High Capacity, High Speed Document Accumulator

The invention disclosed herein relates to accumulating apparatus used in document feeding systems, and more particularly to system and apparatus for accumulating and stitching a collation of sheets at high speed.

The present application is related to U.S. applications Ser. Nos. 08/229,933, 08/230,024 now U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,411,252, 08/228,990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,431, 08/229,932 and 08/228,991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,212, all concurrently filed herewith, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

There are many applications known in which documents are fed along a paper path and then collated for further processing. Generally, the documents must be properly aligned when the collation is formed before further processing, such as stitching (stapling) or insertion into an envelope, can be performed.

Collating machines accumulate documents, for example, burst or cut sheets from a continuous, perforated web which is fed into the machine and guided towards a path for further processing. In inserter systems, such as the 9 Series.TM. Inserting System sold by Pitney Bowes Inc., collating machines are used in-line with other paper handling equipment as a means of assembling a plurality of sheets of paper into a particular, desired packet prior to further processing, which may include additional collating, stitching, folding and inserting. In a typical paper handling sequence involving an initial output consisting of a plurality of sheets of paper, to be later combined with subsequent output other sheet feeding devices situated downstream, the initial output is fed from a first feeding device, for example, a burster or cutter, seriatim to the collator which collates the output into desired packets. Each packet may then be folded, stitched or subsequently combined with other output from document feeding devices located downstream thereof and ultimately inserted into a mailing envelope. For further background, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,935,429, 4,547,856 and 4,733,359.

Examples of collating machines used in inserter systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,805,841 and 4,640,506 which disclose collators having the capability to collate in standard or reverse order. Collating machines are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,799,663, 4,925,180 and 4,925,362. The collating machines disclosed in the aforementioned patents use an upper and lower belt and pulley configuration to convey sheets into and collations out of the collating machine. Stop registration wheels are used to stop the forward progress of the sheets being accumulated to form the collation. The stop/registration wheels are wheels which have a section cut out to provide a flat vertical surface which abuts a flat horizontal surface for stopping and aligning the leading edge of the sheets to form a collation.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,379 an improvement to the foregoing collating machine is provided in the form of pivoting stops to register the lead edge of the collation and pinch rollers which apply a normal force to the collation as the belts transport the collation from the collation machine.

While the foregoing collating machines have been found to be suitable for typical collations of less than twenty sheets, such collating machines are not suitable for larger collations of up to fifty sheets.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system and apparatus for accumulating large collations at high speed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a collating system and apparatus squares the collation as it is accumulated in a stacking area and maintains the squareness of the collation as it is conveyed out of the stacking area.

The present invention provides a high speed, high capacity accumulator, also referred to herein as a collating machine, that accumulates sheets into collations of up to fifty sheets. The present invention has a footprint smaller than typical accumulators in high speed sheet processing machines such as inserters.

Individual sheets are fed seriatim from an upstream feeding unit to a stacking area of the accumulator where the sheets are registered against a first set of gates until the entire collation has been accumulated. As the end of collation (EOC) sheet enters the accumulator section, a pair of pushers follow the EOC sheet in and squares the entire collation.

In accordance with the present invention, a collating machine for stacking sheets of paper fed seriatim thereto from a singulating feeder comprises a deck including a stacking area and a plurality of upper, endless, elastic belts, each of the belts moving around a pair of upstream and downstream pulleys suspended above the deck. A plurality of ramp guide blocks are adjustably secured to the deck between the pairs of pulleys, wherein a lower reach of each of the belts is lower than the highest section of the ramp guide blocks. There is structure for stopping each of the sheets at a downstream end of the stacking area which is a section of the deck between the stopping structure and the ramp guide block. Feeding structure is situated upstream from the pulleys for feeding each of the sheets over the ramp guide blocks toward the stacking area until a trail edge of the sheet moves from control of the feeding structure, wherein the belts convey the sheet to the stopping structure. A pusher transport squares the collation against the stopping structure and transports the collation from the stacking area.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the downstream end of the stitching/accumulating apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a representation of lead edge, trail edge and saddle stitching;

FIG. 3 is an upstream perspective view of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of an accumulator section of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is side sectional view of a containment section of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a two way adjustable side guide device used in the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of the drive system of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1 with the pushers in the homed position;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1 with the pushers coasted past a homed position into an empty accumulation section;

FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 but with one sheet in the accumulation section;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1 with the pushers in a squared-up state;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the programmable stitcher/accumulator system associated with the stitching apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the operator interface setup of the stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1.;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram indicating various diagnostic tests that can be performed for stitching/accumulating apparatus of FIG. 1.; and

FIGS. 15A and 15B are flow charts of a pusher error recovery algorithm.

In describing the present invention, reference is made to the drawings, wherein there is seen a stitcher/accumulator module, generally designated 10, including an input section 12, an accumulation section 14 and a containment section 16. Stitcher/accumulator module 10 also includes side frame members 18 and 19.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, input section 12 includes two endless, flat input belts 20 that are driven by a conventional flat belt drive 21. Above each belt 20 is a roller ball carriage 22 which is suspended above belt 20 by a bracket (not shown). Each roller ball carriage 22 includes at least two roller balls 24 that are suspended through respective holes in the bottom of carriage 22 such that roller balls 24 provide a normal force to belts 24 and freely rotate with the movement of belts 24. Preferably, roller balls 24 are ball bearings that protrude through low abrasive plastic cups (not shown) seated in the holes in carriage 22. A pair of conventional idler input rollers 26 that are located above the downstream end of input belts 20 cooperate with belts 20 to provide a positive drive of the sheets 5 as they enter accumulation section 14. Idler input rollers 26 are rotatably mounted on a shaft 28 that is rigidly mounted to side frame members 18 and 19.

Accumulation section 14 includes an upper O-ring belt drive that receives the sheet 5 from input section 12 and conveys the sheet to primary registration gates 66. The O-ring belt drive includes three endless O-ring belts 34 that move around three upstream, idler pulleys 30 and three downstream, drive pulleys 36. Idler pulleys 30 are rotatably mounted on idler pulley shaft 32 and are locked in place on shaft 32 by conventional means, such as spring closure clamps 33. This arrangement provides a non-tool adjustment of idler pulleys 30 along shaft 32 to accommodate different sizes of the sheets being accumulated. Each end of shaft 32 is rectangularly shaped and fits tightly into a U-shaped opening of a locking block 44. A pair of spring plungers 46 in each locking block 44 locks shaft 32 in place. Drive pulleys 36 are secured to shaft 38 via a conventional roller clutch arrangement (not shown). Shaft 38 is journaled in frame members 18 and 19.

There are a plurality of guide ramps 40 that are adjustably mounted on deck plate 42. Guide ramps 40 are adjustable longitudinally for handling a variety of document sizes and have longitudinal slots through which the lower reach of belts 34 move when sheets are moving over the ramps.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 6, a two-way adjustable side guide assembly 48 is positioned downstream of ramps 40. Side guide assembly 48 includes a pair of laterally spaced side guides 62 that are suspended by a transverse mounting plate 52. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, side guides 62 are approximately 6 inches long and include a vertical member 64 and a horizontal member 65. Vertical side guide members 64 insure side registration and horizontal member 65 functions as an deck member such that side guide assembly 48 captures sheets as they are transported over ramps 40. Side guides 62 are adjustably suspended from mounting plate 52 via shoulder screws 61 via shoulder screws 61 extending through slots 63 in mounting plate 52 and into mounting block 67 which is fastened to vertical member 64. Mounting plate 52 is slidably mounted in a pair of longitudinal, U-shaped rail guides that are affixed to side frame members 18 and 19. Side guides 62 are longitudinally positionable so as to be suitable for the registration of any size sheets that are conveyed into the accumulator section 14 to form a collation for further processing. Mounting plate 52 includes a locking mechanism that locks mounting plate 52 and thus side guide assembly 48 in a fixed longitudinal position. The locking mechanism includes two locking plates 54 that are held in place by shoulder screws 60, a center shaft 56 and a spring 58. Shoulder screws 60 pass through slots 59 in locking plates 54, whereby locking plates 54 are laterally movable. When locking plates 54 are squeezed together, shoulder screws 60 and side guide assembly 48 freely moves longitudinally within rail guides 50. When plates 54 are released, plates 54 protrude outward causing shoulder screws 60 to lock side guide assembly 48 against rail guides 50. This arrangement provides a self locking, easily positioned registration device that registers less than the entire document length.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 7, at the downstream end of accumulation section 14, a pair of primary registration gates 66 are laterally disposed and pivot about primary gate shaft 68, which is controlled by a solenoid (not shown). In a vertical position gates 66 function as registration stops for accumulation section 14. Gates 66 pivot down when the accumulation has been completed and the collation is being removed from accumulation section 14. There are three spring steel plates 80 (FIG. 3) that are mounted at one end to mounting bar 102 and the other end of which is suspended perpendicular to the paper path in accumulation section 14. Spring plates 80 function as a guide for the leading edge of incoming sheets. This spring action prevents the lead edge of the incoming sheet of large collations from passing over gates 66, prevents "kick back" of the sheet when it hits gates 66 and thus facilitates the squaring of collation 5 against gates 66.

Containment section 16 provides containment and registration of collation 5 as it is processed through it at a high speed. Containment section 16 includes a primary containment plate 70 and two registration gates 72 which protrude through primary containment plate 70 when in a stop/registration position. There are two laterally spaced longitudinal registration guides 76 which are adjustably positioned to provide side to side registration of collation conveyed 5 in containment section 16. Registration guides 76 are generally U-shaped and are mounted with the open side of the guides facing each other such that each lateral side of collation 5 is surrounded by one of registration guides 76. There are two extendible arms 84 that are mounted on primary containment plate 70 and extend over the downstream end of accumulation section 14. Arms 84 have a primary function of downwardly guiding the lead edge of sheets being accumulated to ensure that the lead edge hits primary registration gates 66. This is done in conjunction with spring plates 80. Such downward guidance is needed because O-ring belts 34 are positioned above deck 42 at a height sufficient to accumulate up to 50 sheets. Arms 42 further function to guide the lead edge of the collation into containment section 16, thus preventing the lead edge of collation 5 from separating as the collation is conveyed at high speed. The entire containment section 16 is suspended by two cross braces 78 which are fixed to side frame members 18 and 19 of stitcher/accumulator module 10. Primary containment plate 70 is suspended a fixed distance d above deck 42 such that collations of at least 50 sheets pass therebetween. The height of the opening of each side guide 76 is approximately the same fixed distance d. The vertical wall members 79 of side guides 76 are laterally disposed a distance approximately equal to the width of collation 5. Primary containment plate 70 has slots therein through which secondary registration gates 72 pivot. Secondary registration gates 72 pivot about shaft 74. Gates 72 operate as stops when trail edge stitching is desired. A rack and pinion longitudinal gate position adjustment mechanism 75 (FIG. 5) provides means for longitudinally positioning gates 72 for precision trail edge stitching of collations of all size document. Shaft 74 is suspended through slots 77 in side frames 18 and 19 between a pair blocks 73. There is a step in each block that slidably fits within a slot 77 for guiding the positioning of gates 72 by the rack and pinion mechanism 75. A conventional cross brace structure (not shown) supports blocks 73. Shaft 74 extends through one of blocks 73 for coupling to the rotary solenoid mechanism which controls the pivoting of shaft 74 and thus gates 72.

Containment arms 84 are mounted to the underside of primary containment plate 70. Arms 84 are normally extended into the downstream end of accumulation section 14 for guiding the lead edge of the sheet entering accumulation section 14. Arms 84 can be retracted when adjustments are made to stitching mechanism 90. Arms 84 are locked in normal extended configuration by conventional means such as locking screws (not shown).

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, stitching mechanism 90 includes at least one stitch head 104 that is adjustably positioned on a stitch head mounting bar 102. Mounting bar 102 is fixedly mounted on vertical extensions 100 of side frame members 18 and 19. Stitch head 104 feeds a section of wire 105 through collation 5 to be stitched (stapled) toward a clincher 106 which bends the ends of wire 105 to form a staple in a conventional process which is well known. Up to three stitch heads 104 can be mounted on stitch head mounting bar 102 at one time. As seen in FIG. 1, a pair of dummy blocks 92 are mounted to stitch head mounting bar 102 when only one stitch head 104 is used. Stitch head 104 and dummy block 92 are locked in place on stitch head mounting bar 102 by locking arm 94. Wire spools 98 are mounted on an adjustable cradle assembly 96 which accommodates up to three spools.

A collation drive system 108, which moves collation 5 from accumulation section 14, includes two pairs of pushers 116 that are mounted on two, parallel conventional, endless chain drives 114. On each chain drive 114, pushers 114 are 180.degree. apart. Chain drives 114 are conventionally coupled to a pusher servo motor 122.

The present invention performs high speed accumulation and processing of collation 5. Referring now to FIG. 7, drive system 108 is conventionally coupled to an AC. motor 118. Input belts 20 and O-ring belts 34 are driven at approximately 115 inches/second. Pusher 116 are driven at approximately 75 inches/second.

In operation, the present invention provides new system and apparatus for processing, accumulating and stitching collations of sheets fed from different feeding devices, such as web or cut sheets feeders. The system is programmed to perform an operator selectable mode of stitching, such as lead-edge stitching, trail-edge stitching or no stitching. A feeding device (not shown) is coupled to stitcher/accumulator module 10 in a conventional manner. Individual sheets 4 are fed seriatim from the feeding device to input section 12 of stitcher/accumulator module 10. The sheets 4 are then conveyed seriatim by input belts 20 into accumulation section 14 where O-ring belts 34 register the sheets are registered against primary registration gates 66 until an entire collation 5 has been accumulated. As an end of collation (EOC) sheet enters accumulator section 14, pushers 116 follow the EOC sheet in to perform certain programmed functions depending on the mode of stitching selected. If lead-edge stitching mode has been selected, pushers 116 complete the squaring of the entire collation against primary registration gates 66 until the stitching is completed at which time pushers 116 transport collation 5 out of accumulation section 14. Pushers 116 push collation 5 as primary registration gates 66 rotate down to allow collation 5 to be processed out of accumulation section 14. If trail-edge stitching has been selected, collation 5 is indexed forward from accumulator section 14 by pushers 116 to a predetermined position against secondary registration gates 72 at which point the collation is trail-edge stitched and then processed out of stitcher/accumulator module 10 by pushers 116. If no stitching has been selected pushers 116 transport collation 5 directly out of accumulation section 14 and containment section 16 for further processing.

Accumulation section 14 can be configured to process any traditional size document. Ramps 40 and side guides 62 are longitudinally positionable to handle sheets of any predetermined length, for example, between seven to twelve inches. Side guides 62 are positioned laterally to handle sheets of various widths. Accumulation section 14 can accumulate up to 50 documents at a high rate of speed, such as 115"/second, for further processing. A single sheet 4 is transported into accumulation section 14 by the positive drive of input belts 20 and idler rollers 26. As the sheet moves over guide ramps 40, O-ring belts 34 assist in and eventually take over moving the sheet forward. As the sheet rides over guide ramps 40 the lead edge of the sheet is received by side guide assembly 48 and is directed downward by spring plates 80 until it stops against primary registration gates 66. Guide ramps 40 are adjustable longitudinally and can be positioned in staggered arrangement based on the size of sheets being accumulated. Guide ramps 40 are positioned to ensure that O-ring belts 34 maintain a positive drive of the sheets until the lead edge stops against primary registration gates 66 at which time the trail edge of the sheet has passed over all ramps 40.

Accumulation section 14 includes an anti-kickback feature that insures end to end squareness of collation 5. For approximately the first ten sheets of collation 5, spring plates 80 function as a guide that prevents sheet 4 which is moving at a high speed from being lift over primary registration gates 66. For any additional sheets 4, spring plates 80 provide a continuous load on each sheet as it is being accumulated. This prevents the sheet from kicking back or rebounding after it hits primary registration gates 66. As the sheets are accumulated, the height of the collation rises a predetermined distance at which height spring plates 80 compress each sheet added thereafter as the sheet approaches primary registration gates 66. Each sheet added to the collation increases the deflection of spring plates 80, which continuously apply pressure to the upstream section of the collation such that the sheet being accumulated is prevented from kicking backwards after it hits registration gates 66. The lateral position of each spring plate 80 is adjustable to accommodate the variety of document widths that can be processed. It has been found that for large collations pushers 116 will not square up the sheets that are shingled within the collation. The anti-kickback feature of the present invention facilitates the squaring large collations being accumulated at high speed.

The footprint of accumulation section 14 is much shorter than typical accumulators found in inserting machines. If a jam occurs in accumulation section 14, manual removal of the collation is accomplished by lifting shaft 32 out of locking block 44, and thus lifting belts 34 off the collation for total access to the collation, allowing easy manual removal of the jams or the entire collation. Shaft 32 is then returned to a locked position in locking block 44 for normal operation.

Heretofore, stitching in high speed inserting machines has been limited to a fixed location usually in a lead or trail edge position, for example one half inch from the lead or trail edge. Typically, conventional stitchers are limited to stitching approximately thirty sheets when performing lead stitching and the maximum number of sheets that can be processed for trail edge stitching is even lower. Stitcher/accumulator 10 can process up to fifty sheets for both lead edge and trail edge stitching.

Referring now to FIG. 12, stitcher/accumulator module 10 includes a control panel 120 that provides means for an operator to program the configuration of stitcher/accumulator module 10. Operator control panel 120 is coupled to a device controller 150 which contains specific system routines that are selected, monitored and controlled by an operator through control panel 150. These routines include setup, diagnostic and operational routines that provide programmable options to customize stitcher/accumulator module 10 for each desired task. Examples of the programmable options include entering paper size, stitch mode (lead, trail or other), and trail edge offset. Examples of diagnostics include testing solenoids, home pusher test, square up pusher test, motor test and photocell transition display. Controller 150 is coupled to a driver 152 that controls stepper (servo) motor 122 which in turn controls pushers 116. Encoder 126 is coupled to stepper motor 122 and provides encoder counts to controller 150 by which controller 150 controls stepper motor 122 to move pusher 116. Controller 150 is also coupled to the solenoids that control gates 66 and 72 and stitcher 104, to motors 118 and 122, and to photocells 160-168 (shown collectively as stitcher motors, solenoids and photocells 154. In this manner, controller 150 controls the operation and diagnostic testing of stitcher/accumulator module 10.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a method of programming stitcher/accumulator module 10 is shown. At step 170, the operator begins the programming by entering the size of the sheets to be accumulated and stitched. At step 172, the operator selects a stitch mode (lead, trail, no stitch). At step 174, if trail mode was selected, a trail edge offset is entered at step 176. With the foregoing information entered, the routines in controller 150 control pushers 116 to maximize the throughput of the machine. Similarly, the operator can select diagnostic routines (FIG. 14) that check the system integrity of stitcher/accumulator module 10, including movement of pushers 116 to steady state positions.

Stitcher/accumulator module 10 includes a unique method for recovering from a pusher position error in a pusher controlled servo mechanism resulting from a sudden loss of power to a motor driving the pusher, such as in an emergency stop (ESTOP). If a sudden loss of power occurs while pushers 116 are moving, pushers 116 do not instantaneously stop, but rather coast to a stop because of the inertia present in collation drive system 108. Normally when such loss of power occurs, manual advancement of the pushers would be performed to avoid damage to the sheets when power is restored. The present invention includes an error recovery method for repositioning the pushers in a manner that prevents any damage to the sheets in accumulation section 14. The error recovery method repositions pushers 116 to their expected destination by slowly moving the pushers backwards and forward, as necessary, to eliminate position errors. Preferably, a slow motor profile based on the encoder counts is used to adjust pusher position rather than one based on time as in a typical real time control profile. By basing the slow motor profile on encoder counts and keeping the speed low, error in positioning the pushers is eliminated. All slow motor profiles are run when the distance to move pusher 116 forward or backward is greater than the acceleration and deceleration portions of the slow motor profile. It is also necessary to range test the distance to move the pushers to ensure that the pushers are not moved more than one cycle. This prevents damage to pushers 116 and sheets in accumulation section 14.

Referring now to FIGS. 15A and 15B, a full position error recovery algorithm, referred to herein as the Error Recovery Algorithm, is shown for servo controlled pushers. The algorithm uses pusher position when power was lost, pusher coasted position, a known reference point and pusher state information to adjust the pushers forward or backwards. The algorithm can be used with any pusher servo system that is programmed to be in one of several predetermined states.

Preferably, pushers 116 are programmed to be in one of the following states representing one cycle of pusher movement:

1) homed, a steady state position waiting for activation (FIG. 8);

2) homing, moving to a homed position from outputting state;

3) squared-up, steady state position having squared the collation against registration gates (FIG. 11);

4) squared-up and stitched, same as squared-up steady state position but collation stitched;

5) squaring, moving to a square position from a homed position; or

6) outputting, moving a collation.

The Error Recovery Algorithm is used to recover from any pusher position error, even position errors caused by manual movement of pushers 116 by an operator. For example, a power loss may occur when the pushers are in one of the stationary positions, i.e., homed, squared-up, or squared-up and stitched, and the operator moves the pushers from their stationary position. Preferably, the Error Recovery Algorithm is performed whenever power is restored to the pusher stepper motor so that position recovery is possible for any position error that occurs as a result of a power loss to pusher motor 122 or while there is a power loss to pusher motor 12. Thus, the Error Recovery Algorithm is performed whenever power is restored to pusher motor 122 regardless of the state of the pushers when power was lost. When power is restored to pusher motor 122, pushers 116 are first backed up in case any sheets are present in accumulation section 14. Forward positioning of pushers 116 happens after any sheets in the system are settled in accumulation section 14. This avoids damage to the sheets that may occur if pushers 116 are advanced to the next steady state position.

The error recovery method is based on an encoder count of a known reference position, such as a home pusher position. Each time pushers 116 are in a homed state the encoder count representing that steady state homed position is saved by microprocessor 150. This saved count, referred to herein as "homed encoder", provides a reference point to determine the start and final destination of pushers 116 in each cycle of pusher states.

In FIG. 8, pushers 116 are stopped in a homed position just below deck 42. In FIG. 11, the collation is complete in accumulation section 14 and pushers 116 are stopped in a squared-up position. However, in FIGS. 9 and 10, power to pusher motor 122 has been lost and pushers 116 have coasted past the homed position. In FIG. 9, no sheets are present in accumulation section 14; but in FIG. 10, a first sheet of a collation was being fed into accumulation section 14 when power was lost.

At the instant power to pushers motor 122 was lost, the count of encoder 119 at that instant is saved as a "lost power" encoder and the encoder is reset. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that during a loss of power to motor 122 encoder 119 still has power. Without power to motor 122 the inertia of collation drive system 108 caused pushers 116 to coast to a stop at the positions shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 which are past the expected destination of the pusher homed state.

In the above example, pushers 116 were in a homing state when power was lost and the expected destination was the homed position. The encoder count when power is restored, referred to herein as the glide encoder count (P.sub.GLIDE), is then added to the lost power count (P.sub.LOST) to determine a new encoder (P.sub.NEW) count representing the current position of pushers 116:

If P.sub.NEW is greater than a reference homed position encoder count (P.sub.HOMED) plus an encoder count (P.sub.distance) representing the distance between pushers 16 on chain drive 114, the error recovery routine runs a very slow backwards motor profile to home pushers 116. If P.sub.NEW is less than P.sub.HOMED, the error routine runs a very slow forward motor profile to home pushers 116. When the profile is completed, the homed reference point is updated. Thus, by adding the lost power encoder P.sub.LOST to the glide encoder P.sub.GLIDE the error system knows where pushers 116 are when power is restored to pusher motor 122. With this information the algorithm determines whether the pushers need to be adjusted forward or backwards based on the current position and the current state of pushers 116. Whether or not any adjustment needs to be made, a new home and/or square position is computed so that the next error condition can adjusted in the same way. Any backward movement of pushers 116 takes place before paper is allowed to settle out, that is before motor 188 is turned on to prevent additional jams. After the back up is complete motor 118 is started. Once all paper settles out any necessary forward adjustment is completed.

The foregoing summary is described with the homed state as the intended destination. It will be understood that the error recovery routine is suitable for adjusting the pusher position to any other steady state destination, for example, the squared-up state.

The foregoing summary of the error routine does not take into account any manual movement of the pushers by an operator that may cause P.sub.LOST to be greater than P.sub.GLIDE, meaning the pushers were moved backwards by the operator. The following algorithm includes a determination of such manual movement of the pushers and provides the appropriate error recovery.

Referring now to FIGS. 15A and 15b, the algorithm for the position error recovery routine is shown. For the purpose of the following description, the intended position of pushers 116 when power is restored is the homed position. It will be understood that any steady state position could be the intended position. At step 200, the routine begins when power is restored following a loss of power (ESTOP) to the servo motor 122. As stated above, the lost power encoder (P.sub.LOST) was saved when the power loss occurred. At step 202, a glide encoder count (P.sub.GLIDE) is reset to zero. If power to motor 122 has been restored after an ESTOP, then, at step 204, the current encoder count is stored as glide encoder count P.sub.GLIDE. THUS, P.sub.GLIDE represents the current position of pushers 116 relative to the reset encoder 119, i.e. relative to a zero encoder count. Since encoder 119 rotates in a direction corresponding to the forward or backward movement of pushers 116, the algorithm recovers from position errors caused by either forward or backward glide of pusher 116. At step 206, a compute distance moved routine, described below, is called to set a comparator that will trigger the raising of primary registration gates 66 when pushers 116 are clear.

The compute distance moved routine begins at step 230 and provides a new position (P.sub.NEW) relative to the homed position (P.sub.HOMED). At step 232, if the pushers are backed up from their position when power was lost, then step 234, a new position is calculated as:

If pushers 116 are forward from the lost power position, then, at 236, the new position is calculated as:

At step 208, if the new position is past the intended destination, i.e., the homed position, then pushers 116 must be backed up. At step 210, the distance moved P.sub.NEW is subtracted from the intended destination (P.sub.REQ). This provides the distance (P.sub.MOV) that pushers 116 must be moved backwards to the homed position. At step 212, if P.sub.MOV is less than the distance between the pushers on chain drive 114, then P.sub.MOV is in range for moving the pushers backwards at step 214. When pushers 116 are at the homed position, then at step 216 the count of encoder 119 is saved as a new reference encoder count. At step 212, if pushers 116 are too close to the homed reference position to run the slow motor profile, or if P.sub.MOV is greater than the distance between the pushers on chain drive 114, then instead of moving pushers 116 backwards, go to step 222.

At step 222, power to motor 118 is turned on to advance any sheets that had been fed from the input device but had not reached accumulation section 14 when power was lost. If the input sensors are not clear at step 216, a jam alarm is activated and the input module is stopped at step 226. If input sensors are clear, then the algorithm performs the forward adjustment of the pushers (FIG. 15B).

At step 240, the pusher state is checked to see if this is the first time power has been applied to pusher motor 122, referred to herein as a "cold start", i.e. initialization for a power up of the entire machine. If the pusher state is zero, then this is a cold start and, at step 242, the pusher path is checked. If the pusher path is not clear, then at step 244 a jam is declared and the input process is stopped. If the pusher path is clear, then at step 248, the pushers are homed and a homed reference encoder count is set in encoder 119 and the feed paper process can commence.

If the pusher state is non-zero at step 240, and if accumulator and trail edge sensors are not blocked at step 246, no sheets are present in the system and, at step 248, the pushers are homed and a homed reference encoder count is set in encoder 119 and the feed paper process can commence. If accumulator and trail edge sensors are blocked at step 246, at least one sheet is present in the system and the pushers need to be moved to the intended destination.

At step 252, the distance moved P.sub.NEW is subtracted from the intended destination (P.sub.REQ). This provides the distance (P.sub.MOV) that pushers 116 must be moved forward to the homed position. At step 254, if P.sub.MOV is less than the distance between the pushers on chain drive 114, then P.sub.MOV is in range for moving the pushers forward at step 258. If pushers 116 are too close to the homed reference position to run the slow motor profile at step 258, the homed reference point is updated instead of repositioning the pushers. When pushers 116 are at the homed position, then at step 260 the count of encoder 119 is saved as a new reference count. If, at step 254, P.sub.MOV is greater than the distance between the pushers on chain drive 114, then instead of moving pushers 116 forward, at step 256, the count of encoder 119 is set to represent the other pusher on chain drive 114 which is in a position behind the intended destination. At step 262, the pusher state is set as homed. At step 264, the normal operation of the stitcher/accumulator module 10 is continued.

The foregoing algorithm works for all cases of forward or backward movement when power is lost only to the pusher motor 122. Since encoder 119 has power, any movement, even manual pusher movement, becomes part of the coast or glide count previously described.

The control flow employed in stitcher/accumulator module 10 includes a tracking system that is designed to dynamically adjust the activation of stitch head 104 and servo pushers 116 based on paper size and sensing by tracking photocells 160-168 before paper is actually accumulated. This method provides optimum operation of stitcher/accumulator module 10 that significantly increases system throughput over conventional stitching devices.

Activation of pusher servo motor 122 and the clutch (not shown) controlling stitch head 104 is triggered by stitcher input photocell 160. Throughput is increased because pushers 116 and stitch head 104 are started before the accumulation of a collation is completed. For example, experimentally it may be determined that the maximum start time of stitch head 104 is 92.5 msec. Thus, pushers 116 and stitch head 104 are activated at a time that will provide a satisfactory stitch to the collation at the moment the collation is squared. This increases the system throughput and can be used for both lead edge and trail edge stitch modes.

Stitcher/accumulator module 10 represents an input module of a mail inserter system that comprises an input, insert and output sections. From a control standpoint the paper path in stitcher/accumulator module 10 is a series of clutches, brakes, rollers, belts, gates and photocells. Motion control of stitcher/accumulator module 10 includes AC motor 118 which controls the collation drive system 108, and DC servo motor 122 which controls chain drive 114 and pushers 116. Referring to FIG. 7, photocells 160-166 track sheets into and through stitcher/accumulator module 10. Photocell 168 tracks pushers 116 to the home position.

The collation accumulated in accumulation section 14 is either stitched or not stitched based a predetermined configuration made by an operator at control panel 120. The stitched collation is then pushed out of stitcher/accumulator module 10 for further processing.

Since pushers 116 are mounted on a chain drive 114 driven by servo motor 122, it is possible to start the pushers based on an occurrence of a particular event and prior to the completion of the event. The tracking system in stitcher/accumulator module 10 triggers servo motor 122 off of stitcher input photocell 160. Thus, once an end of collation (EOC) sheet is detected, servo motor 122 is started before the EOC sheet is completely moved into accumulator section 14 such that pushers 116 follow the EOC sheet into accumulator section 14 to the squared-up position. Another factor of the tracking system in stitcher/accumulator module 10 is the activation time of stitch head 104. A stitcher clutch trigger time is used to start a timer when pushers 116 begin squaring up. The timer is based dynamically on the paper size and the stitch mode. Based on the foregoing example of a maximum stitch head start time of 92.5 msec., the following algorithm provides the timer.

Timer=T.sub.Accel +T.sub.vel -T.sub.Decel

if T>92.5 msec., then

Timer=T.sub.Accel +T.sub.vel -92.5 msec.

This computation is dynamic because the acceleration, deceleration and constant velocity times of pushers 116 are based on sheet length when a motor profile is generated for the pusher square-up routine. When the paper size changes the length of the motion profile changes.

This method of dynamically adjusting the stitcher clutch activation time provides a maximum delay based on the pusher cycle time for square-up minus 92.5 msec. If the timer were greater than 92.5 msec., the sheet would not be squared-up in accumulator section 14. The foregoing algorithm provides a timer that allows stitch head 104 to stitch the collation at the earliest possible time to optimize system throughput. The foregoing algorithm is suitable for optimizing stitching in both lead and trail edge mode.

Stitcher/accumulator module 10 is programmed to provide selection of an input device through control panel 120. An operator can select the input device, such as, burster, high capacity sheet feeder, or cutter from control panel 120. In this manner, an operator can perform on-site system configuration of stitcher/accumulator module 10.

When the operator selects one of the foregoing sheet input devices, an input control profile generates the correct signals and tracks control flow based on the parameters entered or selected by the operator.

While the present invention has been disclosed and described with reference to a single embodiment thereof, it will be apparent that variations and modifications may be made therein. It is, thus, intended that the following claims cover each variation and modification that falls within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.