Patent ID: 7131644

Claim:
An imaging apparatus having a sheet feed path, comprising: an automatic sheet feeder having a media tray with a sheet support surface for supporting a stack of print media, and a sheet picking mechanism for retrieving individual sheets from said stack of print media; a sheet separation surface positioned along said sheet feed path downstream from said media tray; and a plurality of pivoting arms mounted in said imaging apparatus, said plurality of pivoting arms being moveable between a first position and a second position, said plurality of pivoting arms being positioned and individually spaced along a width of said sheet feed path, each of said pivoting arms having a media stack engaging surface, wherein when said plurality of pivoting arms is in said first position, said media stack engaging surface is non-parallel to said sheet separation surface, and when said plurality of pivoting arms is in said second position, said media stack engaging surface is parallel to said sheet separation surface, said sheet separation surface being formed by a plurality of sheet separation pads spaced apart along a bi-directional scanning path of said imaging apparatus, wherein said plurality of pivoting arms are interspersed with said plurality of sheet separation pads.