Sheet feeder for computer printer with paper release drag reduction to lengthen life of printer sheet input rollers

An apparatus for reducing the drag on the feed roller of a host device in drawing a sheet of paper in from a sheet feeder, comprising:

• a sheet feeder having a spring loaded feed roller that bears down on the top sheet of a stack of paper in a magazine within said sheet feeder under the influence of one or more bias springs, said feed roller being rotatable under the influence of a first drive motor, said magazine having a movable floor that moves up toward said feed roller or down away from said feed roller under the control of a second drive motor, said sheet feeder having an output paper path which receives a paper sheet pulled off the top of said stack by said feed roller, said paper sheet travelling along said paper path toward a host device input port and an associated host device feed roller, and having means for sensing when said sheet of paper reaches a selected point in said paper path from said sheet feeder to the paper input pod of said laser printer;
• a computer system coupled to said first and second drive motors and to said means for sensing, for controlling said sheet feeder, said computer system under the control of a control program comprising
• means for causing said computer system to drive said first drive motor so as to rotate said feed roller of said sheet feeder in such a manner to pull the top sheet of said stack away from said stack and into said paper path when a new sheet is to be fed into said host device and to continue to push said sheet of paper into said paper path;
• means for continuing to control said computer system to drive said sheet feeder feed roller so as to move said sheet of paper in said paper path toward said host device while monitoring said means for sensing for an indication that the paper has reached a predetermined point in said paper path;
• means for controlling said computer system so as to continue to drive said first drive motor in such a way to rotate said sheet feeder feed roller so as to move said paper toward said host device a predetermined distance sufficient to engage said sheet of paper with said feed roller in said host device after said means for sensing indicates said paper has reached said predetermined point in said paper path;
• and
• means for controlling said computer system so as to drive said second drive motor in such a way to move said movable floor away from said sheet feeder feed roller a sufficient distance to substantially eliminate friction between said feed roller of said sheet feeder and said sheet of paper which has been engaged by said feed roller in said host device.