in an apparatus , such as a fuser for xerographic printing , wherein sheets pass through a nip formed by two moving rollers , a substantially enclosed , effectively funnel - shaped path is defined to direct sheets from the nip to a subsequent processing station . when a jam condition occurs in the path , a movable surface defining the path moves to increase a size of the path . the increase in size prevents impaction of subsequent sheets entering the path , and also facilitates manual jam clearance .