Sheet feeding for a facsimile system with anti-static electricity

Abstract

A system for reliably feeding individual sheets of recording media is disclosed especially as such system is related to media suitable for electrosensitive recording such as in a facsimile or other device. According to a preferred embodiment, such system may comprise scanning means; sheet storage means; a stack of sheets in said storage means; sheet separating means adapted to successively contact the uppermost of said sheets in said stack as said uppermost sheets are removed from said stack, said separating means including a surface in frictional engagement with an uppermost sheet surface of said stack; drive means for moving said surface in a direction substantially parallel to the sheets in said stack so as to pull each of said uppermost sheets from said stack in a direction generally parallel with the uppermost sheet in said stack, said pulling force being substantially equal on each of the uppermost sheets and sufficient to overcome the frictional force between the uppermost sheets and the sheets beneath the uppermost sheets; each of said sheets in said stack carrying an antistatic electricity additive for substantially minimizing the electrostatic attractive force between said sheets so as to substantially equalize said pulling force required to separate the uppermost sheets from the sheets beneath regardless of atmospheric conditions; and means for transporting said sheets from said storage means to said scanning means.