Automatic duplex and simplex document handler for electronic input.

摘要

A document handling system particularly suitable for electronic imaging by sequentially feeding uppermost document sheets (18) stacked in an input tray (20) to be imaged in forward serial order at an imaging station (16) and restacked collated in an output tray (22), with a short and compact "U" shaped common document feeding path also providing the majority of a duplex document feeding path (24) for returning duplex document sheets imaged on their first sides back to the imaging station for imaging their second sides. The input and output trays are in a space saving closely superposed relationship defining a protective confining inverter chute space therebetween within which the duplex document sheets may be fed out over the output tray by a dual mode reversible output sheet feeder at the "U" shaped path output and then reversed to feed back through a short linear duplex document feeding path into the entrance of the same "U" shaped document sheet feeding path for simplex document sheets to provide a duplex loop path.