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US-12617226-B1 - Robotic envelope separator

US12617226B1US 12617226 B1US12617226 B1US 12617226B1US-12617226-B1

Abstract

An envelope separator is provided with a robotic arm and a support table where the robotic arm can fit fingers between envelopes to collect groups of envelopes from an envelope feeder and then separate those groups and allow for easy packaging of the envelopes into boxes. Preferably, the robotic arm accomplishes the packaging process as well by placing the groups of envelopes into boxes and continuing to gather and place successive groups of envelopes in successive boxes.

Inventors

  • David Murphy
  • Juan Lugo
  • Tom McCullough
  • Eric Beaulieu

Assignees

  • CENVEO WORLDWIDE LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20220929

Claims (18)

  1. 1 . An envelope separator comprising: an envelope feeder including a plurality of curved channels each with a base and an end and the envelope feeder defining a cylindrical feed area between the base and the end of the channels; a support adjacent the envelope feeder which is arranged to support envelopes received from said envelope feeder moving in a feed direction; a first support moveable with respect to said support and at least two fingers comprising a first and a second finger connected to said first support and extending from either side of the first support, at least one of the at least two fingers configured to be moved into the cylindrical feed area and the first and second fingers further configured to be positioned such that a plurality of the envelopes are pressed between said first and second fingers with the first finger pressing against a first face of a first one of the plurality of envelopes and the second finger pressing against a second face of a second one of the plurality of envelopes; at least one of the first and second fingers is a moveable finger moveable with respect to the first support.
  2. 2 . The envelope separator of claim 1 further wherein the envelope feeder comprises a wheel having an outer diameter and a rotation axis and defining the cylindrical feed area the wheel comprises a plurality of curved slots of equal length measured therealong, each curved slot arranged to curve away from a rotation direction of the wheel.
  3. 3 . The envelope separator of claim 2 further comprising: the support defining two spaced sections with a gap therebetween, the two spaced sections configured to support envelopes received from said envelope feeder; the first support configured to align within the gap between the two spaced sections with at least one of the first and second fingers extending a distance transverse to the two spaced sections when the first support and the two spaced sections are aligned in a plane wherein the two spaced sections each include a flat area and an angled area, the angled area aligned at least partially within the cylindrical feed area and the flat area positioned at least partially outside the cylindrical feed area, an end of the angled area defining an end of each spaced section, the end positioned at a height measured relative to the rotation axis which is less than the length of the plurality of curved slots.
  4. 4 . The envelope separator of claim 1 wherein the first support is moveable by a robotic mechanism to tilt the first support such that the first finger is positioned between two envelopes and the second finger remains free from contact with envelopes fed from the envelope feeder and the robotic mechanism configured to then move the second finger into position behind a group of envelopes and the moveable finger configured to move to hold the group of envelopes between the first and second fingers.
  5. 5 . The envelope separator of claim 1 wherein the first and second fingers are each moveable with respect to the first support.
  6. 6 . The envelope separator of claim 1 wherein the moveable finger is configured to rotate about a pivot; the support defining two spaced sections with a gap therebetween; wherein the envelope feeder is configured to rotate to feed the envelopes; and wherein the first support and moveable finger are configured to be aligned in the gap in an envelope receiving position, the moveable finger is configured to move to an envelope separating position at a rotation rate in degrees/second which is equal to or greater than a rotation rate of the envelope feeder in degrees/second.
  7. 7 . The envelope separator of claim 1 wherein the support defines two spaced sections with a gap therebetween and wherein at least one of the two spaced sections comprises two spaced tips and at least part of the envelope feeder is positioned between the two spaced tips.
  8. 8 . An envelope separator comprising: an envelope feeder; a support adjacent the envelope feeder which is arranged to support envelopes received from said envelope feeder moving in a feed direction; a first support moveable with respect to said support and at least two fingers comprising a first and a second finger connected to said first support and extending from either side of the first support, the first and second fingers configured to be positioned such that a plurality of the envelopes are between said first and second fingers; at least one of the first and second fingers is a moveable finger moveable with respect to the first support; the support comprises a moveable support and a surface, the moveable support configured to move relative to the surface away from the envelope feeder as envelopes are positioned on the surface such that the moveable support holds envelopes upright on the surface, and the moveable support is biased towards the envelope feeder with a spring.
  9. 9 . The envelope separator of claim 8 wherein the support further comprises at least one support finger which is moveable, and wherein the support finger is configured to press against one or more of the plurality of envelopes and when a group of the plurality of envelopes are held between the first and second fingers and removed from the support, the at least one support finger is configured to press against a first envelope in a next group of the plurality of envelopes to hold the first envelope in an upright position at least until the moveable support moves towards the envelope feeder to hold the first envelope in the upright position.
  10. 10 . An envelope separator comprising: an envelope feeder; a support adjacent the envelope feeder which is arranged to support envelopes received from said envelope feeder moving in a feed direction; a first support moveable with respect to said support and at least two fingers comprising a first and a second finger connected to said first support and extending from either side of the first support, the first and second fingers configured to be moved from below the support to be positioned such that a plurality of the envelopes are pressed between said first and second fingers; at least one of the first and second fingers is a moveable finger moveable with respect to the first support; at least one support finger mounted to the support and configured to press against envelopes received from the envelope feeder to maintain an upright orientation of the envelopes, the at least one support finger configured to move in the feed direction.
  11. 11 . The envelope separator according to claim 10 further comprising: the first support tiltable with respect to said suppor to modify a tilt angle of the first suppoer relative to the support.
  12. 12 . The envelope separator of claim 11 wherein the envelopes are fed upside down such that the upper corner is in a downward position.
  13. 13 . The envelope separator of claim 10 wherein the at least one support finger moves in the feed direction by rotating.
  14. 14 . An envelope separator configured to collect envelopes from an envelope feeder comprising: a support adjacent the envelope feeder and including a surface and a moveable support, the surface configured to support envelopes received from the envelope feeder moving in a feed direction and the moveable support configured to hold the envelopes upright and to move away from the envelope feeder as envelopes are fed onto the surface; a first support moveable with respect to said support and at least two fingers comprising a first and a second finger connected to said first support and extending from either side of the first support, the first support configured to align with the first finger between two envelopes with a group of envelopes between the first and second fingers, at least a portion of the first and second fingers are inclined with respect to the first support; at least one of the first and second fingers is a moveable finger moveable with respect to the first support; wherein the moveable finger is positioned closer to the envelope feeder than the first finger, the support comprising two spaced sections each having an inclined section and the moveable finger is moveable from a position aligned with the inclined sections to a position extending across the feed direction to separate a plurality of envelopes from other envelopes being fed out of the envelope feeder.
  15. 15 . The envelope separator of claim 14 wherein the envelope feeder is configured to rotate to feed the envelopes; and wherein the first support is attached to a robotic arm.
  16. 16 . The envelope separator of claim 14 further comprising: the first support is attached to a robotic arm; and the robotic arm is configured to modify a tilt angle of the first support relative to the support to place the first finger between the two envelopes and move the first support such that the second finger is positioned at an opposite side of the group of envelopes and the moveable finger is configured to move to exert pressure on the group of envelopes to hold the group of envelopes.
  17. 17 . The envelope separator of claim 16 wherein an end of the at least one finger is configured to move away from the envelope feeder.
  18. 18 . The envelope separator of claim 14 further comprising at least one support finger mounted to the support and configured to press against envelopes received from the envelope feeder to maintain an upright orientation of the envelopes, the at least one support finger configured to move in the feed direction wherein the at least one side support moves in the feed direction by rotating.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The following relates to paper products handling equipment and more particularly a robotic system for separating and packaging envelopes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Collecting and packaging envelopes is often a manual process where machines will fold and glue envelopes into various sizes and then feed them out into stacks for packaging. The packaging process involves a worker collecting a group of envelopes and moving them into a box or other package, closing the box and moving onto the next stack. Envelope manufacturing speeds have significantly increased over the years and although operators are typically able to keep up with the speed, there can be a risk of injury. Automated systems are also generally more efficient and cost effective and therefore gathering and manipulation of envelopes in an automated and efficient manner can increase throughput, quality and save cost. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a simple robotic solution for collecting and packaging envelopes or other paper products fed from various manufacturing machines. It is further desirable to provide a robotic solution for efficiently collecting envelopes/paper products to increase throughput and reliability. These and other objects are achieved by providing a combination of a robotic arm and a support table where the robotic arm can fit between groups of envelopes supported on the support table to collect groups of envelopes and then separate those groups and place them in packaging. In one aspect, an envelope separator is provided with an envelope feeder, a support and a first support. The support is adjacent the envelope feeder which is arranged to support envelopes received from said envelope feeder moving in a feed direction. The first support is moveable with respect to said support and at least two fingers comprising a first and a second finger connected to said first support and extending from either side of the first support, the first support configured to place the first and second fingers in position such that a plurality of the envelopes are between said first and second fingers. At least one of the first and second fingers is a moveable finger moveable with respect to the first support. In certain aspects the envelope feeder comprises a wheel having an outer diameter and a rotation axis and defining a cylindrical feed area the wheel comprises a plurality of curved slots of equal length measured therealong, each curved slot arranged to curve away from a rotation direction of the wheel. In other aspects the first support is moveable by a robotic mechanism to tilt the first support such that the first finger is positioned between two envelopes and the second finger remains free from contact with envelopes fed from the envelope feeder and the robotic mechanism configured to then move the second finger into position behind a group of envelopes and the moveable finger configured to move to hold the group of envelopes between the first and second fingers. In still other aspects the support comprises a moveable support and a surface, the moveable support configured to move relative to the surface away from the envelope feeder as envelopes are positioned on the surface such that the moveable support holds envelopes upright on the surface, and the moveable support is biased towards the envelope feeder with a spring. In yet other aspects the support further comprises at least one support finger which is moveable, and wherein the support finger is configured to press against one or more of the plurality of envelopes and when a group of the plurality of envelopes are held between the first and second fingers and removed from the support, the support finger is configured to press against a first envelope in a next group of the plurality of envelopes to hold the first envelope in an upright position at least until the moveable support moves towards the envelope feeder to hold the first envelope in the upright position. In still other aspects the support defines two spaced sections with a gap therebetween, the two spaced sections configured to support envelopes received from the envelope feeder. The first support is configured to align within the gap between the two spaced sections with at least one of the first and second fingers extending a distance transverse to the two spaced sections. The first support and the two spaced sections are aligned in a plane wherein the two spaced sections each include a flat area and an angled area, the angled area aligned at least partially within the cylindrical feed area and the flat area positioned at least partially outside the cylindrical feed area, an end of the angled area defining an end of each spaced section, the end positioned at a height measured relative to the rotation axis which is less than the length of the plurality of curved slots. In other aspects the first and second fingers are each moveable with respect to the first support.