Mail feeder with improved stripper mechanism
First Claim
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1. A mail piece feeder comprising:
- a pickoff mechanism including a pickoff belt mounted on rollers including a drive roller, the pickoff belt positioned to frictionally engage a mail piece at one end of a stack of mail positioned on a side edge of the mail pieces; and
a stripper positioned at an exit of the pickoff belt, the stripper configured to engage an overlying mail piece of a pair of mail pieces including an underlying mail piece and the overlying mail piece fed together in a double feed so that the overlying mail piece is separated from the underlying mail piece, wherein the stripper is dimensioned for use in the pickoff feeder mechanism for singulated mail pieces transported on a pinch belt conveyor, the stripper includinga flexible backing sheet,a friction shoe attached to the backing sheet and positioned to engage the overlying mail piece, anda plurality of leaf springs of different lengths and stiffnesses disposed beneath the backing sheet such that external pressure against the friction shoe results in resilient bending of at least one of the leaf spring such that force is exerted outwardly against the backing by the at least one leaf spring.
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Abstract
A stripper of the invention uses flat metal springs (leaf springs) preferably made of spring steel and a flexible polymer based friction material covering the springs on one side so that the friction material contacts an incoming mail piece passing by the stripper along the friction surface presented by the outside of the friction material. A stripper according to the invention has variable stiffness, is quick responding, and is critically damped, meaning that incoming mail pieces will not bounce off it with excessive force likely to cause a misfeed or loss of control of the mail piece.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A mail piece feeder comprising:
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a pickoff mechanism including a pickoff belt mounted on rollers including a drive roller, the pickoff belt positioned to frictionally engage a mail piece at one end of a stack of mail positioned on a side edge of the mail pieces; and a stripper positioned at an exit of the pickoff belt, the stripper configured to engage an overlying mail piece of a pair of mail pieces including an underlying mail piece and the overlying mail piece fed together in a double feed so that the overlying mail piece is separated from the underlying mail piece, wherein the stripper is dimensioned for use in the pickoff feeder mechanism for singulated mail pieces transported on a pinch belt conveyor, the stripper including a flexible backing sheet, a friction shoe attached to the backing sheet and positioned to engage the overlying mail piece, and a plurality of leaf springs of different lengths and stiffnesses disposed beneath the backing sheet such that external pressure against the friction shoe results in resilient bending of at least one of the leaf spring such that force is exerted outwardly against the backing by the at least one leaf spring. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A mail piece feeder comprising:
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a pickoff mechanism configured to frictionally engage a mail piece at one end of a stack of mail; and a stripper positioned at an exit of the pickoff belt and configured to engage a first mail piece of a pair of mail pieces, including a second mail piece and the first mail piece fed together in a double feed, so that the first mail piece is separated from the second mail piece, the stripper including a flexible backing sheet, a friction shoe attached to the backing sheet and positioned to engage the first mail piece, and a plurality of leaf springs of different lengths and stiffnesses positioned to bias the friction shoe against the first mail piece, wherein external pressure against the friction shoe results in resilient bending of at least one of the leaf spring. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A mail piece feeder comprising:
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a pickoff mechanism configured to frictionally engage a mail piece at one end of a stack of mail; and a stripper positioned at an exit of the pickoff belt and configured to engage a first mail piece of a pair of mail pieces, including a second mail piece and the first mail piece fed together in a double feed, so that the first mail piece is separated from the second mail piece, the stripper including a flexible backing sheet, a friction shoe attached to the backing sheet and positioned to engage the first mail piece, and at least one leaf spring positioned to bias the friction shoe against the first mail piece, wherein the at least one leaf spring is critically damped, wherein external pressure against the friction shoe results in resilient bending of the critically damped at least one leaf spring, wherein the at least one leaf spring includes a plurality of leaf springs of different lengths and stiffnesses. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification