JP2000344371A - Sheet feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely and smoothly set sheets by determining a retreat position of a sheet separating member so that the sheet separating member occupying the retreat position is presseed by a sheet supporting body and moved to a separating position. SOLUTION: When a sheet feeder 1 is pulled out in the direction indicated by an arrow B, a holder is gradually released from the restriction by a sheet supporting body 1, and slided on a guide surface 12 by the pressing action of a compression spring 14 to reach a position shown in the drawing, and a sheet separating member 3 occupies a retreat position. When the sheet supporting body 1 is pressed in the direction of an arrow C, and the sheet supporting body 1 is mounted on a set position, and the holder 9 is pressed by a pressing part 15 of a cassette 4. Whereby the holder 9 is moved to a predetermined position while slided on a guide surface against the action of the compression spring 14. After the sheet supporting body 1 is set on its set position, the sheet separating member 3 held by the holder 9 occupies a separating position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet support which supports a stacked sheet and is removably mounted at a predetermined set position capable of feeding the sheet, and a top sheet of the stacked sheet. A feed roller that rotates while being pressed against the upper surface of the sheet, and a sheet that separates the fed top sheet and other sheets so that only the top sheet is fed. The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device having a separating member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, a printing machine, or a multifunction machine having at least two of these functions, or an image scanner, a sheet made of a recording medium or an original is printed. The use of a sheet feeding device of the type described above for the purpose of transporting it to a predetermined location is conventionally well known.

In this type of sheet feeding apparatus, the uppermost sheet and the other sheets can be separated by the cooperation of the sheet separating member and the feeding roller, and only the uppermost sheet can be fed. Can be sent one by one in a predetermined case. Further, since the sheet support is detachably attached to the set position, the sheet can be replenished to the sheet support by removing the sheet support from the set position.

In this type of sheet feeding apparatus, when the rear end of the uppermost sheet to be fed has passed between the feeding roller and the sheet separating member, the sheet should be fed next. The sheet is in a state of entering between the feeding roller and the sheet separating member. In this state, the sheet is on standby, and the next time the feeding roller rotates, the sheet is sent out as the top sheet.

As described above, when the next sheet to be fed is in a standby state in which the sheet enters between the feeding roller and the sheet separating member, if the sheet support which has been at the set position is removed, Since the sheet to be fed is bitten by the feeding roller and the sheet separating member, the sheet is not pulled out together with the sheet support, and the sheet remains. In this state, when the sheet support is mounted again at the set position, the remaining sheet becomes an obstacle and the seat support cannot be mounted, or the remaining sheet is pressed by the sheet support and bent intricately. However, there is a possibility that the sheet cannot be correctly fed.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet feeding apparatus which eliminates the above-mentioned conventional disadvantages.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in a sheet feeding apparatus of the type described at the outset, the sheet separating member includes a separating member capable of separating an uppermost sheet from other sheets. Position, and the separation position is movably supported between a different retracted position, and when the sheet support is disengaged from its set position, the sheet separation member moves along with the movement of the sheet support. When moving from the separation position to the retreat position and mounting the sheet support at the set position, the sheet separating member occupying the retreat position is pressed by the sheet support and moves to the separation position. A sheet feeding device in which a retreat position of a sheet separating member is set is proposed (claim 1).

In this case, a stopper for a support for positioning the sheet support at the set position is provided, and the sheet separating member is positioned at the separation position by positioning the sheet support at the set position. This is advantageous (claim 2).

Further, in the sheet feeding apparatus according to the first or second aspect, it is advantageous that the apparatus has a holder which holds the sheet separating member and is movable together with the sheet separating member. 3).

Further, in the sheet feeding apparatus according to the third aspect, by positioning the holder by contacting the holder, the sheet separating member is positioned at the separating position, and the sheet supporting member is positioned at the separating position. It is advantageous to have a stopper for the holder positioned at the set position (claim 4).

Further, in the sheet feeding device according to the third or fourth aspect, when the sheet separating member is rotatably provided on the holder and moves between the separating position and the retracted position, It is advantageous to have a roller that rolls on the guide surface (claim 5).

Further, in the sheet feeding apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, it is advantageous that the sheet feeding apparatus further includes a pressing unit that presses the sheet separating member toward the retracted position. Item 6).

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, and the above-mentioned conventional disadvantages will be more specifically clarified with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing an example of a sheet feeding device in an image forming apparatus. The sheet feeding device shown here has a sheet support 1, a feeding roller 2, and a sheet separating member 3. The sheet support 1 shown as an example in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of sheets S stacked vertically.
, A bottom plate 5 disposed in the cassette 4 and supporting the stacked sheets S from below, and a pressure spring 6 for pressing the bottom plate 5. Sheet S
Has flexibility and is made of, for example, cut paper, a resin sheet, a resin film, or the like. The bottom end of the bottom plate 5 is pivotally supported by the bottom wall of the cassette 4 so that the distal end 5A can move up and down in a locus indicated by an arrow A. The bottom plate 5 is urged upward by a pressure spring 6,
The upper surface of the uppermost sheet S <b> 1 of the stacked sheets S supported thereby comes into pressure contact with the peripheral surface of the feed roller 2. The cassette 4 is, for example, provided on a support portion of an image forming apparatus main body (not shown).
As shown by arrows B and C in FIG. 2, it is slidably supported in the horizontal direction.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the sheet support 1 is mounted at a predetermined set position where the sheet S supported on the bottom plate 5 can be fed. On the other hand, cassette 4
When the sheet is to be refilled, the entire sheet support 1 is pulled in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 and the sheet support 1 is pulled out of the image forming apparatus main body. This makes it possible to easily replenish the sheet on the bottom plate 5. After refilling the sheet, the sheet support 1 is pushed in the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 2 and is mounted at the set position shown in FIG. FIG.
Indicates a state when the sheet support 1 is pushed in and mounted at the set position.

When the sheet support 1 is pulled in the direction of arrow B and the sheet support 1 is removed from the set position shown in FIG. 1, the bottom plate 5 is lowered as shown in FIG. When the seat support 1 is mounted at the set position, the bottom plate 5
As shown in (2), the leading end 5A rises, and the uppermost sheet S1 of the stacked sheets S on the bottom plate 5 comes into pressure contact with the peripheral surface of the feed roller 2.

As described above, the sheet support 1 supports the stacked sheets S and is detachably mounted at a predetermined set position where the sheets S can be fed.

On the other hand, the feeding roller 2 is rotatably supported by, for example, a support structure of a sheet feeding device, and is driven by a driving motor (not shown) via an electromagnetic clutch (not shown). It is configured to be driven clockwise (see FIG. 3).

The sheet separating member 3 shown as an example in FIG. 1 includes a separating pad 7 made of a material having a high coefficient of friction such as cork and a pad supporting member 8 for fixing and supporting the separating pad 7. Is the pad support member 8
It is stuck and fixed on the upper surface of. The pad support member 8 is held in a holder 9 supported in a manner described later, and is urged by a separation spring 10 composed of, for example, a compression coil spring, so that the separation pad 7 is pressed against the peripheral surface of the feeding roller 2. ing. This press-contact portion constitutes a separation nip portion of the sheet.

When the sheet is fed, the above-mentioned electromagnetic clutch attached to the feed roller 2 is turned on, whereby the rotation of the driving motor is transmitted to the feed roller 2, and the feed roller 2 is turned on as shown in FIG. Is driven to rotate counterclockwise as shown in FIG. At this time, since the feed roller 2 is in pressure contact with the upper surface of the uppermost sheet S1 of the sheets S stacked on the bottom plate 5 of the sheet support 1 mounted at the set position, the friction acting between the two. By force, the uppermost sheet S1 is sent out in the direction indicated by arrow D in FIG.

The uppermost sheet S1 sent out passes through a separation nip portion between the feed roller 2 pressed against each other and the separation pad 7 of the sheet separating member 3, and is further conveyed in the direction of arrow D1 and in the direction of arrow E. The toner image formed on the photosensitive member (not shown) is also transferred to the transfer unit (not shown) through the space between the pair of conveying rollers 11 that rotate. Is done. The sheet S1 to which the toner image has been transferred passes through a fixing device (not shown), where the toner image is fixed, and is subsequently discharged onto a discharge tray (not shown).

As described above, the feed roller 2 rotates while being pressed against the upper surface of the uppermost sheet S1 of the sheets S stacked on the bottom plate 5 of the sheet support 1 mounted at the set position. The uppermost sheet S1 is fed by the frictional force acting between them.

When the uppermost sheet S1 is being fed by the feed roller 2, sheets other than the uppermost sheet S1,
For example, the second sheet S2 from the top is the top sheet S1.
And at the same time, the separation sheet 7 having a high coefficient of friction is opposed to the feed roller 2 in the separation nip, so that the second sheet S
2 is separated from the top sheet S1, and the second sheet S2 is not fed with the top sheet S1 as it is. As described above, the sheet separating member 3 is pressed against the peripheral surface of the feed roller 2 via the uppermost sheet S1,
The uppermost sheet S1 to be fed is separated from the other sheets S2 so that only the uppermost sheet S1 is fed.

The feeding roller 2 is turned off when the leading end of the fed uppermost sheet S1 passes through the conveying roller pair 11. That is, the electromagnetic clutch is turned off. At this time, the uppermost sheet S1 is
1, the uppermost sheet S1
Until the rear end of the sheet S exits the separation nip, the feed roller 2 continues to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 3 following the movement of the uppermost sheet S1. For this reason, even if the second sheet S2 is not multi-fed along with the uppermost sheet S1 as described above, the second sheet S2
2 is sent out following the uppermost sheet S1, and the feed roller 2 stops in a state where the leading end of the second sheet S2 enters the separation nip. In this way, as shown in FIG. 4, the second sheet S2 becomes the uppermost sheet and stands by, and then the feed roller 2 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. The sheet S2 is fed as the uppermost sheet.

The configuration and operation described above are not different from the conventional sheet feeding apparatus. At that time, in the conventional sheet feeding apparatus, in order to stabilize the sheet separating function,
The feed roller and the sheet separating portion are supported by the same support, for example, a support structure of a sheet feeding device, and a holder for holding the sheet separating member is fixed to the support structure. For this reason, as described above, if the sheet support that had been at the set position in the state illustrated in FIG. 4 is removed as illustrated in FIG. 2, the sheet S2 that has entered the separation nip will be The sheet S2 is not drawn out together with the sheet supporting member and remains in the image forming apparatus main body because the sheet S2 is bitten by the feeding roller and the sheet separating member. As a result, if the user attempts to mount the sheet support at the set position again without noticing the existence of the remaining sheet, the sheet becomes an obstacle and the mounting of the sheet support becomes impossible or the remaining sheet cannot be mounted. The folded sheet is bent, and this sheet cannot be fed properly.

Therefore, in the sheet feeding apparatus of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the sheet separating member 3 is positioned at the position shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, ie, at the time of sheet feeding.
As shown in FIG. 2, the uppermost sheet S1 is movably supported between a separation position where the uppermost sheet S1 and other sheets can be separated, and a retreat position different from the above separation position. In the illustrated example, a guide surface 12 for guiding the holder 9 holding the sheet separating member 3 is formed by a part of the support structure of the sheet feeding device, and the holder 9 slides on the guide surface 12 by sliding. The sheet separating member 3 is configured to be movable between a separating position and a retracted position. During this movement, the holder 9 is moved by a guide (not shown).
The posture shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is maintained. The guide surface 12
The side of the sheet support 1 is inclined so as to be lower. Further, between the holder 9 and a spring receiving portion 13 formed by a part of the support structure, a pressing means including a compression spring 14 is press-fitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the sheet support 1 is mounted at the set position, a pressurizing portion 15 protruding from the cassette 4 presses the holder 9, whereby the holder 9 is compressed. 1 occupies the position shown in FIG. 1 against the action of 14, and the sheet separating member 3 is held at the separating position. The sheet separating member 3 is pressed against the sheet support 1 and held at the separating position. In this state, the sheet separating member 3 can perform the separating operation of separating the sheet as described above in cooperation with the feeding roller 2.

On the other hand, when the sheet feeding device 1 is pulled out in the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 2, the holder 9 is gradually released from the restraint by the sheet support 1, and is pressed by the compression spring 14. The sheet separating member 3 occupies the retreat position while reaching the position shown in FIG. 2 while sliding on the guide surface 12.
At this time, when the holder 9 or the sheet separating member 3 abuts against a stopper (not shown), the sheet separating member 3 is positioned and held at the retracted position. The feed roller 2 can be used as the stopper. As described above, when the sheet support 1 is removed from the set position, the sheet separating member 3 moves to the retreat position with the movement of the sheet support 1.

When the sheet support 1 is pushed in the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 2 and the sheet support 1 is mounted at the set position, the pressing portion 15 of the cassette 4 presses the holder 9. . Thus, the holder 9 moves toward the position shown in FIG. 1 while sliding on the guide surface 12 against the action of the compression spring 14. The sheet support 1 is shown in FIG.
When the holder 9 is set at the set position shown in FIG.
1 occupies the separation position shown in FIG. The sheet separating member 3 occupying the retracted position is pressed by the sheet support 1 and moves to the separating position.

As described above, when the sheet support 1 is removed from its set position, the sheet separating member 3 moves from the separation position to the retracted position with the movement of the sheet support 1, and the sheet support 1 is moved. When the sheet separating member 3 is mounted at the set position, the retracted position of the sheet separating member 3 is set so that the sheet separating member 3 occupying the retracted position is pressed by the sheet support 1 and moves to the separated position. ing. The retracted position of the sheet separating member 3 is set at a position closer to the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction than the separated position.

According to the above-described configuration, when the sheet support 1 is pulled out in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 and is removed from the set position, the sheet separating member 3 automatically moves to the retracted position, and the separation pad 7 is moved. Moves away from the feed roller 2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the sheet separating member 3 is at the separating position, the sheet S2 that has been bitten between the sheet separating member 3 and the feeding roller 2 is released. Moreover, when the sheet separating member 3 moves to the retracted position, it moves in a direction substantially opposite to the sheet feeding direction, and therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet S2 is also discharged in substantially the same direction as this. S2 is discharged into the cassette 4.
In this manner, when the sheet support 1 is pulled out, the sheet S2 is not left in the image forming apparatus main body while being bitten by the separation nip portion. Therefore, when the sheet support 1 is mounted again at the set position, the sheet support 1 can be set without any trouble, and the sheet S2 is not bent complicatedly and the sheet feeding trouble does not occur.

In the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, when the sheet support 1 is set by pushing in the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG.
The sheet support 1 is positioned at the set position by hitting the support stopper 17 formed by a part of the support structure. At this time, since the holder 9 is pressurized by the compression spring 14 and pressed against the pressurizing portion 15 of the cassette 4, the sheet support 1 is positioned by the stopper 17 for the support, so that the holder 9, The sheet separating member 3 held at the position is also positioned at the separating position.

As described above, the support stopper 17 for positioning the sheet support 1 at the set position is provided, and by positioning the sheet support 1 at the set position, the sheet separating member 3 is positioned at the separated position. You do it.

According to the above configuration, when the sheet support 1 is mounted at the set position, the relative position between the sheet support 1 and the sheet separating member 3, ie, the leading end of the sheet S stacked on the sheet support 1, The relative position with respect to the sheet separating member 3 can be correctly regulated, and thereby the sheet separating function can be enhanced.

A magnet (not shown) is fixed to the projecting portion 16 of the cassette 4, and a stopper 17 for a support which is in contact with the magnet is made of a magnetic material. It is preferable to be able to securely hold 1 in its set position.

In the above-described example, the sheet feeding apparatus has the holder 9 which holds the sheet separating member 3 and is movable together with the sheet separating member 3 between the separating position and the retracted position. The sheet separating member 3 can be moved in a stable state, but the holder 9 can be omitted.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment.
FIG. 5 shows a state in which the sheet separating member 3 occupies the separating position, and FIG. 6 shows a state in which the sheet separating member 3 occupies the retracted position. The difference from the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is that a part of the support structure of the sheet feeding apparatus is different from that of the first embodiment.
The point is that a holder stopper 18 is formed. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the sheet support 1 is pushed in the direction of arrow C to load the sheet support 1 at the set position, the sheet support is held until the holder 9 comes into contact with the holder stopper 18 as shown in FIG. Push in body 1. Thus, the holder 9 is positioned, and at the same time, the sheet separating member 3 held by the holder 9 is positioned at the separating position. At this time, the sheet support 1 is also positioned at a predetermined set position. Also in this case, a magnet (not shown) is provided in a portion 9A of the holder 9 which contacts the stopper 18 for the holder, the stopper 18 is made of a magnetic material, and both of them are attracted by a magnetic force to securely position the holder 9. Is preferred.

As described above, in the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sheet support 1 is not positioned by the support stopper 17 as shown in FIGS. 9, the holder 9 is positioned by contacting the holder 9 to position the sheet separating member 3 at the separating position and the holder stopper 18 for positioning the sheet support 1 at the set position. Other configurations are the same as those of the example shown in FIGS.

According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the sheet support 1 is mounted at the set position, the relative positional accuracy between the leading end of the sheet S on the bottom plate 5 and the sheet separating member 3 is determined. In addition to improving the feeding roller 2, the member supporting the feeding roller 2 is made the same member as the member forming the stopper 18 for the holder, in this example, the supporting structure of the sheet feeding device. The positional accuracy of the sheet separating member 3 can also be improved, and the sheet separating function can be further improved.

The stopper 18 for the holder shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and the stopper 1 for the support shown in FIGS.
7 can be employed together.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a third embodiment.
FIG. 7 shows a state where the sheet separating member 3 occupies the separating position, and FIG. 8 shows a state where the sheet separating member 3 occupies the retracted position. The sheet feeding device of this example is rotatably provided on a holder 9 for holding the sheet separating member 3 and, when the sheet separating member 3 moves between its separation position and the retreat position, the guide surface 12. It has a roller 19 that rolls on it. The configuration of the roller 19 can be adopted in all the configurations shown in FIGS.

By using the rollers 19 as described above, the coefficient of friction of the holder 9 against the guide surface 12 is reduced,
When the sheet separating member 3 moves between the separating position and the retracted position together with the holder 9, the holder 9 can be operated smoothly, and the sheet separating member 3 can be correctly moved.

Incidentally, the sheet feeding apparatus of each of the above-described embodiments has a compression spring 14 which is an example of a pressing means for pressing the sheet separating member 3 toward its retracted position. By providing such pressurizing means, the sheet separating member 3 can be smoothly and reliably moved to its retracted position. However, this pressurizing means is omitted, and for example, the guide surface 12 is connected to the sheet support as described above. The sheet separating member 3 may be tilted so that the side of the sheet separating member 3 is lowered, and the sheet separating member 3 is moved to its retracted position by the weight of the sheet separating member 3 and the holder 9.

However, when the pressurizing means is provided as in the illustrated example, the following advantages can be obtained.

When the sheet S1 is fed by the rotation of the feed roller 2 and the sheet S1 passes through a separation nip portion between the feed roller 2 and the separation pad 7 of the sheet separating member 3,
The sheet separating member 3 may cause vibration due to stick-slip due to friction with the sheet S1. If this vibration is directly transmitted to the support structure of the sheet feeding device, the support structure vibrates, and there is a possibility that large noise is generated due to the resonance or the like.

On the other hand, in the illustrated example, since the pressing means including the compression spring 14 is interposed between the holder 9 and the support structure, the vibration of the sheet separating member 3 is reduced by the compression spring 14. Attenuated. For this reason, even if the vibration is transmitted to the support structure, this becomes insignificant,
The generation of abnormal noise can be prevented or this can be effectively reduced.

In the sheet feeding apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, the sheet support 1 is set by being pushed substantially in the sheet feeding direction (arrow D direction in FIG. 3).
The sheet separating member 3 is configured to be pulled out in the opposite direction to be removed from the set position, thereby moving the sheet separating member 3 to the separating position and the retracted position, respectively. It can be configured to be pushed or pulled out in other directions.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the sheet support 1 can be operated in a direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction D. In this example, as shown in FIG. 9, the sheet support 1 is moved in the sheet feeding direction D (FIG. 1).
0), and the sheet support 1 is mounted in the set position shown in FIG. At the time of the pushing, the sheet support 1 presses the inclined cam 21 protruding from the holder 9 of the sheet separating member 3 and moves the sheet separating member 3 which has been in the retracted position to the separating position shown in FIG. Let it.

Conversely, when the sheet support 1 is pulled out from the set position shown in FIG. 10 in the direction of arrow G, the holder 9 and the sheet separating member 3 are moved to the position shown in FIG. Move to the evacuation position.

The present invention is not limited to a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding a recording medium composed of sheets, but is widely applied to a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding a document used in, for example, an image forming apparatus or an image scanner. You can do it.

[0051]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the sheet support is removed from its set position, the sheet sandwiched between the feed roller and the sheet separating member is discharged. The sheet can be taken out together with the sheet support, and when the sheet support is mounted again, the sheet can be set securely and smoothly.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the sheet separating member can be positioned at the separation position by positioning the sheet support at the set position, the leading end of the sheet supported by the sheet support can be positioned. The position accuracy between the sheet and the sheet separating member can be improved, and the sheet separating function can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the holder holding the sheet separating member moves together with the sheet separating member, the sheet separating member can be reliably and stably moved between its separating position and the retracted position. Can be activated.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the holder is positioned and the sheet separating member is positioned at the separating position, the sheet support is positioned at the set position. In addition to the relative positional accuracy between the sheet and the sheet separating member, the positional accuracy between the feeding roller and the sheet separating member can be improved, and the sheet separating function can be further improved.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the sheet separating member can be more smoothly moved between the separating position and the retracted position.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the pressurizing means exerts a vibration-damping effect, thereby preventing or effectively suppressing the generation of abnormal noise due to the vibration of the sheet separating member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a sheet feeding device.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state when a sheet support is attached and detached.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a state when a sheet is fed.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where a second sheet is bitten into a separation pad portion.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a second embodiment of the sheet feeding apparatus, showing a state where a sheet separating member is at a separating position.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state when the sheet separating member shown in FIG. 5 occupies a retracted position.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a third embodiment of the sheet feeding apparatus, showing a state where a sheet separating member is at a separating position.

8 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the sheet separating member illustrated in FIG. 7 occupies a retracted position.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing an example in which a sheet support is pushed in a direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction.

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a state when the sheet support shown in FIG. 9 is mounted at a set position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet support 2 Feed roller 3 Sheet separation member 9 Holder 12 Guide surface 17 Stopper for support 18 Stopper for holder 19 Roller S sheet S1 sheet S2 sheet

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sheet support that supports a stacked sheet and is removably mounted at a predetermined set position at which the sheet can be fed, while being pressed against the upper surface of the uppermost sheet of the stacked sheets. Rotate and feed roller to feed the top sheet, so that only the top sheet is fed,
In a sheet feeding apparatus having a sheet separating member that separates a top sheet to be fed from other sheets, the sheet separating member includes a separating position at which a top sheet and other sheets can be separated; When the sheet support is disengaged from its set position, the sheet separating member is moved away from the separation position with the movement of the sheet support when the sheet support is removed from the set position. When the sheet supporting member is moved to the set position, the sheet separating member occupying the retracted position is pressed by the sheet supporting member and moved to the separating position so that the sheet separating member is retracted. A sheet feeding device having a set position. 2. The sheet separating member according to claim 1, further comprising a support stopper for positioning the sheet support at the set position, and positioning the sheet support at the set position, thereby positioning the sheet separating member at the separation position. The sheet feeding device as described in the above. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a holder that holds said sheet separating member and is movable with said sheet separating member.
Or the sheet feeding device according to 2. 4. A holder stopper that positions the sheet separating member at the separation position and positions the sheet support at the set position by abutting the holder and positioning the holder. 3. The sheet feeding device according to 1. 5. A roller which is rotatably provided on the holder and which rolls on a guide surface when the sheet separating member moves between its separating position and the retracted position. 3. The sheet feeding device according to 1. 6. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, further comprising a pressurizing unit that presses the sheet separating member toward its retracted position.