TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention- relates to an arrangement for the rational handling of transmitted and printed messages with a reduced risk of the messages being broadcasted in an uncontrolled manner. More specifically, the invention relates to an arrangement of the kind which includes: a sheet magazine and a printing unit for printing messages onto sheets taken from the magazine; means for collecting printed sheets into a bundle; enveloping material storage means and means for envelop- ing bundles of message-printed sheets in material taken from the enveloping material storage means; and folding means for folding a sheet bundle prior to activating the bundle enveloping means, to envelope said sheet bundle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART

Arrangements of this kind are known to the art, for instance from U.S. Patent Specification 5,031,379. Although these known arrangements have been found to function well in practice and to fulfil a need, reasons can be found for modifying the bundle enveloping means in various ways in accordance with the number of sheets that are required to record a transmitted and printed message and also in accord- ance with the type of message concerned.

For instance, when one and the same message takes up a large number of sheets, it may be impractical to fold all sheets to an A5 paper size and then envelope or seal the folded bundle in one single envelope. When the message concerned is, e.g. , a proposed agreement or the final version of an agreement, it may not be appropriate to fold the sheets prior

to enveloping the bundle, but instead to deliver the sheets in an A4 paper size. In other cases, it may be desirable neither to envelope nor to fold the message-carrying sheets.

The object of the present invention is to provide an arrange¬ ment which will satisfy these different desiderata.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An inventive arrangement of the aforesaid kind includes means for dispensing received, printed messages which are collected to form a bundle depending on the number of sheets in the bundle, wherein when the number of sheets in the bundle corresponds at most to a given predetermined first number, dispensing of the sheets is effected with a bundle enveloping step that is preceded by folding the bundle of sheets to a smaller size, but - when the number of sheets in the bundle exceeds said first number and corresponds at most to a given prede¬ termined second number which is greater than said first number, dispensing of the sheets and enveloping of the sheet bundle takes place in the absence of a preceding bundle-folding step.

These and other characteristic features of an inventive arrangement will be apparent from the following Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying schematic drawing, wherein

Fig. 1 illustrates an inventive arrangement; and

Fig. 2 is a block schematic of a number of components of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The illustrated arrangement includes a printer unit 10 and an enveloping or enclosing unit 11.

The printer unit 10 includes a sheet magazine 101, an additional sheet magazine 102, a printing mechanism 103, signal-receiving circuits 104 which receive message signals from external sources (wire transmitted or radio transmitted signals), and path selecting means 105 which functions to dispense received sheet-printed messages either to the enveloping unit 11 (full-line selector position) or to the upper side of the printer unit 10 for direct removal from the arrangement (broken-line selector position) . The setting of the path selecting means 105 can be changed with the aid of a keyboard 106 (via the process unit 117).

The printer unit 10 also includes signal transmission circuits, keyboard, etc., which enable the unit to be also used as a facsimile transmitting unit, although this facility will not be described in further detail here.

The enveloping unity 11 includes means 111 for collecting sheets arriving from the printer unit 10 into a bundle, bundle-folding means 112, enveloping material storage means 113, means 114 which include welding jaws 1141 and welding cogs 1142 which function to envelope printed messages with material taken from the enveloping material store 113, counter means 115 for counting the number of sheets in a bundle, and means 116 for dispensing received printed and bundled message-printed sheets in accordance with the number of sheets in the bundle.

Naturally, the arrangement also includes such means as wheels, rollers, guide rails, etc., which enable the various units to mutually cooperate in the manner intended, although it has not been considered necessary to burden the present description and drawing with these components, all of which

are well known to the person skilled in this art. Coaction between the various means and devices is controlled by a processor 117 which is programmed to actuate means in accordance with the number of sheets in a collected bundle, among other things.

In the illustrated case, the means 111 and 112 are one and the same. When a bundle has been collected on the collecting means 111 and the bundle is to be folded, a path selector 118 is moved to the broken-line position. As the bundle moves to the left, the bundle will then be forced to curve downwards into a chute 119 whose depth is roughly equal to half the length of the bundle. The folding means 112 then moves to the left while entraining and folding the bundle and thereafter envelope the bundle with material from the rollers 113 upon its continued movement to the left. The path selector 118 is in its full-line position when the bundle is not to be folded.

The processor 117 is programmed to activate the folding means 112 and fold the bundle of sheets to a smaller size, e.g. to an A5 size, prior to activation of the enveloping means 114, when the bundle contains at most a predetermined first number of sheets, e.g. ten sheets.

When the number of sheets in a bundle exceeds this first number and comprises at most a predetermined second number, e.g. fifty sheets, the process unit 117 will activate the enveloping means 114 without activating a preceding folding function.

When the number of printed sheets exceeds the aforesaid second number (fifty sheets), the process unit 117 will activate the enveloping means 114 without activating the preceding folding function, so as to envelope individually two or more sheet bundles, each containing not more than said second number of sheets, fifty sheets. In this case, the

processor 117 is programmed to deliver to the second bundle, the third bundle, and so on, a separate sheet which carries means that will identify the message to which this particular bundle belongs, e.g. "belongs to message No. ...", therewith enabling all bundles that belong to one and the same message to be more easily kept together.

The block schematic in Fig. 2 is an overview of the manner in which the various means and devices shown in Fig. 1 are connected together. The same reference numbers have been used in both Figures.

It has been mentioned in the aforegoing that the position of the path selector 105 can be changed with the aid of the keyboard 106. However, the occasion may arise when a sender wishes to transmit a message solely under the provision that the message will be enveloped on the receiver side. To this end, the processor 117 may be programmed to cause the path selector to move to its full-line position upon receipt of an enveloping request signal. If the message cannot be enveloped, the processor causes a signal to be sent to the sender to this effect, and the sender is then able to choose between not sending the message or accepting that the message will not be enveloped on the receiver side.

One of the storage reels 113 in the enveloping unit 11 will suitably contain heavily patterned enveloping material which prevents the print from being read through the envelope. In this regard, the arrangement is such that when the message is folded, only the address part can be read on the enveloped message.

The aforesaid "predetermined first number" and "predetermined second number" are determined in different ways, in accor- dance with the context (application) in which the invention is applied. Two fundamental procedures are available when the invention is applied for facsimile transmissions, as in the

case of the described embodiment.

One method is to provide the enveloping means with a process system in which both of said numbers has a value that has been pre-set in the factory. These values can be changed by the user within certain limits. Incoming facsimile messages will then be enveloped in accordance with these values.

The other method is to include in the facsimile machine a system which in the initial "signal handshake" asks the receiving unit if an enveloping means is available, and orders one or the other type of enveloping format irrespec¬ tive of the pre-set numbers on the receiver side.

This also enables the transmitter unit to decide whether or not the message shall be sent, depending on whether or not an enveloping facility is available on the receiver side. It is also conceivable that the sender will order the receiver not to envelope the message. The sender may also order the receiver to make a certain number of copies of the message. The aforedescribed assumes that both transmitter and receiver are equipped with the same type of processor system, so that information can be exchanged and understood.

When the invention is applied in some other connection, for instance to print-out a document from a word processing terminal and to envelope the message, the aforesaid limits are determined at the same moment as the operator orders the print-out of its document. In the same way as the operator is asked to key-in the number of pages that are to be printed when the operator enters a print-out command into his/her computer, he/she will also be asked whether the message shall be enveloped and, if so, which pages and in which format, for instance. If the commands entered by the operator are found acceptable, the commands are implemented. If found unaccept¬ able, the system will inform the operator that a limit has been exceeded, for instance.