Envelope supply pack retainer

Claim 1

An article feeder for a document processing machine, comprising: a first stationary frame, a second frame pivotably mounted on said first frame for movement between a closed operating position, and an open position where operator access to said documents is provided, an inclined surface mounted on said first frame for supporting a stack of documents in a substantially upright position, said stack of documents being fed seriatim from a lower end of said stack, separator means mounted on said first and second frames including drive means for cyclically feeding said documents seriatim from said lower end of the said stack, said separator means being supported on said first and second frames at an upstream location within a separable feed path for advancing and conveying said documents when said first and second frames are in said closed, operating position, feeding means mounted along said feed path for conveying said documents, said feeding means, including said separator means so that both said feeding and separating means are separable and exposed when said first and second frame is moved to said open position, latching means for locking said first and second frames into said operating position, said latching means being further operable to cause unlocking of said second frame and for further enabling movement of said second frame into said open position, and means for retaining said stack of documents when said latching means is unlocked and said second frame is operably moved to said open position thereby providing access to said documents located within said feed path when said feed path is exposed.