Sheet feeding apparatus

Claim 1

A sheet feeding apparatus, including: a frame member; a base plate mounted pivotably on said frame member, said base plate having a generally planar surface for supporting thereon a stack of sheet material; a rotatable shaft member mounted substantially fixedly on said frame member; a retard roller mounted substantially fixedly on said shaft member, said retard roller being mounted eccentrically on said shaft member so that rotation of said shaft member pivots said retard roller from an inoperative position spaced from one surface of an advancing sheet to an operative position in contact therewith; a rotary driven feed roller having a first portion of the circumferential surface thereof engaging the other surface of the sheet of support material and a second portion of the circumferential surface thereof engaging the circumferential surface of said retard roller disposed in the operative position thereof prior to the advancing sheet being interposed therebetween, said feed roller being adapted to advance the sheet into the nip defined by said feed roller and said retard roller to prevent multiple sheet feeding; means for supporting substantially fixedly said rotary driven feed roller; means for pivoting said base plate in an upwardly direction so that the leading edge of successive uppermost sheets of the stack supported thereon engage tangentially said feed roller, said base plate with the stack supported thereon forming an inclined surface with the leading edge of successive uppermost sheets located at a level above the trailing edge thereof; a pair of opposed, spaced side guide means, each of said pair of side guide means having a generally planar, substantially vertical surface adapted to contact opposed side edge portions of the stack, one of said side guide means being mounted substantially fixedly on said base plate and the other of said side guide means being mounted movably on said base plate so as to engage and substantially align the side edges of the stack mounted on said base plate and interposed therebetween; and rear guide means mounted movably on said base plate, said rear guide means having a generally planar, substantially vertical surface disposed substantially normal to the vertical surfaces of said pair of side guide means and adapted to contact the trailing edge of the stack so as to align and locate the leading edge thereof in position to engage said feed roller when said base plate pivots in an upwardly direction.