Sheet supplying apparatus including first and second sheet supply rollers and a separation roller all made of the same material

摘要

A sheet supplying apparatus is provided including a sheet stacking unit for stacking a plurality of sheets, a first roller for supplying an uppermost sheet on the sheet stacking unit and a second roller for supplying a lowermost sheet on the sheet stacking unit. A separation roller is disposed between the first and second sheet supply rollers to pass a single sheet toward a predetermined direction and to separate the other sheets from the single sheet for return. The first and second sheet supply rollers and the separation roller are made of the same material, and the first and second sheet supply rollers are disposed upstream of the separation roller in a sheet supplying direction. The apparatus also includes a controller for controlling (i) a motor for driving the separation roller and the first and second sheet supply rollers, (ii) a pendulum gear train for selectively connecting the first or second sheet supply rollers to the motor and for reversing a rotational direction of the separation roller and (iii) a solenoid for shifting the sheet stacking unit to position the sheets thereon at a predetermined position with respect to the first and second sheet supply rollers.