Document feeder and method

摘要

A document feeder comprises an input hopper (1) into which batches of documents with interleaved separators (24, 25) are loaded in use, each separator carrying data related to the associated batch. A feed system (9, 10) withdraws documents and separators singly from the input hopper. A sensing system (7) obtains information about the documents and separators. The sensing system includes a data sensor (7) located so as to read separator data while the separator (24, 25) is in the input hopper (1).