Automatic stack feed

Claim 1

Apparatus for feeding individual sheets from a stack comprising: a hopper having a lower side plate (50) extending at an angle of at least a few degrees and less than 45° from the vertical and having a slot near its lower end, said hopper having an upper plate with a lower end (54) which extends towards said lower plate but which has an end (54b) spaced therefrom to form a throat (56) at the bottom of the hopper through which only a portion of the sheets of a full hopper can pass; feed roller means (16) positioned below said throat and activatable to move individual sheets along a predetermined feed path leading from said hopper means; a prefeed member (40) with at least one projection, said prefeed member being rotatably mounted with its projection passing through said slot in said lower side plate to beat against a bottom sheet in the hopper; said prefeed member located immediately above said throat (56) to lie substantially opposite said lower end (54) of the upper plate, whereby the prefeed member tends to bend primarily the few sheets that have passed through the throat rather than uniformly bending the entire stack of sheets.