Pull-foot feed

In a sheet feeding mechanism for feeding individual sheets separately from a stack comprising:

• a main hopper assembly for supporting a stack of sheets;
• means for drawing an exposed edge of an outer sheet away from the remaining stack;
• a pull-foot moveable between a first position in which it is between the remaining stack and the edge of the outer sheet which has been exposed and a second position in which it is away from the hopper assembly;
• and
• roller means arranged to cooperate with the pull-foot, for pinching the edge of the outer sheet between it and the pull foot while rolling on the sheet as the pull-foot moves away from the remaining stack and pulls the outer sheets from the remaining stack;
• the improvement wherein said roller means comprises a driving means including a driving shaft for rotating a carrier fixedly mounted on said driving shaft about a driving-shaft axis, a roller segment pivotally mounted on said carrier at a pivot axis offset from said axis of said driving shaft, and a biasing means mounted between said carrier and said roller segment to bias said roller segment to rotate about its pivot axis toward said pull foot, said roller segment having a surface for pinching the edge of the outer sheet between it and the pull-foot while rolling on the sheet in response to rotation of said driving shaft.