Sheet feed devices and image recording apparatus comprising such sheet feed devices

A sheet feed device comprising:

• a tray comprising:
• a holding surface configured to hold a plurality of sheets;
• a pair of side guides extending in a sheet feed direction and configured to guide opposite side edges of the plurality of sheets held on the holding surface;
• and
• a rack and pinion mechanism comprising racks each connected to a corresponding one of the side guides and a pinion located at a center of the holding surface in a width direction perpendicular to the sheet feed direction, the racks being engaged with the pinion such that the side guides are slidable relative to the pinion,
• a feed unit configured to contact a particular sheet of the plurality of sheets held by the holding surface of the tray and feed at least the particular sheet in the sheet feed direction;
• and
• a separation unit disposed downstream of the holding surface in the sheet feed direction and configured to separate the particular sheet from other sheets of the plurality of sheets, the separation unit comprising:
• first and second inclined surfaces immovably inclined relative to the holding surface and configured to guide the particular sheet fed by the feed unit;
• a plurality of first projections arrayed in alignment with the pinion of the tray in the sheet feed direction and projecting in a projecting direction toward the feed unit relative to the first and second inclined surfaces;
• a metal elastic member configured to urge the plurality of first projections in the projecting direction toward the feed unit from an opening formed between the first and second inclined surfaces;
• a plurality of second projections each having a first sloping surface and a second sloping surface that are different in steepness relative to the first inclined surface, the plurality of second projections being arrayed in the sheet feed direction and projecting toward the feed unit relative to the first inclined surface that extends between and parallel to the arrayed first projections and the arrayed second projections;
• and
• a plurality of third projections each having a first sloping surface and a second sloping surface that are different in steepness relative to the second inclined surface, the plurality of third projections being arrayed in the sheet feed direction and projecting toward the feed unit relative to the second inclined surface that extends between and parallel to the arrayed first projections and the arrayed third projections,
• wherein the metal elastic member is disposed separate from the first and second inclined surfaces, the plurality of second projections, and the plurality of third projections, and the first and second inclined surfaces are closer to the feed unit in the projecting direction than the metal elastic member is to the feed unit.