Sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus

A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising:

• a tray unit which includes a sheet stacking tray on which a sheet is stacked and a bottom portion configured to rotatably support the sheet stacking tray and to be rotatable with respect to an apparatus main body, the tray unit being configured to be capable of taking a position at which the tray unit is opened with respect to the apparatus main body and a position at which the tray unit is closed with respect to the apparatus main body by rotating the bottom portion;
• a feeding portion configured to feed a sheet which is stacked on the sheet stacking tray;
• a lifter arm configured to abut against the sheet stacking tray from below and to move the sheet stacking tray such that the sheet stacking tray can be located at a stand-by position and at a feeding position at which a sheet can be fed, the feeding position being located above the stand-by position;
• a motor configured to drivingly connected to the lifter arm;
• and
• a restricting portion provided on the sheet stacking tray, the restricting portion being configured to restrict rotation of the sheet stacking tray at a position at which the tray unit is opened with respect to the apparatus main body by interfering with the lifter arm.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a sheet feeding apparatus;
• an image forming apparatus configured to form an image on a sheet fed by a sheet feeding apparatus;
• the sheet feeding apparatus including,
• a tray unit provided rotatably with respect to an apparatus main body, the tray unit being configured to be capable of taking a position at which the tray unit is closed with respect to the apparatus main body and a position at which the tray unit is opened with respect to the apparatus main body;
• a sheet stacking member provided on the tray unit, the sheet stacking member being configured to be capable of being located at a feeding position at which a sheet can be fed and at a stand-by position which is distant from the feeding position;
• a feeding portion configured to feed a sheet which is stacked on the sheet stacking member;
• a moving portion configured to abut against the sheet stacking member from below and to move the sheet stacking member to the feeding position and to the stand-by position, the moving portion being configured to be movable to a first position at which the moving portion locates the sheet stacking member at the stand-by position and to a second position at which the moving portion locates the sheet stacking member at the feeding position;
• and
• a restricting portion provided on the sheet stacking member, the restricting portion being configured to restrict movement of the sheet stacking member from the stand-by position to the feeding position by interfering with the moving portion which is located at the first position when the tray unit is located at the position at which the tray unit is opened.