Continuous flow transfer system

US6217274A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Bell & Howell Postal Systems, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Eduard Svyatsky · Chicago, US
• David Schwaba · Chicago, US
• Anatoly Estis · Morton Grove, US
• Walter S. Conard · Lake Villa, US
• James Carl McClain · Chicago, US
• Stephen R. Archer · Des Plaines, US
• Fred Hegland · Lake Zurich, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 20, 1999
• Grant date: Apr 17, 2001
• Expiry date: Jan 20, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B65H2701/1916
• WIPO field: Handling
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

The present invention provides for a continuous flow transfer system designed to transfer the contents of a mail tray into a cartridge for subsequent processing and then, after processing, to transfer the contents of the cartridge back into a mail tray without disrupting the facing or orientation of each piece of mail. The continuous flow transfer system comprises both a cartridge loader and a cartridge unloader, both of which have a tray section, a transfer conveyor and a cartridge section. The tray section, or infeed section, of the cartridge loader is designed to deliver filled mail trays to the transfer section of the loader. At the transfer section, the contents of each mail tray are deposited into an intermediate container that is affixed to the transfer section. The transfer section then delivers the contents of the intermediate container into empty cartridges being fed onto the cartridge section, or discharge section, of the loader. Once filled, each cartridge is then transported away from the cartridge loader for processing, where the mail is removed from each container, processed and place back into a cartridge. After processing, the filled cartridges are then delivered t…