JP2023012080A - Sheet conveyance device, image reading device including the same, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide: a sheet conveyance device that makes it possible to prevent a trailing edge of a sheet from hanging down from a sheet feeding and loading section; an image reading device including the same; and an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: An ADF 22 has a support surface 4a and a sub tray 5 provided in a rotatable manner. The sub tray 5 is provided with ribs 50 and 51, which are a plurality of ribs extending in a feeding direction. The protruding amount of the rib 50 from a flat portion 5a is greater than the protruding amount of the rib 51.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device and an image reading device and an image forming device having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Among image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, and facsimiles that form images on sheets, an image reading device reads a document conveyed by a sheet conveying device, and an image forming section copies the image of the document onto a recording medium. be. Such a sheet conveying apparatus is known to feed sheets stacked on a feed stacking section and discharge the conveyed sheets to a discharge stacking section provided below the feed stacking section. In addition, in the feeding and stacking portion provided in the sheet conveying device, the surface of the feeding and stacking portion on the downstream side in the feeding direction is rotatably provided, and the feeding and stacking portion can be closed when the sheet conveying device is not used. is possible (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2016-46681 A

In recent years, the sheet conveying apparatus described above is required to convey sheets of various sizes. When a sheet that is long in the feed direction is stacked on the feed stacker, the trailing edge of the sheet (the end on the downstream side in the feed direction) may protrude from the feed stacker and hang down below the feed stacker. be. In such a case, the trailing edge of the sheet hanging below the feed stacking portion may come into contact with the sheet discharged to the discharge stacking portion, and the discharge of the sheet may be hindered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet conveying apparatus capable of suppressing the trailing edge of a sheet from hanging down from a feeding and stacking section, and an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus having the sheet conveying apparatus.

In one aspect of the present invention, a first support portion that supports a seat, and the first support portion between a closed position facing the first support portion and an open position that supports the seat together with the first support portion. a feeding stacking portion on which sheets are stacked; and a feeding for feeding the sheets stacked on the feeding stacking portion in a feeding direction. means, discharge means for discharging the sheets fed by the feeding means, and a discharge stacking part provided below the feeding stacking part and on which the sheets discharged by the discharging means are stacked. , the second supporting portion has a planar portion that is an upper surface when the second supporting portion is positioned at the open position, and a plurality of ribs projecting from the planar portion and extending along the feeding direction. and the plurality of ribs includes a first rib and a second rib positioned outside the first rib in the width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction, the first rib being the second rib. The sheet conveying device is characterized in that the amount of protrusion from the flat portion is larger than that of the rib.

Another aspect of the present invention is a first support portion that supports a seat, and the first support portion between a closed position facing the first support portion and an open position that supports the seat together with the first support portion. a feeding and stacking portion on which sheets are stacked; and a second supporting portion that is rotatable with respect to the portion, and feeds the sheets stacked on the feeding and stacking portion in the feeding direction. feeding means, discharging means for discharging the sheets fed by the feeding means, discharge stacking section provided below the feeding stacking section and on which the sheets discharged by the discharging means are stacked; and the second support portion includes a flat portion that is an upper surface when the second support portion is positioned at the open position, and a plurality of ribs that protrude from the flat portion and extend along the feeding direction. wherein the plurality of ribs includes a first rib and a second rib positioned inside the first rib in a width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction, the first rib being the The sheet conveying device is characterized in that the protrusion amount from the flat portion is larger than that of the second rib.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a sheet conveying device capable of suppressing the trailing edge of a sheet from hanging down from a feeding and stacking portion, and an image reading device and an image forming device having the same.

1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image reading apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the image reading device with the subtray in the closed position; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image reading device with the subtray in the closed position; FIG. 4 is a top view of the image reading apparatus when the document regulation plate is positioned on the outermost side; FIG. 4 is a top view of the image reading device when the document regulation plate is positioned at the innermost side; FIG. 2 is a right side view of the image reading device according to the first embodiment; 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is a right side view of the image reading device according to the first embodiment; 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image reading device according to a comparative example; FIG. FIG. 10 is a right side view of the image reading device according to the second embodiment;

Embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are specific examples of the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts throughout each drawing.

[First embodiment]
<Image forming apparatus>
First, an image forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the image forming apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as apparatus main body) 1A having an image forming function, and an image reading device 20 for reading image information from a document. The image reading device 20 includes a reading unit 21 that is provided integrally with the apparatus main body 1A and constitutes the upper portion of the apparatus main body 1A, and an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as an ADF) that can be opened and closed with respect to the reading unit 21. ) 22 . An operation panel 111 for a user to operate the image forming apparatus 1 is provided on one side of the reading unit 21 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus main body 1A includes a feeding section 103, a process unit 104, and a fixing section . The feeding unit 103 feeds sheets P, which are recording materials stacked on a feeding tray 113, one by one by a feeding roller 103a. The process unit 104 executes an electrophotographic process to create a toner image based on image information transmitted from the image reading device 20 or an external computer. A process unit 104 charges a photosensitive drum 105, which is a photosensitive member, and performs exposure by a laser scanner 106 based on image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 105, converting the electrostatic latent image into a toner image. Develop to

The toner image carried on the photosensitive drum 105 is transferred onto the sheet P by the transfer section 112 composed of the photosensitive drum 105 and the transfer roller 107 , and fixed onto the sheet P by the fixing section 108 . The fixing unit 108 includes a fixing film 108b that heats the sheet P and a pressure roller 108a that presses the sheet P against the fixing film 108b, and applies heat and pressure to the toner image transferred to the sheet P. As a result, the toner is melted and then fixed to fix the image on the sheet P. As shown in FIG. The sheet P on which the image has been fixed by the fixing unit 108 is discharged from the apparatus main body 1A by the discharge roller 109 and stacked on the discharge tray 100 . In the case of double-sided printing, the sheet P is sent to the double-sided conveying unit 129 by the discharge rollers 109 conveying the sheet P by a predetermined distance and then rotating in reverse. After that, the sheet P with the image formed on the other side reaches the discharge roller 109 again and is discharged to the discharge tray 100 . The process unit 104 described above is an example of image forming means for forming an image on a sheet. For example, an intermediate transfer type electrophotographic unit or an inkjet type image forming unit may be mounted in the apparatus main body 1A.

<Image reader>
Next, the image reading device 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the image reading device 20, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the image reading device 20. As shown in FIG.

The reading section 21 includes a reading unit 17 , a platen glass 25 , and a scanning glass 26 . The reading unit 17 irradiates a document with light from an LED array as a light source, and forms an image of the reflected light from the document on a sensor element with a lens, thereby reading image information of the document. The reading unit 17 is provided so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 4), and reads the image of the document placed on the platen glass 25 (fixed reading). The ADF 22 is rotatably supported with respect to the reading section 21 by a hinge section (not shown) provided at the rear of the apparatus. When the user places a document on document platen glass 25 , the user opens ADF 22 to expose document platen glass 25 . Then, the user closes the ADF 22 after placing the document on the platen glass 25 , so that the document is fixed to the platen glass 25 by the lower surface of the ADF 22 .

The ADF 22 includes a document tray 4 as a feed stacking section on which documents are stacked, and a paper discharge tray 24 as a discharge stacking section for discharging the documents. The paper discharge tray 24 is positioned below the document tray 4 . As shown in FIG. 4, the ADF 22 has a pickup roller 6, a separation roller 8, a pair of conveying rollers 13, a pair of conveying rollers 14, and a pair of discharge rollers 15 in order from the upstream side in the conveying direction. The original is conveyed along the original conveying path (U-turn path) 7 . Conveying members such as the pickup roller 6 are held by the housing 22 a of the ADF 22 . The ADF 22 also has a document presence/absence sensor 11 that detects the document on the document tray 4, a document edge sensor 16 that detects the document on the document transport path 7, and a reading unit 18 that reads the image of the document. . The reading unit 18 in this embodiment has the same configuration as the reading unit 17 .

An operation (skimming) in which the image reading apparatus 20 reads an image while conveying a document will be described. First, the user places a document on the document tray 4 . At this time, the user sets the document so that the front end (the downstream end in the feeding direction) of the document is abutted against the document stopper 10 provided on the downstream side of the document tray 4 . Documents set on the document tray 4 are detected by a document presence/absence sensor 11 .

When the user gives an instruction to start reading using the operation panel 111, the fixing of the document stopper 10 is released, and the document stacked on the document tray 4 is fed by the pickup roller 6 in the feeding direction. A document fed by a pickup roller 6 is separated into one sheet by a separation roller 8 and a separation pad 9 . The document separated into one sheet is conveyed along the document conveying path 7 by the conveying roller pair 13 to the reading areas of the reading units 17 and 18 .

After the leading edge of the document is detected by the document edge sensor 16 and the document is conveyed by a predetermined amount, reading of the front side of the document by the reading unit 17 is started. After reading by the reading unit 17 is started, reading of the back side of the document by the reading unit 18 is started when the document is further conveyed. Then, the original document whose images on both sides have been read is transported to the discharge roller pair 15 by the transport roller pair 14 and discharged by the paper discharge roller pair 15 . Documents ejected by the paper ejection roller pair 15 are stacked on the paper ejection tray 24 . The image reading apparatus 20 repeats such a flow reading operation until the document presence/absence sensor 11 stops detecting the document. Accordingly, the image reading device 20 can read images of all documents stacked on the document tray 4 . Note that the image reading device 20 can also read only the front side of the conveyed document by the reading unit 17 .

[Document tray configuration]
Next, the configuration of the document tray 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the image reading device 20 with the subtray 5 closed, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the image reading device 20 with the subtray 5 closed. 7 is a top view of the image reading device 20 with the document regulation plates 30 and 31 positioned on the outermost side, and FIG. 8 is a top view of the image reading device 20 with the document regulation plates 30 and 31 positioned on the innermost side. It is a diagram. 9 is a right side view of the image reading device 20. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the document tray 4 has a support surface 4a, a sub-tray 5, and document regulation plates 30 and 31. As shown in FIG. The support surface 4a as the first support portion is a surface that supports the document from below, and is fixed to the transport path 7. As shown in FIG. The sub-tray 5 as a second support portion is rotatably supported with respect to the support surface 4a by the rotation support portion 5b, and is rotatable between the open position and the closed position. The open position is a position where the sub-tray 5 supports the document together with the supporting surface 4a (see FIG. 3). The ADF 22 can feed documents when the subtray 5 is at the open position. When the subtray 5 is in the open position, the subtray 5 is positioned so as not to overlap the support surface 4a when viewed from above, and is substantially parallel to the support surface 4a. On the other hand, when the sub-tray 5 is in the closed position, the flat portion 5a is positioned so as to overlap the support surface 4a when viewed from above, and faces the support surface 4a (see FIG. 5). Further, when the sub-tray 5 is positioned at the closed position, the rear surface 5c, which is the surface opposite to the flat portion 5a, is positioned substantially on the same plane as the upper surface 22b of the housing 22a of the ADF 22. As shown in FIG.

When the user moves the subtray 5 from the open position to the closed position, the user puts his or her finger between the back surface 5c of the subtray 5 and the paper output tray 24 and lifts the subtray 5 in the A direction (first direction). rotate to Conversely, when the user moves the subtray 5 from the closed position to the open position, the user puts his or her finger into the concave portion 27 formed on the upper surface of the image reading device 20 and lifts the subtray 5 in the direction opposite to the A direction. Rotate in the direction B (second direction). Since the sub-tray 5 can be moved to the closed position in this way, it is possible to save the space of the apparatus when the ADF 22 is not used. In addition, when the sub-tray 5 closes the paper feed port of the ADF 22 at the closed position, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering the inside of the apparatus.

Document regulating plates 30 and 31, which are regulating portions, are movable in the width direction (perpendicular to the feeding direction) along the slit 4b provided in the support surface 4a. to regulate. The document regulation plates 30 and 31 move in conjunction with each other by an unillustrated interlocking mechanism. For example, when the document restricting plate 30 moves closer to the center position C in the width direction of the document tray 4, the document restricting plate 31 moves closer to the center position C as well. When a user sets a document on the document tray 4, the document regulation plates 30 and 31 are moved in accordance with the width of the document, and the document regulation plates 30 and 31 regulate the edges of the document in the width direction.

As shown in FIG. 7, the support surface 4a has confirmation windows 4c and 4d, which are through holes, at the central position C. As shown in FIG. When the ADF 22 is viewed from above, part of the discharge tray 24 is exposed through the confirmation windows 4c and 4d. The user can visually recognize the documents stacked on the discharge tray 24 through the confirmation windows 4c and 4d. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to take out a small size document such as a business card that has been discharged to the discharge tray 24 .

The sub-tray 5 has a plurality of ribs 50 and 51 extending in the feeding direction. The ribs 50 and 51 extend from the upstream end of the subtray 5 in the feeding direction to the downstream end. As shown in FIG. 9, the ribs 50 and 51 protrude in a direction perpendicular to the plane portion 5a, and the amount of protrusion of the rib 50 from the plane portion 5a is greater than the amount of protrusion of the rib 51. As shown in FIG. In other words, the highest position (apex 50b) of the rib 50 is higher than the highest position of the rib 50 when the subtray 50 is open. The ribs 50 are provided at two symmetrical positions with respect to the center position C of the document tray 4 . These two ribs 50 are examples of a first rib and a third rib. The ribs 51 are provided at four locations outside the ribs 50 in the width direction. These four ribs 51 are examples of second ribs. Here, the number of ribs 50 and ribs 51 in this embodiment is merely an example, and any number of ribs 50 and ribs 51 may be provided. For example, the ribs 50 may be provided at the central position C and three locations on both sides thereof, and the ribs 51 may be provided at six locations on the outside of the ribs 50 in the width direction.

In the present embodiment, among the plurality of ribs provided on the sub-tray 5, two adjacent ribs protrude from the plane portion 5a of the rib closer to the central position C of the document tray 4 (one rib) is It is larger than the projection amount of the rib farther from the central position C (the other rib) or equal to the projection amount of the rib farther from the central position C. Therefore, when the highest positions of the plurality of ribs provided on the sub-tray 5 are connected to each other, the central position C protrudes into an arched shape. Specifically, the two adjacent ribs 51 on the right side in FIG. 9 have the same height, and the rib 51 on the right side is higher than the rib 51 on its right side.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rib 50 has an upstream inclined portion 50a inclined on the upstream side in the feeding direction so that the amount of protrusion from the flat portion 5a increases toward the upstream side in the feeding direction. ing. Further, the rib 50 has a downstream side inclined portion 50c inclined so that the amount of protrusion from the flat portion 5a increases toward the downstream side in the feeding direction. The rib 50 has two vertices, and the apex 50b on the upstream side has a larger amount of protrusion from the plane portion 5a. In addition, the rib 51 has a downstream inclined portion 51a that is inclined so that the amount of protrusion from the flat portion 5a increases toward the downstream side in the feeding direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the subtray 5 is in the closed position, the distance H from the flat portion 5a to the apex 50b of the upstream inclined portion 50a of the rib 50 is the same as the distance H from the flat portion 5a to the support surface 4a viewed from above. 50 is smaller than the distance J to the position overlapping with the vertex 50b of the upstream slope portion 50a. Thus, when the subtray 5 is in the closed position, a gap (JH) exists between the apex 50b of the upstream inclined portion 50a of the rib 50 and the support surface 4a.

FIG. 8 shows the ADF 22 when the document regulation plates 30 and 31 are positioned at the innermost side. As shown in FIG. 8, the distance K between the two ribs 50 is smaller than the distance L between the innermost document regulation plates 30 and 31 . The rib 50 is provided in a region inside the innermost document regulation plates 30 and 31 in the width direction. In other words, the rib 50 is provided only at a position closer to the central position C of the document tray 4 than the area where the document regulation plates 30 and 31 are movable.

<Regarding sagging of the document>
Next, the effect of suppressing the drooping of the document according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the image reading device 20 with the document D stacked on the document tray 4, and FIG. 11 is a right side view of the image reading device 20 with the document D loaded on the document tray 4. As shown in FIG. . FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading device 20x as a comparative example.

An image reading device 20x as a comparative example includes an ADF 22x above the reading unit 21. FIG. The ADF 22x differs from the ADF 22 described in this embodiment only in the configuration of the plurality of ribs provided on the subtray 5. FIG. The sub-tray 5 of the ADF 22x has only ribs 51 at six locations. In other words, the ADF 22x has a configuration in which all the ribs provided on the subtray 5 have the same protrusion amount. In such a configuration, when a long document D is placed on the document tray 4, the rear end (the upstream end in the feeding direction) E of the document hangs down due to gravity. As shown in FIG. 12, when the trailing edge E of the document hangs down, the trailing edge F of the ejected document, indicated by the dashed line, collides with the trailing edge E of the document that has hung down, which may cause ejection failure. There is

On the other hand, as described above, in the ADF 22 of the present embodiment, the sub-tray 5 is provided with the rib 50 having a large protrusion amount. As shown in FIG. 11, when the document D is stacked on the document tray 4 of the ADF 22, the position of the central portion of the document D in the width direction is raised due to the rib 50 having a large protrusion amount. That is, the shape of the document D becomes a curved surface with the center in the width direction protruding. As a result, the document D is stiffened, and it is possible to prevent the trailing edge E of the document D from sagging downward compared to the case where the rib 50 is not provided as shown in FIG. 10 .

Further, in the present embodiment, the apex 50b of the rib 50 having the largest amount of protrusion from the flat portion 5a is provided on the upstream side of the rib 50 in the feeding direction. As a result, only the rear end side of the document D is deformed into a curved surface, and the front end side of the document D becomes substantially flat. Therefore, it is possible to suppress feeding failure due to deformation of the document D. FIG.

In this embodiment, when the subtray 5 is in the closed position, the distance H from the flat portion 5a to the vertex 50b of the rib 50 is the distance from the flat portion 5a to the position overlapping the vertex 50b when viewed from above on the support surface 4a. smaller than the distance J. This can prevent the ribs 50 from coming into contact with the support surface 4a when the subtray 5 moves from the open position to the closed position.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the sub-tray 5 is in the closed position, the rib 50 overlaps the document regulation plates 30 and 31 when viewed in the width direction. Therefore, depending on the positional relationship between the rib 50 and the document restriction plates 30 and 31, the rib 50 and the document restriction plates 30 and 31 may come into contact with each other when the sub-tray 5 moves to the closed position. However, in this embodiment, the rib 50 is provided at a position closer to the central position C of the document tray 4 than the area where the document regulation plates 30 and 31 are movable. That is, the document regulation plates 30 and 31 cannot move to the same position as the rib 50 in the width direction. Thereby, when the sub-tray 5 moves from the open position to the closed position, the rib 50 can be prevented from contacting the document regulation plates 30 and 31 regardless of the positions of the document regulation plates 30 and 31 . The sum of the amount of protrusion of rib 51 from flat portion 5a and the height of document restricting plates 30 and 31 from support surface 4a is the distance between flat portion 5a and support surface 4a when subtray 5 is in the closed position. less than distance. Therefore, the ribs 51 do not come into contact with the document regulation plates 30 and 31 either.

In this embodiment, a rib 50 with a large protrusion is provided at a position near the center position C of the sub-tray 5, and a rib 51 with a small protrusion is provided outside the rib 50 in the width direction. However, the arrangement of the plurality of ribs provided on the sub-tray 5 is not limited to this, and a rib 51 having a smaller protrusion amount may be provided between the two ribs 50 . Further, between the rib 50 and the rib 51, another rib having a projection amount smaller than that of the rib 50 and a projection amount larger than that of the rib 51 may be provided.

[Second embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 13. FIG. FIG. 13 is a right side view of the image reading device 20 according to the second embodiment. The ADF 22 included in the image reading apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment differs from that according to the first embodiment only in the configuration of the plurality of ribs provided on the subtray 5 . Since the ADF 22 according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment except for the ribs, description thereof will be omitted.

The document tray 4 included in the ADF 22 according to the second embodiment has a rotatable sub-tray 5 as in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the sub-tray 5 includes a rib 50 extending in the feeding direction with a large amount of projection and a rib 51 extending in the feeding direction with a small amount of projection. Among the plurality of ribs provided on the sub-tray 5, the ribs 50 having a large protrusion amount are provided at the two outermost locations in the width direction. Also, the ribs 51 with a small protrusion amount are provided at four locations between the two ribs 50 . When the highest positions of the plurality of ribs provided on the sub-tray 5 are connected to each other, the center position C becomes a concave bow shape.

When the document D is placed on the document tray 4 configured as described above, the ribs 50 having a large protrusion amount raise the positions of both ends of the document D in the width direction, as shown in FIG. 13 . That is, the document D has a curved surface with both ends in the width direction protruding. As a result, in the second embodiment as well, it is possible to prevent the document D from being stiff and the rear end of the document D from sagging downward.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 image forming device 4 document tray 5 subtray 20 image reading device 21 reading section 22 ADF
50, 51 rib

Claims (13)

A first support portion that supports the seat, and a first support portion that is rotatable with respect to the first support portion between a closed position facing the first support portion and an open position that supports the seat together with the first support portion. a feeding and stacking portion on which sheets are stacked;
feeding means for feeding the sheets stacked on the feeding and stacking portion in a feeding direction;
a discharge means for discharging the sheet fed by the feeding means;
a discharge stacking unit provided below the feeding stacking unit and on which the sheets discharged by the discharging means are stacked;
with
The second support portion has a planar portion that is an upper surface when the second support portion is positioned at the open position, and a plurality of ribs that protrude from the planar portion and extend along the feeding direction. ,
The plurality of ribs includes a first rib and a second rib positioned outside the first rib in a width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction,
The sheet conveying device, wherein the first rib protrudes from the flat portion by a larger amount than the second rib. Among the plurality of ribs, two ribs adjacent to each other have a protrusion amount from the plane portion of the rib closer to the center of the second support portion in the width direction larger than the protrusion amount of the other rib, or 2. The sheet conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion amount is equal to the projection amount of said other rib. a regulating portion provided movably in the width direction on the first support portion and regulating an end portion in the width direction of the sheets stacked on the feeding and stacking portion;
3. The seat according to claim 1, wherein the first rib is provided inside in the width direction of an innermost position in the width direction where the restricting portion is movable. Conveyor. A first support portion that supports the seat, and a first support portion that is rotatable with respect to the first support portion between a closed position facing the first support portion and an open position that supports the seat together with the first support portion. a feeding and stacking portion on which sheets are stacked;
feeding means for feeding the sheets stacked on the feeding and stacking portion in a feeding direction;
a discharge means for discharging the sheet fed by the feeding means;
a discharge stacking unit provided below the feeding stacking unit and on which the sheets discharged by the discharging means are stacked;
with
The second support portion has a planar portion that is an upper surface when the second support portion is positioned at the open position, and a plurality of ribs that protrude from the planar portion and extend along the feeding direction. ,
The plurality of ribs includes a first rib and a second rib positioned inside the first rib in a width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction,
The sheet conveying device, wherein the first rib protrudes from the flat portion by a larger amount than the second rib. Among the plurality of ribs, two ribs adjacent to each other have a protrusion amount from the plane portion of the rib closer to the center of the second support portion in the width direction than the protrusion amount of the other rib, or 5. The sheet conveying device according to claim 4, wherein the protrusion amount is equal to the projection amount of the other rib. 6. The first rib according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first rib has an upstream inclined portion that protrudes from the flat portion toward the upstream side in the feeding direction. sheet conveying device. 3. The protrusion amount of the first rib is such that the first rib does not come into contact with the first support portion when the second support portion is positioned at the closed position. 7. The sheet conveying device according to any one of 1 to 6. Having a housing that holds the feeding means,
When the second support portion is positioned at the closed position, a back surface of the second support portion, which is a surface opposite to the flat portion, is positioned substantially on the same plane as the top surface of the housing. The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The first rib and the second rib each have, on the downstream side in the feeding direction, a downstream inclined portion that protrudes from the flat portion toward the downstream side in the feeding direction. The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein: The plurality of ribs includes a third rib having a shape similar to that of the first rib, provided at a position symmetrical to the first rib with respect to the center of the second support portion in the width direction. The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 9. The sheet conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first support portion has a through hole portion in a central portion in the width direction. A sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 11;
reading means for reading an image of the sheet fed by the feeding means;
An image reading device comprising: an image reading device according to claim 12;
image forming means for forming an image on a recording material based on the image information read by the reading means;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images