Abstract: Sheets carrying bar codes are first stacked with their bar codes directed downward, then are pulled one at a time from the bottom of the stack, and then the pulled sheets are gripped and impelled into an upper upstream end of a guide whose downstream end opens into an outfeed hopper. The sheets slide in free fall downward in the guide in an upstream-to-downstream travel direction along a travel path without being gripped with the sheets passing over a basically planar upstream guide plate having, relative to the travel direction, an upstream edge and a downstream edge below the upstream edge and over a basically planar downstream glide plate having an upstream edge joined to the downstream edge of the upstream plate and a downstream edge below the upstream edge of the downstream plate. The downstream plate lies in a plane forming with the upstream plate an angle of slightly less than 180.degree. while forming with the horizontal an angle of between 17.degree. and 30.degree.