Patent ID: 7766318

Claim:
A pickoff system for removal of mail pieces one at a time from the end of a stack of mail pieces supported edgewise in face to face contact with one another, comprising: a pickoff belt mechanism positioned to frictionally engage an outer surface of a first mail piece at the end of the stack and transport it in a pickoff direction transversely to a thickness direction of the stack towards a leading end of the belt mechanism and away from a trailing end of the belt mechanism, which mechanism includes one or more belts mounted on a drive roller at the leading end driven by a drive motor and a follower roller at ((a)) the trailing end; a pivot mechanism by which the trailing end can swing towards and away from the stack; a drive connected to the pivot mechanism to move the trailing end towards and away from the stack; and a controller connected to the drive to cause the drive to swing the trailing end towards the stack and swing the trailing end away from the stack in a manner effective to improve operating speed of the pickoff system, further comprising means for measuring pressure exerted by the stack against the pickoff belt mechanism, and the controller is connected to the drive to cause the drive to swing the trailing end towards the stack in response to a decrease in stack pressure, and swing the trailing end away from the stack in response to an increase in stack pressure.