Currently available rotary feeders use a suction cup arrangement to pick the insert from the bottom of the feeder stack and pull the insert out from the bottom of the stack. Considerable force is needed to accomplish this task which results in rapid wear of the sucker cups. To mitigate the wear, only rigid sucker cups are used. For example a bellows sucker cup could not be used even though it would be superior for gripping non uniform inserts. A bellows sucker cup would wear fast and even tear due to the action associated with pulling the insert out of the bottom of the stack. The height of the stack is currently limited by the uniformity of the material which causes the leading edge of the stack to be non uniform. This will result in miss-feeds. The uniformity of the stack of inserts that are collected on the collating track is poor due to inaccurate placement of the insert relative to the collating track pusher pins due to a difference in velocity of the insert and the track or due to timing of the insert placement or due to air being trapped beneath the insert. Mechanical phasing of the feeders relative to the collating track and insert length also contribute to poor stack quality. Poor stack quality is a serious problem since it contributes to insertion jams, equipment stoppage and mailpiece damage.
Hence a need exists for a rotary feeder that is an improvement over existing technology which does not use a sucker cup to pull the insert out from the bottom stack, does not use a stack assist to justify the inserts to the front of the stack hopper; does not us electronic synchronization of the feeders to the collating track; and does not use a positive vacuum belt drive to place the insert on the collating track.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds