Abstract: A thermal ink jet printer that prints onto thermal adhesive binding tape includes a tape feeding adapter that enables the feeding of tape into and out of the printer. The adapter includes a base support member for supporting a plurality of tapes in a substantially horizontal position for feeding into the printer and two tape guide members positioned orthogonally and centrally of the base support member for guiding the tapes into and out of the printer. Two support and guide members are connected to and extends orthogonally with respect to the two tape guides members for receiving and supporting the tapes between the two tape guides members and above the base support member after the tapes have exited the printer.

Abstract: A system and method of printing a document and encoding information in a magnetic strip on the document wherein all the information to be printed and encoded is received from a single information source by the printer of the system. The document is printed with machine readable codes on a form having a magnetic strip. The printed codes are read by the system and used to magnetically encode information in the magnetic strip on the document. A system embodying the invention may also include a slitter for separating a printed and magnetically encoded document into sections, and a binder to bind plural documents or sections.

Abstract: A sheet inserter inserts special insert sheets into a continuous stream of sheets by overlaying the insert sheets with a corresponding sheet in the continuous stream of sheets. The insert sheet overlaying the corresponding sheet in the continuous stream of sheets is then conveyed with the corresponding sheet to a final destination where the sheets can be compiled into a stack. The sheet inserter can be contained in a module which is removably attachable to a document finishing apparatus so as to insert the special insert sheets into the stream of sheets that are output from the document producing apparatus. When the document producing apparatus is associated with a finishing device such as a booklet maker, which compiles and stitches multiple copies of a booklet, the sheet inserter inserts one or more special insert sheets at the appropriate location(s) for each booklet as the sheets are entering the assembly station of the booklet maker.

Abstract: Embedded intelligence in the form of machine readable indicia printed on at least some of the sheets of a document is used by a document integrating device to control a feeding operation performed by the document integrating device. Regular sheets located in the document immediately preceding the location of an insert sheet are output with machine readable information indicative of the subsequent location in the document of an insert sheet. These regular sheets are then supplied to a document integrater (either in a stack or as they are output from an imaging device). A first scanner in the document integrater scans the regular sheets as they are fed from an inlet (having, for example, a regular sheet feeder unit). When a regular sheet located in the document immediately prior to an insert sheet is fed from the inlet, the machine readable information indicative of the subsequent insert sheet is read by the first scanner.