JP2011068482A - Separating pad, sheet feeder, and image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a separating pad which achieves sufficient sheet separating performance and a desired carrying force by optimizing a separating load on sheets independently of the types of the sheets, and to provide a sheet feeder and an image reader. <P>SOLUTION: The separating pad 20 includes a nip part formed in a sheet feeding path between a feeding roller 13 and itself, and a separating pad part 21 for feeding the plurality of sheets one by one through the nip part. The separating pad part 21 includes a first separation region 100 holding the sheets with regard to the feeding roller 13, a second separation region 200 in contact with the sheets at a position not in contact with the feeding roller 13, and a thrust region 300 pressing the sheets against the feeding roller 13 at a position not in contact with the feeding roller 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a separation pad, a sheet feeding device, and an image reading device that are mounted on, for example, a copying machine, a scanner, a fax machine, a printer, and the like and separate a plurality of sheets from a sheet feeding unit one by one.

  Conventionally, as a separation pad mounted on the sheet feeding apparatus, a first separation pad that contacts the sheet feeding roller and a second contact that contacts the sheet feeding roller at a position downstream of the first separation pad in the sheet feeding direction. The thing provided with the separation pad is proposed (patent document 1).

  In this proposal, the sheet is separated twice by the separation of the sheet by the first separation pad and the separation of the sheet by the second separation pad having a frictional force different from that of the first separation pad. It is said that a sheet having a surface roughness or the like can be separated.

  In addition, as another conventional sheet feeding device, the sheet feeding roller has a comb-shaped feeding roller with an uneven portion formed in the axial direction, and a rib provided on the separation pad side at a position facing the recessed portion is a diameter of the protruding portion. The thing overlapped to the direction is proposed (patent document 2).

  In this proposal, the sheet fed to the conveyance path by the sheet feed roller and the separation pad is sandwiched between the rib and the recess of the sheet feed roller, and the sheet is bent in a wave shape in the width direction, so that the thickness of the sheet is particularly large. The separation performance of thin sheets can be improved.

JP 2001-063854 A JP 2002-234624 A

  However, the separation pad of Patent Document 1 uses two types of separation pads having different frictional forces in order to improve separation performance, but all types of sheets having different stiffness, thickness, surface roughness, and the like. In contrast, sufficient separation performance cannot be exhibited. In addition, it does not take into account a decrease in conveying force due to the two separation pads.

  On the other hand, in the sheet feeding apparatus of Patent Document 2, since the separation pad and the paper feed roller are in contact with each other, a constant frictional force is generated. Is not supported. The thick sheet is strong, so when separating the sheet by sandwiching it between the rib and the recess of the paper feed roller, the overlapping rib itself hardly bends and the sheet is also difficult to bend. The load (hereinafter referred to as “separate load”) becomes excessive. For this reason, there is a possibility that the conveyance speed is lowered or the sheet is damaged. That is, the sheet feeding device described in Patent Document 2 cannot exhibit sufficient separation performance for all types of sheets having different stiffness, thickness, surface roughness, and the like, as in Patent Document 1. This does not take into account a decrease in sheet conveying force due to the separation load.

  Accordingly, the present invention can provide a separation pad and a sheet feeding device capable of obtaining a sufficient conveying force as well as obtaining a sufficient sheet separation performance by optimizing the separation load on the sheet regardless of the type of the sheet. An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, a separation pad according to the present invention forms a nip portion in the sheet feeding path with a sheet feeding portion and separates a plurality of sheets one by one through the nip portion. A separation pad portion for feeding, wherein the separation pad portion is in contact with the sheet at a position where the sheet is not in contact with the first separation region where the sheet is sandwiched between the separation pad portion and the sheet feeding portion; It has 2 separation area | regions and the press area | region which presses a sheet | seat to the said sheet feeding part side in the position which does not contact with the said sheet feeding part.

  In order to achieve the above object, a sheet feeding apparatus according to the present invention includes a sheet feeding unit that feeds a plurality of sheets placed on a sheet placing unit to a sheet feeding path, and is opposed to the sheet feeding unit. A separation pad for forming a nip portion in the sheet feeding path between the sheet feeding portion and the sheet feeding portion and separating and feeding a plurality of sheets one by one through the nip portion A first separation region that sandwiches a sheet with the sheet feeding unit; and

A second separation region that contacts the sheet at a position not in contact with the sheet feeding unit; and a pressing region that presses the sheet toward the sheet feeding unit at a position not in contact with the sheet feeding unit. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image reading apparatus of the present invention faces a sheet feeding unit that feeds a plurality of sheets placed on a sheet placing unit to a sheet feeding path, and the sheet feeding unit. Separation pad portion for forming a nip portion in the sheet feeding path between the sheet feeding portion and the sheet feeding portion, and separating and feeding a plurality of sheets one by one through the nip portion And an image reading unit that is provided downstream of the separation pad unit in the sheet feeding direction and reads an image of the sheet, and the separation pad unit sandwiches the sheet with the sheet feeding unit. A first separation region, a second separation region that contacts the sheet at a position that does not contact the sheet feeding unit, and a pressing region that presses the sheet toward the sheet feeding unit at a position that does not contact the sheet feeding unit. It is characterized by having.

  The present invention has an effect that, regardless of the type of sheet, the separation load on the sheet can be optimized to obtain a sufficient sheet separation performance, and a desired conveying force can be obtained.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image reading apparatus provided with a separation pad according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a separation pad according to the first embodiment. The AA arrow line view of FIG. 2 which shows the separation pad which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The BB arrow line view of FIG. 2 which shows the separation pad which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a modification of the shape of the separation pad according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a modification of the shape of the separation pad according to the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.
(Embodiment 1)

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image reading apparatus provided with a sheet sheet feeding apparatus provided with a separation pad according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the separation pad according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Furthermore, FIG. 3 is an AA arrow view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a BB arrow view of FIG.

  As shown in the figure, an image reading apparatus (image processing apparatus) 10 according to the present embodiment is used by being connected to an information processing apparatus such as a computer by a communication cable or the like, and based on an instruction from the information processing apparatus. This is an example of a scanner device that reads an image of the document S while sequentially transporting the document (sheet) S.

  Specifically, the image reading apparatus 10 of the present embodiment has a structure in which a paper feed tray (sheet placing portion) 11 on which the document S is stacked is supported so as to be openable and closable with respect to the apparatus main body 12. Further, the paper feed tray 11 covers the paper feed port of the original S in the closed state, and the original S is stacked in the opened state (the state shown in FIG. 1).

  Further, a plurality of originals S stacked on the paper supply tray 11 are separated one by one from the lowermost original by a paper supply roller (feed roller) 13 and a separation pad 20 and include a feed path and the like. Sent to the road.

  Specifically, the separation pad 20 forms a nip portion that is an area in which the document S is sandwiched between the separation roller 20 and the paper feed roller 13 in the document S feeding path. Here, the nip portion is arranged such that the separation pad 20 and the paper feed roller 13 are opposed to each other between the upper unit 12a and the lower unit 12b, which are component parts obtained by dividing the apparatus main body 12 in the vertical direction, and the two are in contact with each other. It is formed by letting.

  The plurality of documents S stacked on the sheet feed tray 11 are separated one by one through the nip portion between the separation pad 20 and the sheet feed roller 13 by rotating the sheet feed roller 13. It is fed into the transport path. Further, the original S fed to the conveyance path is further sequentially conveyed downstream by the conveyance roller pairs 14 and 15, and image reading on both the front and back sides is performed by the reading sensors 16 and 17 which are image reading units. After that, the paper is discharged out of the apparatus by a pair of conveying rollers 18 and 19.

  Hereinafter, the separation pad 20 of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 to 4. As shown in the drawing, the separation pad 20 of the present embodiment is attached to a portion (actually the upper unit 12a side in FIG. 1) of the apparatus main body 12 that faces the paper feed roller 13. A nip portion is formed between the separation pad 20 and the paper feed roller 13 facing the separation pad 20, and a plurality of documents S are separated and fed one by one through the nip portion.

  Further, the separation pad portion 21 constituting such a separation pad 20 has a first separation region 100 that sandwiches the document S with the paper feed roller 13.

  Further, the separation pad unit 21 presses the original S toward the paper feed roller 13 at a position where it does not contact the paper feed roller 13 and a second separation area 200 that comes into contact with the paper S at a position not in contact with the paper feed roller 13. Region 300.

  In the present embodiment, the second separation region 200 is provided on both outer sides in the width direction of the first separation region 100.

  The separation pad 20 (separation pad portion 21) is formed of a member that elastically deforms (flexure deformation), for example, a base material such as resin or rubber.

  Further, such a separation pad 20 includes a sponge that biases the separation pad portion 21 toward the paper feed roller 13 on the side opposite to the document contact surface side of the separation pad portion 21 that constitutes the side that contacts the document S. An urging unit 30 composed of, for example, is provided. By providing such an urging unit 30, the document S can be urged from the separation pad 20 toward the paper feed roller 13. The urging portion 30 may be provided over the entire back surface side of the separation pad 20 or may be partially provided in an island shape. Alternatively, the biasing portion 30 may have a shape in which each layer is different as a two-layer structure.

  The separation pad 20 having such a configuration is pressed against the first separation region 100 from the feeding roller 13 side in a state where a nip portion is formed between the first separation region 100 and the paper feed roller 13. It becomes. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, a portion corresponding to the first separation region 100 of the separation pad 20 is in a state of being elastically deformed (flexed deformation) on the side opposite to the paper feed roller 13 side.

  Further, in the state where the separation pad 20 is bent and deformed in this way, the second separation region 200 in the feeding direction of the document S (the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 2) is located on the downstream side of the first separation region 100. Yes.

  On the other hand, at this time, the surface of the second separation area 200 is positioned closer to the paper feed roller 13 than the surface of the first separation area 100 in the pressing direction of the document S by the paper feed roller 13 as shown in FIG. ing. Since the pressing area 300 is also provided at a position where it does not come into contact with the paper feed roller 13, the surface of the pressing area 300 is also at the same position as the second separation area.

  Further, the separation pad 20 of the present embodiment is provided with a first friction area 21a on the upstream side in the feeding direction of the document S, and the first friction area 21a on the downstream side in the feeding direction of the document S from the first friction area 21a. A second friction region 21 b that becomes the separation region 100 and the second separation region 200 is provided.

  Here, the 1st friction area | region 21a has the strip | belt-shaped area | region 211 provided along the width direction of the separation pad 20, for example in this embodiment. The first friction area 21 a has a pair of projecting areas 212 extending from both ends of the belt-like area 211 in the feeding direction of the document S. The pair of projecting regions 212 are formed in a comb shape continuously from the belt-shaped region 211. In the present embodiment, each of the pair of protruding regions 212 has the same dimensions (length, width, etc.).

  On the other hand, the second friction area 21b is provided in the feeding direction of the document S in a portion corresponding between the pair of protruding areas, specifically, in a portion corresponding between the pair of protruding areas 211 and the pressing area 100. It has the 1st isolation | separation area | region 100 extended beyond a pair of protrusion area | region 211 (1st friction area | region 21a). In the present embodiment, the second friction area 21b includes a second separation area 200 that protrudes from the pair of protrusion areas 211 in the document S feeding direction by a predetermined amount.

  As described above, in the separation pad 20 of the present embodiment, the first friction region 21a is disposed on the upstream side in the feeding direction of the document S, and the downstream side in the feeding direction of the document S with respect to the first friction region 21a. The second friction region 21b is arranged in the structure. Further, the separation pad portion 21 having such a configuration has a two-layer structure on the top and bottom. That is, the separation pad portion 21 is provided with the first friction area 21a and the pressing area 300 on the upper layer surface of the document S on the side facing the paper feed roller 13, and the second friction area on the lower layer surface on the side opened from the upper layer. 21b is provided. Furthermore, the surface of the first friction region 21a of the separation pad portion 20 is formed with a smaller friction coefficient than the second friction region 21b.

  Further, the separation pad 20 according to the present embodiment places the document S at a portion corresponding to the space between the first separation regions 100 arranged in parallel, that is, at a position where the separation pad portion 21 does not come into contact with the paper feed roller 13 at the center in the width direction. A pressing area 300 that presses the sheet feeding roller 13 is provided. Such a pressing area 300 of the separation pad 20 is formed continuously from the band-shaped area 211 and constitutes the same surface as the pair of protruding areas 211 described above.

  The surface of the pressing region 300 of the separation pad 20 is formed with a friction coefficient smaller than that of the second friction region 21b, for example, a friction coefficient equivalent to that of the first friction region 21a in the present embodiment. Therefore, the first friction area 21a is an area for guiding the document S to the nip portion, and the second friction area 21b (the first separation area 100 and the second separation area 200) separates the plurality of documents S into one sheet. It becomes an area.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the pressing area 300 of the separation pad 20 is downstream in the feeding direction of the original S from the portion corresponding to the nip portion that is an area where the original S is sandwiched between the separation pad and the paper feed roller 13. A predetermined amount protrudes toward the side. That is, the document S passing through the nip portion is pressed toward the paper feed roller 13 by the pressing region 300 on the downstream side of the nip portion and the nip portion.

  Here, such a pressing area 300 of the separation pad 20 is provided at a position corresponding to the nip portion, that is, a position where a pressing force is indirectly applied to the nip portion, but faces the sheet feeding roller 13. It is not provided in the area, and is an area where the document S is pressed toward the paper feed roller 12 at a position that does not substantially contact the paper feed roller 12.

  Further, the first friction region 21 a and the second separation region 200 of the separation pad 20 are also provided at positions where they do not come into contact with the paper feed roller 13, similarly to the pressing region 300. On the other hand, since the second friction area 21 b (first separation area 100) of the separation pad 20 is provided at a position facing the paper feed roller 13, it contacts (contacts) the paper feed roller 13 or the document S. .

  For this reason, the separation pad 20 of the present embodiment has the surface of the document facing the pressing area 300 of the separation pad portion 21 over the gap of the sheet feeding roller 13 in a state where the document S is nipped with the sheet feeding roller 13. Elastically deforms so as to wrap (see FIG. 4).

  On the other hand, the document surface facing the second friction area 21 b of the separation pad portion 21 is pushed by the paper feed roller 13 as shown in FIG. 3, so that the separation pad 21 is more than the document surface corresponding to the pressing area 300. The separation pad 20 is elastically deformed toward the mounting portion side (actually, the upper unit 12a side in FIG. 1).

  By forming a nip portion between the separation pad 20 and the paper feed roller 13 in this way, the document S taken in by the rotation of the paper feed roller 13 is fed while being bent and deformed in a wave shape along its width direction. Will be.

  Specifically, the plurality of documents S set on the sheet feeding tray 11 are first guided in the feeding direction by the first friction region 21a after the front end portion comes into contact with the first friction region 21a of the separation pad 20. Then, it advances to the nip portion while tapering from the lower layer portion of the document S by its own weight. Here, the first friction area 21a is formed with a relatively small frictional force with the document S as compared with other portions, and therefore reaches the nip portion while tapering from the lower layer portion of the document S. The first friction area 21 a corresponding to the upstream side of the paper feed roller 13 is not in contact with the paper feed roller 13, so that the bundle of the originals S is tapered, that is, the leading end of the bundle of the originals S. It plays a role as an area to guide while the surface is inclined.

  When the paper feed roller 13 is rotationally driven in a direction (conveying direction) in which the document S is wound into the back side of the nip portion by a driving unit (not shown), the document S is taken into the nip portion, and the second friction region 21b The sheet is fed to the first separation region 100 sandwiched between the feeding roller 13.

  At this time, the amount of deflection of the separation pad 20 in the first separation region 100 changes according to the type of the document S (strength of strength, thickness, etc.). Therefore, a large separation load acts. On the other hand, the separation load due to the separation pad is small for the original S which is weak and relatively thin. Thereby, in the first separation region 100, the separation load can be optimized according to the type of the document S.

  On the other hand, the pair of protruding areas 212, the second separation area 200, and the pressing area 300 are provided at positions that do not contact the paper feed roller 13, and press the document S toward the paper feed roller 13, so that the document S overlaps in the area other than the first separation area 100 on the paper feed roller 13 side (the radial direction of the paper feed roller).

  As described above, in the separation pad 20 of the present embodiment, two friction regions are provided in the feeding direction of the document S, and the first friction region 21a on the upstream side guides the document S to the nip portion while rolling the document S, while downstream. In the second friction area 21b, the amount of bending is changed according to the type of document, so that the separation load can be optimized.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the second separation region 200 is arranged so as to be shifted downstream from the first separation region 100 in the feeding direction of the document S when the document S is nipped, the separation pad is provided. The separation load can be optimized (adjusted) more effectively according to the amount of deflection of the portion 21.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the pressing area 300 is provided at a position that does not come into contact with the paper feed roller 13 and at the center of feeding, the propulsive force (rotational force) in the feeding direction by the paper feeding roller 13 is applied to the document. S can be effectively transmitted to S, and a desired conveying force can be ensured. That is, by appropriately adjusting the size (for example, length, size, etc.) of the pressing area 300, that is, the contact area with the document S, the conveyance force of the document S can be adjusted as appropriate.

  In particular, in this embodiment, the pressing area 300 of the separation pad 20 extends beyond the second friction area 21b (see FIG. 2). As a result, the document S that has passed through the first separation region 100 is partially pressed toward the feeding roller 13, so that the pressing region can be obtained without considering the adjustment of the separation load in the first separation region 100. The conveying force of the document S can be adjusted as appropriate depending on the size of the leading end region 300.

  In the present embodiment, a pair of projecting regions 212 (first friction regions 21 a) are provided on both sides in the width direction of the separation pad 20, and the width direction center portion of the separation pad 20 (corresponding to the width direction center portion of the document S). A pressing area 300 is provided in the portion), and the balance of the stress load on the document S in the width direction of the separation pad 20 is equalized, so that the document S is fed to the document S while preventing skewing (tilt conveyance). A desired conveying force by the roller 13 can be applied.

  In addition, while the separation load optimized in this way is applied to the first document S, the second and subsequent documents S are substantially fed by the friction force by the separation region having a relatively large frictional force. As a result, the lowermost document S is sequentially fed to limit.

  Further, the separation pad 20 of the present embodiment can suppress wear due to friction with the paper feed roller 20 by providing the second separation region 200 at a position where it does not contact the paper feed roller 13. That is, it is possible to improve the durability of the separation pad 20 and the paper feed roller 13 while improving the separation performance of the document S.

As described above, according to the separation pad 20 of the present embodiment, the separation load on the document S can be optimized and sufficient separation performance of the document S can be obtained regardless of the type of the document S. A conveyance force can be obtained.
(Embodiment 2)

  5 and 6 are schematic plan views showing a modification of the shape of the separation pad according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  The separation pad 20A shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that of the first embodiment described above except that the tip of the pressing region 300A is aligned with the tip of the second friction region 21b. The separation pad B shown in FIG. 6 is the same as Embodiment 1 described above except that the tip of the pressing region 300B is aligned with the tip of the pair of protruding regions 212.

Like the structures of the separation pads 20A and 20B shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, by adjusting the dimensions of the pressing areas 300A and 300B, the separation load on the document S can be optimized and adjusted regardless of the type of the document S. As a result, the separation performance of the original S can be obtained, and a desired conveying force can be obtained.
(Other embodiments)

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on Embodiment 1 and 2, this invention is not limited to Embodiment 1 and 2 mentioned above. In the first embodiment described above, an example of the image reading apparatus having the separation pad 20 has been described. However, the present invention is of course not limited thereto, and for example, a sheet feeding apparatus (sheet feeder or the like) that separates and feeds sheets. Or can be widely applied to all office machines of image processing apparatuses (printers, multifunction machines, FAX machines, etc.) other than image reading equipped with such a sheet feeding apparatus.

S Document 10 Image reading device 11 Paper feed tray 12 Device main body 13 Paper feed roller 20 Separation pad 21 Separation pad portion 21a First friction region 21b Second friction region 100 First separation region 200 Second separation region 300 Press region 211 Band-like region 212 A pair of protruding areas

Claims (15)

A separation pad portion for forming a nip portion in the sheet feeding path with the sheet feeding portion and separating and feeding a plurality of sheets one by one through the nip portion;
The separation pad unit includes a first separation region that sandwiches the sheet with the sheet feeding unit, a second separation region that contacts the sheet at a position not in contact with the sheet feeding unit, and the sheet feeding unit. A separation pad having a pressing area for pressing a sheet toward the sheet feeding unit at a position where the sheet does not contact.   The separation pad section is pressed against the first separation area from the sheet feeding section side in a state where a sheet is sandwiched between the first separation area and the sheet feeding section. Only the portion corresponding to the region is elastically deformed to the side opposite to the sheet feeding unit side, and the position of the second separation region in the sheet feeding direction is downstream of the first separation region. The separation pad according to claim 1.   In the state where the sheet is sandwiched between the first separation region and the sheet feeding unit, the separation pad portion has a sheet surface opposed to the second separation region than a sheet surface opposed to the first separation region. The separation pad according to claim 1, wherein the separation pad is located on the sheet feeding unit side.   The separation pad according to claim 1, wherein the second separation region is provided on both outer sides in the width direction of the first separation region.   The pressing area protrudes from the portion corresponding to the nip portion by a predetermined amount on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction and presses the sheet passing through the nip portion to the sheet feeding portion side. Item 5. The separation pad according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The separation pad according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the pressing region is provided in a central portion in the width direction of the separation pad portion.   The separation pad portion is provided on the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction, and on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction from the first friction region, and the first separation area and the second separation area. It has a 2nd friction area | region used as a separation area | region, The separation pad of any one of Claims 1-6 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The separation pad according to claim 7, wherein a surface corresponding to the pressing region of the separation pad portion is formed with a friction coefficient smaller than that of the second friction region. The first friction region has a belt-like region provided along the width direction of the separation pad, and a pair of projecting regions respectively extended from both ends of the belt-like region in the sheet feeding direction.
The pressing area protrudes in the sheet feeding direction from the center of the band-shaped area corresponding to the pair of protruding areas, while the second friction area includes the pair of protruding areas and the pressing area. 9. The separation pad according to claim 7, wherein the separation pad extends beyond the first friction region in a sheet feeding direction from a corresponding portion between the first and second friction regions.   The separation pad according to claim 9, wherein the second separation region protrudes from the pair of protrusion regions by a predetermined amount in the sheet feeding direction.   11. The separation pad according to claim 9, wherein the pair of protruding regions serve as a sheet contact region that contacts the sheet at a position that does not contact the sheet feeding unit.   The separation pad portion has a two-layer structure, and the first friction region and the pressing region are provided on the upper layer surface on the side facing the sheet feeding portion, and the second friction is formed on the lower layer surface opened from the upper layer. The separation pad according to claim 7, wherein a region is provided.   The biasing part which biases the said separation pad part to the said sheet feeding part side is provided in the opposite side to the sheet contact surface side of the said separation pad part, The Claims 1-11 characterized by the above-mentioned. The separation pad according to any one of the above. A sheet feeding unit that feeds a plurality of sheets placed on the sheet placing unit to the sheet feeding path;
A nip portion is formed in the sheet feeding path between the sheet feeding portion and the sheet feeding portion, and a plurality of sheets are separated one by one through the nip portion. A separation pad for feeding,
The separation pad unit includes a first separation region that sandwiches the sheet with the sheet feeding unit, a second separation region that contacts the sheet at a position not in contact with the sheet feeding unit, and the sheet feeding unit. A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: a pressing region that presses a sheet toward the sheet feeding unit at a position where the sheet does not contact. A sheet feeding unit that feeds a plurality of sheets placed on the sheet placing unit to the sheet feeding path;
A nip portion is formed in the sheet feeding path between the sheet feeding portion and the sheet feeding portion, and a plurality of sheets are separated one by one through the nip portion. A separation pad for feeding;
An image reading unit that is provided downstream of the separation pad unit in the sheet feeding direction and reads an image of the sheet;
The separation pad unit includes a first separation region that sandwiches the sheet with the sheet feeding unit, a second separation region that contacts the sheet at a position not in contact with the sheet feeding unit, and the sheet feeding unit. An image reading apparatus comprising: a pressing region that presses a sheet toward the sheet feeding unit at a position where the sheet does not contact.

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