Patent ID: 7813012

Claim:
A document feeder comprising: an inlet; an outlet; a feeding system configured to feed a document from the inlet, the feeding system including a pick-up element and a separation element, wherein the pick-up element is configured to pick up a document placed on the inlet to the separation element, and the separation element is configured to nip the document picked up by the pick-up element to feed the document; a transfer system including transfer elements configured to transfer the document fed by the feeding system to the outlet; an input transfer path configured to guide the document during transfer from the inlet passed a scanning point to an end point positioned above the inlet; an output transfer path configured to guide the document during transfer from the end point passed the scanning point to the outlet; and a drive system configured to drive the feeding system and the transfer elements of the transfer system, wherein the drive system drives the feeding system and the transfer system to feed and transfer a first document from the inlet, and, while the first document is transferred by the transfer system, cuts off a driving force to the feeding system when the separation element of the feeding system nips a second document fed subsequently to the first document.