Abstract: A separating and feeding machine is disclosed for removing a succession of bound booklets or the like from a supply hopper adapted to hold a stack of the booklets for feeding them to a subsequent apparatus for further processing. The separating and feeding machine includes a reciprocating vacuum feed plate disposed in the bottom of the hopper for advancing the bottom booklet through a discharge opening to a take away feed mechanism, and includes first and second stage separating mechanism which initially maintains at least the bottom two booklets in the hopper in shingled relationship to expose a marginal portion thereof adjacent the bound edge so that a pressing member can maintain a normal force on the exposed marginal portion of the bottom booklet to prevent it from wrinkling and becoming jammed in the discharge opening while the vacuum feed plate is moving it toward the discharge opening.

Abstract: Apparatus and a method for merging vertically oriented documents with horizontally oriented documents. The apparatus includes: a document assembler for receiving vertically oriented documents, the document assembler having a pair of parallel paper paths, wherein each of the paper paths includes a device for transporting the vertically oriented documents and a device for stopping and a device for aligning the vertically oriented documents; a device located beneath the document assembler for re-orienting the documents from the document assembler in a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation; and a horizontal transport located beneath the re-orienting device for feeding horizontally oriented documents toward the re-oriented documents emerging from the re-orienting device, whereby the horizontally oriented documents are merged with the re-oriented documents from the document assembler.