Sheet separator dam

A sheet separator containing a stack of individual sheets for separating adjacent sheets of media being fed from said stack of sheets comprising:

• a rotatable sheet feed roller,
• a surface for supporting a bottom of said stack of sheets, and having a sheet dispensing end,
• an inclined element located adjacent said end of said surface for supporting, said inclined element being inclined at an obtuse angle to said stack of sheets, said stack having a top opposite said bottom,
• said sheet feed roller contacting said top of said stack and being spaced away from said inclined element and being rotatable to move said sheets from said top of said stack into said inclined element,
• said inclined element having a plurality of pairs of protruding ribs which engage the end of sheets moved by said rotation of said feed roller,
• said inclined element having between each of said pairs of ribs a slat with a plurality of protrusions along an exterior surface thereof, said plurality of protrusions substantially centered on a median line thereof and arranged in a hopscotch pattern of alternating single and double protrusions, and
• a stack of individual sheets supported by said surface for supporting, said individual sheets being flexible to permit said sheets to contact said slat and said plurality of protrusions when two sheets are moved together from said stack by said feed roller, whereby said upper and lower sheets strike said plurality of protrusions to fan out and separate from each other.

In a sheet separator containing a stack of individual sheets for separating adjacent sheets of media being fed from said stack of sheets, a rotatable sheet feed roller, a surface for supporting a bottom of said stack of sheets, and having a sheet dispensing end, an inclined element located adjacent said end of said surface for supporting, said inclined element being inclined at an obtuse angle to said stack of sheets, said stack having a top opposite said bottom, said sheet feed roller contacting said top of said stack and being spaced away from said inclined element and being rotatable to move said sheets from said top of said stack into said inclined element, said inclined element having a plurality of pairs of protruding ribs which engage the end of sheets moved by said rotation of said feed roller, a stack of individual sheets supported by said surface for supporting, said individual sheets being flexible to permit said sheets to contact said plurality of pairs of protruding ribs when two sheets are moved together from said stack by said feed roller, the improvement comprising a slat with a plurality of protrusions along an exterior surface thereof disposed between each of said protruding ribs and engaging said end of said upper sheet when said upper sheet is advanced, said plurality of protrusions substantially centered on a median line thereof and arranged in a hopscotch pattern of alternating single and double protrusions, whereby said upper and lower sheets strike said plurality of protrusions to fan out and separate from each other.