JP2009179407A - Sheet feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce an exclusive member for suppressing occurrence of a loop of a sheet to be fed and an exclusive guide member for guiding the sheet from a front end to a separation nip part. <P>SOLUTION: The sheet feeding device is provided with a first sheet detection lever turned by being abutted to the sheet on a stacking tray, a second sheet detection lever turned by being abutted to the sheet in the vicinity of a pressure contact part of a feeding means and a separating means, and a sensor for detecting turning of the sheet detection levers. The first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever interlock with each other, and existence of the sheet can be detected when at least one of the levers is abutted to the sheet. Further, the second sheet detection lever is turned to a position narrowing a feeding passage, and the sheet is guided to the pressure contact part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, and a printer, and an image reading apparatus such as a scanner.

  2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a sheet stacking device including a mounting table on which a plurality of sheets are stacked is attached to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and a printer, and a sheet feeding device of an image reading apparatus such as a scanner. The uppermost sheet stacked on the sheet stacking apparatus is fed into the apparatus by a feeding roller. At this time, sheets having various shapes may be fed. Since it is difficult to detect with only one sheet detecting means, such as a sheet with a short total length or a sheet with a wavy end surface, a sheet fed using a plurality of sheet detecting means may be detected.

Further, for sheet feeding, a pickup roller that feeds a sheet from a mounting table on which the sheet is stacked, a feeding roller that feeds a sheet picked up by the pickup roller into the apparatus, and a pressure roller that is in pressure contact with the feeding roller. A means for rolling sheets one by one by a separation roller that is driven to rotate in a direction opposite to the feeding direction, or a separation pad that is pressed against the feeding roller in place of the separation roller is used. Many. At this time, in the case of a thin sheet, since the rigidity is low, the pickup roller is pushed from the rear in the feeding direction when the leading edge of the sheet hits the pressure contact portion between the feeding roller and the separation roller or the pressure roller contact portion between the feeding roller and the pad. May be bent and form a loop as shown in FIG. If a loop occurs, the sheet cannot be guided well to the pressure roller contact portion between the feed roller and the separation roller or the pressure roller contact portion between the feed roller and the separation pad, and as a result of coming into contact with the feed roller, separation roller, or separation pad, This may cause the sheet to bend or break.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional sheet feeding apparatus provided with a sheet separating / feeding means disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133620. FIG. 5 is a diagram in the case where sheets with undulated sheet edges are stacked on the sheet feeding apparatus. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the sheet feeding apparatus viewed from the sheet feeding direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view of the sheet feeding device viewed from the sheet width direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. That is, in the sheet feeding apparatus of this embodiment, means for detecting the sheet P on the sheet stacking plate 7 are provided at two locations, and the sheet P is stacked on the sheet stacking plate 7 and can be fed. The sheet is not stacked on the sheet stacking plate 7 and the sheet cannot be fed, and the sheet is stacked on the sheet stacking plate 7, but the sheet is not present on the outer periphery of the feeding roller. The three states of being unable to be detected are distinguished and detected.

Next, a sheet feeding apparatus provided with a sheet separating and feeding means disclosed in Patent Document 2 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, 51 is a pickup roller, 52 is an arm for rotating (raising and lowering) the pickup roller 51, 53 and 54 are a feeding roller and a separation pad that constitute separation feeding means for separating sheets one by one, Reference numeral 56 denotes a fixed guide for smoothly guiding the sheet P from the pickup roller to the separating and feeding means, and 64 is a swing guide for guiding the sheet from the sheet feeding roller 51 to the separating and conveying roller 53. Is configured to be swingable.

When feeding a thin sheet, since the sheet has low rigidity, the sheet P is bent when the sheet P moves over the inclined portion of the feeding path while being urged in the feeding direction by the pickup roller 51, and a loop is generated. When a loop occurs, the sheet P may collide with a portion other than the vicinity of the separation nip portion where the separation conveyance roller 53 and the separation pad 54 are in contact with each other, and may not be guided to the nip portion. In the worst case, the sheet P is bent. Will be damaged. Therefore, the swing guide 64 disclosed in Patent Document 2 rotates around the fulcrum 52b in the middle of the arm 52 when the sheet P in the above-described state enters and collides with the arrow in FIG. Retreat in the direction. In this way, by suppressing and guiding the sheet loop, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon such as sheet folding or breakage that occurs without leading the leading edge of the sheet P to the separation nip portion.
JP 2001-122450 A Japanese Patent No. 3492275

Like the sheet feeding means, the sheet detecting lever, the member that suppresses the occurrence of the loop of the sheet, and the guide member that guides the sheet to the separation nip portion are arranged separately. Space is required, leading to an increase in feeding means and a sheet feeding device. In addition, it is necessary to arrange a unique mechanism for each, which increases the number of parts and increases costs. Further, when a plurality of sensors and the like are provided like the sheet feeding means and they are arranged at a distance, the cable routing deteriorates the assemblability. The present invention aims to solve these problems.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 separates the sheet fed on the mounting table into the apparatus and the sheet fed by the feeding means one by one. In a sheet feeding device having a separating unit and a sheet detecting unit that detects the presence or absence of a sheet, the sheet detecting unit rotates by contacting the sheet, and the rotation of the sheet detecting lever The sheet detecting lever has a shape for guiding the sheet to the pressure contact portion of the feeding unit and the separating unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a feeding unit that feeds a sheet on the mounting table into the apparatus, a separating unit that separates the sheets fed by the feeding unit one by one, and a sheet In the sheet feeding apparatus, the sheet detecting unit detects the presence or absence of the first sheet detecting lever that rotates by contacting the sheet on the mounting table, the feeding unit, and the sheet feeding unit A second sheet detection lever that rotates by contacting the sheet in the vicinity of the pressure contact portion of the separating means or in the vicinity of the pressure contact portion upstream of the pressure contact portion with respect to the feeding direction; the first sheet detection lever; A sensor for detecting the rotation of one of the two-sheet detection levers, wherein at least one of the first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever rotates in conjunction with the other rotation; To do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the second sheet detection lever narrows the upstream feed path with respect to the feeding direction with respect to the pressure contact portion, and feeds the sheet. The sheet is guided to the pressure contact portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second or third aspect, the first sheet detecting lever and the second sheet detecting lever have a direction in which the first sheet detecting lever and the second sheet detecting lever rotate in contact with the fed sheet. The second sheet detection lever pushes up the first sheet detection lever when the fed sheet and the second sheet detection lever are in contact with each other. The sensor detects the presence of a sheet by detecting the rotation of the first sheet detection lever.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the second or third aspect, the first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever have a direction in which the first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever rotate in contact with the fed sheet. When the sheet on the mounting table and the first sheet detection lever are in contact with each other, the first sheet detection lever pushes up the second sheet detection lever, The sensor detects the presence or absence of a sheet by detecting the rotation of the second sheet detection lever.

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a sheet feeding apparatus that has a simple configuration, is excellent in assemblability, is inexpensive, and can be downsized. In addition, the second sheet detection lever that comes into contact with the fed sheet from above suppresses the occurrence of a sheet loop, and the second sheet detection lever presses the leading edge of the sheet between the feeding roller and the separation roller. The sheet can be reliably supplied because it functions as a guide member that guides the sheet. Even if the sheet to be fed is short and does not come into contact with the first sheet detection lever during feeding, the presence or absence of the sheet can be detected by being in contact with the second sheet detection lever. Can be reliably prevented.

An image reading apparatus embodying the present invention will be described, but the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus having a function of feeding sheets such as a copying machine and a fax machine.

Hereinafter, a schematic configuration of an image reading apparatus including a sheet feeding apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 9. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet feeding apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading apparatus provided with the sheet feeding apparatus. This configuration is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this configuration.

In FIGS. 1 and 9, P is a sheet of OA paper, check, check, etc. 101 is an image reading device, 102 is a mountable table for stacking sheets, and 105 is the uppermost sheet stacked. A pick-up roller for feeding to the feeding section, 106 a feed roller for feeding the picked-up sheet, 107 a separation roller for separating the sheets one by one when there are a plurality of picked-up sheets, and 108 A pre-registration sensor 109 for determining the timing of feeding the next sheet by detecting the leading edge of the sheet P fed into the apparatus, and 109 conveys the sheet P fed into the apparatus to the image reading unit. The roller pair 110 is a reading unit that scans image information on the upper surface of the sheet P, 111 is a reading unit that scans image information on the lower surface of the sheet P, and 113 is a reading unit. A pair of paper discharge rollers that are downstream of the sheets 110 and 111 and discharge the sheet P to the outside of the apparatus; 112 is a pair of transport rollers that feed the sheet P from the reading units 110 and 111 to the paper discharge roller pair 113; Reference numeral 114 denotes a first sheet detection lever that rotates in contact with the sheet P stacked on the mounting table 102. Reference numeral 115 denotes a separation nip N that is a pressure contact portion between the feeding roller 106 and the separation roller 107. And a second sheet detection lever that rotates in contact with a sheet existing in or near the separation nip N, 116 is a pickup roller cover that covers the pickup roller 105, and 117 is blocked by the first sheet detection lever. 114b is a support shaft for the first sheet detection lever 114, and 115b is a second sheet. A support shaft of the detection lever 115. The image reading apparatus 101 includes an upper frame 101a and a lower frame 101b, and the apparatus can be opened and closed by manually rotating the upper frame 101a about a rotation shaft 104. The image reading apparatus 101 is connected to a host computer (not shown).

With the above configuration, the image reading apparatus 101 operates as follows when reading an image of the sheet P. When the user loads the sheet P on the mounting table 102 and transmits a reading start signal from a host computer (not shown), the image reading apparatus 101 uses the photo interrupter 117 to rotate the first sheet detection lever 114 that is in contact with the sheet P. After detection, the pickup roller 105 in contact with the sheet P is rotated to feed the sheet P to the separation unit. The sheet P that has reached the separation unit is fed into the apparatus by the feeding roller 106. If there are a plurality of sheets P sent by the pickup roller 105 at this time, the sheet P faces the feeding roller 106. Are separated into one sheet by a separating roller 107 arranged in the manner described above.

Thereafter, the sheet P is nipped and conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 109. Thereafter, when the sheet P passes between the reading units 110 and 111, image reading on the front and back of the sheet P is started. A control unit (not shown) receives a sheet passage signal from the pre-registration sensor 108, starts reading an image at the timing when the sheet passes the reading units 110 and 111, reads the sheet P, and is output. Image data is generated based on the image reading signal. After the image is read, the sheet P is transported to the paper discharge roller pair 113 by the transport roller pair 112, and then discharged to the outside of the apparatus while being nipped and fed by the paper discharge roller pair 113.

Next, the feeding operation of the sheet feeding apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. The first sheet detection lever 114 and the second sheet detection lever 115 are disposed so that the rotation directions are opposite to each other, and are interlocked via a sliding contact portion 115a. The first sheet detection lever 114 is supported by the pickup roller cover 116 so as to be rotatable about the support shaft 114b. Further, the position where the first sheet detection lever 114 protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the pickup roller 105 is set as a lower limit, and is displaced downward by its own weight as shown in FIG. The second sheet detection lever 115 is also supported by the pickup roller cover 116 so that the support shaft 115b can be rotated about the center. Further, the position at which the second sheet detection lever 115 protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the feeding roller 106 is set as a lower limit, and is displaced downward by its own weight as shown in FIG. The pressing force of the first sheet detection lever 114 and the second sheet detection lever 115 to the sheet P is generated by the weight of each sheet detection lever, and is set to a force that does not hinder the feeding of the sheet P. ing. The upper limit of rotation of each sheet detection lever is from the protruding position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 to the retracted position that does not prevent the sheet feeding.

Next, the operation of the first sheet detection lever 114 and the operation of the mounting table 102 in the vicinity of the pickup roller will be described. The sheet P is stacked on the mounting table 102 that can be moved up and down, and the mounting table 102 is raised from the initial position set by the user. The stacked sheets P come into contact with the first sheet detection lever 114 and the pickup roller 105 when the mounting table 102 is raised. The first sheet detection lever 114 that is in contact with the sheet P and pushed up from the protruding position rotates with the support shaft 114 b supported by the pickup roller cover 116. The presence / absence of a sheet can be detected by the free end of the first sheet detection lever 114 blocking the photo interrupter 117 as shown in FIG.

When the mounting table 102 is raised and the sheet P is detected using the photo interrupter 117, the rising of the mounting table 102 is stopped. Thereafter, when the sheets P stacked on the mounting table 102 are sequentially sent and the amount is reduced and the first sheet detection lever 114 is displaced to the protruding position and does not block the photo interrupter, the rising of the mounting table 102 is resumed. When the placing table 102 is raised to the highest position where it can be raised while repeating the raising and stopping during the feeding operation, and the first sheet detection lever 114 does not block the photo interrupter at that position, it is placed on the placing table 102. It is determined that the sheet P does not exist, and the mounting table 102 is lowered to the initial position.

Next, the operation of the second sheet detection lever 115 installed in the separation feeding unit will be described. The sheet P detected using the first sheet detection lever 114 on the mounting table 102 is fed to the separation feeding unit by the pickup roller 105. In the present embodiment, since an inclined separation method in which an inclined surface is provided in front of the separation feeding unit is adopted, a sheet loop as shown in FIG. 7 is likely to occur in the case of a thin and low rigidity sheet as described above. Loops often cause paper jams. In order to suppress the occurrence of the loop, the second sheet detection lever 115 is first displaced to the protruding position by its own weight, so that the width of the sheet feeding path on the upstream side of the separation nip N is narrowed in FIG. Narrow like G section. The contact portion 115c of the second sheet detection lever 115 contacts the sheet P sent from the mounting table 102 by the pickup roller 105 from above as shown in FIG. . As a result, abnormal entry of the sheet P into the separation / feeding unit can be prevented.

Also, for example, when the last sheet P to be continuously fed is short, if the sheet is fed by the previous sheet and sent to the separation feeding unit early, the first sheet is detected at the timing of sheet detection. In some cases, a short sheet P has already come out of the detection range of the detection lever 114. However, in this embodiment, at this time, the sliding contact portion 115a of the second sheet detection lever 115 that rotates by the contact of the second sheet detection lever 115 and the sheet P in the vicinity of the separation nip portion N of the separation feeding portion is the first. The sheet detection lever 114 is pushed up. At this time, the first sheet detection lever 114 blocks the photo interrupter 117, so that the sheet P can be detected in the vicinity of the separation nip portion N as shown in FIG. Thus, since the presence or absence of the sheet P can be detected at two places on the mounting table 102 and in the vicinity of the separation nip portion, it is possible to detect the sheet P having a short overall length.

Further, when the sheet P goes to the separation nip portion, the leading end is guided to the separation nip portion by contacting the contact portion 115c of the second sheet detection lever 115 (see FIG. 8). Even when the leading end portion of the sheet P is curved upward, the leading end portion of the sheet P comes into contact with the contact portion 115c of the second sheet detection lever and is corrected. Thereafter, the sheet P is fed into the apparatus one by one by the separation roller 107 and the feeding roller 106 and is nipped and conveyed by the conveying roller pair 109. As described above, the second sheet detection lever has a shape for guiding the sheet to the separation nip portion N where the feeding roller and the separation roller are in pressure contact with each other.

13 differs from the first embodiment of FIG. 9 in that the shapes of the first sheet detection lever 114 and the second sheet detection lever 115 are deformed, and the sheet P that reaches the vicinity of the separation nip N moves the second sheet detection lever 115. This is a modification in which the sheet P can be detected even in the vicinity of the separation nip N as shown in FIG. 4 by pushing up and the second sheet detection lever 115 blocking the photo interrupter 117. Parts having the same names as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

First, the arrangement of the sheet detection lever will be described. The first sheet detection lever 114 and the second sheet detection lever 115 of this embodiment are disposed at positions where the rotation directions are opposite to each other as shown in FIG. Further, the engagement portion 114 a provided at the free end of the first sheet detection lever 114 is passed through the elongated hole 115 d of the second sheet detection lever 115. Note that the fulcrum of the lever and the rotatable range are the same as those in the first embodiment described above with reference to FIG.

Next, operations of the mounting table 102 and the first sheet detection lever 114 will be described. FIG. 10 shows a state before sheet feeding, and neither the first sheet detection lever 114 nor the second sheet detection lever 115 is in contact with the sheet. When the first sheet detection lever 114 abuts on the sheet P on the mounting table 102 and is pushed up from the protruding position, the first sheet detection lever 114 rotates around the support shaft 114 b supported by the pickup roller cover 116. As a result, the engaging portion 114 d of the first sheet detection lever 114 pushes up the second sheet detection lever 115 by contacting the upper part of the elongated hole of the second sheet detection lever 115. The pushed-up second sheet detection lever 115 rotates about the support shaft 114b as shown in FIG. 11 and blocks the photo interrupter 117 disposed above the second sheet detection lever 115, so that the presence of the sheet P exists. It can be detected. The operations of the loading table 102, the pickup roller 105, the fed sheet P, and the photo interrupter 117 are the same as those in the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof is omitted.

Next, the second sheet detection lever 115 will be described. In the initial state before feeding, the second sheet detection lever 115 of the present embodiment is displaced to the protruding position by its own weight as shown in FIG. 10 and is in a state of closing the feeding path. When the first sheet detection lever 114 pushes up the second sheet detection lever 115 and rotates it from the protruding position to the retracted position, the interval between the feeding paths is increased. Further, at this position, the second sheet detection lever 115 has a shape that comes into contact with the fed sheet P from above, and suppresses the formation of a loop as shown in FIG. Even when the sheet P having a short overall length is fed, the presence or absence of the sheet can be detected by the sheet P coming into contact with the second sheet detection lever 115 in the separation nip portion N. That is, when the sheet P comes into contact with the contact portion 115c of the second sheet detection lever 115, the second sheet detection lever 115 rotates around the support shaft 115b. The presence or absence of the sheet P is detected by detecting the rotation of the second sheet detection lever 115 using a photo interrupter 117 as shown in FIG.

At this time, even if the second sheet detection lever 115 rotates, the engaging portion 114a of the first sheet detection lever 114 does not come into contact with the long hole of the second sheet detection lever 115. Returned to the protruding position. Therefore, in the embodiment, the first sheet detection lever 114 can press the sheet P existing on the mounting table 102 even while the second sheet detection lever 115 is pushed up by the sheet.
Further, even when the leading end portion of the sheet P is curved upward, the leading end portion of the sheet P is corrected by abutting against the abutting portion 115c of the second sheet detecting lever.
Further, the sheet P is brought into contact with the contact portion 115c of the second sheet detection lever 115, so that the leading end is guided to the separation nip portion N, and is fed into the apparatus one by one by the separation roller 107 and the feeding roller 106. Sent.

In each of the embodiments described above, it is preferable that the first sheet detection lever 114 and the second sheet detection lever 115 are installed near the center in the sheet width direction. The first sheet detection lever 114 and the second sheet detection lever 115 are preferably installed in the vicinity of the pickup roller 105 and the feeding roller 106, respectively. However, the present invention is not limited to the installation position.

The present invention has been described in detail with respect to an image reading apparatus such as a scanner. However, the present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer, and other apparatuses having a sheet conveying apparatus. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative arrangements of the components described in the above embodiments should be changed as appropriate according to the configuration of the apparatus to which the invention is applied and various conditions. It is not intended to limit the above to the above embodiment.

Sectional drawing which shows the principal part which shows the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 1 typically. Sectional drawing of the principal part of the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 1 for demonstrating the action | operation of a 1st sheet | seat detection lever. Sectional drawing of the principal part of the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 1 for demonstrating the action | operation of a 2nd sheet | seat detection lever. Sectional drawing of the principal part of the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 1 for demonstrating interlocking | linkage of a 1st sheet | seat detection lever and a 2nd sheet | seat detection lever. The principal part perspective view and principal part sectional drawing of the conventional sheet feeding apparatus Cross-sectional view of main parts schematically showing a conventional sheet feeding apparatus Cross-sectional view of the main part in the vicinity of the separation nip to explain that a sheet loop occurs when there is no second sheet detection lever Sectional drawing of the principal part in the vicinity of the second sheet detection lever and separation nip part of the sheet feeding apparatus of Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment. Sectional drawing of the principal part of the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 2 Sectional drawing of the principal part of the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 2 for demonstrating interlocking | linkage of a 1st sheet | seat detection lever and a 2nd sheet | seat detection lever. Sectional drawing of the principal part of the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 2 for demonstrating the action | operation of a 2nd sheet | seat detection lever. Sectional drawing which shows the principal part which shows the sheet feeding apparatus of Example 2 typically.

Explanation of symbols

G: Narrow part of sheet feeding path N ... Separation nip part P ... Sheet 101 ... Image reading device 101a ... Upper frame 101b ... Lower frame 102 ... Mounting table 104 ... Rotating shaft 105 ... Pickup roller 106 ... Feeding roller 107 ... Separation roller 109 ... Conveying roller pair 113 ... Discharge roller pair 114 ... First sheet detection lever 114a ... Engaging portion 114b ... support shaft 115 ... second sheet detection lever 115a ... sliding contact portion 115b of second sheet detection lever ... support shaft 115c ... contact portion of second sheet detection lever 116: Pickup roller cover 117 ... Photo interrupter

Claims (5)

A feeding means for feeding the sheet on the mounting table into the apparatus;
Separating means for separating sheets fed by the feeding means one by one;
Sheet detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet;
In a sheet feeding apparatus having
The sheet detection means includes a sheet detection lever that rotates by contacting the sheet, and a sensor that detects rotation of the sheet detection lever,
The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet detecting lever has a shape for guiding a sheet to a pressure contact portion between the feeding unit and the separating unit. A feeding means for feeding the sheet on the mounting table into the apparatus;
Separating means for separating sheets fed by the feeding means one by one;
Sheet detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet;
In a sheet feeding apparatus having
The sheet detection means, a first sheet detection lever that rotates by contacting the sheet on the mounting table,
A second sheet detection lever that rotates by contacting the sheet in the vicinity of the pressure contact portion upstream of the pressure contact portion or the pressure contact portion of the feeding means and the separation means, with respect to the feeding direction;
A sensor for detecting rotation of one of the first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever;
At least one of the first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever rotates in conjunction with the other rotation. The second sheet detecting lever has a shape that narrows a feeding path on an upstream side with respect to a feeding direction with respect to the pressing portion and guides a fed sheet to the pressing portion. Item 3. The sheet feeding device according to Item 2. The first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever are arranged so that the directions rotating in contact with the fed sheet are opposite to each other,
When the fed sheet and the second sheet detection lever come into contact, the second sheet detection lever pushes up the first sheet detection lever, so that the sensor detects the rotation of the first sheet detection lever. 4. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the presence or absence of a sheet is detected. The first sheet detection lever and the second sheet detection lever are arranged so that the directions rotating in contact with the fed sheet are opposite to each other,
When the sheet on the mounting table abuts on the first sheet detection lever, the first sheet detection lever pushes up the second sheet detection lever, so that the sensor rotates the second sheet detection lever. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet feeding device detects the presence or absence of a sheet.

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