Patent ID: 7100911

Claim:
An apparatus for assembling a stack of sheet articles, the apparatus comprising: (a) central accumulation area comprising a single-level accumulation surface for receiving and combining in a single stack sheet articles from at least two different directions; (b) a plurality of individual sheet input paths for advancing sheet articles from the at least two different directions to the central accumulation area, one or more of the sheet input paths having an accumulator module adjacent to the central accumulation area, the accumulator module adapted to accumulate and/or stage one or more sheet articles prior to advancement of the sheet articles to the central accumulation area or to advance sheet articles to the central accumulation area without accumulating and/or staging the sheet articles; (c) an output path for advancing an assembled single stack of two or more sheet articles from the central accumulation area as a sheet stack; (d) a controller operatively connected with and controlling one or more of the individual sheet input oaths based upon predetermined information for assembling a stack of sheet articles in the central accumulation area, the controller being adapted for causing the accumulator module of the one or more individual sheet input oaths to accumulate and/or stage the sheet articles prior to advancement of sheet articles to the central accumulation area or to cause the accumulator module to advance the sheet articles to the central accumulation area at a predetermined time without accumulating and/or staging the sheet articles; and (e) wherein the plurality of individual sheet input paths comprises at least three sheet input paths.