The envelope printer is adapted for use with envelopes. The envelope printer is a printer that is customized for printing envelopes. The envelope printer comprises a feed tray, an output tray and a printer. The feed tray and the output tray are attached to the printer. The feed tray is a first bin that is designed specifically to hold envelopes. The printer will draw blank envelopes from the feed tray for printing. The output tray is a second bin that is designed specifically to receive envelopes from the printer. The printer is a specially designed printer that is optimized for processing and directly printing on envelopes.

Presently disclosed embodiments are directed to a system and method for controlling/adjusting a position of mail product or other contents in an automated mail tray. Specifically, the disclosed embodiments utilize an automated mail tray with a ridged construction to allow automation equipment to adjust, load, and unload mail product in a structured manner. An adjustment feature, along with a moveable bottom surface of the mail tray, may be used to adjust a position of mail product in the automated mail tray into a vertical position. In some embodiments, the system may actuate the adjustment feature in response to sensor feedback that the mail product has fallen from the vertical position. Once the mail is in the vertical position, the moveable tray bottom may lift the mail product until it is elevated out of the tray for movement into other automation equipment without tray wall interference.

A mail processing system utilizes a conveyor to shingle or de-shingle mailpieces as they move through the processing system and utilizes belts to move the mailpieces. A first shingling conveyor moves a first mailpiece to overlap with a second mailpiece to create shingled mailpieces. A second shingling conveyor moves a first mailpiece away from a second mailpiece to de-shingle them to create singulated mailpieces. A camera takes images of the mailpieces in the conveyor and image analysis software is used to determine dimensional aspects of the mailpieces that are used to control the belt speeds to move mailpieces with respect to each other. A mail processing system may include a mail processing station that scans addresses, applies postage and/or weighs the mailpieces. Mail may be de-shingled prior to being weighed and then re-shingled for subsequent processing, or mail may be shingled prior to passing through a scale if weighing is not necessary.

A sheet storage device includes a case, a lift plate, and a lift attachment. The lift attachment is fixed, in a detachable manner, to a central portion of the lift plate in a width direction. The lift attachment supports a lower surface of the sheets stacked on the lift plate at a position higher than the upper surface of the lift plate. The lift attachment includes a base portion and a pair of arm portions. The pair of arm portions are respectively formed to extend from an end portion of the base portion that is on a downstream side in the sheet feed direction, to opposite directions in the width direction.

An items processing apparatus for placement and singulation of flat items has a placement device and a feed deck and a separation device. A portion of the placement device is arranged below the placement deck of the apparatus. The feed deck has an opening for an separation roller, and a portion of the separation device arranged above the feed deck. This portion and the separation roller form a gate of the separation device for the singulation of a stack of flat items. A control computer controls the placement device and separation device. The placement device is equipped for edge alignment of a stack of flat items with different formats and has at least two transport elements, which enable an automatic displacement of the stack transverse to the transport direction and placement of the stack at an alignment wall, as well as a transport of the stack in the transport direction toward the feed deck of the separation device, as well as a displacement of the stack counter to the transport direction. A movement assembly is provided to move the portion of the separation device in a direction counter to the transport direction. The control computer controls the alignment state of the transport elements of the placement device of the items processing apparatus, and controls the movement of the portion of the separation device. The aforementioned portion enables a displacement of the stack counter to the transport direction.

A sheet takeout and separation device of an embodiment has a takeout section, a sending section, a separation portion. The takeout section takes out a sheet. The sending section sends out the sheet taken out by the takeout section. The separation portion is provided so as to come in contact with the sheets taken out in an overlapping state by the takeout section, and separates the sheets one by one. In addition, the separation portion has a separation portion main body and a cover. The separation portion main body elastically deforms in accordance with a thickness of the sheet. The cover is provided on the separation portion main body so as to come in contact with the sheet. And, on a surface of the cover, a surface roughening treatment for enhancing a friction coefficient of the relevant surface is performed.

According to one embodiment, a sheet feed device includes a first roller, a second roller, a torque limiter, a holder, and a driving unit. The first roller conveys a sheet in a first direction while being in contact with a first surface of the sheet. The second roller faces the first roller and is in contact with a second surface which is a back side of the first surface of the sheet in a state of sandwiching the sheet between the second roller and the first roller. The torque limiter imparts an anti-torque to the second roller in order to generate a force on the second surface in a direction opposite to the first direction. The holder rotatably supports the second roller. The driving unit moves the holder and biases the holder toward the first roller.

A sheet feeding cassette includes a main body, a lift plate, a pair of side cursors, and an auxiliary lift plate. The main body is configured to accommodate a sheet fed out in a predetermined sheet feeding direction. The lift plate is provided in the main body in a liftable manner, and has a sheet placement surface on which the sheet is placed. The pair of side cursors is configured to be moved in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction and to come into contact with side edges of the sheet placed on the lift plate to align the sheet. The auxiliary lift plate is detachably attached to a notch portion which is formed in the lift plate so as to allow a moving of the side cursors.

A recording medium conveyance device includes a storage, a conveyer that conveys a conveyed object, an ultrasonic sensor that outputs a value indicating an attenuation amount of an ultrasonic wave caused by the conveyed object, and a hardware processor. The hardware processor executes a type detection process of detecting a type of the conveyed object based on output of the ultrasonic sensor and storing the type in the storage and an overlay detection process of detecting whether the conveyed object is in an overlay state in which a gap is present based on output of the ultrasonic sensor, and switches to either one of the type detection process and the overlay detection process. The hardware processor executes the type detection process when the type is not stored in the storage and executes the overlay detection process when the type is stored in the storage.

According to the present embodiment, a control device of a conveyor system controls a moving device and a suction device to suction the transport target article so that an approximate center of an opening of at least one suction unit is located on a first imaginary line, and remaining suction unit is located on one end side in a longitudinal direction of the transport target article with respect to the first imaginary line, controls a turning-over section to be in a front-back reversing orientation, and performs control so that suction of the transport target article by the suction units is released after the suction device is in the front-back reversing orientation.