PRINTING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PURGING PRINT MEDIA

In a printing system having multiple document finishing assemblies, it is sometimes necessary to purge the system of print media which, as a result of a jam or other operational malfunction, remain within the printing system in an unfinished, unprinted, or otherwise undesirable condition. These "purge sheets" can be delivered to a separate purge tray provided at each document finishing assembly. A printing system having numerous document finishing assemblies will typically have a corresponding number of purge trays which must be cleared individually by an operator, which is inefficient and burdensome. The present disclosure provides a printing system and method which, in the event of a jam, consolidates purge sheets into a minimal number of purge trays. By minimizing the number of purge trays which must be cleared by an operator, efficiency gains and productivity increases can be realized. Additionally, the disclosed printing system is responsive to subsequent or multiple jams by diverting purge sheets to the minimal number of remaining purge trays. Exemplary embodiments of the disclosed purging algorithm are presented wherein purging is coordinated by the document finishing assemblies using a decentralized daisy-chain architecture, and wherein the purging is coordinated by a controller using a centralized architecture.