Patent ID: 7731167

Claim:
A system for loading signatures on to a collating conveyor, the system comprising: a first belt conveyor; a second belt conveyor positioned to receive signatures from the first belt conveyor and discharge the signatures to a hopper; a feeder adapted to transfer signatures from the hopper to the collating conveyor; and a control system adapted to control the speed of at least one of the first belt conveyor and the second belt conveyor proportional to the speed of the collating conveyor to minimize misfeeding of signatures; wherein the speed, S C , of one of the first conveyor and the second conveyor is proportional to the speed of the collating conveyor, S CC , by the following relationship: S C =K×S CC , wherein K=S MAX1 ×T×K 1 ; wherein S MAX1 is the maximum speed of the first conveyor; T is the typical thickness of the signatures; and K 1 is a constant ranging from 0.10 to 10.0.