Sheet feeding mechanism

Claim 1

In a sheet feeding mechanism comprising a receiving member for receiving a stack of sheets, a feed means for feeding the uppermost sheet of the stack of sheets from said receiving member, and an overlapping feed preventing means for preventing the feeding of overlapping sheets by said feed means, said overlapping feed preventing means including a roller adapted to rotate in a predetermined direction and a friction member positioned below said roller and cooperating therewith to form a nipping position, the improvement comprising means for preventing any sheet fed from said receiving member by said feed means from contacting the upper surface of said friction member at a position upstream of said nipping position with respect to the sheet feeding direction, said preventing means comprising: a guide member positioned upstream of said nipping position, said guide member having an upper surface over which moves any sheet fed from the receiving member, said guide member having a downstream end portion extending in a downstream and upwardly inclined direction relative to said upper surface of said friction member, such that the leading end of any sheet fed from said receiving member by said feed means is guided by said guide member to be brought into contact with the peripheral surface of said roller at a position upstream of said nipping position.