Patent ID: 8628080

Claim:
A mail processing machine for moving a plurality of mail items from upstream to downstream, the mail processing machine operable at least in a first steady state mode and in a second staging mode, said mail processing machine comprising: a staging section; and a non-staging section positioned upstream from the staging section and arranged to transport mail items one at a time to the staging section, wherein the non-staging section has a first movement mechanism to move the mail items downstream onto the staging section substantially at a constant first speed, wherein two adjacent ones of the mail items in the non-staging section are separated by a first gap; and the staging section has a second movement mechanism comprising a controller to transport the mail items received from the non-staging section at a controllable second speed, wherein a first mail item in the staging section is separated from a subsequent mail item by a second gap, wherein when the mail processing machine is operated in the first steady state mode, the second speed is controlled by the controller such that the second gap is substantially equal to the first gap, and when the mail processing machine is operated in the second staging mode, the first movement mechanism continues to operate at the first speed while the second speed of the staging section is controlled by the controller to receive mail items at the first speed and to decelerate after the mail item is received, thereby causing the second gap within the staging section to be smaller than the first gap, and wherein the staging section is controlled by the controller, after decelerating the first mail item, to accelerate to receive the subsequent mail item from the non-staging section, and then to decelerate both the first and subsequent mail items to be stored in the staging section separated by the second gap.