Jam detection method and system for an inserter

摘要

A document assembly system with jam detection capability. The system including an accumulation chassis having a series of pusher fingers for pushing collations of documents. Above the chassis, document feeders release documents to the chassis to form the collations. A set of horizontal photo-sensors is positioned below the document feeder at a level substantially even with the tops of the pusher fingers on the chassis. The photo-sensors detect lead and trail edges of documents traveling in the flight path from the document feeder to the chassis. The sensors generate signals representing the lead and tail edges of documents breaking the line between the photo-sensors. A controller receives the signals from the photo-sensors and compares them to an expected profile calculated as a function the parameters of operation for the chassis and feeders. An error signal is generated when the compared signals are different from the expected profile by greater than a predetermined margin of error.