Cold seal paper apparatus and method for manufacturing mailpieces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018201051-A1
Application number	US-201715840420-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 13, 2017
Priority date	Jan 13, 2017
Publication date	Jul 19, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Apparatus for manufacturing mailpieces, comprising a supply module for supplying cold seal paper to form an envelope body, a feeding module for collating documents to form the content to be inserted in the mailpiece, and a pair of finishing rollers for folding the envelope body around the content and sealing the mailpiece in a single finishing step.

First claim

1 . A method for manufacturing mailpieces, the method comprising:
a) supplying a piece of cold seal paper to form an envelope body; b) collating documents to form content to be inserted in the mailpiece; c) folding the envelope body around the content and sealing the mailpiece in a single finishing step.

2 . The method for manufacturing mailpieces according to claim 1 , wherein the piece of cold seal paper is cut from a roll feed according to desired dimensions of the mailpiece.

3 . The method for manufacturing mailpieces according to claim 1 , wherein the documents are collated in a document set composed of at least one document, and including folding the envelope and the document set together in the single finishing step.

4 . The method for manufacturing mailpieces according to claim 1 , wherein the documents are collated in a document set composed of at least one document, and further comprising pre-folding the document before the single finishing step.

5 . The method for manufacturing mailpieces according to claim 1 , including nesting an insert into the document set before the single finishing step.

6 . The method for manufacturing mailpieces according to claim 1 , including adding an insert to the document set before the single finishing step.

7 . The method for manufacturing mailpieces according to claim 3 ; wherein collating documents includes collating an insert with the document set.

8 . The method for manufacturing mailpieces according to claim 3 , including folding the document set according to a Z, a C, or a V fold, depending on the number of pages or an insert type for a particular batch of mailpieces, or for a particular mailpiece.

9 . An apparatus for manufacturing mailpieces, the apparatus comprising a supply module for supplying cold seal paper to form an envelope body, a feeding module for collating documents to form the content to be inserted in the mailpiece, and a pair of finishing rollers for folding the envelope body around the content and sealing the mailpiece in a single finishing step.

10 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising a cutting module to cut a piece of cold seal paper from a roll feed according to desired dimensions of the mailpiece.

11 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein at least one of the finishing rollers is made of a material soft enough to accommodate a large variety of thicknesses and shapes for the content to be inserted.

12 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one finishing roller is made of a material such as rubber, EPDM or silicon, with a hardness preferably comprised between 15° and 65° Shores A.

13 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising an stapling module for affixing staples, eyelets or other fixtures to the mailpiece.

14 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the pressure applied on the envelope body by the finishing rollers is typically of 4 to 10 lbs per linear inch.

15 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the level of pressure applied on the envelope body by the finishing rollers can be increased to achieve higher bond values.

16 . A method operation of an apparatus to produce mailpieces, the method comprising:
collating documents to form content; and folding a piece of cold seal paper directly around the content by a set of rollers to form an envelope body and sealing the mailpiece by the set of rollers in a single finishing operation performed by the set of rollers.

Assignees

• Neopost Tech

Inventors

• Robinson Peter

Classifications

• B65B51/28

  Rollers for producing longitudinal and transverse seams simultaneously · CPC title

• B43M3/04 Primary

  automatic · CPC title

• B65B25/145

  packaging folded articles · CPC title

• B65B5/02

  Machines characterised by incorporation of means for making the containers or receptacles · CPC title