Clamping of media items

Apparatus for transporting at least one media item along a transport path, comprising:

• at least one clamp member to apply a first clamp force to a bunch of media items located between a support surface and said clamp member during transport of the bunch to or from an infeed aperture and to apply a second clamp force to said bunch of media items when at least one media item is to be removed from or added to the bunch;
• wherein said clamp member is selectively moveable towards in an upward direction or away from said support surface in a downward and a retracted position to apply a predetermined clamp force to the bunch of media items, wherein the first clamp force is dependent on a thickness for the bunch and the predetermined clamp force is dependent on changes to the thickness of the bunch, wherein said support surface includes an upper transport belt that transports the bunch of media items and remains in a fixed position relative to the moving of said clamp member, wherein the upper transport belt is situated above the bunch and remains in the fixed position and the clamp member is situated below the bunch of media items and moves toward the upper transport belt to apply force and away from the upper transport belt to release force;
• wherein said clamp member further includes a pair of elongated scissor members pivotally attached at respective central portions by a pivot member, the pair of elongated scissor members include a first scissor member and a second scissor member, wherein an upper end of the first scissor member is pivotally attached to the clamp member, an upper end of the second scissor member is slideably coupled via slots integrated into the clamp member, a lower end of the first scissor member is slideably supported within the slots of the clamp member, and a lower end of the second scissor member is pivotally attached to the lower transport member and a second transport member, and wherein the lower end of the first scissor member is urged towards the lower end of the second scissor member by a spring to bias said clamp member upwardly towards an extended position using the slots and sliding the lower end of the second scissor member towards the lower end of the second scissor member within a first slot of the clamp member, a stepper motor slideably moves the lower end of the first scissor member away from the lower end of the second scissor member within the slots to move said clamp member into the retracted position;
• an optical sensor to sense a displacement of a moveable element towards or away from the clamp member;
• and
• a flag arm to block the optical sensor by an amount that is dependent of the displacement of the flag arm;
• wherein the claim member and a lower transport belt are configured to move towards or away from the upper transport belt relative to the displacement determined by the optical sensor and the flag arm
• wherein a first set of rollers that support the upper transport belt is selectively rotated in an infeed direction or a return direction and a second set of rollers that support the lower transport belt is selectively rotated in the infeed direction or the return direction to transport the bunch of media items.

A method of locating at least one media item, comprising:

• clamping a bunch of media items between a clamp member and a support surface, wherein a clamp force applied by the clamp member during transport of said bunch based on a thickness for the bunch is greater than a clamp force applied by the clamp member based on a change in the thickness when at least one media item is to be removed from or added to the bunch, and wherein the clamp force is dependent upon a current thickness for the bunch, and wherein said support surface includes an upper transport belt that transports the bunch of media items and remains in a fixed position relative to the moving of said clamp member, wherein clamping further includes moving said clamp member in an upward direction towards the upper transport belt for applying the clamp force and moving said clamp member in a downward direction in a retracted position to release the clamp force, wherein the upper transport belt is situated above the bunch of media items and remains in the fixed position and the clamp member is situated below the bunch of media items and moves toward the upper transport belt to apply force and away from the upper transport belt to release force, wherein clamping further includes activating a stepper motor that moves a lower end of a first scissor member away from a lower end of a second scissor member, wherein the first and second scissor members are part of the clamp member, and wherein the lower end of the first scissor member is biased towards the lower end of the second scissor member upwardly towards an extended position when the stepper motor is activated for moving the clamp member into the retracted position, and wherein an upper end of the first scissor member is pivotally attached to the clamp member, an upper end of the second scissor member is slideably coupled via slots integrated into the clamp member, the lower end of the first scissor member is slideably supported within the slots of the clamp member, and the lower end of the second scissor member is pivotally attached to the lower transport member and a second transport member;
• determining a thickness of the bunch by sensing, using an optical sensor, a displacement of a moveable element when a flag arm blocks the optical sensor by an amount that is dependent on the displacement of the flag arm;
• moving the clamp member and a lower transport belt towards or away from the upper transport belt responsive to the displacement by sliding the first scissor member and the second scissor member within the slots of the clamp member;
• and
• selectively rotating a first set of rollers that support the upper transport belt in an infeed direction or a return direction while selectively rotating a second set of rollers that support the lower transport belt in the infeed direction or the return direction to transport the bunch of media items.