A sheet feeding mechanism (Fig. 1) having a feed belt assembly (20) driven by a drive roller (23) and an idler roller assembly (40-43) mounted for pivotal movement towards and away from a feed switch (47) and a conveyor (11) for feeding a stack of sheets (A) to the feed belt assembly (20), whereby the feed switch (47) is activated by the idler roller assembly (40-43) to permit sheets to be fed. The feed belt assembly has a take-up belt assembly (21) and a delivery belt assembly (26). The conveyor (11) moves the stack of sheets (A) against the take-up belt assembly (21).