JPH047320B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a document insertion machine for inserting documents into envelopes, and more specifically, to a document insertion machine that reliably inserts documents regardless of the number of sheets or paper quality of the documents to be inserted. The present invention relates to a document inserter that can be inserted into an envelope.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY When sending a large number of mail items at once, such as direct mail, generally there is a document insertion machine that inserts the document into an envelope, and a sealing machine that applies glue to the flap of the envelope and folds it to seal it. They are used in combination. Various types of document inserters have been proposed for this purpose; for example,
An example in which a document is fed into an envelope using an insertion roller as shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted perspective view showing the main parts of a conventional document insertion machine, in which 10 is an envelope feeding section;
Reference numeral 30 indicates an envelope transport section, and 30 indicates a document insertion section. Envelope E
are stacked on the envelope mounting table 11 with the address side facing up, and when the supply roller 12 rotates in response to a signal to be described later, the supply roller 12 starts from the bottom of the stack. and paper handling board 1
3, the envelopes E are fed one by one onto the envelope transport section 20. In the envelope conveying section 20, pairs of rollers 21 and 22 are rotatably supported on the machine frame at a predetermined interval, a conveying belt 23 is stretched between them, and each pair of rollers is provided with a pair of pressing rollers 2.
4 and 25 are (facing each other). A pair of envelope guides 26, 26a are arranged to sandwich the conveyor belt 23, and the flap of the envelope is placed on one guide 26, and the bottom of the envelope is placed on the other guide 26a for conveyance. The guide 26 is fixed at a fixed position, and the other guide 26a is movable depending on the size of the envelope to be used.
By moving the upper guide plate (no reference numeral) in accordance with the envelope, it is arranged to move in conjunction with the envelope. A stopper 27 is disposed near the end of the conveyor belt 23 and slightly before the pair of rollers 22 so that its tip protrudes above the envelope conveyance surface, and the conveyed envelope is temporarily stopped at that position. When a document is inserted into the envelope, the stopper 27 receives a signal to be described later, and an actuating device (not shown) is activated, and the tip of the stopper 27 is retracted below the envelope conveying surface. It is discharged from between the press roller pair 25 and the machine.

The document insertion section 30 has a document placement table 31, and a pair of guide plates 32 are provided on the top surface of the table 31 to regulate the direction of movement of the document D to be inserted.
One of them is movable so that it can be adjusted according to the width of the document D. Document mounting table 31 and envelope guide 2
There is a pair of upper and lower insertion rollers 33 between the
The engagement generatrix is located slightly below the lower surface of the guide 26, as is clear from the partially cross-sectional explanatory view of FIG.
Further, the pair of upper and lower insertion rollers 33 are arranged diagonally so that the document D directed diagonally upward and hits the lower surface of the guide 26. Insertion roller 3
A stopper 34 is provided protrudingly between the stopper 34 and the document mounting table 31, and is retracted downward when a signal to be described later is issued, so that the document D can be engaged between the insertion rollers 33. . A blower (not shown) is provided in the lower space between the insertion roller 33 and the envelope guide 26, and blows air from below onto the flap of the envelope E being conveyed, so that the envelope can be moved to the stopper 2.
When stopped by 7, the main body of the envelope E is inflated and the opening in the vicinity of the flap is sufficiently expanded. As shown in FIG. 2, there are a pair of opening claws 35 on both sides of the air outlet of the blower, and when the envelope E is stopped by the stopper 27, a signal to be described later is emitted and the opening is opened as shown in FIG. As shown, it enters into the opening of envelope E and stably maintains the open state when document D is inserted. Note that, in a lower part of the opening claw 35, there is a bent part 35a which is bent inward as shown in FIG. 2, and serves as a lower guide plate when the document D is inserted. Furthermore, each rotating shaft marked with an arrow in the figure is constantly rotated during operation of the machine.

A first sensor (not shown) is located between the envelope guide 26 and the stopper 27, and when it detects that the envelope E is stopped by the stopper 27, it emits a signal, and this signal causes the pair of opening claws 35 to open. The stopper 34 is rotated through 90 degrees to enter the opening of the envelope E as shown in FIG. 2, and the stopper 34 is retracted below the surface of the document table. As a result, the document D is transferred to the envelope E by the insertion roller 33 as shown in FIG.
sent inside. A second sensor (not shown) is located between the insertion roller 33 and the envelope guide 26.
When this sensor detects the passage of the end of the document D, it emits a signal after a predetermined time, and this signal causes the opening claw to
5 and the stopper 34 return to their original positions, and the actuating device for the stopper 27 is activated.
The stopper 27 is retracted below the transport surface to discharge the envelope into which the document has been inserted out of the machine, and at the same time, the supply roller 12 is also rotated by this signal to supply the next envelope to the envelope transport section 20.

The conventional device described above has the following problems, and improvements thereto are strongly desired. First, the document D to be inserted into the envelope E is fed into the envelope by the insertion roller 33 as shown in FIG. Until then, the document D is sent into the envelope only by the kinetic energy due to the inertial force applied to the document D. Therefore, if the document D has a certain amount of mass and stiffness, such as because it is made up of multiple sheets of paper, the document can be fed to the bottom of the envelope without any problem, but if the document is fed with only one sheet of paper, If the paper does not have mass or is thin and has a weak texture, the inertial force applied by the insertion roller 33 will not be sufficient, so the document will not be completely fed into the envelope and the end will remain in the flap. It stops midway. In addition, even when the inertial force is insufficient, the document is constantly blown by the blower, so the document is fed while rubbing the back of the address side of the envelope, and this frictional resistance As a result, the inertial force is further reduced, further aggravating incomplete document feeding. Furthermore, in the conventional device, since the second sensor located between the insertion roller 33 and the envelope guide 26 detects the passage of the end of the document, the end of the document does not remain in the flap portion as described above. Even when the document feeding is stopped, a signal indicating that the document has passed is emitted, so that envelopes with incomplete document feeding are ejected as they are, and the document has to be manually re-inserted afterwards.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to apply sufficient inertia to documents to ensure that they are inserted into an envelope, regardless of the number of documents or the paper quality. To provide a document inserter capable of feeding into an envelope.

A second object of the invention is to provide a document inserter in which a document inserted into an envelope does not rub against the back side of the address side of the envelope, thereby causing no reduction in the applied inertial force.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A document insertion machine according to the present invention blows air into an envelope flap placed on an envelope guide to open it, and feeds a document toward the opening. A recess is provided in a part of the envelope guide located immediately in front of the opening, and an auxiliary feeding member that cooperates with the recess is provided so that a curved surface is formed in the width direction with respect to the direction in which the document surface travels. I made it.

[Operation] Next, the operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The feeding speed of the auxiliary feeding roller 33a is set to be approximately the same as the peripheral speed of the document insertion roller 33, and the document D fed between the auxiliary feeding roller 33a and the recess 28 is as shown in FIG. Since both sides of the auxiliary feed roller 33a are pressed by both shoulders of the recess 28, forming a columnar structure whose ridgeline is the contact area with the roller periphery, a certain degree of rigidity is imparted to the document D.

Therefore, the document being inserted into the envelope is prevented from being bent or twisted with respect to the insertion direction, and smooth insertion can be achieved.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 3 to 5 show embodiments of the present invention, in which the same parts as in the conventional device are given the same reference numerals. FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view showing essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line A--A in FIG. 3. As is clear from the figure, the auxiliary feed roller 33a is disposed just before the opening of the envelope E, which is opened by blowing wind on the flap portion.
The envelope guide 26 above the roller is provided with a recess 28 corresponding to the roller. There is a gap between the auxiliary feed roller 33a and the inner surface of the recess 28, which is approximately the thickness of the thinnest sheet of paper being used, and each roller constantly rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure.
The rotational peripheral speed of the auxiliary feed roller 33a is approximately the same as that of the insertion roller 33. Auxiliary feed roller 3
The document D sent between 3a and the recess 28 is
As seen in FIG. 4, both sides engage with the bent parts on both sides of the inner surface of the recess 28, and the central part engages with the auxiliary feed roller 3.
3a and the inner surface of the recess 28, the document D is sent out while being slightly bent as shown in the figure, without losing the inertial force applied by the insertion roller 33.
will be released just before the opening of envelope E. Therefore, even if the only document to be inserted is a single sheet of paper, the document can be fed into the opening reliably, and even if the paper is weak, the paper will bend slightly and will not bend while it is being inserted into the envelope. There is less of a tendency for this to occur, and it is reliably delivered.

In FIG. 3, only the main parts are shown and other parts are omitted to avoid complication, but the auxiliary feed roller 33a
is held elastically by a swingable arm, and is driven by a separate system from the insertion roller 33.
Therefore, if the document to be inserted is thick, the auxiliary feed roller 33a swings downward in the figure, but the document engages with the bent portions on both sides of the inner surface of the recess 28 as shown in FIG. 4, just as described above. , the center part is the auxiliary feed roller 3
It is sandwiched between 3a and the inner surface of the recess 28 and sent out. Further, since the drive system is separate, the applied inertial force can be further increased by setting the circumferential speed of the auxiliary feed roller 33a to be slightly faster than the circumferential speed of the insertion roller 33.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention in which a mechanism for achieving the second object of the present invention is added. In this embodiment, the auxiliary feeding mechanism is an auxiliary feeding belt 33b stretched between one of the rollers 36 and the insertion roller 33, and is disposed immediately before the envelope opening as shown. In the figure, reference numeral 37 denotes an air blower, which has an air passage extending in one direction, the tip of which opens near the roller 36, and is arranged so as to blow the air from the back of the envelope flap into the envelope. There is.
38 is a shutter provided in the air passage, which pivots from the imaginary line position to the illustrated position in response to a signal to be described later;
It acts to weaken the wind blowing out from the ventilation duct opening.

The state shown in FIG. 5 shows a state in which the document D has already been fed into the envelope E, but in order to understand the operation, an explanation will be given below from the initial state based on the figure. When the envelope E is conveyed by the conveyor belt 23 and stopped by the stopper 27, and the signal from the first sensor is not yet emitted, the opening claw 35
has not yet engaged the envelope opening and the shutter 38
is at the virtual line position. When the signal from the first sensor is generated, the opening pawl 35 engages the envelope opening as shown, and at the same time the stopper 34 is retracted downward to begin inserting the document D. When a second signal is issued via the delay circuit a little later than the first signal, the shutter 38 pivots from the imaginary line position to the illustrated position, weakening the wind blowing out from the ventilation duct opening.
Therefore, the phenomenon in which the document D is blown against the back side of the address side of the envelope by the wind is weakened, the frictional resistance with the inside of the envelope is significantly reduced, and in combination with the application of inertia by the auxiliary feed belt 33b, the document D is completely blown away. It can be sent into an envelope.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, the document inserter of the present invention provides the following excellent effects.

(1) By providing an auxiliary feeding mechanism just before the envelope opening, the kinetic energy due to the inertial force applied to the document by the insertion roller is retained, and the document is released just before the opening. Documents can be reliably fed to the bottom of the envelope.

(2) The gap between the auxiliary feed roller or the auxiliary feed belt and the inner surface of the recess on the envelope guide allows the document to be ejected with an appropriate amount of deflection.
The tendency of the document to bend while it is moving inside the envelope is reduced, and the document is fed reliably without getting stuck on the way.

(3) Since a separate drive system can be used for the auxiliary feed roller, the circumferential speed can be made higher than that of the insertion roller, and by applying even greater inertia to the document, feeding becomes more reliable. be able to.

(4) By installing a shutter in the air passage to reduce the blowing force of the wind to open the envelope flap when inserting a document, the paper is not blown strongly against the back side of the address side of the envelope, and the force is reduced due to friction. The resistance is greatly reduced, so even thin paper or paper that is weak and bends easily can be fed without any problem.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially omitted perspective view showing the main parts of a conventional document inserter, Fig. 2 is a partially sectional explanatory view when a document is fed into an envelope in the conventional device, and Fig. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 10... Envelope supply section, 20... Envelope transport section, 2
6...Envelope guide, 28...Recessed portion, 30...Document insertion portion, 33a...Auxiliary feed roller, 33b...
Auxiliary feed belt, 34... stopper, 38... shutter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A document insertion machine that blows wind on an envelope flap placed on an envelope guide to open it and feeds a document toward the opening, the envelope being located just before the opening. A document insertion machine characterized in that a recess 28 is provided in a part of the guide 26, and an auxiliary feeding member is provided that cooperates with the recess 28 to form a curved surface in the width direction with respect to the traveling direction of the document surface. 2 The auxiliary feeding member is the auxiliary feeding roller 33
A document insertion machine according to claim 1, which is a. 3 The auxiliary feeding member is the auxiliary feeding belt 33
The document insertion machine according to claim 1, which is item (b).