Automatic document feeder with side by side document feeding capability

An automatic document feeder for feeding a first document and a second document to a copying position such that said first and second documents are side by side at said copying position comprising:

• a feeding unit for feeding documents;
• a transporting unit located downstream from said feeding unit for transporting documents after being fed by said feeding unit;
• and
• a control unit for controlling said feeding unit and said transporting unit such that a first document is initially fed by said feeding unit and into said transporting unit, and thereafter a second document is fed with a known spacing established between a trailing edge of said first document and a leading edge of said second document while said first document is engaged by said transporting unit and said second document is engaged by said feeding unit, and after establishing said known spacing said control unit causes said feeding unit to operate at a greater speed than said transporting unit such that when said first and second documents arrive at a copying position the first and second documents are side by side to each other.

A method for feeding a pair of documents such that said pair of documents arrive at a copying location in side by side relation comprising:

• feeding a first document;
• feeding a second document;
• establishing a known spacing between a trailing end of said first document and a leading end of said second document;
• and
• after establishing said known spacing, feeding both of said first and second documents, with said second document fed at a speed greater than said first document such that said known spacing progressively decreases whereby said first and second documents are side by side when positioned at a copying position.