Claims
- 1. An apparatus comprising:
- an offset-jogged stack of sheet sets comprising a first sheet set and a second sheet set disposed immediately adjacent said first sheet set, said first and second sheet sets each consisting essentially of a homogenous plurality of rectangular sheets and each having opposed first and second ends, said first and second ends of said first sheet set being offset-jogged relative to said respective first and second ends of said second sheet set;
- an offset-jogged sheet set feeder containing said offset-jogged stack of sheet sets, said offset-jogged sheet feeder being operable to sequentially provide in series at an output said first sheet set and said second sheet set;
- a sheet set processor for processing sheet sets; and
- a sheet set conveyor disposed to mechanically convey sheet sets from said offset-jogged sheet set feeder to said sheet set processor.
- 2. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set conveyor comprises a sheet set rotator.
- 3. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said offset-jogged sheet set feeder comprises a shutter defining an aperture sized to admit said first sheet set and said second sheet set.
- 4. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 3 wherein said offset-jogged sheet set feeder comprises a driver for moving said shutter from a first position wherein said aperture is disposed beneath said first end of said first sheet set to a second position wherein said aperture is disposed beneath said second end of said first sheet set.
- 5. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a cover feeder.
- 6. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set processor comprises a stitcher.
- 7. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set processor comprises a folder.
- 8. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set processor comprises a face trimmer.
- 9. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set processor comprises a perfect binder.
- 10. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set processor comprises a mailing/inserting system.
- 11. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set processor comprises a shrink wrapper.
- 12. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said sheet set processor comprises a collator.
- 13. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said first sheet set is said bottommost sheet set of said stack of sheet sets.
- 14. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 13 wherein said second sheet set is said next-to-bottommost sheet set of said stack of sheet sets.
- 15. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein said first sheet set is below said second sheet set in said stack of sheet sets.
- 16. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 1 wherein at least some of said rectangular paper sheets in said first and second sheet sets bear printed indicia.
- 17. A sheet set processing method comprising:
- providing an offset-jogged sheet set feeder;
- loading the offset-jogged sheet set feeder with a stack of sheet sets comprising a first sheet set having opposed first and second ends and a second sheet set having opposed first and second ends, the first and second ends of the first sheet set being offset-jogged relative to the respective first and second ends of the second sheet set;
- operating the offset-jogged sheet set feeder to sequentially provide in series at an output the first sheet set and the second sheet set;
- mechanically conveying the first sheet set and the second sheet set in sequence from the output of the offset-jogged sheet set feeder to a sheet set processor;
- processing the first sheet set and the second sheet set in sequence in the sheet set processor.
- 18. A sheet set processing method as recited in claim 17 wherein the first sheet set is the bottommost sheet set of the stack of sheet sets.
- 19. A sheet set processing method as recited in claim 18 wherein the second sheet set is the next-to-bottommost sheet set of the stack of sheet sets.
- 20. A sheet set processing method as recited in claim 17 wherein the first sheet set is below the second sheet set in the stack of sheet sets.
- 21. A sheet set processing method as recited in claim 17 wherein the first sheet set is disposed immediately adjacent the second sheet set.
- 22. A sheet set processing method as recited in claim 17 wherein the first and second sheet sets each comprises a plurality of paper sheets.
- 23. A sheet set processing system as recited in claim 22 wherein at least some of the paper sheets in the first and second sheet sets bear printed indicia.
- 24. A sheet set processing method as recited in claim 22 wherein the first and second sheet sets each consists essentially of a plurality of paper sheets.
- 25. A sheet set processing method as recited in claim 24 wherein the first and second sheet sets each consists essentially of a plurality of rectangular paper sheets.
- 26. A sheet set processing method comprising:
- providing an offset-jogged sheet set feeder;
- loading the offset-jogged sheet set feeder with a stack of sheet sets comprising a bottommost sheet set having opposed first and second ends and a next-to-bottommost sheet set having opposed first and second ends, the first and second ends of the bottommost sheet set being offset-jogged relative to the respective first and second ends of the next-to-bottommost sheet set;
- operating the offset-jogged sheet set feeder to sequentially provide in series at an output the bottommost sheet set and the next-to-bottommost sheet set;
- mechanically conveying the bottommost sheet set and the next-to-bottommost sheet set in sequence from the output of the offset-jogged sheet set feeder to a sheet set processor;
- processing the bottommost sheet set and the next-to-bottommost sheet set in sequence in the sheet set processor.
Parent Case Info
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/486,931, filed Jun. 7, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,255.
US Referenced Citations (45)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
3443735 |
Aug 1986 |
DEX |
81832 |
Mar 1990 |
JPX |
749777 |
Jul 1980 |
SUX |
1039435 |
Aug 1966 |
GBX |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
486931 |
Jun 1995 |
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