Automatic Media Loading and Unloading System for Producing Dimensional Documents

A method of loading and unloading media from a surface of a cutting table of a cutting system performing a cutting job using a media loading and unloading system including an elevator assembly disposed laterally adjacent one side of the cutting table, and a bi-directional transport system, the elevator assembly including a drive and a plurality of vertically displaced bins that are vertically movable up and down by the drive, the bins including at least one bin defining an in-feed tray adapted to hold media to be fed to the cutting table surface and at least one bin defining an out-feed tray adapted to hold media removed from the cutting table surface, the method comprising:

• a) positioning the in-feed tray at a feeding height with the drive;
• b) acquiring a sheet of the media from the in-feed tray with the transport system;
• c) transporting the sheet of media in a lateral feed direction from the in-feed tray to the cutting table with the transport system;
• d) releasing the sheet of media from the transport system onto the surface of the cutting table;
• e) positioning the out-feed tray at a stacking height with the drive;
• f) acquiring the sheet of the media from the surface of the cutting table with the transport system after completion of cutting system operation;
• g) transporting the sheet of media in a direction opposite to the lateral feed direction from the cutting table to the out-feed tray with the transport system;
• and
• h) releasing the sheet of media from the transport system into the out-feed tray.