| 摘要 |
<p>A high speed sheet-material separating and feeder system is disclosed which handles a wide range of mixed thickness and sizes of envelopes and sheets. In a free running mode, the system can conservatively handle 30,000 pieces of mail per hour. The sheets are stacked at one end of the system, and are fed to a first of two separator mechanisms. The first separator mechanism is adjusted for thicker sheets of the range. Sheets leaving the first separator are then fed to the second of the two separator mechanisms. The second separator is adjusted for thinner sheets of the range. Sheets leaving the second separator are ejected one at a time, in seriatim, where they then can be fed to other sheet handling equipment for processing. The second separating mechanism is disposed downstream from the first separating mechanism by a length less than that of a minimum size envelope length. Each of the mechanisms includes a forward envelope thrusting element and an adjacent envelope retarding element for separating multiple envelopes disposed therebetween. The mechanisms include independent clutching devices for engaging and disengaging each of the forward envelope thrusting elements, respectively, and an overrunning clutch for each of the forward envelope thrusting elements for allowing an envelope to be pulled forward when its respective forward envelope thrusting element is disengaged.</p> |
