The system is the combination of an envelope feeder and a laser printer, with some additional control mechanisms. An envelope conveyor system is positioned adjacent to a media input slot on a laser printer and envelopes are fed into a pickup assembly positioned within the media input slot in a controlled manner. By controlling the conveyor speed, a stack of envelopes having a limited and known number of envelopes is accumulated within the pickup assembly such that the pickup roller in the assembly can feed envelopes into the printer at a rate equal to or greater than the speed at which the printer can apply an image to each envelope. A control circuit provides a feedback signal to the conveyor to control conveyor motor actuation. The result is a smaller, less expensive and simpler feed system for an envelope printer.

Input stacks of value documents are inserted in an input pocket of the value document processing apparatus, transported through the apparatus, checked and sorted into different deposit pockets of the value document processing apparatus, wherein reject value documents are deposited separately from the valid value documents. The reject value documents are automatically transported back to the input pocket with the aid of a reject transport device, to check the reject value documents again with the same value document processing apparatus (rerun). The reject transport device has several reject transport units, in which the reject value documents from the different input stacks are deposited separately from each other, and a reader for reading in the machine-readable identifier of the respective reject transport unit used for assigning the reject value documents of the respective reject transport unit to the input stack to which these reject value documents belong.

Input stacks of value documents are inserted in an input pocket of the value document processing apparatus, transported through the apparatus, checked and sorted into different deposit pockets of the value document processing apparatus, wherein reject value documents are deposited separately from the valid value documents. The reject value documents are automatically transported back to the input pocket with the aid of a reject transport device, to check the reject value documents again with the same value document processing apparatus (rerun). The reject transport device has several reject transport units, in which the reject value documents from the different input stacks are deposited separately from each other, and a reader for reading in the machine-readable identifier of the respective reject transport unit used for assigning the reject value documents of the respective reject transport unit to the input stack to which these reject value documents belong.

The system is the combination of an envelope feeder and a laser printer, with some additional control mechanisms. An envelope conveyor system is positioned adjacent to a media input slot on a laser printer and envelopes are fed into a pickup assembly positioned within the media input slot in a controlled manner. By controlling the conveyor speed, a stack of envelopes having a limited and known number of envelopes is accumulated within the pickup assembly such that the pickup roller in the assembly can feed envelopes into the printer at a rate equal to or greater than the speed at which the printer can apply an image to each envelope. A control circuit provides a feedback signal to the conveyor to control conveyor motor actuation. The result is a smaller, less expensive and simpler feed system for an envelope printer.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a first tray on which sheets are stacked, a sheet feeder, a second tray on which sheets to be supplied to the first tray are stacked, wherein the second tray is disposed adjacently to the first tray, a sheet mover, an abnormality detector, and a controller. The sheet feeder feeds the sheets stacked on the first tray. The sheet mover moves the sheets stacked on the second tray. The sheet mover is movable between a first position for stacking sheets on the second tray and a second position for supplying the sheets stacked on the second tray to the first tray. The abnormality detector may detect an abnormality in the sheet mover. When the abnormality detector detects an abnormality in the sheet mover, the controller inhibits the sheet mover from operating and permits the sheet feeder to feed a sheet.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a first tray on which sheets are stacked, a sheet feeder, a second tray on which sheets to be supplied to the first tray are stacked, wherein the second tray is disposed adjacently to the first tray, a sheet mover, an abnormality detector, and a controller. The sheet feeder feeds the sheets stacked on the first tray. The sheet mover moves the sheets stacked on the second tray. The sheet mover is movable between a first position for stacking sheets on the second tray and a second position for supplying the sheets stacked on the second tray to the first tray. The abnormality detector may detect an abnormality in the sheet mover. When the abnormality detector detects an abnormality in the sheet mover, the controller inhibits the sheet mover from operating and permits the sheet feeder to feed a sheet.

A sheet feeding apparatus which is able to make it known that a first containing area for feeding cannot be replenished with sheets in a second containing area for replenishing. A sheet feeding cassette has the first containing area in which sheets to be fed are contained, the second containing area that is adjacent to the first containing area and in which sheets for replenishing are contained, and a sheet mover that transfers the sheets contained in the second containing area to the first containing area. A first detector detects whether or not the sheet mover is at a standby position. When the first detector detects that the sheet mover is not at the standby position, a warning is issued to prompt return of the sheet mover to the standby position.

A sheet feeding apparatus which is able to make it known that a first containing area for feeding cannot be replenished with sheets in a second containing area for replenishing. A sheet feeding cassette has the first containing area in which sheets to be fed are contained, the second containing area that is adjacent to the first containing area and in which sheets for replenishing are contained, and a sheet mover that transfers the sheets contained in the second containing area to the first containing area. A first detector detects whether or not the sheet mover is at a standby position. When the first detector detects that the sheet mover is not at the standby position, a warning is issued to prompt return of the sheet mover to the standby position.

Disclosed is an automated insert feeding system and related methods, capable of removing bulk-packaged items from a tray or other package, and separating the bulk-packaged items individually for distribution into individual packages in high speed reliable fashion. The disclosed systems can also be loaded with multiple packages of the pre-packaged items for automatic feeding into the system which allows human operators to load several packages and allow the system to work unattended, thereby reducing man-hours spend on the process.

Embodiments of a system and method for unloading articles from a container of items for use in an automatic stack feeder are disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may comprise a belt, a moveable lower paddle, and a moveable upper paddle, wherein the lower paddle is configured to partially extend through a belt of the automatic stack feeder. The movement of the belt, the lower paddle, and the upper paddle are coordinated such that there is no need to interrupt the operation of the automatic stack feeder to unload the container.