Sheet transport system

Claim 1

A DOCUMENT HANDLING AND ENCODING SYSTEM INCLUDING APLURALITY OF WORK POSITIONS COMPRISING A DOCUMENT INPUT STATION HAVING A FLOOR AND A PAIR OF CLOSELY SPACED VERTICAL WALLS, SAID WALLS BEING FLARED AWAY AT THEIR UPPER EXTREMITIES FROM THE VERTICAL POSITION TO MORE READILY RECEIVE DOCUMENTS, A DOCUMENT CHANNEL EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY FROM SAID INPUT STATION AND IN ALIGNMENT THEREWITH AND HAVING A FLOOR AND CLOSELY SPACED PARALLEL SIDES, AN OUTPUT HOPPER COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CHANNEL FOR RECEIVING DOCUMENTS THEREFROM, A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF INDEPENDENTLY DRIVEN MOTORS MOUNTED AT DRIVING STATIONS ALONG SAID CHANNEL, ONE PAIR OF MOTORS POSITIONED AT SAID INPUT STATION, WITH ONE MOTOR OF EACH OF SAID PAIRS POSITIONED ON ONE SIDE OF SAID CHANNEL AND THE OTHER MOTOR ON THE OTHER SIDE THEREOF WITH THE AXIS OF EACH PAIR PARALLEL, ONE TO THE OTHER, AND TO THE PLANES OF SAID SIDES AND TILTED AWAY FROM SAID INPUT STATION, A DISC-LIKE FIBER BRUSH MOUNTED ON EACH OF SAID MOTORS AND DRIVEN THEREBY WITH EACH OF THE BRUSHES EXTENDING THROUGH THE SIDE ADJACENT THERETO INTO A TANGENT RELATION ONE WITH THE OTHER WITHIN SAID CHANNEL WHEREIN SAID BRUSHES ARE DRIVEN AS TO HAVE A PRIMARY COMPONENT OF MOVEMNT WITHIN SAID CHANNEL AWAY FROM SAID INPUT STATION AND A SECONDARY COMPONENT OF MOVEMENT DIRECTED DOWNWARDLY TOWARDS SAID FLOOR, SAID PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF MOTORS BEING DRIVEN AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME SPEED AND MOUNTED AT PROGRESSIVELY INCREASING DISTANCES AWAY FROM SAID INPUT STATION AND WITH THEIR AXIS BEING TILTED TO A PROGRESSIVELY LESSER DEGREE WITH DISTANCES FROM SAID INPUT STATION,A FIRST DOCUMENT STOP EXTENDING INTO SAID CHANNEL AND DEFINING A FIRST WORK POSITION, A SECOND DOCUMENT STOP ALSO EXTENDING INTO SAID CHANNEL, DOWNSTREAM FROM SAID FIRST DOCUMENT STOP, AND DEFINING A SECOND WORK POSITION, MEANS POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID DOCUMENT INPUT STATION FOR MANUALLY SELECTING ONE OR THE OTHER OF SAID WORK POSITINS BY CAUSING A WITHDRAWAL OF THE FIRST DOCUMENT STOP UPON SELECTION OF SAID SECOND WORK POSITION, AND WITHDRAWAL OF THE SECOND DOCUMENT STOP UPON SELECTION OF SAID FIRST WORK POSITION, SENSING MEANS FOR DETECTING THE ARRIVAL OF A DOCUMENT ALONG SAID CHANNEL AT SAID FIRST OR SECOND WORK POSITIONS, AND MEANS COUPLED FROM SAID SENSING MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING THE APPROPRIATE STOP AFTER COMPLETION OF THE WORK AT THE SELECTED WORK POSITION TO PERMIT THE ADVANCEMENT OF A DOCUMENT TO THE OUTPUT HOPPER.