Document pinch force control with soft pinch rollers and document pinch force control

In a document handling system in which individual documents are moved with an entrance transport toward a processing station, the entrance transport including a drive roller element and a pinch roller element, wherein the system further includes a capstan element downstream of the entrance transport and an edge sensor for detecting document edges wherein the capstan element is controlled to decelerate a document to stop the document at a desired stop position for processing and subsequently accelerate the document toward an exit transport, an apparatus for providing pinch force control to the entrance transport, the apparatus comprising:

• a link member having a first end and a second end, said first end being operably attached to the pinch roller shaft, said link member being pivotally positionable about said second end between a pinch force mode and a non-pinch force mode;
• a power supply having an output shaft operably connected to said second end of said link member, said power supply capable of providing a torque thereto;
• and
• a control element for selectively activating the power supply, wherein activation of said power supply exerts a torque on said link member and positions said link member into the pinch force mode such that pinch roller element exerts a pinch force on a document, and wherein deactivation of said power supply removes a torque on said link member and positions said link member into the non-pinch force mode such that the pinch roller element is displaced, thereby preventing a pinch force from being exerted on a document and wherein the control element is programmed to determine whether the stopped document would still engage the entrance transport, and if so, upon detecting the document with the edge sensor, momentarily displacing the pinch roller element to prevent the pinch force from being exerted on the document while the document is stopped.