摘要 |
<p>A high speed sheet stacker (100) includes a plurality of vacuum transport sub-assemblies (340A,340B,340C,340D,340E) interdigitated with an adjacent sub-assembly and provided with a spatial pitch that is less than or equal to a predetermined shingle distance. The collective vacuum transport assembly can thus acquire shingled sheets and transport the shingled sheets as a set, with each sheet being offset by at least one shingle distance As a result, speed and acceleration requirements for the vacuum transport and the sheets being transported are greatly reduced compared to conventional vacuum transports that essentially transport sheets singularly. A shingled transport zone (320) may be provided upstream of the vacuum transport system (300) to accommodate sheets of varying size. In various embodiments, three to five vacuum transport sub-assemblies (340A,340B,340C,340D,340E) are provided to transport three to five sheets as a set.
</p> |