A sheet feeding apparatus for picking up, aligning, and feeding single sheets from a stack of a plurality of such sheets. The apparatus includes a driving means for the pick up, separator, and sheet feeder having a driving motor with a coupling in the drive path which is capable of providing a delay period between forward and backward rotations of the motor. There is a torque regulator between the coupling and a reverse roller which interrupts the driving force for a predetermined time. The apparatus also includes a control which stops the registration rollers while the single sheet collides with the circumferential surfaces thereof for alignment and, upon reversal of the driving motor, the sheet is fed while the reverse roller first stops for the predetermined time and then rotates in a direction opposite to the direction of feeding. Thus, the single sheets are aligned and double feeding is prevented.