Orbiting nip plural mode sheet output with faceup or facedown stacking

Abstract

In a system of transporting sheets in an output path of a copier or printer to a sheet stacking area with opposing first and second sheet feeding rollers forming a sheet transporting nip engaging the leading edge of a sheet, while producing a relative orbital motion of the opposing rollers to progressively pivot the nip and thereby change the angular direction of motion of the leading edge of the sheet, plural mode selectable operation of this pivotal motion is provided. There is a selection between faceup and facedown stacking of the sheets by one selectable orbital motion of the nip. This selected orbital motion pivots the nip by greater than 90 degrees with the sheet's leading edge held in the nip, so that subsequently, the leading edge of the sheet is moving in a direction substantially different from the direction of motion of the leading edge when the leading edge first entered the nip, and the sheet is inverted. Another selectable orbital motion of the nip pivots the nip to feed the sheet into a separate area for further sheet processing. Another selectable orbital motion of the nip pivots the nip in the opposite direction to feed the sheet into a top stacking tray. Other selectable movements of the same orbiting nip unit can provide other output selections, such as a duplexing or highlight color sheet return, all without requiring any moving gates or baffles, and with positive sheet control.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.