ELECTRO-STATIC SHEET FEEDING METHOD AND APPARATUS

摘要

Electrostatic sheet feed including a translatable member having a generally planar surface formed of an electrically insulative material is disposed closely proximate to or even in contact with either the top or the bottom of a sheet stack. A pair of electrodes in the form of an electronic grid is secured to the planar surface. A DC voltage is applied to the electrodes selectively to effect a highly intense electric field only close to said surface. The intensity of the electric field can be varied in predetermined relation to the applied DC voltage so as to determine the number of sheets simultaneously removed from the stack. The electric field exerts an attractive force only on the uppermost sheet of sheets of the stack to enable stripping of only said upper-most sheet from the stack.