Patent ID: 7374162
Filing Date: 2008-05-20
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
1. A sheet material feeding apparatus comprising: a sheet material stacker for stacking inclinedly sheet materials; feeding means having a feeding roller for feeding the sheet materials from said sheet material stacker; separating means contactable to the sheet material fed out by said feeding means to feed the sheet materials one by one; a regulating member for regulating a number of the sheet materials reaching said separating means, said regulating member being disposed between said sheet material stacker and said separating means and being spaced from said feeding means; a supporting member for supporting said separating means; and an attitude controlling member for controlling an attitude of the sheet material being fed to said separating means, said attitude controlling member having a contact surface for contacting the sheet material at each side of said feeding roller, wherein a distance between a rotation axis of said feeding roller and the contact surface is equal to or smaller than a distance between the rotation axis of said feeding roller and an outer peripheral surface of said feeding roller, wherein said attitude controlling member cooperates with said feeding means to curve a leading-edge of the sheet material in a direction of a width of a recording material by said attitude controlling member contacting one side of the sheet material and said feeding means contacting the other side of the sheet material, before the sheet material is brought into contact with said separating means and to bring the leading-edge of the sheet material into contact with said separating means with the leading-edge of the sheet material curved in the direction of the width of the recording material.