System and method for inline cutting and stacking of sheets for formation of books

A system for handling sheets provided by an upstream source, each of the sheets defining at least one book page thereon, comprising:

• a drive that directs each of the sheets along a feed path in a downstream direction from the source, the drive including selectively actuable drive elements that engage each of the sheets to drive, disengage each of the sheets to allow non-interference therewith, at predetermined times;
• at least one trimming station constructed and arranged to trim at least one edge margin strip from each of the sheets at a downstream location from the source;
• a rotator that selectively engages each of the sheets in a first orientation and that rotates each of the sheets into an orthogonal, second orientation when the drive elements are disengaged;
• and
• a stacker assembly, that receives each of the page-sized sheets and that stacks each of the page-sized sheets in a predetermined page order;
• wherein the rotator comprises a first plurality of drive rollers arranged to drive the sheets in a first direction and a second plurality of rollers arranged to drive the sheets in a second orthogonal direction, each of the first plurality of drive rollers and each of the second plurality of drive rollers including first selectively actuable idlers and second selective actuable idlers, respectively, that form a drive nip so as to drive the sheets selectively in either the first orientation or the second orthogonal orientation.