| 摘要 |
The invention is directed to an automatic mail tray loading device that is adapted to receive envelopes from an inserting machine or from other mail-processing systems and place them in mail trays. The device has a two-stage envelope buffer, which buffers the envelopes into a shingled array before depositing them into the mail tray. The first stage buffers the envelopes during purging of the second stage and the second stage buffers the mail during a tray change. The mail trays are held on a tray conveyor, at an inclination that ensures proper loading of the tray and reliable transfer of envelopes from the tray. The tray conveyor incrementally moves the envelope tray downward until the tray is full of envelopes. A new, empty tray is then moved into position and the filled tray is moved laterally to the tray offload station. The system comprises an envelope conveyor, a tray conveyor, a lateral tray transfer mechanism and an auxiliary buffer. The envelope conveyor receives the envelopes from the inserter and buffers them in a shingled stream before discharging them into the envelope tray. The tray conveyor positions the envelope tray to receive the envelopes as they are discharged from the envelope conveyor. The tray lateral transfer mechanism advances the filled tray laterally to the offload station. The auxiliary buffer is located at the upstream end of the envelope conveyor and functions as the auxiliary buffer to buffer envelopes arriving from the inserter during purging of the envelope conveyor prior to a tray change.
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