Efforts to bring complete mechanization to Mail Processing continue through in Depth Research into latest scientific techniques and developmental operational hardware. Reduction of human effort, removal of the lifting and movement of heavy burdens from human muscle to the machines. Improvement in methods for processing and ever increasing volume of mail. These are some of the fields in which r d engineers are delving and finding new answers. This film will show you a few of the many areas of Research Underway and some of the developing hardware. The use of controlled compressed air is getting increased attention for use in processing mail. The devices could eliminate many moving parts and reduce maintenance costs. As seen in slow motion, this test device in the postal laboratory rolls letters over by controlled jets of air. This fluidic device separates machineable letters from those which will not pass through Mail Processing machines. Another air jet controlled device puts letter mail in transit from one path to alternate paths while this one diverts mail autoically. Notice the first decision location where the stream of letters is diverted to left or right. Then farther down the stream, where other controlled jets again divert letters in two directions. In the postal Test Laboratory this edging device uses direct air jets to edge mail on its long side as it comes over a Conveyor Belt. An air control device and a postal contractors laboratory presents an unusual idea for culling mail. This prototype has been developed to separate letter mail from other collection mail. Small parcels, papers, large flat envelopes, rolls and the like. A sorted collection mail is emptied into the hopper of the device. An inclined moving belt carries the mail to an open mesh screen type conveyor at the bottom of the culling chamber. Air forced throughout the screen at 1350 feet per minute floats mail light in relation to its surface area to the top of the chamber. Here a second mesh type moving belt carries them against it to a separating conveyor. Mail that is heavy in relation to its surface area remains on the lower belt and is carried to a different separation. 40,000 pieces of mail per hour can be handled in this mixed mail air culler. Here in another contractors laboratory r d postal engineers are working with industry engineers to develop a fluidic facing and canceling machine which will operate at very high speeds. This bread board model does not have sensing or canceling equipment, but performance by fluidics, the mechanical functions performed in the cans hers in use in post offices today. One of these functions is letter feed. Letters are pulled over a highspeed rotating drum by vacuum one by one from the bottom of a stack. Acceleration wheels speed up the letters and they are propelled through the system riding on a cushion of air. Because of highspeed transport, slow motion has been used to film some of the process. Note that the letters pass into the bread board model on their flat sides. Letters face up and withstand leading moved directly through the machine into a stacker tray. Letters face down but with stamps are rolled over and fed directly to the stacker. Letters face down but with stamps trailing bypass the roll section and are pitched end for end before reaching the stacker. Letters face up but with stamps trailing are first rolled over. And then pitched end for end to join the stream into the stacker tray. All letters just before stacking are thus oriented with stamps all in the same location ready for the canceling and postmarking operation. As soon as a tray is filled it drops away for transporting to the sorting area. An empty tray automatically takes its place. Development of fluidic control techniques for processing letter mail is continuing in areas where reduction in costs and the improvement in performance, maintenance and reliability maymay be achieved. In another postal contractors laboratory, research into increasing the speed of present day facer cans hers has evolved into this bread board model of a highspeed transport system. It is being developed by r d engineers to process double the current rate, up to 50,000 letters an hour. Operation will differ with current equipment for this high speed. Near the feeding gate one of two stamp detectors will be installed. All envelopes having stamps in the down position will be bypassed and sent to a second detector at the cancellation end of the machine. The remainder of the mail will be turned over so the stamps will also be in the down position. A new type of turnover belt is seen here in slow motion. It is designed for gentle handling of mail as well as for long life. The letters with recognizable stamps are turned over to the down positions to merge and flow past a second stamp detector. At this point the cancellation unit will be installed. All recognizable stamps will be canceled through use of a noncontact device now under development. Three automatic trag devices will be installed at the end of the system in place of the five now in use in todays facer cancellers. A prototype model will be tested soon under actual working conditions. The present methods of shipping empty sacks from one area to another for reuse is either to stuff 19 empties into another one to create an unwieldy gross weight of about 70 pounds. Or to roll and tie five empty sacks into a bundle. This is an R D Development to facility the handling and shipping of empty mail sacks. Inspected and flattened sacks are spotted at fixed positions along the horizontal Conveyor Belt. As the belt moves slowly at 6 feet per minute, loaders pile up sacks so that the stack arriving at a bailer contains 120. Photo cell controls stops the conveyor when a stack arrives directly below the bailer platform. As the bailer compresses the stack to about half its height metal strapping is inserted. Pressing the tension button feeds the strapping around the stack. This operation is now being automated. The formed and strapped bail then advansz to the exit conveyor while another unformed stack reaches the bailer platform. The accumulator system, now shunts the bail to the transfer and takeaway station. At this point power trucks handle the bales for storage or shipment. Advantages include gaining of Warehouse Space and ease of inventory, easy mechanical handling and more sacks per cube with flattened sacks ready for immediate reuse at receiving areas. Designed to relieve mail handlers of the laborious task of empty heavily loaded hampers of mail manually, this floorlevel hamper dumper mechanizes the operation. The loaded hamper is positioned on the dumping mechanism. Raising the control lever, latches the hamper securely and automatic sequencing turns it upside down to unload the contents. Pushing the control lever downwards, returns the hamper to floor level where it is automatically unlatched. The controls are simple and designed for safety. Start button, stop button. A warning light turns red when power is on. Each operation is registered. Placing the selector switch in low position, will dump a normal hamper to floor level. When turned to the high position, a hamper with extensions will be dumped to floor level. For a standard hamper may be dumped into the hopper of a portable conveyor. The mechanism operates through a cycle of about six seconds for dumping and four seconds for returning the empty hamper to floor level. Another physical operation studied for mec kienization is that of manual emptying of sacks of mail. This prototype sack shake out system developed by r d and contract engineers is in daily use on a workroom floor. A horizontal conveyor moves sacked mail to the shake out table. Here, two mail handlers prepare the sacks for automatic shake out. One removes the sack label and spreads the sack opening wide. The other clamps the bottom two corners of each sack into specially designed clamps. The clamps, fixed to a continuous chain type conveyor, up ends each sack at the edge of the table. And the parcels drop out. To ensure that each sack will be emptied, a shaker arm shakes the sack. The parcels fall to a Conveyor Belt which transports them to the sorting section. As the emptied sack passes through the system, the sack clamps are opened automatically. The empty sack released. A prototype model of a highrate belt sack sorter is under test and evaluation here in a large truck terminal. The sorter is 225 feet long. Sorting is by keyboard control to 40 separations, 20 at each side of the Conveyor Belt. As many as six trucks may be unloaded dockside at the same time. Extendable conveyers moving into the trailer bodies as they are emptied assist during unloading. The sacks move upwards into the system. And arrives singly at one of the six keyboard positions. As the label on each sack is read, a twodigit code is punched into the keyboard. Digi punched into the keyboard. The spacing of the sacks placed on the belt moving at 420 feet per minute permit simultaneous code key and from 1 to 6 keyboards. When a sack reaches its coded separation, the reverter is operated by the memory system. It opens and closes within one second, sweeping the sack to secondary sorting. This new type of diverter handles the mail as gently as possible. Since only a two digit code is required it is easy to learn and keypunch. The number of separations which can be made on this type of high rate sack sorter is limited only by the space available. To mechanize loading and unloading of trailers and reduce manual effort and time consuming movement floor level conveyers have been install on one side of test vehicles. Power is bought from dock supply. Provision has been made on the brake system to prevent Truck Movement unless power is disconnected. Note the use of hinged covers to prevent loss of queue space by loading directly on top of the conveyer. Use of this built in conveyer for and also under test is this operation sacks, loose parcels and miscellaneous mail move directly to the bottom of it twin belts for induction. Here the mail is seized between the 42 inch twin belts that carry it vertically upwards 33 1 2 feet to the second floor. Moving 220 feet per minute, the unit can handle in excess of 4,000 sacks per hour. At the top of the twin belts the mail is discharged with take away conveyer and carried to the second floor mezzanine for processing. The transport belt of the twin belts is stressed taunt. The cover belt is loose with pressure exerted on it by several sets of rubber wheels to hold the items being transported securely against the transport belt. Notice the action of the pressure rollers against the cover belt as the sack moves upwards. Sacks and parcels of all sizes, small flat pieces as well as trays filled with letter mail may be transported vertically without damage. A prototype model with a longer vertical lift is being installed for tests in another facility. This simulates actual operating conditions of the machine. It may be used to test personnel for dex tarry or help develop rhythm at the keyboard. The machine projects a number code or letter fack fax simly on the display screen. When an error is made, by pressing keys which match the student learns correct fingering. The control panel provides means for methods of projection of test or training code numbers. Rate of speed of projection and a method of recording errors. The printer provides a permanent record of student responses. The machine introduces the student to the principles and helps them acquire the necessary speed to become a qualified sorting machine operator. You have seen a few of the research and Development Projects now active in the bureau of research and engineering. Many others are in the contracting stage in design or under prototype construction. Each one will undergo its period of evaluation and testing. Those passing the stringent requirements will take their place in the system for mechanizing all operations of Mail Processing. Next on cspan 3 well go live to capitol hill to hear from former fbi director james comey. This is part of the Senate Judiciary hearing hear oings on the fbi investigation between possible links between Trump Campaign associates and electru officials. South Carolina RepublicanLindsey Graham chairs the commit squethe top democrat is california senator diane feinstein