Patent ID: 7441766

Claim:
A paper feeder comprising: a paper feed roller for feeding paper; a separation pad holder for supporting a separation pad rotatably about a shaft in parallel to a direction of paper feed and for applying said separation pad to said paper feed roller; and a holder support for supporting said separation pad holder rotatably about a rotary shaft parallel to a tangential line of said separation pad and paper feed roller; wherein sheets of paper are fed by separating them one by one and feeding them between said paper feed roller and said separation pad; characterized in that said separation pad includes one or more vibration buffers provided on the separation pad at an outer right side and one or more vibration buffers provided at an outer left side in a paper feed direction each in the form of a cantilever beam, said vibration buffers being mounted as a pair extending in one direction of the separation pad, wherein one end of a viscoelastic body is secured to said separation pad, and wherein the other end of the viscoelastic body does not contact any portion of the paper feeder or separation pad.