Inserting machine with interchangeable modules

Abstract

A mail inserter having an insertion station for inserting mailing material into an envelope. The mail inserter further comprises a sheet provider module for providing sheets of mailing material, an exit module for conveying the mailing material to the insertion station, and an intermediate module, which can be a sheet folder or a sheet transport disposed between the sheet provider module and the exit module. The sheet provider can be a cut sheet feeder or a burster for separating individual sheets from a continuous web. The sheet provider and the burster are mechanically interchangeable. The folder and the sheet transport are also mechanically interchangeable. The exit module can additionally has a trap stage to temporarily hold the mailing material until the insertion station is ready to receive the next mailing material, and a slitter to trim off an edge of the mailing material.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A mail inserter for mass mailing having an insertion station for inserting mailing material into an envelope, said inserter comprising: 
 a sheet provider module for providing sheets of the mailing material;    an exit module for conveying the mailing material to the insertion station; and    an intermediate module, disposed between the sheet provider module and the exit module for performing a predetermined intermediate task; wherein 
 the sheet provider module can be a cut sheet feeder for providing the sheets of the mailing material, or a burster module for separating a continuous web of printed documents into the sheets of the mailing material;  
 the intermediate module can be a folder module adapted to receive the sheets provided by either the sheet feeder or the burster module for folding the sheets into folded pieces, or a sheet transport module adapted to receive the sheets provided by either the sheet feeder or the burster module and relaying the sheets to the exit module; and  
 the exit module is adapted to receive the folded pieces from the folder module when the predetermined task is to fold the sheets into the folded pieces, or to receive the sheets from the sheet transport module when the predetermined task is to relay the sheets from the sheet provider module to the insertion station.  
   
     
     
         2 . The mail inserter of  claim 1 , wherein each of the sheets provided by the sheet provider module has parallel lateral edges and one of the parallel lateral edges may be used for printing mail-related identification information, and the exit module comprises a cutter for trimming said one of the parallel lateral edges off the sheets for removing the printed identification information from the mailing material.  
     
     
         3 . The mail inserter of  claim 1 , wherein the exit module comprises a trap stage for temporarily holding the mailing material provided by the intermediate module prior to conveying the mailing material to the insertion station for synchronization purposes.  
     
     
         4 . The mail inserter of  claim 1 , wherein the mail inserter has a chassis and the sheet provider module, the intermediate module and the exit module are removably mounted on the chassis.  
     
     
         5 . The mail inserter of  claim 4 , wherein the sheet provider module has a driving mechanism for moving the sheets and a connector for conveying electrical power from the chassis.  
     
     
         6 . The mail inserter of  claim 1 , wherein the intermediate module and the exit module share a driving mechanism for moving the mailing material.