Patent ID: 6089561
Filing Date: 2000-07-18
Classification: B65H

Abstract:
A document feeder for feeding documents along a document feed path, the document feeder comprising:a tray for containing a stack of documents to be fed along the document feed path;a picker mechanism for picking a document from the stack of documents stored in the tray and moving the picked document along the document feed path;a first sensor for (i) detecting the trailing edge of a document moving along the document feed path, and (ii) providing a first output signal indicative of detection of the trailing edge of the document;a second sensor for (i) engaging a document along the document feed path, (ii) detecting movement of an engaged document along the document feed path, and (iii) providing a second output signal indicative of movement of the engaged document along the document feed path; anda controller responsive to the first and second output signals from the first and second sensors for controlling operation of the picker mechanism to provide a gap of at least a predetermined size between adjacent documents moving downstream along the document feed path.