Continually running pocket spindle

A method of stacking flexible sheets traveling on a transfer belt with the sheets in one orientation and stacking them, each sheet having a leading edge, a sheet pickup spindle wheel located proximate the end of the belt, the wheel having a plurality of fingers and slots between the fingers, comprising the steps of:

• a. moving a sheet along a transfer belt at a predetermined speed;
• b. once the sheet is moving on the transfer belt, continuously rotating the spindle wheel without stopping;
• c. detecting the leading edge of the sheet while moving the sheet on the belt at the predetermined speed;
• d. calculating when the leading edge will reach the spindle wheel;
• e. as the sheet approaches the wheel, adjusting the rotational speed of the wheel to a constant speed such that when the leading edge reaches the spindle wheel, the leading edge will directly engage a slot between fingers;
• f. rotating the wheel to flip over the sheet from one orientation to the reverse orientation in order to preserve the original stacking order of the documents;
• and
• g. stacking the sheet.

A scanning and stacking system for stacking flexible sheets received from a scanning track, the sheets having a leading edge, the system comprising:

• a. a transfer belt configured to move in a transverse direction to move a sheet transversely therealong at a predetermined speed;
• b. at least one sensor located proximate the belt, positioned to detect a sheet;
• c. a rotatable stacking spindle wheel having a central core and a plurality of fingers extending generally outwardly from the core, said fingers defining a slot between the fingers, said wheel located adjacent said belt;
• d. a motor connected to said wheel for rotating said wheel;
• and a controller configured to control the rotational speed of said motor and to received position data from said sensor;
• said controller configured to adjust the rotational speed of said wheel to ensure that when the leading edge of a sheet arrives at said wheel, it is directly received within said slot, so that it can be flipped over by said wheel and released therefrom for stacking after further rotation of the wheel, and wherein the controller is configured to adjust the wheel speed from a first speed where the sheet is traveling along the transfer belt after said leading edge has been detected by the sensor, a second speed after the sheet is detected by the sensor but before it arrives at the wheel, and a third constant speed at the moment before the leading edge reaches the wheel.