Patent ID: 7780161

Claim:
A method of picking sheet media in a printer, comprising: positioning a pick-up roller on a stack of sheet media so as to contact the sheet media; rotatably driving the pick-up roller with a motor via a gear assembly so that the pick-up roller picks up the sheet media from the stack and delivers the sheet media that was picked up to a sheet media transport mechanism for transporting sheet media past a printhead, the pick-up roller, motor and gear assembly being mounted on a pivoting part of a pick-up device, the pivoting part of the pick-up device having pins received in pivot details of the printer so that the pivoting part pivots in a passive manner relative to the printer and sheet media; upon delivery of a leading edge of the sheet media that was picked up to the sheet media transport mechanism by the pick-up roller, disengaging a first gear of the gear assembly from a second gear of the gear assembly which is concentric with the pick-up roller to cease the driving of the pick-up roller so that the pick-up roller free wheels on the sheet media; and upon a trailing edge of the sheet media that was picked up leaving contact with the pick-up roller, re-engaging the first and second gears through a driving force of the motor.