Automatic Document Handling Ejection Apparatus

Abstract

A postage printing device having a letter eject mechanism operated in timed relation to the machine printing cycle. A pair of feed pressure rolls are spring driven into operative engagement with the imprinted letter so that a set of power driven rolls cooperating therewith can eject the letter from the print station. During the terminal portion of the machine cycle said pressure rolls are restored to and latched in their normal positions spaced from said driven rolls.

Description

This invention related to automatic document handling ejection apparatus for business printing machines and the like. More particularly the invention relates to novel reliable mechanism for receiving documents, one at a time, to be registered at a work station in a document handling machine and for quickly and accurately ejecting each document after the desired operation has been performed on the document, such as printing, punching or a similar operation.

In many business document processing applications it is desired to register or arrest a document at a work station and, for after the desired operation has been performed, to quickly and accurately eject the document from the work station to a downstream location with the apparatus being recycled in readiness for the next document. A number of problems arise in such applications, including those of positively arresting each document in the same location so that the printed impression or other work operation will be accurately performed and of reliably handling the business documents, such as envelopes of many different lengths and thickness and weight, and of quickly and accurately ejecting the documents in a short cycle time without requiring adjustments to compensate for variations in size and weight of the documents being handled. Further important problems are in the achievement of reliability for operation on a consistent, repeatable basis day in and day out and in the provision for avoiding inadvertent operation or triggering of the fast ejection apparatus.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide novel automatic document handling and fast ejection apparatus which meets these requirements in an improved compact structure.

Another object is to provide such apparatus having a novel mechanism which is simple and reliable and is capable of repeated operation over more than a hundred thousand cycles.

A further object is to provide automatic document handling and ejection apparatus which is fast in operation so as to minimize the time for a document to be ejected and which provides for accurate guidance of the document in spite of its rapid ejection.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view (shown enlarged about 40 percent) of automatic document handling fast action ejection apparatus according to the invention and shown in its initial latched position in readiness for receiving a document inserted therein; FIG. 1 includes a showing of the ejector rollers and drive gearing;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 drawn on the same scale as FIG. 1 and showing the pressure roller assembly in its unlatched or triggered position at the commencement of the document ejection cycle;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view corresponding to a portion of FIG. 2, illustrating the cooperation of the pressure and ejector rollers with the stop release mechanism to eject the document;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the ejector rollers and gear train drive arrangement and shown on reduced scale from FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 4 and also showing the lift system for raising the pressure roller assembly back up to its initial latched position at the conclusion of an ejector cycle;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the pressure roller assembly and document support deck, shown on further enlarged scale from FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the document support deck and stop release mechanism, as seen in FIG. 6 with the pressure roller assembly removed;

FIG. 8 is an end elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the pressure roller assembly with the components drawn approximately in their actual size.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the automatic document handling fast action ejection apparatus includes a document supporting deck 9 onto which the documents are fed in one-by-one succession. In this preferred embodiment, as shown, the particular documents being handled are letters L, and the work operation being performed is the printing of a postage stamp impression of a respective selected value in the upper right-hand corner of each letter supplied onto the deck 9. The letter L may be supplied manually onto the deck 9, or in the case of a large volume of mail, they may be supplied automatically one by one from a supply feeding unit shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,052 dated Jan. 8, 1963.

When each letter is received on the deck 9 it is positioned between ejection drive means located below the letter and generally indicated at 10 and a fast-action pressure roller assembly 11 located above the letter. The ejection drive means 10 is located within a base portion of the machine, and this ejection drive means includes a pair of ejector rollers 12 and 14 which are accessible through deck openings 16 to the lower surface of the letter L. These ejector rollers 12 and 14 are driven by a drive train when the letter is being ejected, as will be explained in detail further below. In the pressure roller assembly 11 there are a pair of pressure rollers 22 and 24 which are movable and are positioned in opposed relationship to the ejector rollers 12 and 14, respectively.

In FIG. 1 the pressure rollers 22 and 24 are shown in their raised position, and the fast acting linkage within the assembly 11 is in its initial, raised, latched positioned, as will be explained in detail further below. In FIGS. 2 and 3 the pressure rollers 22 and 24 are shown pressing down upon a letter L to press it against the ejector rollers 12 and 14 for the purpose of quickly and accurately ejecting the stamped letter toward the right as illustrated in FIG. 3. The pressure rollers 22 and 24 are carried by suspension 25 in the form of a suspension arm pivotally connected at 26 near its center to a slide member 20. The slide member 20 (See also FIG. 9) includes a slide element 27 which can slide up and down between slide ways 28 that are provided by a pair of parallel guide elements 29 and 30 (FIG. 9) defined by the frame of the pressure roller assembly 11. This frame includes a backplate 31 integral with the guide elements 29 and 30 and also includes a front plate 32 which is bent at right angles (FIG. 9) so as to form a rearwardly extending frame portion 33.

To retain the slide element 27 between the ways 28, an edge of the front frame plate 32 overlaps an edge of the slide element 27 with sufficient clearance to permit free sliding movement. Similarly, the edge of another front plate 34 (FIG. 9) overlaps the other edge of the slide element 27. The slide member 20 as a whole includes a mounting element 36 which is rigidly secured to the slide element 27 by a pair of rivets 38 and 39.

In order to provide sufficient clearance for the edges of the two front plates 32 and 34 to fit freely between the slide elements 27 and 36, the two rivets 38 and 39 each include spacing shoulders sandwiched between the slide elements 27 and 36. The pivot 26 is secured to the mounting element 36 and projects forwardly into the bore of a boss 40 on an upstanding flange 42 of the suspension arm 25, and a retainer 43 holds the suspension arm on the pivot 26.

The suspension arm 25 is allowed to make a limited swinging movement about the pivot 26 for the purpose of substantially equalizing the pressure exerted as shown in FIG. 2, by each of the pressure rollers 22 and 24 against the upper surface of the letter L being ejected. To permit this limited swinging movement, the upstanding flange 42 (FIG. 9) has an elongated opening 44 through which freely extends the projecting end of the lower slide rivet 39.

A quick-action linkage is provided in the pressure roller assembly 11 for moving the pressure rollers from their initial elevated position, as seen in FIG. 1, to their ejection position down onto the letter surface, as seen in FIG. 2. This quick-action linkage includes a connecting link 46 whose lower end pivotally engages the projecting end of the lower slide rivet 36 and is held by a retainer 47.

The upper end of the connecting link 46 is attached by a pivot pin 48 to the main arm 50 of a spring lever 51. This spring lever is pivotally mounted on the frame 32 by a main pivot 52. A main tension spring 54 is connected between an L-shaped arm 56 of the lever 51 and a spring mounting lug 58 formed by an extension of the guide element 29.

As will be understood from FIGS. 1 and 2, the tension force of the main spring 54 pulling on the L-shaped arm 56 of the lever 51 applies a torque in a counterclockwise direction around the main pivot 52. Thus, the main arm 50 pushes down on the link 46 which transmits this downthrust to the pivot 39 of the slide 20, tending to push the slide down toward the deck 9.

In order to latch the slide 20 in its raised initial position, the slide is provided with detent means in the form of a notch 60 (FIG. 9) in the edge of the slide element 27. Latch means engages in the detent notch 60. This latch means is in the form of a pivoted latch lever 62 (FIG. 9) having a tapered nose 64 adapted to engage in the detent notch 60. The central portion of this lever 62 is mounted upon a pivot pin 66 (FIG. 9) secured to the backplate 31, and the latch 62 is positioned so that it is sandwiched between the backplate 31 and the front plate 32. There is sufficient clearance between the back and front plates 31 and 32, and the guide element 30 is partially cut away near the pivot 66 so as to allow the latch lever 62 to be swing back and forth a limited distance about its pivot 66 for the purpose of retracting the nose 64 from the notch 60.

An actuating arm or latch slide 68 extends toward the right from the latch lever 62, and a manual actuation pin 70 extends forward through an arcuate slot 72 in the front plate 32. The end of the actuating arm 68 also extends out through an opening 73 near the end of the slot 72. A spring 74 (FIG. 9) is mounted on a stud 76 held by a retainer 77, and one end of this spring projects forward beneath the arm 68 to urge this arm upwardly, thus applying torque to the latch lever 62 in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot 66. In this way the nose 64 of the latch is urged to enter the notch 60 to latch the slide 20 in its initial raised position.

It is to be noted from FIG. 1 that when the slide 20 is latched in its raised position the main arm 50 extends beyond the slideways 28 almost perpendicular to these slideways so as to be almost perpendicular to the line of travel of the slide 20. At the same time the link 46 extends at a substantial angle to the line of travel of the slide 20. Consequently, when the latch 62 is released, in a manner to be explained further below, the main arm 50 is in the most advantageous position for providing a high rate of downward acceleration to the pressure rollers 22 and 24. Thus, a fast downward stroke is achieved.

As seen from FIG. 2, when the pressure rollers 22 and 24 near the lower limit of their stroke, the link 46 reaches a position in which it extends vertically, and the main arm 50 is approaching a vertical orientation, thereby providing a toggle action which multiplies the force of the spring 54 in applying force to the pressure rollers 22 and 24. Thus, it will be understood that the pressure rollers assembly 11 provides a fast ejection action and also provides substantial pressure on the rollers 22 and 24 at the conclusion of their downstroke so as to assure fast and accurate ejection of the printed letter L.

It is noted as seen most clearly in FIG. 6, that the pressure roller 22, which is in a trailing position with respect to the direction of ejection of the letters L, is tapered. The direction of taper is such that the larger diameter of this roller 22 is adjacent to the suspension arm 25, i.e. is located toward the upper edge of the letter. The purpose of this taper is to steer the ejected letters so as to assure that they travel along a straight line in spite of the fact that the main bulk of the letter is positioned off to one side of the ejector rolls 12 and 14. In FIG. 6 the direction of ejection is toward the right as indicated by the arrow 80, this arrow being aligned with the track line of the ejector rollers 12 and 14. The main bulk of the letter lies to the right of the track line 80; that is, the main bulk is located in the direction 81. The inertial of this offset mass would normally tend to turn the letter off of the track line as indicated by the dotted arrow 82 in the direction of the main bulk of the letter, but the tapered roller 22 overcomes this tendency so as to provide a reliably straight path of travel.

In relation to the document handling and ejection apparatus the sequence of steps of operation and related functions are described hereinafter to provide further understanding of the present invention.

In operation the letter L is inserted, as shown in FIG. 2, until its leading end strikes the vertical surface of a removable letter stop or letter fence 84 which is pivotally mounted on a stud 86. A spring 85 (FIG. 8) normally urges the letter stop in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot 86 so that its projecting end 87 normally rests down on the deck 9. To assure that the leading end of the letter L positively strikes the letter fence 84 without becoming snagged or wedging beneath it and to restrain the letter in position prior to the printing operation there is an upwardly sloping deflector cam 88 serving as a letter holder drag member which extends upwardly slightly above the lever of the deck 9. This letter holder drag member 88 is mounted upon a longitudinally extending pivot shaft 89 (most clearly seen in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8), and a spring 91 urges the member 88 upwardly so that it presses up against the letter L, as seen in FIG. 2. In this way the letter is restrained and the registration of the leading end of the letter L is positively assured.

A sensing probe, not shown, senses the presence of the letter L and triggers a document meter. In this preferred embodiment the document meter serves to account for the postage stamp impression about to be imprinted upon the letter. After the meter has been actuated, then the stamp printing impression is applied to the letter L in its registered position in the upper right-hand corner. This printing mechanism and the meter mentioned above are not part of this invention and therefore have been omitted to illustrate the present invention more clearly.

The manner in which the printing impression is applied to the letter L is as follows. There is a movable platen (not shown) which is normally positioned with its upper surface in the same plane as the deck 9. The platen is located in the cutout region of the deck 9, as generally indicated in FIG. 7 by the reference letter P. At the time when the printing impression is to be made, the platen pushes the letter up against the printing dies (not shown) which are located overhead in a protected region. When the platen raises, a member 92, (FIG. 8) called a stripper plate member, also moves upwardly. The pivot 86 for the letter fence stop 84 is mounted on the stripper member 92. Thus, when the stripper member moves up, it raises the letter fence stop 84 away from the deck generally into the elevated position shown at 84', 87' in FIG. 8.

There is a fence elevator lever or prop 93 (FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 8) mounted on a pivot 97 which is located beneath the deck 9 and has its axis extending transversely with respect to the direction of ejection 80. A spring 99 urges this elevator lever 93 to swing toward its elevated position about its pivot 97. Normally, the letter fence stop 84 depresses this elevator lever 93 to the inclined position as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The letter stop 84 includes a horizontally projecting ledge 83 which rests down upon the elevator lever 93 so as to depress the lever 93.

When the stripper plate member moves upwardly, as described further above, it raises the letter fence stop 84 to the raised position as shown in FIG. 3, thus allowing the elevator lever 93 to quickly swing up from its initial position 93' (FIG. 3) to its raised position 93 (FIG. 3). In this raised position the lever 93 serves to prop up the fence stop 84. Accordingly, when the stripper member 92 moves downwardly again, the elevator lever 93 holds the fence stop 84 in its elevated position. The spring 99 which is associated with the elevator lever 93 is a light spring. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3 when the letter is ejected, the leading end of the letter easily pushes the lever 93 back down to its initial position 93'. This depression of the lever 93 allows the fence stop 84 to swing back down toward the deck 9, but the letter has already begun passing below the stop 84 so that the stop does not interfere with the ejection of the letter. The ejection operation will be further described below.

At the conclusion of the printing operation as indicated in FIG. 8 by the movement arrow, an arm 90 swings down and moves the stripper member 92 downwardly thus pulling a trigger rod 94 downwardly. This rod 94 is mounted to slide with respect to a pair of stationary guides 95. A trip bushing element 96 is mounted upon the upper end of this rod 94 is pulled down from its initial position 96' to its trip position as shown at 96. This trip bushing 96 engages the sloping nose surface 98 (FIG. 8) of a release arm 100 of a release lever which is pivotally mounted at 102 upon a rivet stud secured to the rearwardly extending frame portion 33. The trip bushing 96 thus cams the nose surface 98 to the left from the position 98', causing the release lever to swing in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot stud 102. A spring 103 mounted on the pivot 102 has one end engaged with the release arm 100 by a nut and lockwasher assembly 104 on a stud 105 (FIG. 9). This spring 103 urges the release arm in a clockwise direction about the pivot 102 (FIG. 8). The clockwise movement of the release arm 100 is limited by a stop shoulder 101 (FIG. 9) which engages a tab stop 107 which projects from the frame portion 33.

Attached to this release arm 100 and forming another arm of the release lever is a flat spring arm 106 which extends toward the left in FIG. 8. The spring arm 106 extends generally at right angles to the release arm 100. The angular relationship between the spring arm 106 and the release arm 100 can be adjusted by loosening the nut and lockwasher assembly 104 on the stud 105. In this way the tripping action of the release arm with respect to the latch lever 62 can be adjusted.

The counterclockwise movement of the release arm 100 about the pivot stud 102 causes the spring arm 106 to swing downwardly from its initial position 106'. This spring arm 106 is stiff in the vertical plane, that is, in the plane of its arcuate movement about the pivot 102, but it is deflectable in a direction parallel with the axis of the pivot 102. Normally, the end of the spring arm 106 extends forwardly above the end of the actuating arm 68 of the latch lever 62.

As the spring arm 106 swings downwardly it strikes the actuating arm 68 causing the latch lever 62 to swing in a clockwise direction about its pivot 66, thus retracting its nose 64 from the detent notch 60. Unlatching of the slide 20 allows the main spring 54 and spring lever 51 to rapidly drive the pressure rollers 22 and 24 down onto the letter L, as shown in FIG. 2.

The mechanism in the base of the machine which actuates the arm 90 (FIG. 8) also serves to energize an ejection drive motor (not shown) which is connected to a shaft 108 (FIGS. 4 and 5) of a gear 109 in the drive train of the ejection drive means 10. The gear 109 drives a gear 110 which is secured to a larger gear 111 that engages gears 112 and 114 so as to drive the two ejector rollers 12 and 14 a high speed. Thus, these rollers are commencing to turn at high speed at the instant when the pressure rollers 22 and 24 come down upon the letter to feed it out of the machine. The leading end of the letter depresses the elevator lever 93, as discussed above and as illustrated in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 there are additional ejection feed rollers 116 and 118 for moving the printed letter quickly off toward the right in FIGS. 4 and 5. The drive gear 109 also engages a gear 119 secured to a larger gear 120 which drives a smaller gear 121 connected to the feed roller 116, thus turning this roller 116 at a high speed. An idler roller 122 mounted on a pivoted arm 123 rests upon the letter opposite the feed roller 116. The drive train for the final feed roller 118 includes the roller shaft 124 which is connected to a gear 125 engaging an idler gear 126 which drives a gear 127 secured to the shaft 128 for the roller 118. An idler roller 129 mounted on a pivoted arm 130 rests upon the letter opposite the roller 118. After a very brief moment the letter is ejected along the desired path from the machine.

In order to return, i.e. to recock the pressure roller assembly 11 to its initial position, there is a recocking plunger 132 (FIGS. 4, 5 and 7) which can move upwardly through an access opening 134 in the deck 9. This plunger 132 is operated by plunger drive means including a cam 136 and lever system 138 causing the plunger 132 to move upwardly at the end of the cycle of operation.

The plunger 132 presses upwardly against a horizontal abutment surface 140 provided at the lower end of the slide assembly 20. When the slide assembly 20 is raised by the plunger 132 back up to the upper limit of its stroke as shown in full lines in FIG. 8, the nose 64 of the latch lever 62 engages in the detent notch 60 to hold the slide in its elevated position in readiness to repeat the cycle.

Since many changes could be made in the embodiment of the invention as particularly described and shown herein without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that this embodiment be considered as exemplary and that the invention not be limited except as arranged by the following claims:

Claims

I claim:

1. In a document handling a printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly adapted to cooperate with ejection drive means to eject the document quickly and accurately from the printing station comprising:

a frame defining guideways;

a slide member slidably engaged with said guideways for sliding movement along said guideways;

a plurality of pressure rollers;

suspension mounting means for mounting said pressure rollers on said slide member;

said slide member being movable along said guideways from an initial position to an ejection position, in said initial position said pressure rollers being spaced from said ejection drive means for receiving a document to be printed in said printing station with the document located between said ejection drive means and said pressure rollers and in said ejection position said pressure rollers being near said ejection drive means for pressing the document against said ejection drive means to eject the document from said printing station;

a quick-action linkage for moving said slide member from its initial position to its ejection position, said linkage including

a spring lever;

a main pivot pivotally mounting said spring lever on said frame;

said spring lever having a main arm initially extending generally at right angles to said slide ways;

a connecting link extending between said spring lever and said slide member and being pivotally connected to said main arm and to said slide member;

a first spring engaging said spring lever applying force to said spring lever in a direction to urge said slide member to move from said initial to said ejection position; said main arm of said spring lever and said connecting link approaching parallelism with said guideways when said slide member is in its ejection position for multiplying the force of said first spring by toggle action;

detent means associated with said linkage;

latch means engageable with said detent means for retaining said slide member in its initial position against the force of said first spring;

latch spring means urging said latch means into engagement with said detent means; and

release means for disengaging said latch means from said detent means.

2. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said suspension mounting means for said pressure rollers is a suspension arm extending in a direction generally perpendicular to said guideways; a pivot connecting the central portion of said suspension arm to the end of said slide member nearest said ejection drive means; one of said pressure rollers being mounted on each end of said suspension arm; and said slide member and suspension arm being arranged to allow limited swinging movement of said suspension arm about said pivot for equalizing the pressure of said pressure rollers against the document being ejected.

3. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 2 in which the one of said pressure roller which is in the trailing position with respect to the direction of ejection of a document is tapered for aiding in steering the document along the desired ejection path.

4. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said detent means is a notch in said slide member and said latch means is a latch lever pivotally mounted upon said frame having a nose portion adapted to engage in said notch, said latch spring means urging the nose portion of said latch lever toward engagement with said notch.

5. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 4, in which said release means includes a release arm pivotally mounted upon said frame for arcuate movement; a deflectable spring arm secured to said release arm, said deflectable spring arm being stiff in the plane of arcuate movement of said release arm and normally extending into operative relationship with said latch lever; a trip element engageable with said release arm for swinging said release arm to bring said spring arm into engagement with said latch lever to release said latch lever; and said spring arm being deflectable out of said plane for rendering said deflectable spring arm inoperative.

6. In a postage meter and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly and ejection drive means to eject the document quickly and accurately from the printing station comprising:

a document supporting deck for receiving the letter to be printed and having a plurality of access openings therein;

ejection drive means positioned beneath said deck, said ejection drive means including a plurality of ejection rollers projecting up into said access openings;

a frame defining guideways extending toward said deck; a slide member slidably engaged with said guideways for sliding movement along said guideways;

a plurality of pressure rollers;

suspension mounting means for mounting said pressure rollers on said slide member in opposed relationship with said ejection rollers;

said slide member being movable along said guideways from an initial position to an ejection position, in said initial position said pressure rollers being spaced above said deck away from said ejection rollers and in said ejection position said pressure rollers being down adjacent to said ejection rollers for pressing the letter against said ejection rollers to eject the letter from said deck;

a quick-action linkage for moving said slide member from its initial position to its ejection position, said linkage including

a spring lever;

a main pivot pivotally mounting said spring lever on said frame;

a connecting link extending between and being pivotally connected to said spring lever and said slide member;

a first spring engaging said spring lever applying force to said spring lever in a direction to urge said slide member to move from said initial to said ejection position;

detent means associated with said linkage;

latch means engageable with said detent means for retaining said slide member in its initial position against the force of said first spring;

latch spring means urging said latch means into engagement with said detent means;

release means for disengaging said latch means from said detent means;

a recocking plunger included in said ejection drive means, said plunger normally being retracted below said deck in alignment with one of said access openings; and

plunger drive means for raising said plunger into engagement with said slide member for returning said slide member to its initial position.

7. In a postage meter printing machine an ejection pressure roller assembly and ejection drive means as claimed in claim 6, in which said plunger drive means includes a cam driven by said ejection drive means; and a lever system operated by said cam for raising said plunger after said ejection rollers have been rotated by said ejection drive means, thereby raising said slide member back to its initial position at the conclusion of the ejection cycle.

8. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly comprising:

a frame member defining guideways;

a slide member slidable along said guideways between an initial position and an ejection position;

a plurality of pressure rollers;

suspension mounting means for mounting said pressure rollers on said slide member;

a main lever;

a main pivot pivotally mounting said main lever on said frame;

a connecting link extending between said main lever and said slide member and being pivotally connected to said main lever and slide member;

a main spring connected between said frame and said main lever for urging said slide member to move toward said ejection position;

a pivoted latch lever for latching said slide member in its initial position, said latch lever having an actuating arm;

a latch lever spring urging said latch toward latching engagement with said slide member;

said frame including a rearwardly extending portion;

a release lever pivotally mounted on said rearwardly extending frame portion;

said release lever having a first arm extending adjacent to said actuating arm;

spring means urging said first arm away from said actuating arm; and

a trip element for overcoming said spring means to bring said first arm into engagement with said actuating arm for unlatching said latch lever.

9. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 8, in which said slide member has an abutment surface thereon, a plunger engageable with said abutment surface, and plunger drive means for moving said plunger into engagement with said abutment surface to return the slide member to its initial position at the conclusion of the ejection of a document from the machine.

10. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 8, in which a second arm is mounted on said release lever, said second arm having a sloping camming surface thereon.

11. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 10, in which said release lever includes means for adjusting the angle between said first and second arms.

12. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 10, in which said first arm is a flat spring which is stiff in the plane of movement of said release lever, said first arm being deflectable out of said plane for placing said first arm in inoperative relationship with respect to said actuating arm.

13. In a document handling and printing machine, an ejection pressure roller assembly as claimed in claim 10, in which there is a trip element movable along a line engaging the sloping surface on said release lever to move said release lever to bring said first arm into engagement with said actuating arm for unlatching said latch lever.

14. In a postage meter and printing machine, apparatus for automatically handling the letter to be printed with respect to a printing station within the machine and for automatically ejecting the letter along a path from the machine, said apparatus comprising:

a supporting deck for receiving the letter thereon to be printed at a printing station;

ejection means for ejecting the letter from said printing station;

a frame defining guideways directed toward said ejection means;

a slide member movable along said guideways;

a plurality of pressure rollers mounted on mounting means;

a pivot connection pivotally connecting said mounting means to said slide member;

said slide member being movable along said guideways from an initial position to an ejection position, in said initial position of said slide member said pressure rollers being spaced from said ejection means for receiving a letter to be printed on said supporting deck between said ejection means and said pressure rollers, and in said ejection position of said slide member said pressure rollers being displaced toward said ejection means for pressing against the letter to be ejected;

said pivot connection between said mounting means and said slide member permitting said mounting means to pivot relative to said slide member so that said pressure rollers can press simultaneously against the letter to be ejected;

a main spring urging said slide member to move from its initial to its ejection position;

latch means engageable with said slide member for holding said slide member in its initial position; and

release means for releasing said latch means from said slide member.

15. In a postage meter and printing machine, apparatus for automatically handling the letter to be printed as claimed in claim 14,

including a stripper member movably mounted above said supporting deck and spaced therefrom;

a letter fence stop pivotally mounted upon said stripper member;

first spring means normally urging said letter fence stop down into location near said deck to be struck by the leading end of a letter inserted upon said deck to position the letter to be printed at the printing station;

a prop lever having a pivot mounting below said deck, the axis of said pivot mounting extending transversely with respect to the path of ejection of the letter from the machine;

second spring means urging said prop lever to swing upwardly above said deck;

said stripper member being movable upwardly and raising said letter fence stop into an elevated position temporarily away from said deck, thereby allowing said prop lever to swing upwardly above said deck to engage said letter fence stop in its elevated position to temporarily hold it in said elevated position.

16. In a postage meter and printing machine, apparatus for automatically handling the letter to be printed as claimed in claim 15, in which said second spring means exerts only a light force on said prop lever and in which said prop lever when holding said letter fence stop in said elevated position is in the path of ejection of the letter, said light force being such that the leading end of the letter as it is being ejected can depress said prop lever, thereby releasing said letter fence stop to return toward said deck after the leading end of the letter has passed thereby.

17. In a postage meter and printing machine, apparatus for automatically handling the letter to be printed as claimed in claim 16, in which said letter fence stop has a projecting ledge normally resting upon said prop lever when said letter fence stop is in its normal position near said deck in position to be struck by the leading end of a letter being inserted into the machine.