Document stacker apparatus

Claim 1

Apparatus for stacking documents comprising: a transport system for transporting documents along a transport path to a first stacking bin, said bin including a stacking tray to form a first stack thereon, said transport system comprising a transport belt having a first sloped section for engaging documents delivered thereto and transporting said document to said stack, said documents entering said first stack at an angle thereto, said transport belt having a second section substantially parallel to and in contact with the top of said first stack for engaging documents entering said stack, said documents being under the positive and continuous control of said transport belt, means adjacent said first and second belt sections for applying a force to each document entering said first stack whereby the trailing edge of each document is forced down on top of said first stack, means for stopping said documents as they are transported to said first stack by said second belt section, said documents being held against said stopping means by said second belt section until a succeeding document enters said first stack, means for controlling the height of said first stack, and means for directing said documents to a second stacking bin when said first stack contains a predetermined number of documents, wherein said documents are delivered to said transport system face up, said transport system being arranged to invert said face up documents whereby said documents are stacked face down in said first and second stacking bins.