Kenneth Robert Guenther DeceasedNaperville, IL

4421587, Dec 20, 1983

Jul 19, 1982

6/399605

Kenneth L. Guenther - Park Ridge IL
Edward H. Zemke - Chicago IL
Gerald D. Warden - Easton PA

Bell & Howell Company - Chicago IL

B32B 3118
B32B 3500

156256

A device for feeding address labels on a web with the address labels arranged in a column, each address label equal in size to adjacent address labels. There are non-addressed areas at equally spaced distances along the web, with the non-addressed areas separated by the address labels. There are two cutters placed after the web feeder. The first cutter operates after each increment of the web. The second cutter operates only after an increment of the web wherein the web is fed the distance of an address label plus the height of a non-addressed area. The non-addressed area is cut from the address label and removed, and the cut address label is affixed to the mail piece. The device provides for incrementing the web either a distance equal to an address label or a distance equal to an address label plus the height of a non-addressed area. The web feeding and cutting is synchronized with the application of the labels to the mail pieces, with the movement of the mail pieces through the web application area also synchronized with the web feeding and cutting.

5143225, Sep 1, 1992

Mar 27, 1990

7/500408

K. George Rabindran - Morton Grove IL
Thomas Faber - Skokie IL
David Filicicchia - Schaumburg IL
Kenneth L. Guenther - Park Ridge IL
Joseph Kalika - Niles IL
Melvin T. Kerstein - Lincolnwood IL
Girish B. Shah - Schaumburg IL
David Wiley - Palatine IL

Bell & Howell Company - Skokie IL

B07C 536
B65H 8500

209584

A multi-pass sorting machine includes a housing or supporting structure which has the configuration of an A-Frame. The A-Frame structure has a slanting front side supporting several individually functional devices and a slanting back side supporting other individually functional devices. The devices of the front side include an input feeder first transporting mechanisms, a singulating device, an accelerating mechanism, second transporting mechanisms, a bar code reader and associated electronic and computer equipment, a plurality of first sorting devices in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of first pass stacker buffers, and a reversing member for transporting letters from the front side to the back side while at the same time retaining the same orientation of the letters to the planar surface as the letters go around the corner. The slanting back side supports a plurality of second sorting devices in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of second pass stacker buffers, and an automatic mail tray loader.

5829742, Nov 3, 1998

Jul 17, 1996

8/725079

K. George Rabindran - Morton Grove IL
Michael Wisniewski - Bolingbrook IL
Thomas Faber - Skokie IL
Kenneth Guenther - Park Ridge IL
Joseph Kalika - Niles IL
Mel Kerstein - Lincolnwood IL
John S. O'Callaghan - Willmette IL

Bell & Howell Postal Systems Inc. - Lincolnwood IL

B65H 102

271150

An in-feed magazine apparatus for loading documents includes a magazine feed ramp having one or more document conveyor belts disposed along a bottom surface, the belts being arranged to engage the bottom boundary of the documents. The conveyer belts are configured to effect forward movement of the stack of documents toward a document shingler mechanism along a linear axis defined by forward movement of the conveyer belts. Also included is a backing plate having a lower portion disposed proximal to the conveyor belt, an upper portion disposed vertically upward from the lower portion, and a generally planar face parallel to the plane defined by the face of the documents. An upper and lower sensor sense contact with the front end of the stack of documents while a controller operatively coupled to the upper and the lower sensors determines when the front end of the stack of documents lies in a plane substantially parallel to the face of the backing plate. A jogger mechanism operatively coupled to the controller and the backing plate is configured to reciprocally displace a portion of the stack of documents approaching the backing plate such that the jogger mechanism is energized when the controller determines that the stack of documents is inclined at a forward angle relative to the backing plate where such reciprocal displacement is configured to urge the stack of documents towards a substantially parallel orientation relative to the backing plate.

4877346, Oct 31, 1989

Feb 1, 1988

7/151200

Kenneth L. Guenther - Park Ridge IL
Karavattuveetil G. Rabindran - Morton Grove IL
Thomas J. Faber - Skokie IL
Jack S. Abrams - Arlington Heights IL

Bell & Howell Company - Chicago IL

B41J 1310

400624

An improved printing apparatus for printing pre-selected indicia on an envelope or other documents to be placed on a transport raceway of an insertion machine.

5190282, Mar 2, 1993

Jul 17, 1991

7/731513

K. George Rabindran - Morton Grove IL
Thomas Faber - Skokie IL
David Filicicchia - Schaumburg IL
Kenneth L. Guenther - Park Ridge IL
Joseph Kalika - Niles IL
Melvin T. Kerstein - Lincolnwood IL
Girish B. Shah - Schaumburg IL
David Wiley - Palatine IL

Bell & Howell Company - Skokie IL

B65H 502

271272

The multi-pass sorting machine of this disclosure includes a supporting structure which has the configuration of an A-Frame. The A-Frame structure has a slanting front side supporting several individually functional devices and a slanting back side supporting other individually functional devices. The devices of the front side include an input feeding means, a first transporting means, a singulating means, an accelerating means, a second transporting means, a bar code reader and associated electronic and computer means, a plurality of first sorting means in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of first pass stacker buffer means, and a reversing member for transporting letters from the front side to the back side while at the same time retaining the same orientation of the letters to the planar surface as the letters go around the corner. The slanting back side supports a plurality of second sorting means in the form of diverting vanes, an equal number of second pass stacker buffer means, and an automatic mail tray loader means. The singulation means includes a powered belt means, and a singulation roller overlying and adapted to contact the belt means, with the roller being mounted on one end of a pivotable arm.

5083281, Jan 21, 1992

Jan 22, 1991

7/643268

K. George Rabindran - Morton Grove IL
David Filicicchia - Schaumburg IL
Kenneth L. Guenther - Park Ridge IL

Bell & Howell Phillipsburg Co. - Allentown PA

G06F 1546

364478

A speed optimization circuit (140) is employed by an insertion machine to result in a greater actual throughput of successfully enveloped sets of documents. The speed optimization circuit (140) includes a microcontroller (142) which determines whether the machine cycling speed should be changed and which generates a signal for application to a speed adjustment servomechanism (136) for automatically changing the machine cycling speed in accordance with the determination.

5503388, Apr 2, 1996

Oct 19, 1994

8/326124

Kenneth Guenther - Park Ridge IL
John Hamma - Milford CT
John O'Callaghan - Willmette IL
George Rabindran - Morton Grove IL
Anthony Storace - Norwalk CT
Michael Wisniewski - Bowling Brook IL

Bell & Howell Company

B65H 3910

271300

A buffered stacking apparatus selectively diverts horizontally disposed documents from a main conveying path, then stacks and transports the documents to replaceable receiving receptacles. The apparatus has a primary horizontal conveyor belt with a lower reach defining a horizontal primary conveying path and at least one secondary conveyor belt having an upper reach which, when the secondary conveyor belt is in a horizontal position, is disposed in a lower juxtaposed relation to the lower reach of the primary conveying belt. The buffered stacking system also selectively effects pivotal movement of the secondary conveyor belt from the horizontal position to a second inclined position wherein the reach of the secondary belt is inclined to the lower reach of the primary conveyor belt. Documents being transported along the primary conveying path are diverted along the inclined reach when the secondary conveying belt is inclined. The documents diverted at the selected diverter station are transported by the inclined reach to a corresponding buffer assembly which horizontally stacks and aligns the documents.

5257777, Nov 2, 1993

Oct 31, 1991

7/786074

Joseph Kalika - Niles IL
George Rabindran - Morton Grove IL
Thomas Faber - Skokie IL
Kenneth L. Guenther - Park Ridge IL
Melvin Kerstein - Lincolnwood IL

B65H 304

271 35

An Apparatus for separating and advancing documents includes a moving element for frictionally engaging and advancing one of the documents along a path, and a stationary element for frictionally engaging and halting the advance of the remainder of the documents. The moving element and the stationary element each include a plurality of belts and are disposed in relative juxtaposition whereby the one document is gripped between the moving element and the stationary element and advanced along the path under the influence of the moving element. The moving element and the stationary element contact the first and second surfaces, respectively, of the one document via the respective belts to provide a column strength to the one document over a substantial surface area of the document as the one document advances through the apparatus, thereby preventing portions of the one document from being crimped between the moving element and the stationary element.