Patent ID: 7222845

Claim:
A printer that comprises a support structure; a printing assembly mounted on the support structure, the printing assembly comprising a feed mechanism mounted on the support structure for feeding sheets of media along a feed path; and at least one printhead mounted on the support structure, downstream of the feed mechanism to carry out a printing operation on the sheets of media; and a picker mechanism that is positioned on the support structure, upstream of the printing assembly, the picker mechanism comprising a nozzle assembly that is movably mounted on the support structure and includes at least one nozzle that opens towards the stack of sheets; a displacement mechanism for moving the nozzle assembly reciprocally between the stack of sheets and the feed mechanism; and a gas supply that is connected to the nozzle assembly and is operable so that a gas stream emitted from the, or each, nozzle penetrates a first sheet in the stack to generate a cushion of gas between the first sheet and a second sheet, thereby lifting the first sheet from the second sheet, the gas supply being reversible so that the first sheet can be retained against the nozzle assembly as the nozzle assembly is moved towards the feed mechanism such that the feed mechanism can feed the first sheet along the feed path; wherein the displacement mechanism displaces the first sheet from the stack to the feed mechanism in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the stacked print media.