On-edge stacker

Claim 2

An on-edge stacker for stacking envelopes, comprising: means for receiving and transporting envelopes; means including a conveyor belt for accumulating envelopes; means for stacking and delivering envelopes to said means for accumulating; and, means for diverting envelopes received by said means for receiving and transporting, said means for diverting being operative in diverting envelopes to said means for stacking; wherein said means for receiving and transporting comprises an upper level including means for conveying envelopes therealong; and wherein said means for stacking and delivering comprises stacking spider means for capturing diverted envelopes delivered thereto and for delivering envelopes side-on-side onto said conveyor belt edge-on substantially in vertical orientation; and, wherein said means for diverting comprises: a lower level disposed beneath said upper level; a divert gate disposed in said upper level, said divert gate being selectively openable to intercept and to divert envelopes to said lower level; and, means for propelling diverted envelopes along said lower level for delivery to said stacking spider means, said means for propelling including a rotatable paddle arrangement having substantially radially oriented paddles, said paddles being operative in engaging trailing edges of envelopes diverted to and disposed in said lower level and propelling the envelopes toward said stacking spider.

Claim 3

The on-edge stacker according to claim 1, wherein said means for stacking and delivering includes means for selectively offsetting envelopes laterally with respect to the direction of propelling to said stacking spider means.

Claim 4

The on-edge stacker of claim 2, wherein said means for selectively offsetting includes ganged length stops that are commonly selectively off-setable.

Claim 5

The on-edge stacker of claim 1, wherein said means for propelling further includes at least one pair of nip rolls having a nip therebetween, said nip rolls being operative in nipping and driving envelopes propelled thereto into said stacking spider means.

Claim 6

The on-edge stacker according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor belt is unpowered and free-running.

Claim 7

The on-edge stacker according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor belt is controllably intermittently driven.

Claim 8

An on-edge stacker for stacking envelopes, comprising: means for receiving and transporting envelopes; means including a conveyor belt for accumulating envelopes; means for stacking and delivering envelopes to said means for accumulating; and, means for diverting envelopes received by said means for receiving and transporting, said means for diverting being operative in diverting envelopes to said means for stacking; wherein said means for receiving and transporting comprises an upper level including means for conveying envelopes therealong; and wherein said means for stacking and delivering comprises stacking spider means for capturing diverted envelopes delivered thereto and for delivering envelopes side-on-side onto said conveyor belt edge-on substantially in vertical orientation, said stacking spider means including at least one revolving spider wheel that is driven and suspended in a floating manner so as to be free to move substantially horizontally against a spring-load in a direction away from said means for accumulating; and, wherein said means for diverting comprises: a lower level disposed beneath said upper level; a divert gate disposed in said upper level, said divert gate being selectively openable to intercept and to divert envelopes to said lower level; and, means for propelling diverted envelopes along said lower level for delivery to said stacking spider means.

Claim 9

An on-edge stacker for stacking envelopes, comprising: means for receiving and transporting envelopes; means including a conveyor belt for accumulating envelopes; means for stacking and delivering envelopes to said means for accumulating; and, means for diverting envelopes received by said means for receiving and transporting, said means for diverting being operative in diverting envelopes to said means for stacking; wherein said means for receiving and transporting comprises an upper level including means for conveying envelopes therealong; and wherein said means for stacking and delivering comprises stacking spider means for capturing diverted envelopes delivered thereto and for delivering envelopes side-on-side onto said conveyor belt edge-on substantially in vertical orientation, said stacking spider means including at least one revolving spider wheel that is driven and suspended in a floating manner so as to be free to move substantially horizontally against a spring-load in a direction away from said means for accumulating; and, wherein said means for diverting comprises: a lower level disposed beneath said upper level; a divert gate disposed in said upper level, said divert gate being selectively openable to intercept and to divert envelopes to said lower level; and, means for propelling diverted envelopes along said lower level for delivery to said stacking spider means.

Claim 10

The edge-on stacker of claim 7, wherein said stacking spider means further comprises a floating drive suspension, said floating drive suspension including: a gearbox for driving and suspending said at least one revolving spider wheel; means for suspending said gearbox in a floating manner; means for spring-loading said gearbox away from said means for accumulating; means for driving said gearbox including means for coupling said means for driving to said gearbox; means for detecting displacement of said gearbox in a direction away from said means for accumulating; and, means for energizing and de-energizing and driving and stopping, respectively, said conveyor belt as a consequence of detection by said means for detecting an increase and a decrease, respectively, in displacement of said spider wheel from said means for accumulating.

Claim 11

The edge-on stacker of claim 8, wherein said means for detecting includes a photosensor.

Claim 12

An on-edge stacker for stacking envelopes, comprising: means for receiving and transporting envelopes; means including a conveyor belt for accumulating envelopes; means for stacking and delivering envelopes to said means for accumulating; and, means for diverting envelopes received by said means for receiving and transporting, said means for diverting being operative in diverting envelopes to said means for stacking; wherein said means for receiving and transporting comprises an upper level including means for conveying envelopes therealong; and wherein said means for stacking and delivering comprises stacking spider means for capturing diverted envelopes delivered thereto and for delivering envelopes side-on-side onto said conveyor belt edge-on substantially in vertical orientation; and, wherein said means for diverting comprises: a lower level disposed beneath said upper level; a divert gate disposed in said upper level, said divert gate being selectively openable to intercept and to divert envelopes to said lower level; and means for propelling diverted envelopes along said lower level for delivery to said stacking spider means; and wherein said stacking spider means includes at least one revolving spider wheel having a plurality of spaces between legs thereof for receiving diverted envelopes delivered thereto, said means for propelling including a rotatable paddle arrangement including substantially radially-oriented paddles, said paddles being operative in engaging the trailing edge of envelopes disposed in said lower level and propelling the envelopes toward said stacking spider, said means for propelling including synchronizing means for controlling the timing of actuation of rotation of said paddles in dependence upon the angular position of said spaces, so dependence upon the angular position of said spaces, so that an envelope is propelled into one of said plurality of spaces.

Claim 13

An on-edge stacker for stacking envelopes, comprising: means for receiving and transporting envelopes; means including a conveyor belt for accumulating envelopes; means for stacking and delivering envelopes to said means for accumulating; and, means for diverting envelopes received by said means for receiving and transporting, said means for diverting being operative in diverting envelopes to said means for stacking; wherein said means for receiving and transporting comprises an upper level including means for conveying envelopes therealong; and wherein said means for stacking and delivering comprises stacking spider means for capturing diverted envelopes delivered thereto and for delivering envelopes side-on-side onto said conveyor belt edge-on substantially in vertical orientation; and, wherein said means for diverting comprises: a lower level disposed beneath said upper level; a divert gate disposed in said upper level, said divert gate being selectively openable to intercept and to divert envelopes to said lower level; and means for propelling diverted envelopes along said lower level for delivery to said stacking spider means; and wherein said stacking spider means includes at least one revolving spider wheel having a plurality of spaces between legs thereof for receiving diverted envelopes delivered thereto, said means for propelling including a rotatable paddle arrangement including substantially radially-oriented paddles, said paddles being operative in engaging the trailing edge of envelopes disposed in said lower level and propelling the envelopes toward said stacking spider, said means for propelling including synchronizing means for controlling the timing of actuation of rotation of said paddles in dependence upon the angular position of said spaces, so dependence upon the angular position of said spaces, so that an envelope is propelled into one of said plurality of spaces.

Claim 16

The method according to claim 11, further including a step of selectively offsetting envelopes laterally with respect to the direction of propelling prior to effecting the step of propelling.

Claim 17

The method of claim 11, wherein the step of moving includes the step of nipping envelopes between at least one pair of nip rolls and thereby driving envelopes into said spaces.

Claim 18

The method according to claim 11, further including the step of synchronizing the step of propelling with the step of rotating by controlling timing of actuation of the step of propelling in dependence upon the angular position of spaces between legs of said spider wheel, so that the step of propelling effects propelling of an envelope into one of said spaces.

Claim 19

The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of stacking and accumulating includes a step of intermittently driving said conveyor belt.

Claim 22

The method of claim 16, further including the steps of: exerting backpressure onto said spider wheel by the increase in thickness of an envelope stack during the step of stacking and accumulating; increasing displacement of said spider wheel from said conveyor belt as a consequence of the step of exerting backpressure; detecting said increase in displacement effected during said step of increasing; driving said conveyor belt as a consequence of the step of detecting said increase, said driving being effected in a direction so as to decrease said displacement; detecting a decrease in displacement effected during the step of driving; and, stopping the step of driving as a consequence of the step of detecting said decrease.

Claim 23

The method of claim 17, wherein the steps of detecting are effected by photosensor means.

Claim 24

An on-edge stacker for stacking envelopes, comprising: means for receiving envelopes; means including a conveyor belt for accumulating envelopes; means for stacking and delivering envelopes to said means for accumulating; and means for propelling envelopes from said means for receiving to said means for stacking and delivering; wherein said means for stacking and delivering comprises stacking spider means for capturing envelopes provided by said means for propelling and for delivering envelopes side-on-side onto said conveyor belt edge-on substantially in vertical orientation, said stacking spider means including at least one revolving spider wheel that is driven and suspended in a floating manner so as to be free to move substantially horizontally against a spring-load in a direction away from said means for accumulating.

Claim 25

An on-edge stacker for stacking envelopes, comprising: means for receiving envelopes; means including a conveyor belt for accumulating envelopes; means for stacking and delivering envelopes to said means for accumulating; and means for propelling envelopes from said means for receiving to said means for stacking and delivering; wherein said means for stacking and delivering comprises stacking spider means for capturing envelopes provided by said means for propelling and for delivering envelopes side-on-side onto said conveyor belt edge-on substantially in vertical orientation, said stacking spider means including at least one revolving spider wheel that is driven and suspended in a floating manner so as to be free to move substantially horizontally against a spring-load in a direction away from said means for accumulating.

Claim 26

The on-edge stacker according to claim 19, wherein said means for receiving includes means for selectively offsetting envelopes laterally with respect to the direction of propelling to said means for stacking and delivering.

Claim 27

The edge-on stacker of claim 19, wherein said stacking spider means further comprises a floating drive suspension, said floating drive suspension including: a gearbox for driving and suspending said at least one revolving spider wheel; means for suspending said gearbox in floating manner; means for spring-loading said gearbox away from said means for accumulating; means for driving said gearbox including means for coupling said means for driving to said gearbox; means for detecting displacement of said gearbox in a direction away from said means for accumulating; means for energizing and de-energizing and driving and stopping, respectively, said conveyor belt as a consequence of detection by said means for detecting an increase and a decrease in displacement of said spider wheel from said means for accumulating.