| 摘要 |
<p>An envelope hopper (10) having a plurality of bottom rods (30-34) to form a supporting surface for supporting a stack of envelopes (100) and a paddle (42) to push the envelopes towards an envelope feeder (20) at the downstream end. A scrub wheel (44) is rotatably mounted on a fixed, rotation axis on the paddle and is in contact with one of the bottom rods. The rotation axis of the scrub wheel is oriented at an angle relative to the rotation axis of the contacting rod, so that when the contacting rod rotates, it causes the scrub wheel to rotate, thereby producing a force on the paddle urging the paddle to move towards the downstream end. Preferably, the envelope hopper has a side rod (36) on one side of the envelope stack, and the supporting surface is tilted from the horizontal surface, so that the envelopes are moved towards the side rod by gravity in order to register against the side rod. Preferably, the side rod also rotates in order to reduce the friction between the envelope stack and the side rod. <IMAGE></p> |
