Patent ID: 7708268

Claim:
A separator and feeder comprising: a holding mechanism that holds a pile of sheets of paper-like medium; a vibrator which is held in contact with a first region of the top surface of the pile under a first contact pressure to apply high frequency vibrations to sheets of paper-like medium; a takeout mechanism that takes out the sheets of paper-like medium one by one from top surface of the pile in a state of being held in contact with the top surface of the pile to apply a second contact pressure to the top surface of the pile; a first sensor which detects a first position of the vibrator held in contact with the pile and output a first detection signal; a second sensor which detects a second position of the top surface of the pile in a second region of the pile and outputs a second detection signal; and a control section that determins the first and second contact pressures according to the first and second detection signals and maintain the first and second contact pressures respectively in first and second predetermined ranges.