Abstract: A sheet feeding mechanism is described in which the sheets in a batch of sheets are sorted into different output stackers. The sheet feeding mechanism includes a buffer store for receiving and temporarily holding a batch of sheets while a predetermined batch value is verified, and a batch verifier responsive to the passage of each sheet along a given path for comparing a measured batch value with a reference value to derive an error signal. The sheets are extracted from the store one by one and a sheet sorting mechanism sorts the sheets into different output stackers. The sorting mechanism includes means responsive to the output of the verifier for segregating the sheets of the batch extracted from the store whenever the error exceeds a predetermined value.