Combined sheet buffer and inverter

A sheet buffering and inverting module comprising:

• a frame having a first side and a second side opposite said first side;
• a sheet transport path extending essentially horizontally across said frame from a sheet input port on said first side to a sheet output port on said second side, said sheet transport path receiving a stream of sheets at said sheet input port and feeding said stream to said sheet output port, each of said sheets in said stream initially having an orientation with a first edge comprising a leading edge and a second edge opposite said first edge comprising a trailing edge;
• and
• a plurality of sheet inverter paths connected to and extending essentially vertically from said sheet transport path, each sheet inverter path comprising:
• a first end adjacent to said sheet transport path and a second end opposite said first end;
• a first gate at said first end diverting a selected sheet from said stream such that said first edge enters said sheet inverter path;
• a sheet transport device transporting said selected sheet away from said sheet transport path at least until said second edge is contained within said sheet inverter path, said sheet inverter path buffering said selected sheet and said sheet transport device subsequently reversing direction and transporting said selected sheet back to said sheet transport path such that said selected sheet is inserted back into said stream at said first end;
• and
• a second gate guiding said selected sheet, as said selected sheet is inserted back into said stream, such that said selected sheet is inverted with said second edge comprising said leading edge and said first edge comprising said trailing edge;
• and
• an additional sheet transport path branching off of said sheet transport path between said first location and said sheet inverter paths and being connected to a least one of said sheet inverter paths at said second end, said additional sheet transport path comprising additional sheet transport devices and additional gates that allow an additional selected sheet to be diverted into said additional sheet transport path and transported into said at least one of said sheet inverter paths at said second end so that said additional selected sheet is buffered and maintains said orientation when subsequently inserted back into said stream at said first end.

A printing system comprising:

• a first printing module;
• a second printing module adjacent said first printing module;
• and
• at least one sheet buffering and inverting module comprising:
• a frame having a first side and a second side opposite said first side;
• a sheet transport path extending essentially horizontally across said frame from a sheet input port on said first side to a sheet output port on said second side, said sheet transport path receiving a stream of sheets at said sheet input port, said stream of sheets comprising a merged stream of sheets from both said first printing module and said second printing module, each of said sheets in said stream initially having an orientation with a first edge comprising a leading edge and a second edge opposite said first edge comprising a trailing edge, said sheet transport path further feeding said stream to said sheet output port;
• and
• a plurality of sheet inverter paths connected to and extending essentially vertically from said sheet transport path, each sheet inverter path comprising:
• a first end adjacent to said sheet transport path and a second end opposite said first end;
• a first gate at said first end diverting a selected sheet from said stream such that said first edge enters said sheet inverter path;
• a sheet transport device transporting said selected sheet away from said sheet transport path at least until said second edge is contained within said sheet inverter path, said sheet inverter path holding said selected sheet and said sheet transport device subsequently reversing direction and transporting said selected sheet back to said sheet transport path such that said selected sheet is inserted back into said stream at said first end;
• and
• a second gate guiding said selected sheet, as said selected sheet is inserted back into said stream, such that said selected sheet is inverted with said second edge comprising said leading edge and said first edge comprising said trailing edge;
• and
• an additional sheet transport path branching off of said sheet transport path between said first location and said sheet inverter paths and being connected to a least one of said sheet inverter paths at said second end, said additional sheet transport path comprising additional sheet transport devices and additional gates that allow an additional selected sheet to be diverted into said additional sheet transport path and transported into said at least one of said sheet inverter paths at said second end so that said additional selected sheet maintains said orientation when subsequently inserted back into said stream at said first end.

A printing system comprising:

• a printing engine;
• and
• a sheet buffering and inverting device comprising:
• a sheet transport path extending from a first location to a printing engine and further past said printing engine to a second location, said sheet transport path further comprising a loop back connection from said second location to said first location;
• a plurality of sheet inverter paths positioned between said first location and said printing engine, each of said sheet inverter paths being essentially perpendicular to said sheet transport path and having a first end adjacent to said sheet transport path and a second end opposite said first end;
• an additional sheet transport path branching off from said sheet transport path between said first location and said sheet inverter paths, said additional sheet transport path connecting to said second end of each of said sheet inverter paths;
• and
• a plurality of gates and sheet transport devices, said gates and said sheet transport devices being selectively controllable, prior to processing of said sheets by said printing engine, so as to cause buffering and inverting of some selected sheets by diverting said selected sheets directly from said sheet transport path into said sheet inverter paths at said first end and to further cause buffering only of additional selected sheets by diverting said additional selected sheets into said sheet inverter paths at said second end via said additional sheet transport path.