Sheet supplying apparatus

A recording apparatus, comprising:

• sheet supporting means for supporting a plurality of sheets;
• rotary supply means for feeding out a sheet supported on said sheet supporting means by rotation in a sheet supply direction;
• rotary convey means for conveying a sheet fed out by said rotary supply means, said rotary convey means conveying the sheet in a normal convey direction for a predetermined amount, and then conveying the sheet in a reverse direction so as to form a loop in the sheet between said rotary supply means and said rotary convey means, thereby to register the sheet;
• drive means for rotatably driving said rotary convey means in a normal convey direction and a reverse direction;
• switching means pivotable in response to rotation of the rotary convey means;
• an output gear provided on said pivotable switching means and connected to said drive means;
• an input gear connected to said rotary supply means,
• wherein said switching means is rocked to engage said output gear to said input gear to thereby transmit a rotational driving force from said drive means to said rotary supply means for rotating said rotary supply means in the sheet supply direction when said rotary convey means is rotated in the normal convey direction, and said output gear is disengaged from said input gear when said rotary convey means is rotated in the reverse direction;
• recording means for recording an image on a sheet conveyed by said convey means after registration of the sheet.

A recording apparatus, comprising:

• sheet supporting means for supporting a plurality of sheets;
• rotary supply means for feeding out a sheet supported on said sheet supporting means by rotation of said rotary supply means in a normal supply direction;
• rotary convey means for conveying a sheet fed out by said rotary supply means, said rotary convey means conveying the sheet in a normal convey direction for a predetermined amount, and then conveying the sheet in a reverse direction so as to form a loop in the sheet between said rotary supply means and said rotary convey means, thereby to register the sheet;
• drive means for rotatably driving said rotary convey means in a normal convey direction and a reverse direction;
• switching means pivotable in response to rotation of the rotary convey means
• an output gear provided on said pivotable switching means and connected to said drive means;
• and
• an input gear connected to said rotary supply means;
• wherein said switching means is rocked to engage said output gear to said input gear to thereby transmit a rotational driving force from said drive means to said rotary supply means for rotating said rotary supply means in the sheet supply direction when said rotary convey means is rotated in the normal convey direction, and said output gear is disengaged from said input gear when said rotary convey means is rotated in the reverse direction;
• control means for controlling said drive means during reverse rotation of said rotary convey means by applying a number of pulses to said drive means so that a driving force non-transmitting time period from a time a sheet is registered until a time the switching output gear is engaged by said input gear is minimized;
• and
• recording means for recording an image on a sheet conveyed by said convey means after registration of the sheet.