Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus
AssigneeToshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorMasahiro Ohno
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sheet feeding apparatus includes a tray on which a plurality of sheets can be stacked, the tray being movable in a vertical direction to lift the sheets, a pickup roller that is rotatable to convey an uppermost sheet of the sheets in a conveyance direction when the sheets are lifted and pressed against the pickup roller, a first guide that is disposed adjacent to the pickup roller and guides the uppermost sheet conveyed by the pickup roller along the conveyance direction, and a pair of lifting members that support the sheets that are stacked in the tray. The lifting members extend along the conveyance direction, are spaced apart in a width direction of the sheets that is transverse to the conveyance direction, and are movable in the vertical direction together with the tray.
Claims19
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising:
- a tray on which a plurality of sheets can be stacked, the tray being movable in a vertical direction to lift the sheets;
- a pickup roller that is rotatable to convey an uppermost sheet of the sheets in a conveyance direction when the sheets are lifted and pressed against the pickup roller;
- a first guide that is disposed adjacent to the pickup roller and guides the uppermost sheet conveyed by the pickup roller along the conveyance direction;
- and
- a pair of lifting members that support the sheets that are stacked in the tray, wherein
- the lifting members extend along the conveyance direction, are spaced apart in a width direction of the sheets that is transverse to the conveyance direction, and are movable in the vertical direction together with the tray, and
- each of the lifting members includes:
- a first surface extending in the conveyance direction and parallel to a bottom surface of the tray, and
- a second surface inclined with respect to the bottom surface of the tray, wherein, in the conveyance direction, an upstream end of the second surface is connected to a downstream end of the first surface, and a downstream end of the second surface is located upstream of a rotational axis of the pickup roller.
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a tray on which a plurality of sheets can be stacked, the tray being movable in a vertical direction to lift the sheets;
- a pickup roller that is rotatable to convey an uppermost sheet of the sheets in a conveyance direction when the sheets are lifted and pressed against the pickup roller;
- a first guide that is disposed adjacent to the pickup roller and guides the uppermost sheet conveyed by the pickup roller along the conveyance direction;
- a pair of lifting members that support the sheets that are stacked in the tray, wherein the lifting members extend along the conveyance direction, are spaced apart in a width direction of the sheets that is transverse to the conveyance direction, and are movable in the vertical direction together with the tray;
- and
- an image forming station configured to form an image on the conveyed uppermost sheet through a transfer belt, wherein
- each of the lifting members includes:
- a first surface extending in the conveyance direction and parallel to a bottom surface of the tray, and
- a second surface inclined with respect to the bottom surface of the tray, wherein, in the conveyance direction, an upstream end of the second surface is connected to a downstream end of the first surface, and a downstream end of the second surface is located upstream of a rotational axis of the pickup roller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.