EP2085340B2 - Device for selecting mail articles with adjustable die - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to the field of mail processing and it relates more particularly to a device for selecting mail items used in an automatic feed module, or feeder, of a machine for franking mail items.

Prior art

Conventionally, a franking machine must be adapted to receive different types of mail items such as documents, folds or envelopes having greater or lesser thicknesses, typically from 0.1 mm to 16 mm. For this, it often has an automatic feed module upstream allowing in particular the conveying of these mail items at different speeds and usually comprising means for receiving / stacking, selecting, transporting and possibly closing these mail items. The receiving / stacking means conventionally include jogging means for pressing the mail items against a referencing wall. These jogging means can be of different kinds.

The patent US 5,112,037 discloses a double inclination of the receiving tray towards the rear and towards the referencing wall in order to properly reference the mail items whose spread flaps are then housed in a slot.

The patent US 4,930,764 discloses an inclination of the drive rollers to drive the mailpiece downstream while jogging it transversely toward the referencing wall.

These solutions are generally satisfactory. However, when the stack of mail items is reduced and it remains only to select a few mail items still suitably teased against the referencing wall, they will one after the other lose this tease and start at an angle to the contact of the mail item selection system. Indeed, the thickness of a mail item never being constant over its entire width, in particular due to the excess thickness of its flap, these latter mail items will tend, when they come into contact with the die, to pivot around the blocking point formed by the part of the die where the thickness is greatest. In fact, the mail item will tend to detach its rear part from the referencing wall because its front part, more precisely its lower, thinner corner, will pass first under the die.

The document EP-A-0 195 348 describes a device for selecting mail items comprising at least one die cooperating with a plurality of opposite selection rollers passing through a tray for receiving a stack of mail items, for selecting one by one said mail items and transport downstream.

Object and definition of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome this biasing of the mail item resulting from the excess thickness of the flap by proposing a device for selecting mail items, the die of which is specially adapted to enable the item of mail to be straightened. mail.

This object is achieved by a device for selecting mail items comprising at least one die cooperating with a plurality of opposite selection rollers passing through a tray for receiving a stack of mail items, to select one by one said items of mail and transport them downstream, characterized in that to compensate for a biasing of said mail items resulting from the excess thickness of their flaps and allow a straightening of mail items passing under said die, said die has a predetermined inclination at an angle θ relative to a horizontal plane defined by said receiving plate with a distance between a lower end part of said die and said larger receiving plate at the part of said die closest to a referencing wall than that furthest from said referencing wall.

By this inclination of an angle θ of the die, a straightening of the mail items is carried out which without this inclination would tend to go askew and therefore a perfect jogging of these against the referencing wall is thus kept.

Preferably, said die comprises a body articulated around an axis of rotation and able to pivot against an elastic return means during the passage of mail items on said plurality of selection rollers and a front part forming a comb. fixed to said body and to the end of the teeth of which is fixed a selection finger coated with a wear-resistant material, advantageously a ceramic or a carbide.

Preferably, said die body is made of plastic.

According to an advantageous embodiment, said inclination at said angle θ is obtained by asymmetric adjustment means acting by deformation of said die body. Said asymmetric adjustment means may comprise two screw / nut assemblies each acting against a fixed stop fixed to a frame of the device, each of said two screw / nut assemblies being mounted in two parts arranged on either side of said body.

Advantageously, said body part receives a fixed nut into which is screwed an adjustment screw held without play in this body part by an elastic element.

The invention also relates to a mail item feeder for a franking machine comprising a device for selecting mail items supra.

Brief description of the drawings

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe longitudinale d'un dispositif de sélection d'articles de courrier selon l'invention, et
• les figures 2 et 2A sont deux vues de face avec une partie arrachée de la filière dans une position neutre et une position de fonctionnement du dispositif de sélection de la figure 1.

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:

• the figure 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a device for selecting mail items according to the invention, and
• the figures 2 and 2A are two front views with a part torn off from the die in a neutral position and an operating position of the device for selecting the figure 1 .

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

An automatic mail item supply module conventionally comprises a feed area essentially formed by a receiving tray defining a horizontal plane and intended to receive a stack of mail items and comprising first transport rollers for driving these items. mail items downstream (and against a referencing wall) at a separation zone comprising a separation device in which these mail items are extracted one by one from the stack of articles. Second transport rollers are generally provided at the outlet of this separation zone for conveying the mail items thus extracted downstream. Such an automatic feeder is for example illustrated in the European patent cited in the preamble to this application.

The Figures 1 and 2 show more precisely a device according to the invention for separating mail items which essentially comprises a die 10 cooperating with several opposite selection rollers (not shown) passing through the reception plate (also not shown) to select a mail item and only one and transport it downstream. Of course, depending on the requested selection precision, measured by the number of double passages authorized for a given quantity of mail items, this first path may or may not be followed by a second disengageable path, as is known, by means of a manual operating lever.

In the illustrated embodiment, the single die is formed in two parts with on the one hand a body 12, of plastic material, articulated around an axis of rotation 14 and capable of pivoting against a means of elastic return, for example a compression spring 16A, 16B, during the passage of the mail items on the selection rollers and on the other hand a front, metallic part, forming a comb 18 fixed to the body of the die by fixing means , for example screws 20, and at the end of the teeth of which a selection finger 18A, 18B is fixed coated with a wear-resistant material such as a ceramic or a carbide. As is known, in its active part, the die is not arranged perpendicular to the transport path of the mail items but inclined downstream (along the X axis), in a plane perpendicular to the setting wall reference, of an angle ϕ of approximately 45 ° relative to this transport path. In addition, the elastic return means is also supported on a frame part 22 of the selection device.

It will be noted that if reference has been made, by way of example, to a compression spring, it is understood that a tension spring could also be suitable subject to a different configuration for attaching the spring to the frame.

Due to its material, the selection finger is inexhaustible while limiting the risk of scratching mail items. An example of ceramic material forming each finger 18A of the comb 18 of the die 10 is given by a titanium oxide, such as Ti-Cord from the French company Saint-Gobain, deposited by thermal transfer. This results in a very high hardness of the selection finger which can be held in place throughout the life of the feeder and the roughness of the material is sufficient to properly hang the mail items while preventing possible tearing during their passage.

According to the invention, in order to ensure the recovery of the mail items passing under the die, it is proposed, as illustrated in figure 2A , to free the upper front corner of the mail items by a slight inclination of the die (along the Y axis) relative to the horizontal plane of the receiving tray, the distance between the lower end part of this die and the tray reception being greater at the part of this die closest to the referencing wall than that the most distant, this die remaining in its plane perpendicular to the referencing wall.

The inclination of the die, by an angle θ is obtained by an asymmetrical adjustment of the distance from the plate to the die and more particularly, in the example illustrated, by asymmetric adjustment means constituted by two sets of screws / nuts 24A, 24B each acting against a fixed stop 26A, 26B secured to the frame 22 of the device. Each of the two screw / nut assemblies is mounted in a part 12A, 12B extending for example above and on either side of the die body, that is to say respectively on the referencing wall side and on the opposite side , in practice the operator side of the franking machine. This body part receives a fixed nut 28A, 28B into which an adjustment screw 30A, 30B will be screwed, moreover held without play in this body part by an elastic element such as a spring 32A, 32B.

The operation of the selection device according to the invention is as follows. The mail items to be treated being placed on the receiving tray of the feeder, they will be introduced into the selection device and extracted one by one by the die. When the mail items are only a few, due to the inclination of this die of the angle θ according to the invention, the first contact of the mail item at the finger closest to the operator will tend to press the rear part of the mail item against the referencing wall 34, which will keep good referencing especially if the receiving plate 36 is equipped with drive rollers 38A, 38B inclined by report to the direction of transport. The inclination of the die from the angle θ is obtained for example by acting on the first adjustment screw 30B, preferably that arranged on the operator side, to adjust the distance from the plate to the die at a first predetermined height and thus ensure horizontal positioning. of the die with respect to the receiving plate, then by acting on the second adjustment screw 30A placed on the side of the referencing wall, in order to adjust the distance from the plate to the die at a second predetermined height deform the plastic body of the die and thus ensure an inclination of the die with respect to this receiving plate 36. This deformation is possible due to the relative flexibility of this body due to the constituent material but above all because, when as in the example illustrated, the comb has only two central teeth, the average height offset between the selection fingers that they have is about 0.3 mm for a 100 mm wide die.

Thus, with the present invention, the biasing of end-of-stack mail items resulting from the excess thickness of the flap is avoided because by allowing these mail items to engage under the die where the height is most important , a jogging or compensating effect may be produced on this cross.

Claims (8)

1. A mailpiece selector device comprising at least a guide (10) co-operating with a plurality of opposite selector rollers passing through a deck (36) for receiving a stack of mailpieces in order to select said mailpieces one-by-one and to transport them downstream, characterized in that for obviating a bias of the mailpieces resulting from the over-thickness of their flaps and allowing a recovery of the mailpieces passing under said guide, said guide presents a predetermined inclination at an angle Θ relative to a horizontal plane defined by said deck, with a distance between said deck and a low end portion of said guide that is larger at the portion of said guide that is closer to a referencing wall (34) than at the portion of said guide that is further away from said referencing wall.
2. A mailpiece selector device according to claim 1, characterized in that said guide has a body (12) that is hinged about a pivot axis (14) and that can pivot in opposition to resilient return means (16A, 16B) as the mailpieces pass over said plurality of selector rollers, and a front portion forming a comb (18) that is fastened to said body, a selector finger (18A, 18B) coated with a wear-resistant material being fastened to the end of each of the teeth of said comb.
3. A mailpiece selector device according to claim 2, characterized in that said material of said selector finger is a ceramic or a carbide.
4. A mailpiece selector device according to claim 2, characterized in that said body of the guide is made of a plastics material.
5. A mailpiece selector device according to claim 4, characterized in that said inclination at said angle Θ is obtained by asymmetric adjustment means (24A, 24B; 26A, 26B; 28A, 28B; 30A, 30B; 32A, 32B) acting by deforming said body of the guide.
6. A mailpiece selector device according to claim 5, characterized in that said asymmetric adjustment means comprise two screw-and-nut sets (24A, 24B), each of which acts in opposition to an abutment (26A, 26B) that is stationary relative to a framework (22) of the device, each of said two screw-and-nut sets being mounted in two portions (12A, 12B) disposed on either side of the body.
7. A mailpiece selector device according to claim 6, characterized in that said portion of the body receives a stationary nut (28A, 28B) into which an adjustment screw (30A, 30B) is screwed, which screw is held snugly in said portion of the body by a resilient element (32A, 32B).
8. A mailpiece feeder for a franking machine, which feeder includes a mailpiece selector device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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