Feed roller, feed roller assembly, and sheet handling system

1. A feed roller ( 21 , 41 A, 41 B) for use in a feed roller assembly ( 20 ) for intermittently feeding sheets ( 15 ), comprising:

a body having a cross-section comprising an arc portion ( 40 ) and a chord portion ( 42 ) to substantially form a semicylindrical configuration;

a support member ( 29 ) connected to the body on at least one side of the body; and

a distance roller ( 27 , 37 A, 37 B) provided freely rotatable at said support member, wherein:

the distance roller ( 27 , 37 A, 37 B) is spaced apart in a distance opposite to said chord portion to rotate with the body about an axis of the body and extends along a longitudinal span overlapping and essentially the same as a longitudinal span of the body.

2. The feed roller of claim 1 wherein:

the support member ( 29 ) is an axle support, wherein said distance roller ( 27 ) is provided on an axle ( 28 ) of the axle support.

3. The feed roller of claim 1 wherein:

said distance roller ( 27 , 37 A, 37 B) is arranged at a position opposite to said chord portion ( 42 ) near a leading edge ( 48 ) of the arc portion ( 44 ).

4. The feed roller of claim 1 wherein:

said distance roller ( 27 ) comprises a single roller.

5. The feed roller of claim 1 wherein:

said distance roller ( 37 A, 37 B) comprises two, three or more rollers.

6. A feed roller assembly ( 20 ) for intermittently feeding sheets, comprising:

a rotatable drive shaft ( 23 );

the feed roller ( 21 , 41 A, 41 B) of claim 1 coupled to said drive shaft ( 23 );

a cylindrical free running roller ( 24 ) disposed at at least one side of said feed roller ( 21 );

a pad ( 25 ) biased against said feed roller ( 21 ) and/or said free running roller ( 24 ).

7. The feed roller assembly of claim 6 wherein:

the feed roller ( 21 , 41 A, 41 B) is arranged to come into contact with a sheet of paper ( 15 ) along at least one contact line, said at least one contact line being separated by a gap of no contact to a second contact line basically in the area of a leading edge ( 48 ) of said arc portion ( 40 ).

8. The feed roller assembly of claim 7 wherein:

said at least one contact line (or outer rim) of the feed roller is located on a first circumference and an outer rim of said free running roller is located on a second circumference wherein said second circumference has a radius (R 2 ) smaller than a radius (R 1 ) of said first circumference.

9. The feed roller assembly of claim 8 wherein:

said at least one contact line is located on said first circumference said first circumference being basically the same as the circumference of said arc portion ( 40 ).

10. The feed roller assembly of claim 7 wherein:

a single contact line is provided.

11. The feed roller assembly of claim 7 wherein:

two, three or more contact lines are provided.

12. A sheet handling system comprising:

a feed roller assembly ( 20 ) of claim 7 for intermittently feeding sheets to the handling system.

13. A sheet handling system comprising:

a feed roller assembly ( 20 ) of claim 6 for intermittently feeding sheets to the handling system.

14. A sheet feeding system comprising:

a feed roller assembly held for rotation about a first axis and comprising:

a feed roller having a circular cylindrical surface of a first radius along a first sector;

a distance roller having a second axis; and

a support member supporting the distance roller relative to the feed roller for rotation about the second axis, the second axis parallel to and spaced apart from the first axis outside of the sector so as to rotate with the feed roller about the first axis and the distance roller having a longitudinal span overlapping and essentially the same as a longitudinal span of the feed roller.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising:

first and second idler rollers at opposite first and second ends of the feed roller and coaxial with the first axis, wherein:

the idler rollers have a second radius less than the first radius; and

the distance roller and feed roller longitudinally overlap along majorities of their respective lengths.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein:

the circular cylindrical surface extends at least 180° about said first axis;

the distance roller protrudes radially beyond the second radius.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein:

said second radius is at least 98% of said first radius.

18. A method for feeding paper from a stack, comprising:

rotating a feed roller about a first axis;

in an initial stage, positioning a lever-mounted pad relative to the first axis via an idler roller;

depressing the pad via a central distance roller, the distance roller supported for rotation about a second axis spaced apart from the first axis, the second axis rotating about said first axis with said feed roller; and

guiding a top sheet of said paper with the feed roller to pass over the pad, there being a partial recovery of the pad between the depressing and an initial engagement to the pad of the feed roller and top sheet.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the depressing comprises a sequential depressing with a series of said distance rollers.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the depressing is at least to a position of the pad during a main operational portion of said engagement.