friction feed (printer) A method some printers and plotters use to move paper by rotating one or both of a pair of spring-loaded rubber-coated rollers with the paper sandwiched between them.
Friction feed printers are notorious for slipping when the rollers wear out, but can take standard typing paper. For printers with a sheet feeder, friction feed is more appropriate than sprocket feed which requires the holes in the paper to engage with the sprockets of the feed mechanism. Last updated: 1997-07-09