Method of and mechanism for feeding sheet

Abstract

A sheet such as a stimulable phosphor sheet or a photographic film is fed in an auxiliary scanning direction by a sheet feed mechanism while the sheet is being scanned by a one-dimensionally deflected light beam along a main scanning line in a main scanning direction substantially perpendicular to the auxiliary scanning direction. The feed mechanism has an auxiliary scanning feed belt having a plurality of holes, a first suction chamber positioned upstream of the main scanning line with respect to the auxiliary scanning direction, a second suction chamber positioned downstream of the main scanning line with respect to the auxiliary scanning direction, and first and second valve bodies communicating with the first and second suction chambers, respectively. The sheet is attracted to the feed belt under an attractive force developed by only the first suction chamber while the sheet is being fed in the auxiliary scanning direction. Then, the attractive force developed by the first suction chamber is reduced, and an attractive force developed by the second suction chamber is increased. When the sheet is further progressively fed in the auxiliary scanning direction, the sheet is attracted to the feed belt under the attractive force developed by only the second suction chamber while sheet is being fed in the auxiliary scanning direction.