageously in the form of a hook, is connected to a return spring 54, 58 also attached to the hitch support pin. The three articulation levers of these counter rollers can pivot around the common articulation axis 22.

Each of the articulation levers carrying the external counter-rollers comprises a polygonal notch 60 intended to cooperate with the two faces of a stop 62, 64 integral with the base of the franking machine for set high and low limits to the pivoting of these levers. The upper limit is determined by the maximum allowable thickness for items of mail taking into account the physical structure of transport route 36 in the franking machine. However, the lower limit which may depend of the type of mail used will define a predetermined thickness from from which a joint action of all the counter-rollers will become possible. Indeed, below this lower limit, only the middle counter-roller is in contact with the document being transported. A spacer 66 integral with these two articulation levers at each of its ends (for example using a countersunk screw) guarantees a simultaneous movement of the external counter-rollers associated with these levers. Of preferably, this spacer is placed substantially in a plane passing through the axis of articulation 22, perpendicular to the plane defining the path of transport of mail items, and above the central articulation lever 50, which allows the latter to raise the external articulation levers when a document of significant thickness is introduced into the device training 40.

The operation of the device according to the invention is presented as follows. At rest, the drive device 40 is in the position of the Figure 1, the central counter-roller 44, under the effect of the return spring 56, is in pressure against the motorized drive roller 4 while the counter rollers 42, 46 are separated from this drive roller by a determined space resulting from the lower abutment of the levers hinge 48, 52 of these counter rollers. When document 8 is introduced along transport path 36 from the base of the frank, the differences in radius between the first motorized roller 4 and the counter rollers 42, 44, 46 cause this document to come into contact first with the motorized roller then, only then after it has been driven, with the counter-rollers, and this whatever its thickness, thus prohibiting any involuntary stop of the document as soon as the franking machine enters.

Depending on its thickness, this document will be taken between the motorized roller and one or more counter-rollers. For thin documents, only the median counter-roller 44 comes into contact with the document transported, thus allowing the application of a low pressure on this document. At on the contrary, for thicker documents, the three counter-rollers 42, 44, 46 are together in contact with the document, which allows to exert pressure more important. Passage of the contact on document 8 from one to several counter-rollers is carried out automatically by pivoting successively the central articulation lever 50 then the external levers 48, 52 (integral between them by the connecting spacer 60) around their axis of articulation common 22, within the limit of the high stop position defined by the external levers, allowing the application of different pressures depending on the thickness of the document, more exactly small for thin thicknesses and strong for heavy thicknesses.

Of course, the person skilled in the art is perfectly capable of implementing work of multiple variants of the invention without departing from its scope. In particular, the mounting of the counter-rollers 42, 44, 46 can be reversed, the counter-roller 44 median (which will be used for documents only thick) that can put pressure on the document after that exerted by the peripheral counter-rollers 42, 46 (then assigned to thin documents).

Claims (5)

1. A drive device for driving items of mail along a conveyor path (36) of a postage meter base (10), the device being disposed upstream from a print mechanism and including first and second motorized feed rollers (4, 6) cooperating with associated moving backing-rollers (42, 44, 46; 16) mounted on hinged means (48, 50, 52) which can pivot about a common hinge axis (22) against return springs (26; 54, 56, 58) fixed to support means (32), characterised in that at least one of the backing-rollers comprises a middle backing-wheel (44) mounted on a lever (50) hinged about the common axis (22) and surrounded by twin outer backing-wheels (42, 46) each mounted on a respective lever (48, 52) also hinged about a common axis (22), such that mail items (8) inserted on the conveyor path (36) come into contact with one only of the outer backing-wheels and the middle backing-wheel, or else with all three backing-wheels, depending respectively on whether or not the items are thinner or thicker than a predetermined thickness.
2. A drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the hinged levers (48, 52) of the outer backing-wheels (42, 46) are interconnected by means of a spacer (66).
3. A drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the hinged levers (48, 52) of the outer backing-wheels (42, 46) include a polygonal cut-out (60) designed to cooperate with two faces of an abutment (62, 64) in order to define upper and lower pivoting limits for pivoting of the levers.
4. A drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that each backing-wheel (42, 44, 46) is cantilevered out on one end of its respective hinged lever.
5. A drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the backing-wheels (42, 44, 46) present a determined radius less than that of the associated motorized feed roller (4), such that when a document (8) is inserted in the base (10) of the postage meter, the document is driven by the motorized roller before coming into contact with the backing-wheels.

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