Sheet paper feeder

A sheet paper feeder comprising rotable sheet feeding rollers, rotable sheet holddown wheels disposed opposite to said sheet feeding rollers respectively for feeding a registered sheet while holding said registered sheet between said sheet feeding rollers and said sheet holddown wheels, said sheet feeding rollers being operatively connected to a source of drive force through a cam mechanism including cam means adapted to be repeatedly rotated and stopped according to a programmed cam operation curve, said sheet holddown wheels being associated with retracting means for causing reciprocating movement of said sheet holddown wheels toward and away from said sheet feeding rollers in synchronous relation with the operation of said sheet feeding rollers,

• wherein said cam mechanism includes a cam input shaft connected to a source of drive force, two plate cams each being formed with an arcuate lobe portion and a plurality of gear groove portions and being mounted on said cam input shaft in a line symmetrical parallel relation and with different phases, a cam output shaft disposed in parallel to said cam input shaft and operatively connected to said sheet feeding rollers, and two sets of follower rollers amounting to an even number in total and arranged to make rolling engagement with the arcuate lobe portions and the gear groove portions of said two plate cams respectively, said two sets of said follower rollers being integrally assembled around said cam output shaft in a relation equally spaced apart from each other and with different phases thereby constituting a parallel cam mechanism together with said plate cams.