Patent ID: 7762542

Claim:
A paper feeder for feeding sheets comprising: tray means for stacking sheets in a stack on a support surface of a tray, wherein the stack comprises sheets having notched openings in at least one location or sheets free of notched openings; pickup means for separating a single sheet from the stack of sheets on the sheet support surface of the tray means and for conveying the sheet in a sheet conveyance direction; sheet conveyance means for conveying the single sheet separated by the pickup means to a predetermined processing position; projecting guide means disposed on the tray means so as to be movable between a retracted position at least level with the support surface, and a projecting position projecting above the support surface and entering into the notched openings of the sheets when the sheets having the notched openings are disposed on the support surface, said projecting guide means being positioned in the retracted position when the sheets without openings are disposed on the support surface; and wherein the projecting guide means comprises an oblique surface, the oblique surface guiding an upstream side edge, with respect to the sheet conveyance direction, of the notched opening to prevent the fed sheet from being caught by a downstream side edge of the notched opening of a lower sheet when the projecting guide means is in the projecting position.