Patent ID: 7392982

Claim:
An accumulator for a sheet handling apparatus, comprising: rollers for driving a sheet received in the accumulator along an accumulation path from an inlet end to a discharge end of the accumulator; and a stop at the discharge end of the accumulator, the stop being movable between an accumulation position whereby it acts as a stopper against the driving of sheets received in the accumulator, and a release position whereby it allows ejection of sheets from the discharge end of the accumulator, the accumulation path being aligned at an angle between 35° and 45° to a horizontal axis to form an accumulation chamber, with the discharge end located below the inlet end of the accumulation chamber; and a traction belt running along at least one side of the accumulation path, the traction belt driving sheets along the accumulation path under a frictional force that is produced by sprung idler rollers which are biased towards the traction belt by a variable spring force distributed over the length of the accumulation chamber that is larger towards the bottom of the accumulation chamber to create a larger force towards the bottom of the accumulation chamber.