Abstract: There is disclosed a method for use in a printing system for producing copies or prints in which billing is developed for a customer of the printing system for the produced copies or prints on a basis of a set of accounting information accumulated and stored in an accounting subsystem. The printing system includes an input/output station communicating with the accounting subsystem by way of a network, and the method facilitates the generation of a set of billing/pricing information for transmission to a selected location upon the occurrence of a selected event related to the printing system.

Abstract: An output sheets collection, separation and distribution system for printed sheets outputted from a shared centralized printer to which plural remote users electronically send respective print jobs from a plurality of separate user sites remote from said centralized printer location. A mobile vehicular mailboxing module is docked with the printer to collect the print jobs stacked in plural user-assigned mailbox bins by an internal sheet feeding and distribution system. The mobile mailbox module is then undocked and automatically sequentially driven to the separate remote user sites and distributes the respective print jobs to the respective users at those sites, or other designated sites, stopping only at those sites for which the moving mailboxing module contains designated print jobs in one or more bins.

Abstract: The method of recovery from a jam of a copy sheet in a clearance zone in an image processing machine including the steps of determining the position of the copy sheet and a following copy sheet in the copy sheet path, recognizing that the following copy sheet is within a second clearance zone, calculating a time period to continue machine operation to drive the following copy sheet into the first clearance zone, and determining that said time period does not exceed a maximum time period.

Abstract: An improved system for segregating and identifying separate job sets from a commonly stacked output of plural job sets of copy sheets sequentially generated by a printer and sequentially outputted into a sheet stacker in which they may be superposed commonly stacked. A control system selects which standard size sheet supply tray of the printer will feed the copy sheets for a selected job set, and can automatically feed and print a cover sheet of a larger size or different orientation before or after the job set copy sheets are fed. The sheet stacker may desirably stack the copy sheets of the job sets commonly edge aligned but so that at least one edge area of the cover sheets extends substantially from at least one edge of the stack of copy sheets of the job sets to provide an exposed printed banner strip for clear job sets segregation and separation even if the commonly stacked plural job sets of copy sheets are misaligned in subsequent handling.

Abstract: An improved sheet stacking apparatus for stacking a wide variety of sheets, especially small sheets, using a rotatable disk stacking unit that receives each sheet in slots defined by fingers on the disks and rotates to invert the sheets. Closely adjacent fixed axis corrugating frictional drive rollers engage the trail edge area of the sheet by the rotation of variable radius disks to larger radius areas thereof which interdigitate with these fixed drive rollers, so that the trail edges of sheets being inverted by the disk contact and are driven by the corrugating rollers. The periphery of the frictional drive rollers is inside of the maximum radius of the disk stacking unit and outside of its minimum radius, so as to be only intermittently interdigitated therewith.

Abstract: A device which electrically grounds a rotating shaft. A brush is mounted removably on the rotating shaft. The brush has conductive fibers extending outwardly over a portion thereof. As the shaft rotates, the conductive fibers of the brush periodically contact an electrically grounded member to electrically ground the shaft.