Anti-abrasion assembly for mailpiece stacking assembly
View Patent ↗A stacking assembly is operative to protect stacked mailpieces from damage due to abrasion. The stacking assembly includes a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces and an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device. The LE urge roller is operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin. The TE alignment device includes a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device which cam defines a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade. The stacking assembly also includes an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from a moving surface of the ingestion assembly.
1. A stacking assembly operative to protect stacked mailpieces from damage due to abrasion, comprising:
a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces;
an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device, the LE urge roller operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin and the TE alignment device including a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device, the first cam defining a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade; and
an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from a moving surface of the ingestion assembly:
wherein the anti-abrasion linkage includes a second cam rotationally mounted about the axis of the first cam and a follower linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device.
2. The stacking assembly according to claim 1 wherein the first cam is driven by the digital rotary positioning device in a first direction and the second cam is driven by the positioning device in a second direction in reverse from the first direction.
3. The stacking assembly according to claim 1 wherein the first cam is driven by a shaft, the shaft driven by the digital rotary positioning device through an elastomeric coupling operative to isolate vibratory oscillations imposed on the cam by impact with stacked malipieces.
4. The stacking assembly according to claim 2 wherein the first cam is driven by a shaft, the shaft driven by the digital rotary positioning device through an elastomeric coupling operatiVe to isolate vibratory oscillations imposed on the cam by impact with stacked mailpieces.
5. The stacking assembly according to claim 1 wherein the first cam is dual lobed.
6. A stacking assembly operative to protect stacked mailpieces from damage due to abrasion, comprising;
a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces;
an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device, the LE urge roller operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin and the TE alignment device including a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device, the first cam defining a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade; and
an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from a moving surface of the ingestion assembly;
wherein the first cam surface is defined by the relationship:
R (θ)= R T /2×(1−COS(π×θ/θ T )
wherein θ is an angle from a line of reference
wherein R(θ) is a rise height (in inches) at each angle θ;
wherein RT is a total rise height (in inches)
wherein θ T is a total angle inscribed.
7. A stacking assembly operative to protect stacked mailpieces from damage due to abrasion, comprising:
a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces;
an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device, the LE urge roller operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin and the TE alignment device including a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device, the first cam defining a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade; and
an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from a moving surface of the ingestion assembly;
wherein the cam surface is defined by a locus of points N about a common vertex, each point N being disposed on a radial line a distance X from the vertex, and at an angle θfrom a line of reference; the cam surface being further defined by the relationship described in the following table:
Point No.
Angle θ
Total Displacement (X - inches)
1
0.00
0.538
2
4.66
0.540
3
9.33
0.544
4
14.000
0.552
5
18.667
0.563
6
23.333
0.577
7
28.000
0.594
8
32.667
0.614
9
37.333
0.635
10
42.000
0.659
11
46.667
0.685
12
51.333
0.712
13
56.000
0.741
14
60.667
0.771
15
65.333
0.801
16
70.000
0.832
17
74.667
0.863
18
79.333
0.893
19
84.000
0.923
20
88.667
0.952
21
93.333
0.979
22
98.000
1.005
23
102.667
1.029
24
107.333
1.050
25
112.000
1.070
26
116.667
1.087
27
121.333
1.101
28
126.000
1.112
29
130.667
1.120
30
135.333
1.124
31
140.000
1.126.
8. A stacking assembly operative to protect stacked mailpieces from damage due to abrasion, comprising:
a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces;
an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device, the LE urge roller operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin and the TE alignment device including a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device, the first cam defining a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade; and
an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from a moving surface of the ingestion assembly;
wherein the support blade spring-biased in a first direction toward the urge roller and further comprising a damping assembly for damping the motion of the support blade in a second direction opposing the first direction.
9. A mailpiece sorting assembly, comprising:
a feeder module for feeding and singulating mailpieces from a stack of mailpieces, each mailpiece being fed along a feed path in a first on-edge orientation;
a scanner for reading information contained on each of the mailpieces, and issuing electronic data useful for grouping the mailpieces for delivery;
a stacking and sorting having a plurality of sortation bins, each sortation bin having a stacking assembly including:
a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces;
an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device, the LE urge roller operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin and the TE alignment device including a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device, the first cam defining a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade; and
an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from an abrasion surface of the ingestion assembly, and,
a controller operatively coupled to the feeder, scanner and stacker and sorting device for sorting mailpieces in to one of the sortation bins;
wherein the digital rotary positioning device is a stepper motor.
10. A mailpiece sorting assembly, comprising:
a feeder module for feeding and singulating mailpieces from a stack of mailpieces, each mailpiece being fed along a feed path in a first on-edge orientation;
a scanner for reading information contained on each of the mailpieces, and issuing electronic data useful for grouping the mailpieces for delivery;
a stacker and sorter having a plurality of sortation bins, each sortation bin having a stacking assembly including:
a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces;
an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device, the LE urge roller operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin and the TE alignment device including a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device, the first cam defining a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade; and
an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from an abrasion surface of the ingestion assembly, and,
a controller operatively coupled to the feeder, scanner and stacker and sorting device for sorting mailpieces in to one of the sortation bins:
wherein the TE alignment device includes a rotary encoder operative to detect the rotational position of the cam about the rotational axis.
11. The mailpiece sorting assembly according to claim 9 wherein the cam is driven by a shaft, the shaft driven by the stepper motor through an elastorneric coupling operative to isolate vibratory oscillations imposed on the .cam by impact with the stacked matipieces.
12. The mailpiece sorting assembly according to claim 9 wherein the cam is dual lobed.
13. A mailpiece sorting assembly, comprising:
a feeder module for feeding and singulating mailpieces from a stack of mailpieces, each mailpiece being fed along a feed path in a first on-edge orientation;
a scanner for reading information contained on each of the mailpieces, and issuing electronic data useful for grouping the mailpieces for delivery;
a stacker and sorter having a plurality of sortation bins, each sortation bin having a stacking assembly including:
a support blade moveably mounted to a bin for accepting a stack of mailpieces;
an ingestion assembly including a Leading Edge (LE) urge roller and Trailing Edge (TE) alignment device, the LE urge roller operative to accept mailpieces from a supply of mailpieces, and urge a leading edge portion thereof toward a sidewall of the stacking bin and the TE alignment device including a first cam driven about an axis of rotation by a digital rotary positioning device, the first cam defining a surface operative to urge the trailing edge portion of each mailpiece into parallel alignment with the support blade; and
an anti-abrasion linkage responsive to rotation of the digital rotary positioning device to forcibly displace a surface of the stacked mailpieces away from an abrasion surface of the ingestion assembly, and,
a controller operatively coupled to the feeder, scanner and stacker and sorting device for sorting mailpieces in to one of the sortation bins;
wherein the support bade is spring-biased in a first direction toward the urge roller and further comprising a damping assembly for damping the motion of the support blade in a second direction opposing the first direction.