Patent ID: 7066871

Claim:
A folder for processing paper sheets comprising: a. a frame that defines a longitudinal center plane; b. an in-feed station in operative association with the frame that selectively propels one sheet at a time from a source thereof in a downstream direction, wherein: i. the source of the sheets is a supply stack of sheets; and ii. the in-feed station comprises a tiltable hopper that loads the supply stack of sheets, and a pickoff wheel that cooperates with the hopper to propel the sheets from the supply stack one at a time in the downstream direction; c. a folder station in the frame and having an input nip, the folder station selectively receiving the sheets from the in-feed station and folding the sheets into folded sheets having a selected configuration, wherein the folder station comprises multiple rollers including two rollers that form the input nip; and d. a set feeder in the frame between the in-feed station and the folder station that selectively directs a set of multiple sheets to the folder station input nip for folding the set into a selected configuration, wherein the set feeder directs the set to the folder station input nip, so that the set of sheets by-passes the in-feed station and is folded at the folder station.