JP2014019532A - Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet feeding device capable of feeding a stable sheet by preventing double feed or transport failure and an image forming apparatus equipped with the same.SOLUTION: There is provided a sheet feeding device which comprises: an ascending/descending tray 51 for supporting a sheet bundle T stored in a storage part 5; an air blowing part 7 for blowing air to the sheet bundle T supported by the ascending/descending tray 51 to float a plurality of sheets S; a suction conveying part 8 for suctioning and conveying an uppermost sheet S1 from the plurality of sheet S floated by the air blowing part 7; an abutting member 60 having an abutting surface 61 abutting on the sheet surface at an upstream end in the sheet conveyance direction of the uppermost sheet S1 supported by the ascending/descending tray 51; and a sensor part 63 for detecting a height of the sheet surface at the upstream end in the sheet conveyance direction of the uppermost sheet S1 corresponding to the height of the abutting member 60. The abutting surface 61 is formed so that the distance to the ascending/descending tray 51 on the abutting surface 61 in the case of the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction is relatively longer than in the case of the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an air feeding type sheet feeding apparatus that blows air onto a sheet to float the sheet, sucks and transports the lifted sheets one by one, and The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus provided with a so-called air feeding type sheet feeding device that blows air to an end portion of a sheet to float the sheet, sucks only the lifted uppermost sheet, and conveys it to an image forming unit or the like It has been known. An air feeding type sheet feeding apparatus is excellent in high speed (high productivity) and durability, and is often used in a light printing (POD) image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system.

  By the way, in the air feeding type sheet feeding device, in order to prevent double feeding or conveyance failure of the sheet, the position in the height direction of the uppermost sheet when the sheet is blown up by blowing air. (Hereinafter referred to as “height position”) is important. In addition, an air feeding type sheet feeding apparatus has been proposed in which air separation is improved by blowing air from the downstream side in a state where the sheet floating at the upstream end in the sheet conveying direction is restricted. . In order to improve the detection of the height position, a detection unit that is brought into contact with the sheet and detects the height position of the sheet is provided on the upstream side where the flying of the sheet is restricted, and the height of the upstream end of the sheet is increased. A sheet feeding apparatus that raises and lowers a lifting tray according to the position has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-196187

  However, when raising and lowering the lifting tray according to the height position of the upstream end portion of the sheet, if the length in the sheet conveying direction is a relatively short sheet, the upstream end portion of the sheet is restricted and the upstream end portion is restricted. Since air tends to accumulate, the upstream end of the sheet may be deformed into a curved shape. When the sheet is deformed, the detection unit is lifted by the deformed sheet, and the detection unit detects a position lifted higher than the upper surface of the non-floating sheet as a height position, and erroneously detects the height position of the sheet. There is a fear.

  For this, it is conceivable that the load on the sheet of the detection unit is increased and pressed by the detection unit so that the upstream end of the sheet does not deform more than necessary, but if the load is increased, the contact resistance between the sheets May increase and cause double feeding.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a sheet feeding apparatus capable of stably feeding a sheet, and an image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding apparatus, in an air feeding type sheet feeding apparatus, for preventing double feeding or conveyance failure. The purpose is to provide.

  The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus, a vertically movable tray that supports a sheet bundle stored in a storage unit that stores a sheet bundle, and a plurality of sheets by blowing air toward the sheet bundle supported by the tray. An air blowing unit for levitating the sheet, an adsorption conveying unit for adsorbing and conveying the uppermost sheet from a plurality of sheets levitated by the air blowing unit, and an upstream end of the uppermost sheet supported by the tray in the sheet conveying direction A contact member having an abutting portion that abuts against the sheet surface of the portion, and a height of a sheet surface at an upstream end in a sheet conveying direction of the uppermost sheet supported by the tray according to a height of the abutting member And the contact portion is formed such that the distance to the tray is relatively longer on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction than on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction. That features To.

  According to the present invention, in an air feeding type sheet feeding apparatus, it is possible to perform stable sheet feeding in which double feeding, conveyance failure, and the like are prevented.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a laser beam printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control part of the laser beam printer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the sheet | seat feeding part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a detection unit that detects a sheet height in the sheet feeding unit according to the first embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the sheet feeding part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the detection part which detects the height of the sheet | seat in the sheet feeding part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the other form of the sheet feeding part which concerns on this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus including a sheet feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention floats a sheet stored in a storage unit such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a composite device thereof with air, and sucks and feeds only the uppermost sheet. This is a so-called air feeding type image forming apparatus. In the following embodiments, a laser beam printer is used as the image forming apparatus.

<First Embodiment>
A laser beam printer 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the overall configuration of the laser beam printer 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a laser beam printer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a laser beam printer 1 includes a reading device 2 that reads image information of a document H, a printer main body 3 that forms image information of the document H read by the reading device 2 on a sheet S as an image, It has.

  The reading device 2 includes a document feeding unit 21 that feeds the document H, and a reading unit 22 that reads image information of the document H fed by the document feeding unit 21, and the document feeding unit 21. Image information to be formed on the sheet S is read from the original H fed from.

  The printer main body 3 includes an image forming unit 31, a sheet feeding unit 32 as a sheet feeding device, a transfer unit 33, and a fixing unit 34. The image forming unit 31 includes a photosensitive drum 35, a developing device 36, a laser scanner 37, and the like, and forms an image based on image information read by the reading device 2. The sheet feeding unit 32 feeds the sheet S to the image forming unit 31. The sheet feeding unit 32 will be described in detail later. The transfer unit 33 transfers the image formed by the image forming unit 31 to the sheet S fed from the sheet feeding unit 32. The fixing unit 34 fixes the image transferred by the transfer unit 33 to the sheet S.

  Next, the control unit 4 that controls the laser beam printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control unit 4 of the laser beam printer 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 4 includes a CPU circuit unit 41, a document feed control unit 42, a reading control unit 43, an image signal control unit 44, a printer control unit 45, and a sheet feed control unit. 46.

  The CPU circuit unit 41 includes a CPU 41a, a ROM 41b, and a RAM 41c. The CPU 41a, according to the program stored in the ROM 41b and the setting input from the operation unit 47, the document feeding control unit 42, the reading control unit 43, the image signal control unit 44, the printer control unit 45, and the sheet feeding control unit 46. To control. The RAM 41c is used as an area for temporarily storing control data and a work area for operations associated with control.

  The document feeding control unit 42 controls the document feeding unit 21, and the reading control unit 43 controls the reading unit 22. The document data read by the reading control unit 43 is output to the image signal control unit 44. The printer control unit 45 controls the printer main body 3. The external interface 48 is an interface for connecting the external computer 49 and the printer body 3. For example, the image information input from the external computer 49 is developed into an image and output to the image signal control unit 44. The image data output to the image signal control unit 44 is output to the printer control unit 45, and an image is formed by the image forming unit 31. The sheet feeding control unit 46 controls the sheet feeding unit 32. The sheet feeding control unit 46 performs, for example, raising / lowering control of the raising / lowering tray 51 according to the height of the sheet surface of the sheet detected by the sensor unit 63 of the detection unit 6 described later, opening / closing control of the suction shutter 82 described later, and the like. Do.

  Next, the sheet feeding unit 32 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the sheet feeding unit 32 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the detection unit 6 that detects the height of the sheet in the sheet feeding unit 32 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet feeding unit 32 is stored in the storage unit 5 that stores the sheet S, the detection unit 6 that detects the height of the sheet S stored in the storage unit 5, and the storage unit 5. An air spray unit 7 that sprays air onto the sheet S to separate the sheet S. In addition, the sheet feeding unit 32 sucks and conveys the sheet S separated by the air blowing unit 7, and a drawing roller that pulls out the sheet S conveyed by the suction conveying unit 8 from the suction conveying unit 8. And a pair 9. Hereinafter, the plurality of sheets S stored in the storage unit 5 are referred to as a sheet bundle T.

  The storage unit 5 includes an elevating tray 51 that supports (stacks) the sheet bundle T (sheet S), a drive motor M that elevates and lowers the elevating tray 51, a front end regulating plate 52, and a rear end regulating plate as a regulating plate. 53 and side restricting plates 54 and 54. The elevating tray 51 is configured to be movable up and down in the vertical direction, and is moved up and down in the vertical direction by driving of the drive motor M. The leading edge regulating plate 52 is provided on the downstream side (hereinafter referred to as “downstream side”) of the lifting tray 51 in the sheet conveyance direction, and the downstream end (tip) of the sheet bundle T supported by the lifting tray 51. To regulate. The rear end regulating plate 53 is provided on the upstream side (hereinafter referred to as “upstream side”) of the lifting tray 51 in the sheet conveyance direction, and the upstream end (rear side) of the sheet bundle T supported by the lifting tray 51. End). The side regulating plates 54 are provided on both sides of the sheet width direction (hereinafter referred to as “sheet width direction”) orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction of the lifting tray 51, and the sheet bundle T supported by the lifting tray 51. Each of the end portions (side ends) in the sheet width direction is regulated.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the detection unit 6 is attached to the rear end regulating plate 53 so as to be slidable up and down, and abuts against the upstream end of the uppermost sheet S1 of the sheet bundle T supported by the elevating tray 51. A contact member 60 is provided. The detection unit 6 includes a sensor unit 63 (see FIG. 2) that outputs a signal corresponding to the height when the contact member 60 moves according to the position of the uppermost sheet S1. Based on the signal from the sensor unit 63, the CPU 41a detects the height of the uppermost sheet S1. The contact member 60, the sensor unit 63, the CPU 41a, and the like constitute detection means.

  The contact member 60 is urged downward by an urging member such as its own weight or a spring (not shown). The contact member 60 also has a function of improving the separation performance of the sheet S by suppressing the lifting of the upstream end portion of the sheet S when the sheet S is separated by contacting the upstream end portion of the sheet S. ing. The contact member 60 includes a contact surface 61 as a contact portion that contacts the sheet surface of the upstream end portion of the uppermost sheet S1, and a flag portion 62 provided at an upstream end portion of the contact surface 61. It has. In this embodiment, the contact surface 61 is formed in a flat shape, and the stacking of the elevating tray 51 is performed from the upstream end (upstream end) toward the downstream end (downstream end). The inclined surface is relatively long (separated) from the surface 51a. The flag portion 62 is provided at the lowermost end of the contact member 60 and contacts the upstream end portion of the uppermost sheet S1. The sensor unit 63 outputs a detection signal according to the position of the flag unit 62.

  The air blowing unit 7 is a separation nozzle 70 that separates the plurality of sheets S from the sheet bundle T on the lift tray 51, a separation nozzle 71 that separates the plurality of sheets S that have been rolled, a separation nozzle 70, and a separation nozzle 71. And an air supply fan 72 for supplying air to the device.

  The firing nozzle 70 blows air in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 3 (substantially parallel to a belt surface 80a of a suction conveyance belt 80 to be described later) toward the upper portion of the sheet bundle T on the lifting tray 51, and the sheet bundle T A plurality of sheets S located on the top of the sheet is levitated. Specifically, the air blown from the firing nozzle 70 enters the gap between the sheets and floats while rolling the plurality of sheets S. At this time, the rear end (upstream end portion in the sheet conveyance direction) of the sheet bundle T is abutted by the abutting member 60 supported by the rear end regulating plate 53, so that the upstream end portion of the sheet bundle T is large. It is possible to suppress the floating, and it is possible to reduce the floating sheet S from shifting to the upstream side.

  The separation nozzle 71 blows air in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 3 (the direction of the belt surface 80a of the suction conveyance belt 80), and removes only the uppermost sheet S1 from the plurality of sheets S levitated by the separation nozzle 70. Separated from the second and subsequent sheets S2. Specifically, the air blown from the separation nozzle 71 enters between the rolled sheets and separates only the uppermost sheet S1 from the second and subsequent sheets S2. The air supply fan 72 supplies air to the firing nozzle 70 and the separation nozzle 71 through a duct 73 connected to the firing nozzle 70 and the separation nozzle 71.

  The suction conveyance unit 8 is disposed above the elevating tray 51 and sucks and conveys the uppermost sheet S <b> 1 squeezed from the separation nozzle 70 and separated by the separation nozzle 71. The suction conveyance unit 8 includes an endless suction conveyance belt 80 that sucks and conveys the uppermost sheet S1 and a suction fan 81 for causing the adsorption conveyance belt 80 to suck the uppermost sheet S1. In addition, the suction conveyance unit 8 switches the suction operation (suction and suction stop) of the suction conveyance belt 80 by the suction fan 81 (on / off), and a duct that houses the suction fan 81 and the suction shutter 82. 83.

  The suction conveyance belt 80 is disposed opposite the lifting tray 51 so as to face the sheet bundle T above the lifting tray 51. Further, the suction conveyance belt 80 is stretched around a pair of belt driving rollers 84 and 84, and the belt surface 80a facing the sheet bundle T moves in the direction of arrow C (sheet conveyance direction) shown in FIG. Rotate to drive. Further, the suction conveyance belt 80 is formed with a plurality of suction holes for sucking the sheet S.

  The suction fan 81 is arranged inside the duct 83 and generates a negative pressure in the duct 83 in the direction of arrow D shown in FIG. The sheet S is adsorbed to the belt surface 80a of the adsorption conveyance belt 80 through the adsorption holes by the negative pressure generated in the duct 83 by the suction fan 81. The suction shutter 82 is disposed inside the duct 83 and switches the suction operation by the suction fan 81 by opening and closing the duct 83.

  Next, the suction conveyance operation of the sheet S by the sheet feeding unit 32 will be described. When the sheet bundle T is set on the elevating tray 51, an initial operation for positioning the sheet S in the suction conveyance area where the suction conveyance of the sheet S is possible is executed. As an initial operation, control such as raising the lifting tray 51 and stopping the lifting tray 51 when the sensor unit 63 of the detection unit 6 detects the sheet surface of the sheet bundle T at an appropriate height (suction conveyance region). Is done.

  Next, when the elevating tray 51 stops at an appropriate height, the air is blown out from the firing nozzle 70 onto the upper portion of the sheet bundle T set on the elevating tray 51. When the blowing air is blown out on the upper part of the sheet bundle T, the blowing air enters between the sheets located on the upper part of the sheet bundle T, and a plurality of sheets S float in a state of being separated from the sheet bundle T. . In this way, the sheets S of the sheet bundle T are rolled up one by one by being lifted by the blowing air blown from the rolling nozzle 70.

  When a plurality of sheets S rise, the suction shutter 82 is opened, and the uppermost sheet S1 is attached to the suction conveyance belt 80 through the suction holes by the suction force from the inside of the duct 83 which is made negative pressure by the suction fan 81. Adsorb. At this time, separation air is blown from the separation nozzle 71 in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 3 (direction of the belt surface 80a of the suction conveyance belt 80). The separation air is blown by the blowing air to separate the uppermost sheet S1 and the second and subsequent sheets S2 from the plurality of sheets S, and the second and subsequent sheets S2 are taken out when the uppermost sheet S1 is sent out. To prevent that.

  The uppermost sheet S1 separated from the second and subsequent sheets by the separation air is conveyed in the sheet conveyance direction while being adsorbed by the adsorption conveyance belt 80, and a pair of drawing rollers 9 disposed on the downstream side of the adsorption conveyance belt 80. And is conveyed to the image forming unit 31. The uppermost sheet S1 conveyed to the image forming unit 31 is subjected to image forming processing by the image forming unit 31 and is discharged to a paper discharge tray.

  The above operation is repeated until the job is completed, and the sheet S is fed to lower the height of the sheet surface. However, the contact member 60 is positioned so that the sheet surface is positioned at an appropriate height. The raising / lowering tray 51 is controlled to rise according to the position.

  At this time, the sheet feeding unit 32 of the laser beam printer 1 according to the first embodiment is configured so that the contact surface 61 of the contact member 60 moves from the upstream end to the downstream end, It is comprised by the planar inclined surface from which this distance becomes comparatively long. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the distance from the upstream end portion of the contact surface 61 to the belt surface 80a of the suction conveyance belt 80 is X, while the downstream end portion is (XL). Therefore, for example, even when the upstream end portion of the sheet S is deformed into a curved shape by the air, the sheet is prevented from being lifted unnecessarily by following the contact surface 61. As a result, the flag portion 62 of the contact member 60 can be positioned at substantially the same height as the sheet surface S0 that is not floating (the amount of floating is small), and the position of the uppermost sheet S1 that is not floating (the position ( The position of the distance X) can be detected by the sensor unit 63. As a result, it is possible to appropriately control the position of the elevating tray 51, and to prevent double feeding and conveyance failure by maintaining the sheet surface of the uppermost sheet S1 that is floating at an appropriate position from the suction conveyance belt 80. Therefore, stable sheet feeding can be performed.

Second Embodiment
Next, a laser beam printer 1A according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 while using FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the sheet feeding unit 32A according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a detection unit that detects the height of the sheet in the sheet feeding unit 32A according to the second embodiment.

  A laser beam printer 1A according to the second embodiment is different from the laser beam printer 1 according to the first embodiment in the detection unit of the sheet feeding unit. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the difference from the first embodiment, that is, the detection unit of the sheet feeding unit will be mainly described, and the same configuration as the laser beam printer 1 according to the first embodiment is described. The same reference numerals are given and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a laser beam printer 1A includes a reading device 2 that reads image information of a document H, a printer main body 3A that forms image information of the document H read by the reading device 2 on a sheet S as an image, It has. The printer main body 3 </ b> A includes an image forming unit 31, a sheet feeding unit 32 </ b> A as a sheet feeding device, a transfer unit 33, and a fixing unit 34. As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet feeding unit 32 </ b> A includes a storage unit 5, a detection unit 6 </ b> A, an air blowing unit 7, an adsorption conveyance unit 8, and a drawing roller pair 9.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the detection unit 6 </ b> A corresponds to the contact member 60 </ b> A that contacts the upstream end of the uppermost sheet S <b> 1 of the sheet bundle T supported by the elevating tray 51 and the height of the contact member 60 </ b> A. And a sensor unit (see FIG. 2) 63 that outputs a signal. As in the first embodiment, the contact member 60A, the sensor unit 63, the CPU 41a, and the like constitute detection means.

  The abutting member 60A is supported by the rear end regulating plate 53 so as to be able to move up and down, and regulates the floating of the upstream end portion of the sheet S when the sheet S is separated by contacting the upstream end portion of the sheet S. Also, it functions as a rear end regulating portion that improves the separation performance of the sheet S.

  The contact member 60 </ b> A is formed in a substantially L shape, and includes a first plate member 64 that extends in the vertical direction and a second plate member 65 that extends in a direction orthogonal to the first plate member 64. Has been. The first plate-like member 64 is formed with a first contact surface 64a substantially parallel to the stacking surface 51a of the lifting tray 51 at the lower end, and the first contact surface 64a is the upstream end of the uppermost sheet S1. And also functions as a flag portion detected by the sensor portion 63. Further, the length of the first abutting surface 64a in the conveying direction is in contact with a portion closer to the sheet surface that is not lifted as it is shorter, so that it is sufficient to hold the sheet so as not to float more than necessary. It is formed in length. Thereby, erroneous detection of the sheet surface is reduced.

  The second plate-like member 65 is connected to the upper end of the first plate-like member 64, is located farther from the stacking surface 51a of the elevating tray 51 than the first contact surface 64a, and is substantially the same as the stacking surface 51a. A parallel second contact surface 65a is provided. The second abutment surface 65a abuts against the sheet surface of the uppermost sheet S1 in the lifted state, and regulates the sheet lift. The sensor unit 63 outputs a detection signal according to the position (height) of the first contact surface 64a.

  According to the laser beam printer 1A according to the second embodiment having the above-described configuration, the following effects can be obtained. For example, the sheet S may move a small distance to the downstream side due to sliding resistance acting between the preceding sheet during feeding, or suction by the suction conveyance belt 80, and when moved to the downstream side, the sheet S S may deviate from the first contact surface 64a. However, in the sheet feeding unit 32A of the laser beam printer 1A according to the second embodiment, the contact member 60A is farther from the stacking surface 51a of the elevating tray 51 than the first contact surface 64a and the first contact surface 64a. A second abutting surface 65a located at the position. Therefore, even when the sheet S deviates from the first contact surface 64a, it can be pressed by the edge portion of the second contact surface 65a. Thereby, the air between the sheets can be widened by maintaining the shape of the upstream end in a curved shape by the air blown from the direction A shown in FIG. As a result, the contact area between the sheets can be reduced, and the performance of preventing the accompanying conveyance of the sheet S due to sliding resistance can be improved.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above. In addition, the effects described in the embodiments of the present invention only list the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments of the present invention.

  For example, in the first embodiment, the contact surface 61 of the contact member 60 is linearly inclined, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the contact surface of the contact member may have a curved surface shape as shown in FIG. Even when the contact surface is inclined in a curved shape, the same effect as that obtained when the contact surface is inclined linearly can be obtained.

  For example, in the second embodiment, the contact member 60A having the first contact surface 64a and the second contact surface 65a has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 7 (b), the contact member may have a plurality of contact surfaces formed at positions stepwise away from the stacking surface 51 a of the elevating tray 51.

1, 1A Laser beam printer (image forming device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 Storage part 7 Air spraying part 8 Adsorption conveyance part 31 Image formation part 32, 32A Sheet feeding part (sheet feeding apparatus)
51 Lifting tray (tray)
53 Rear end regulating part (regulating plate)
60 Contact member 61 Contact surface (contact part)
63 Sensor (detection means)
S sheet S1 Top sheet T Sheet bundle

Claims (6)

A vertically movable tray that supports the sheet bundle stored in the storage unit that stores the sheet bundle;
An air spraying unit that blows air toward the sheet bundle supported by the tray to float a plurality of sheets;
An adsorbing and conveying unit that adsorbs and conveys the uppermost sheet from a plurality of sheets levitated by the air blowing unit;
An abutting member having an abutting portion that abuts against a sheet surface at an upstream end in the sheet conveying direction of the uppermost sheet supported by the tray;
Detecting means for detecting the height of the sheet surface at the upstream end in the sheet conveying direction of the uppermost sheet supported by the tray according to the height of the contact member;
The contact portion is formed such that the distance to the tray is relatively longer on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction than on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction.
A sheet feeding apparatus characterized by that. The abutting portion is configured by a flat surface or a curved surface that increases the distance to the tray from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction.
The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1. The abutting portion is configured by a plurality of abutting surfaces formed such that the distance to the tray increases stepwise from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction.
The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1. The plurality of contact surfaces are provided on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction and on the downstream side of the first contact surface in the sheet conveyance direction, and more than the first contact surface. A second contact surface formed at a position where the distance to the tray is long,
The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 3. A regulation plate that regulates the upstream end of the sheet bundle supported by the tray in the sheet conveying direction;
The contact member is supported by the regulation plate so as to be movable up and down.
The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sheet feeding device is provided. A sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An image forming unit that forms an image on the sheet fed from the sheet feeding device,
An image forming apparatus.

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