Sheet feed apparatus, method and computer readable medium for double-sided document sheet feed operations

Abstract

An automatic sheet feeding apparatus method and computer readable medium capable of performing an efficient reading operation includes a sheet table, a sheet transfer mechanism, and a controller. The sheet transfer mechanism performs first, second, and third transfer operations. In the first transfer operation, a sheet is separated from the sheet table and is transferred via a first connecting path to the reading position to receive a front-face sheet feeding operation. In the second transfer operation, the sheet is transferred via the first connecting path to the reading position to receive a rear-face sheet feeding operation. In the third transfer operation, the sheet is ejected. The sheet is reversed after passing by the reading position in each of the first and second transfer operations. The controller controls the sheet transfer mechanism to perform the first transfer operation relative to a succeeding sheet at one of a time before the third transfer operation is performed relative to a preceding sheet when the sheet has a shorter length than a predetermined value in a direction parallel to a transfer direction and a time after a preceding sheet passes by the reading position during the third transfer operation relative to the preceding sheet when the sheet has a longer length than a predetermined value in a direction parallel to the transfer direction.