Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus

A sheet feeding apparatus comprising:

• a sheet supporting member to support a sheet and is configured to be lifted and lowered;
• a feeding member to feed the sheet stacked on the sheet supporting member;
• and
• a lift unit to lift and lower the sheet supporting member such that the sheet stacked on the sheet supporting member is abutted against the feeding member, wherein the lift unit includes an urging member that biases the sheet supporting member towards the feeding member, a moving member that, with respect to the sheet supporting member, moves in a first direction that is a direction different from a lifting direction of the sheet supporting member, and a contact member that is supported by the sheet supporting member and is in contact with the moving member,
• wherein the moving member includes a curved cam surface acting on the contact member in a region that comes in contact with the contact member,
• wherein a contact state between the moving member and the contact member is changed by a movement of the moving member in the first direction and the curved cam surface, and
• wherein owing to the change in the contact state, the sheet supporting member is capable of moving to a feed position in which the sheet stacked on the sheet supporting member is abutted against the feeding member with the urging member, and moving to a retracted position in which the sheet supporting member countering an urging force of the urging member is retreated more from the feeding member with respect to the feed position.