US20040251605A1

US20040251605A1 - Correspondence collator and multi-sheet folding device

Info

Publication number: US20040251605A1
Application number: US10/462,301
Authority: US
Inventors: Elton Hsieh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-06-13
Filing date: 2003-06-13
Publication date: 2004-12-16

Abstract

A correspondence collator for collating at least one page of paper directly printed out from a printer in a regular order, including: a paper entry for advancing the page of paper into the correspondence collator; an organizer, provided downstream of the paper entry for flipping the page of paper end-to-end and upside-down; a paper carrier, provided downstream of the organizer, including: a chain carrying the flipped page of paper through the paper carrier; an optional folding device, and a mail exit, provided downstream of the paper carrier for discharging the page of paper from the correspondence collator; wherein the paper entry, organizer, paper carrier, optional folding device and mail exit jointly form a paper path

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention is related to a correspondence collator and a multi-sheet folding device, particularly to one being compact and lightweight, and allowing on-line connection with a printer, such as a laser printer.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Correspondence collators are commonly used for collating certain pages of a set of correspondence into a pile prior to being folded and then inserted into an envelope. When a mail includes more than one page of correspondence, the first page to be printed by a printer that is configured to print in a regular order, will be located at the bottom of the pile with the content of the page facing up. Hence, the pile must be fed through an additional reversing machine for flipping and reversing the order of the pile such that the first page and last page will be, respectively, rearranged to locate at the top and bottom of the pile with the content of the pages facing down to allow subsequent folding. Further, each set of pile must be fed through the reversing machine prior to printing the next set so as to prevent confusion. As a result, the overall efficiency of the collator is reduced significantly; the entire operation requires close monitoring and compatibility for on-line operation with a printer.

Though the problem of reversing order may be resolved by configuring the printer to print in a reverse order, the content of the pages still face up, causing difficulty in folding the pile into a folded mail with the letterhead and address facing up prior to being inserted into a windowed envelope.

Another problem encountered by conventional correspondence collators is that, the accumulated thickness of the pile of correspondence often causes jamming and difficulty in folding. The problem of reversing order resolved by using a reversing machine or configuring the printer to print in a reverse order still cannot eliminate such a jamming problem and difficulty in folding.

The inefficient operation prevents conventional correspondence collators and reversing machines from being connected to a laser printer for on-line operations. In other words, the correspondence to be folded for delivery must be first printed by a printer, collated by a collator, re-arranged by a reversing machine, and then folded by a folding apparatus in individual piles and then transported to the mailroom. The piles of mails that have been folded are then inserted into envelopes. Apparently, such a process cannot meet the needs of print-on-demand and print-to-mail.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is thus a primary objective of this invention to provide a correspondence collator capable of collating a pile of pages directly printed out from a printer in a regular order, such that the first page and last page are, respectively, located at the top and bottom of the pile with the content of the pages facing down to allow subsequent folding of the pile into a folded mail with the letterhead and address facing up prior to being inserted into a windowed envelope.

It is another objective of this invention to provide a compact and lightweight correspondence collator.

It is a further objective of this invention is to provide a correspondence collator that allows on-line connection with a printer.

It is yet another objective of this invention is to provide a correspondence collator that can meet the needs of print-on-demand and print-to-mail.

It is yet another objective of this invention to provide a multi-sheet folding device that may be optionally integrated into or connected to the correspondence collator to avoid jamming and difficulty in folding of a pile of correspondence.

To achieve the above objectives, this invention provides a correspondence collator for collating at least one page of paper directly printed out from a printer in a regular order, comprising: a paper entry for advancing the page of paper into the correspondence collator; an organizer, provided downstream of the paper entry for flipping the page of paper end-to-end and upside-down; a paper carrier, provided downstream of the organizer, including: a chain carrying the flipped page of paper through the paper carrier; an optional folding device, and a mail exit, provided downstream of the paper carrier for discharging the page of paper from the correspondence collator; wherein the paper entry, organizer, paper carrier, optional folding device and mail exit jointly form a paper path.

This invention further provides a multi-sheet folding device, comprising: at least one folding line adjustment board provided at an exit of the paper path, having: a spring-loaded baffle with an adjustable position; and a covering guide covering and retained to the folding line adjustment board by means of spring-loaded retainer at an entrance of the folding line adjustment board.

The structures and characteristics of this invention can be realized by referring to the appended drawings and explanations of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic, cross-sectional view of a correspondence collator according to this invention, illustrating the paper path of the correspondence collator; [0016]
FIG. 2 is a schematic, cross-sectional view showing the paper entry of the correspondence collator according to this invention, in which one page of a set of correspondence printed by a printer with its content facing upwards starts to enter the paper entry; [0017]
FIG. 3 is a schematic, cross-sectional view showing the paper path of the correspondence collator according to this invention, in which one page of a set of correspondence is about to be flipped to make the content of the page face down; [0018]
FIG. 4 is a schematic, cross-sectional view showing the paper path of the correspondence collator according to this invention, in which the one page of a set of correspondence is about to be fed into a folder; [0019]
FIGS. [0020] 5(a) and 5(b) are schematic, cross-sectional views illustrating the various steps for folding one page of a set of correspondence with its content facing down;
FIG. 6 is a schematic, cross-sectional view showing that a pile of correspondence including three pages has been piled up in the paper path with the first page and last page being, respectively, located at the top and bottom of the pile and the content of the pages facing down; and [0021]
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the progression of a set of correspondence including three pages that are printed out by a printer in a regular order, flipped, collated and eventually folded by the collator according to the present invention.[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic, cross-sectional view of a [0023] correspondence collator 1 according to this invention, illustrating the mail path of the correspondence collator 1. The correspondence collator 1 according to this invention comprises: a paper entry 10, an organizer 20, a paper carrier 30, a folding device 40 and a mail exit 50, which are sequentially provided from an upstream to a downstream to form the paper path.
FIGS. 2-4 illustrate the details of the [0024] paper entry 10 and an embodiment of the organizer 20 according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the [0025] paper entry 10 includes a pair of paper entry rollers 12 for advancing individual pages of paper printed by a printer into the correspondence collator 1, and a paper entry sensor 10S located along the paper path within the paper entry 10 for detecting the total number of pages and/or the order of the pages in a set of correspondence to be printed by the printer, such as by means of reading bar codes that have been printed along edges of each page of the set of correspondence. The pair of paper entry rollers 12 is driven by a paper entry motor 10M.
According to an embodiment of this invention, the [0026] organizer 20 includes a first pair of organizer rollers 21, a second pair of organizer rollers 22, a third pair of organizer rollers 23, a guide 24, a baffle 25, and an organizer sensor 21S and a second organizer sensor 22S. The first pair of organizer rollers 21 is constructed by two rollers 21 a, 21 b, the second pair organizer rollers 22 by two rollers 22 a, 22 b, and the third organizer rollers 23 by two rollers 23 a, 23 b such that a paper path is formed between each pair of rollers, wherein one 21 a, 22 a, 23 a of the rollers in each pair of rollers 21, 22, 23 is located beneath the paper path and the other 21 b, 22 b, 23 b is located above the paper path. For easy reference, the rollers 21 a, 22 a, 23 a, which are located above the paper path will be referred to as the upper rollers hereinafter; and the rollers 21 b, 22 b, 23 b, which are located beneath the paper path will be referred to as the lower rollers hereinafter.
The second pair of organizer rollers [0027] 22 is located downstream of and above the first pair of organizer rollers 21. The third pair of organizer rollers 23 is located downstream of and next to the first pair of organizer rollers 21 in such a manner that the upper roller 23 b of the third pair of organizer rollers 23 abuts the lower roller 21 a of the first pair of organizer rollers 21, thereby forming a flipping path therebetween.
The [0028] guide 24 extends between the second pair of organizer rollers 22 and the flipping path such that paper leaving the first pair of organizer rollers 22 may be guided by the guide 24 to enter the second pair of organizer rollers 22, or the paper leaving the second pair of organizer rollers 22 may be guided by the guide to enter the flipping path. The baffle 25 is located at an exit of the flipping path such that paper leaving the flipping path may be guided by the baffle 25 to enter the third pair of organizer rollers 23. The first organizer sensor 21S is located at an entrance of the first pair of organizer rollers 21 and the second organizer sensor 22S is located at an exit of the third pair of organizer rollers 23. Functions and operations of these two sensors 21S, 22S will be described later.
According to an alternative embodiment of this invention, the second pair of [0029] organizer rollers 22 a, 22 b may be replaced by a stationary stopper.
If the second pair of organizer rollers [0030] 22 are adopted, they are preferably arranged in such a manner that the upper roller 22 b slightly tips towards the first pair of organizer rollers 21 to allow easy entry of the paper guided by the guide 24, as shown in FIGS. 1-4.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, an O-ring driven by a hold down [0031] roller 27 are provided at an exit of the third pair of organizer rollers 23 such that paper leaving the third organizer rollers 23 may be easily driven towards and held against the paper carrier 30, as shown in FIG. 1.
The first pair of organizer rollers [0032] 21 may be driven by the paper entry motor 10M simultaneously. Since the upper roller 23 b of the third pair of organizer rollers 23 abuts the lower roller 21 a of the first pair of organizer rollers 21, the third pair of organizer rollers 23 are indirectly driven by the paper entry motor 10M as well.
The second pair of organizer rollers [0033] 22 is driven by an organizer motor 20M. The operation of the second pair of organizer rollers 22 or the alternative stopper will be described in detail later.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, the [0034] paper carrier 30 includes a chain 31 coupling to a chain switch 31SW, and a tongue 32 provided on and protruding from the chain 31 in the paper path. The chain 31 is driven by a chain motor 31M (FIG. 1). The tongue 31 is at a normal position not impeding entry of the paper into the paper carrier 30, similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3.
The [0035] multi-sheet folding device 40 as illustrated in this invention is a conventional tri-fold folding device 40 for folding paper into a C-fold configuration or a Z-fold configuration. Persons skilled in the art may easily adapt a conventional V-fold folding device in this invention. It should also be noted that, according to the preferred embodiment of this invention, the folding device 40 is integrated into the correspondence collator 1. However, the folding device may be constructed as an independent device that is provided downstream of a correspondence collator without a folding device, for receiving paper from the correspondence collator.
With reference to FIG. 1, the [0036] tri-fold folding device 40 includes: at least four folding rollers, that is, a first folding roller 41 a, a second folding roller 41 b, a third folding roller 41 c and a fourth folding roller 41 d; a first folding line adjustment board 42; and a second folding line adjustment board 43. The four folding rollers 41 a-41 d are driven by a folding roller motor 41M. A paper path is formed between every two neighboring folding rollers, such as between rollers 41 a and 41 b, 41 b and 41 c and 41 c and 41 d.
According to this invention, the [0037] multi-sheet folding device 40 is characterized by the folding line adjustment boards 42, 43. The first folding line adjustment board 42 includes a spring-loaded baffle 42 b with an adjustable position that may be adjusted by releasable screws or other known means. The first folding line adjustment board 42 is provided at an exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 a and 41 b. The second folding line adjustment board 43 also includes a spring-loaded baffle 43 with an adjustable position that may be adjusted by releasable screws or other known means. The second folding line adjustment board 43 is provided at an exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 b and 41 c.
Preferably, the folding [0038] line adjustment boards 42, 43 each includes a covering guide 42 d, 43 d covering and retained to the folding line adjustment boards 42, 43 by means of spring-loaded retainers 42 c, 43 d, respectively, at an entrance of the folding line adjustment boards 42, 43. It should be noted that the spring-loaded retainers 42 c, 43 d are provided at opposing sides of the folding line adjustment boards 42, 43 that do not impede the paper path. In additional, the covering guides 42 d, 43 d are such situated that a wider entrance is formed at the spring-loaded retainers 42 c, 43 d, as best illustrated in FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b). An enlarged mouth 42 a, 43 a may further be formed at an entrance of the folding line adjustment boards 42, 43. For applications of the particular described and illustrated in the present invention, the spring-loaded baffle 42 b of the first folding line adjustment board 42 is adjusted to a location away from the exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 a and 41 b at a distance that is approximately two-thirds (⅔) of a total length of the paper to be folded; the spring-loaded baffle 43 b of the second folding line adjustment board 43 is adjusted to a location away from the exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 b and 41 c at a distance that is approximately one-third (⅓) of the total length of the paper to be folded. Alternative distance may also be adopted to provide different folding configurations.
The [0039] mail exit 50 is provided at an exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 c and 41 d. In facilitating the folded mail to exit the mail exit 50, the mail exit 50 may further include a pair of mail exit rollers 51 driven by the folding roller motor 41M or an independent motor.
In operation and upon activating the [0040] correspondence collator 1, the paper entry motor 10M is activated to drive the pair of paper entry rollers 12, subjecting individual pages of a set of correspondence to enter the paper entry 10, as shown in FIG. 2.
For applications of the particular described and illustrated in the present invention, every page of the set of correspondence is printed by the printer with its bottom end coming out of the printer first and its content facing forwards in a regular order and includes a bar code BC printed along a proper edge, best shown in Step I of FIG. 7. [0041]
At the same time when each page of the set correspondence passes through the [0042] paper entry sensor 10S, the paper entry sensor 10S will retrieve the bar code BC printed along the proper edge to determine whether that particular page of paper currently passing through the paper entry sensor 10S is the last page of a set of correspondence to be printed by the printer.
As shown in FIG. 2, paper leaving the [0043] paper entry 10 will enter the organizer 20 through the first pair of organizer rollers 21 and then guided into the second pair of organizer rollers 22 by the guide 24. When the first organizer sensor 21S detects the leading edge of each individual page of paper, the organizer motor 20M is activated to drive in the same direction of the first pair of organizer rollers 21, a forward direction. Then, when the first organizer sensor 21S detects the trailing edge of each individual page of paper, the organizer motor 20M is activated to drive the second pair of organizer rollers 22 to rotate in a reverse direction after a few additional steps to ensure that each individual page of paper has completely left the first organizer rollers 21, such that the paper entering the second pair of organizer rollers 22 will be guided by the guide 24 to enter the flipping path formed between the lower roller 21 a of the first pair of organizer rollers 21 and the upper roller 23 b of the third pair of organizer rollers 23, and then guided by the baffle 25 to enter the third pair of organizer rollers 23, as shown in FIG. 3, and then enter the paper carrier 30. The O-ring 26 and hold down roller 27 further help to drive the paper into and hold the paper against the paper carrier 30.
When the [0044] second organizer sensor 22S detects that each individual page of the paper has completely left the third organizer rollers 23, the organizer motor 20M is de-activated to drive in a forward direction and waits to be re-activated by the first organizer sensor 21S.
Alternatively, the [0045] paper entry sensor 10S may only serve to detect the total number of pages in a set of correspondence to be printed by the printer while the first organizer sensor 21S counts whether all pages have passed through the organizer 22. As such, in the alternative embodiment where the second pair of organizer rollers 22 a, 22 b are replaced by a stationary stopper, the first organizer sensor 21S will only serve to count the total number pages, or completely eliminated if the counting feature is achieved by the paper entry sensor 10S. It should be noted that paper entering the organizer 20 is in a state that the content of the correspondence faces up and the ending of the correspondence is a lead of the paper, as shown in Step I of FIG. 7. The same page of paper, however, is flipped by the second pair of organizer rollers 22 after passing through the flipping path, such that the same page of paper will leave the organizer 20 in a state that the content of the correspondence faces down and the heading portion of the correspondence is a lead of the paper, as shown in Step II of FIG. 7. That is, the paper is end-to-end and upside-bottom flipped after passing through the organizer 20.
The [0046] paper entry 10 and organizer 20 will continue to receive, flip and pile an upcoming page of paper above the previous page in the paper carrier 30 until the paper entry sensor 10S detects that the page of paper passing through the paper entry sensor 10S is the last page of a set of correspondence to be printed by the printer. Hence, if a set of correspondence includes more than one page, these pages of the correspondence, printed by the printer in a regular order may be flipped, re-arranged and piled by the organizer 20 to have the first page and last page of the correspondence being located at the top and bottom of the pile with the content of the pages facing downwards, such as shown in FIG. 6 and Step II of FIG. 7.
It is known from actual operations that static may be easily accumulated to surfaces of the organizer rollers [0047] 21, 22, 23 and hold down roller 27. Static accumulated to the surfaces of the organizer rollers 21 and 23 may be dissipated by the paper path or guide 25 in contact therewith. Additional grounding means maintaining constant contact with the organizer rollers 22 and hold down roller 27 may also be provided to the rollers for dissipating static accumulated to the surfaces of the organizer rollers 22 and hold down roller 27. For example, the grounding means may include a first metal roller 28 and a second metal roller 29 provided next to and driven by the upper organizer roller 22 b and the hold down roller 27, respectively, as shown in FIG. 16. The grounding means may also be metal ball bearings provided at similar locations.
When the [0048] paper entry sensor 10S or the first organizer sensor 21S detects that the page of paper passing through the paper entry sensor 10S is the last page of a set of correspondence to be printed by the printer and the second organizer sensor 22S detects that the last page has completely left the third pair of organizer rollers 23, the chain motor 31M is activated to drive the chain 31, which is coupled to the chain switch 31SW, subjecting the tongue 32 to carry the pile of correspondence towards the folding device 40, as shown in FIG. 4.
Once the [0049] tongue 32 has carried the pile of correspondence into the folding device 40, the chain switch 31SW coupled to the chain 31 activates the chain motor 31M to rotate in a reverse direction so as to return the tongue 32 to its normal position; furthermore, the tongue 32 returns to their normal positions and does not impede entry of the mail into the mail carrier 30, as shown in FIG. 5; the chain switch 31SW coupled to the chain 31 also returns to its normal position and deactivates the chain motor 31M, which waits to be reactivated by the paper entry sensor 10M and the second organizer sensor 22S. At the same time when the tongue 32 carries the pile towards the folding device 40, the paper entry 20 may continue to feed paper printed the printer into the correspondence collator without any suspension so as to enhance the operation efficiency.
The pile of correspondence leaving the [0050] paper carrier 30 then enters the folding device 40. FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are schematic views illustrating the various steps for folding the pile of correspondence in the folding device 40.
As shown in FIG. 5([0051] a), after the pile of correspondence enters the folding device 40, the folding roller motor 41M continues to drive the folding rollers 41 a-41 d to cause transmission of the pile of correspondence until the leading edge of the pile comes into contact with the spring-loaded baffler 42 b of the first folding line adjustment board 42.
Because the entrance of the first folding [0052] line adjustment board 42 is provided with a wider mouth 42 a, the pile of correspondence may enter the first folding line adjustment board 42 easily to eliminate jamming problems and difficulty in folding. Furthermore, if the accumulated thickness of the pile of correspondence exceeds the gap formed by the spring-loaded baffle 42 b, the covering guide 42 d is forced by the pile of the correspondence to tip towards the entrance for tightly pressing against the pile of correspondence; if the accumulated thickness of the pile of correspondence even exceeds the gap formed by the spring-loaded retainer 42 c, the covering guide 42 d may further be forced away from the first folding line adjustment board 42 for tightly pressing against the pile of correspondence thereby maintaining a neat appearance of the pile of correspondence driven by the folding rollers 41 a and 41 b.
Because the leading ledge of the pile is obstructed by the spring-loaded [0053] baffle 42 b, subsequent driving of the folding rollers 41 a-41 d will cause a first folding line F1 to form at the exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 a and 41 b, and cause the first folding line F1 of the pile to enter the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 b and 41 c. At this time, the folding roller motor 41M still continues to drive the folding rollers 41 a-41 d to cause transmission of the pile until the first folding line F1 of the pile comes into contact with the spring-loaded baffle 43 b of the second folding line adjustment board 43. With reference to FIG. 5(b), because the first folding line F1 of the pile is obstructed by the spring-loaded baffle 43 b, subsequent driving of the folding rollers 41 a-41 d will cause a second folding line F2 to form at the exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 c and 41 d and cause the second folding line F2 of the pile to enter the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 c and 41 d. The folding roller motor 41M still continues to drive the folding rollers 41 a-41 d to cause transmission of the pile until the pile completely leaves the exit of the paper path formed between the folding rollers 41 c and 41 d in a C-fold configuration.
Functions of the [0054] mouth 43 a, spring loaded baffle 43 b, spring-loaded retainer 43 c and covering guide 43 d in the second folding line adjustment board 43 are identical those of the mouth 42 a, spring loaded baffle 42 b, spring-loaded retainer 42 c and covering guide 42 d in the first folding line adjustment board 42, respectively.
The folding rollers [0055] 41 a-d may be driven by the folding roller motor 41M continuously without intermittent stoppage. However, if desired, signals generated by additional sensors (not shown) may be respectively provided next to an upstream and a downstream of the folding device 40 for sensing whether additional power should supplemented to properly fold the pile of paper.
The pile of correspondence leaving the [0056] folding device 40 becomes a folded mail that may exit the correspondence collator 1 through the mail exit 50, as shown in FIG. 5(b).
The preferred embodiment as disclosed above implement plurality of sensors and switches for detecting the positions of the mail, thereby controlling activation and deactivation of the various motors. A logic program for controlling the operating logic and procedures may also be burned into a controller C (FIG. 1) for receiving signals transmitted by the sensors and switches and transmitting signals for activating or deactivating the motors, so as to achieve the intended operation as described above. Timing belts, however, may also be implemented to control the activation and deactivation of the various motors. [0057]
Furthermore, persons skilled in sensor logics can easily modify the locations of the sensors and switches may also be varied in accordance with needs, so long as the logic program is designed to suit the various locations of the sensors and switches. [0058]
The correspondence collator according to this invention is capable of collating a pile of pages directly printed out from a printer in a regular order, such that the first page and last page are, respectively, located at the top and bottom of the pile with the content of the pages facing down to allow subsequent folding of the pile into a folded mail with the letterhead and address facing up prior to being inserted into a windowed envelope. [0059]
The multi-sheet folding device according to this invention that may be optionally integrated into or connected to the correspondence collator may also prevent jamming and difficulty in folding of a pile of correspondence. [0060]
Furthermore, due to the compact and lightweight features provided by the correspondence collator according to this invention, the correspondence collator of this invention allows on-line connection with most of the commercially available laser printers and is suitable to be equipped in regular office space so as to meet the needs of print-on-demand and print-to-mail. [0061]
This invention is related to a novel creation that makes a breakthrough in the art. Aforementioned explanations, however, are directed to the description of preferred embodiments according to this invention. Various changes and implementations can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the technical concept of this invention. Since this invention is not limited to the specific details described in connection with the preferred embodiments, changes to certain features of the preferred embodiments without altering the overall basic function of the invention are contemplated within the scope of the appended claims. [0062]

Nomenclature Listing

[0063] 1 correspondence collator
[0064] 10 paper entry
[0065] 10S paper entry sensor
[0066] 10M paper entry motor
[0067] 12 paper entry rollers
[0068] 20 organizer
[0069] 21, 21 a, 21 b first pair of organizer rollers
[0070] 22, 22 a, 22 b second pair of organizer rollers
[0071] 23, 23 a, 23 b third pair of organizer rollers
[0072] 21S first organizer sensor
[0073] 22S second organizer sensor
[0074] 24 guide
[0075] 25 baffle
[0076] 26 O-ring
[0077] 27 hold down roller
[0078] 28 first metal roller
[0079] 29 second metal roller
[0080] 30 paper carrier
[0081] 31 chain
[0082] 31SW chain switch
[0083] 31M chain motor
[0084] 32 tongue
[0085] 40 folding device
[0086] 41 a, 41 b, 41 c, 41 d folding rollers
[0087] 41M folding roller motor
[0088] 42 first folding line adjustment board
[0089] 42 a mouth
[0090] 42 b spring-loaded baffle
[0091] 42 c spring-loaded retainer
[0092] 42 d covering guide
[0093] 43 second folding line adjustment board
[0094] 43 a mouth
[0095] 43 b baffle
[0096] 43 c spring-loaded retainer
[0097] 43 d covering guide
[0098] 50 mail exit
[0099] 51 mail exit rollers

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A correspondence collator for collating at least one individual page of paper directly printed out from a printer in a regular order, comprising:

a paper entry for advancing each of the individual page of paper into the correspondence collator;

an organizer, provided downstream of the paper entry for flipping the individual page of paper end-to-end and upside-down, including: a first pair of organizer rollers, a stopper, and a third pair of organizer rollers, wherein the stopper is located downstream of and above the first pair of organizer rollers and the third pair of organizer rollers is located downstream of and next to the first pair of organizer rollers;

a paper carrier, provided downstream of the organizer, including: a chain carrying the individual, flipped page of paper through the paper carrier;

a mail exit, provided downstream of the paper carrier for discharging the individual page of paper from the correspondence collator;

wherein the paper entry, organizer, paper carrier and mail exit jointly form a paper path.

2. The correspondence collator according to claim 1, further comprising: a folding device, provided between the paper carrier and the mail exit for folding the individual page of paper into a folded mail that is then discharged from the correspondence collator through the mail exit, and wherein the folding device forms part of the paper path.

3. The correspondence collator according to claim 2, wherein the stopper includes a second pair of organizer rollers.

4. The correspondence collator according to claim 3, wherein the first, second and third pairs of organizer rollers are each constructed by two rollers such that the paper path is formed between each pair of rollers, with one of the rollers in each pair of rollers being a lower roller and located beneath the paper path and the other roller being an upper roller and located above the paper path.

5. The correspondence collator according to claim 4, wherein the upper roller of the third pair of organizer rollers abuts the lower roller of the first pair of organizer rollers, thereby forming a flipping path therebetween.

6. The correspondence collator according to claim 5, wherein the organizer further includes a guide extending between the second pair of organizer roller and the flipping path, and a baffle located at an exit of the flipping path.

7. The correspondence collator according to claim 5, wherein the organizer further includes a first organizer sensor located at an entrance of the first pair of organizer rollers, and a second organizer sensor located at an exit of the third pair of organizer rollers.

8. The correspondence collator according to claim 7, wherein the upper roller of the second pair of organizer rollers slightly tips towards the first pair of organizer rollers.

9. The correspondence collator according to claim 8, wherein the organizer further includes an O-ring and a hold down roller that are provided at an exit of the third pair of organizer rollers.

10. The correspondence collator according to claim 9, wherein the organizer further includes grounding means maintaining constant contact with the organizer rollers and hold down roller.

11. The correspondence collator according to claim 10, wherein the grounding means includes a first metal roller and a second metal roller provided next to and driven by the upper organizer roller and the hold down roller, respectively.

12. The correspondence collator according to claim 11, wherein the paper entry further includes a paper entry motor for driving the paper entry roller, and wherein the paper entry sensor detects a total number of paper forming a set of correspondence to be printed by the printer.

13. The correspondence collator according to claim 12, wherein the first and third pairs of organizer rollers are driven by the paper entry motor.

14. The correspondence collator according to claim 13, wherein the organizer further includes an organizer motor for driving the second pair of organizer rollers.

15. The correspondence collator according to claim 14, wherein the chain of the mail carrier further includes a tongue protruding into the mail path within the mail carrier, and wherein the tongue is at a normal position not impeding entry of the paper into the paper carrier.

16. The correspondence collator according to claim 15, wherein the paper entry includes a pair of paper entry rollers and a paper entry sensor located along the paper path within the paper entry.

17. The correspondence collator according to claim 16, wherein the folding device is a tri-fold folding device.

18. The correspondence collator according to claim 17, wherein the folding device includes:

a first folding roller, a second folding roller, a third folding roller and a fourth folding roller driven by a folding roller motor, between every two neighboring folding rollers being formed with a paper path;

a first folding line adjustment board having a baffle with an adjustable position and being provided at an exit of the paper path formed between the first and second folding rollers; and

19. a second folding line adjustment board having a baffle with an adjustable position and being provided at an exit of the paper path formed between the second and third folding rollers. The correspondence collator according to claim 18, wherein the baffle of each of the folding line adjustment boards is spring-loaded, and wherein each of the folding line adjustment boards further comprises a covering guide covering and retained to the folding line adjustment board by means of spring-loaded retainer at an entrance of the folding line adjustment board.

20. The correspondence collator according to claim 19, wherein the mail exit further includes a pair of mail exit rollers driven by the folding roller motor.

21. The correspondence collator according to claim 20, wherein the mail carrier further includes a chain switch being coupled to the chain and a chain motor for driving the chain.

22. The correspondence collator according to claim 21, wherein the paper entry motor and the organizer rollers are activated to, respectively, drive the pair of paper entry rollers as well as the first and third pairs of organizer rollers and the second pair of organizer rollers subjecting each of the individual pages of paper in the set of correspondence to enter the paper entry.

23. The correspondence collator according to claim 22, wherein the organizer motor is activated to drive the second organizer rollers to rotate in a forward direction when the first organizer sensor detects a leading edge of each of the individual pages of paper in the set of correspondence, and to rotate in a reverse direction after the first organizer sensor detects a trailing edge of each of the individual pages of paper in the set of correspondence, such that the individual pages of paper entering the second pair of organizer rollers are guided by the guide to enter the flipping path; and wherein the organizer motor is again de-activated when the second organizer sensor detects that the individual pages of the paper have completely left the third organizer rollers.

24. The correspondence collator according to claim 23, wherein the chain motor is activated to drive the chain that is coupled to the chain switch, subjecting the tongue to carry the flipped, individual pages of paper towards the folding device when the paper entry sensor detects that the individual page of paper passing through the paper entry sensor is the last page in the set of correspondence to be printed by the printer and the second organizer sensor detects that the last page has completely left the third pair of organizer rollers.

25. The correspondence collator according to claim 24, wherein the chain motor is activated to rotate in a reverse direction by the chain switch so as to return the tongue to its normal position after the tongue has carried the individual pages in the set of correspondence into the folding device.

26. A multi-sheet folding device having a plurality of rollers for forming a paper path through which at least one page of paper pass, comprising:

at least one folding line adjustment board provided at an exit of the paper path, having:

a spring-loaded baffle with an adjustable position; and;

a covering guide covering and retained to the folding line adjustment board by means of spring-loaded retainer at an entrance of the folding line adjustment board.

27. The multi-sheet folding device according to claim 26, wherein the covering guide is situated that a wider entrance is formed at the spring-loaded retainers.

28. The multi-sheet folding device according to claim 27, wherein the folding line adjustment board is formed with an enlarged mouth at the entrance.

29. The multi-sheet folding device according to claim 28, wherein the plurality of rollers includes:

a first folding roller, a second folding roller, a third folding roller and a fourth folding roller driven by a folding roller motor, between every two neighboring folding rollers being formed with the paper path.

30. The multi-sheet folding device according to claim 29, wherein a first folding line adjustment board is provided at an exit of the paper path formed between the first and second folding rollers, and a second folding line adjustment board provided at an exit of the paper path formed between the second and third folding rollers.

31. The multi-sheet folding device according to claim 30, wherein the baffle of the first folding line adjustment board is adjusted to a location away from the exit of the paper path formed between the first and second folding rollers at a distance that is approximately two-thirds of a total length of the page of paper to be folded; and wherein the baffle of the second folding line adjustment board is adjusted to a location away from the exit of the paper path formed between the second and third folding rollers at a distance that is approximately one-third of the total length of the paper to be folded.