Rotary feeding member, sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus

A sheet feeding apparatus comprising:

• a sheet supporting portion configured to support a sheet;
• a rotary feeding member configured to feed the sheet in a sheet feeding direction by rotating in contact with the sheet supported on the sheet supporting portion;
• a sheet detector configured to detect the sheet at a position downstream of the rotary feeding member in the sheet feeding direction;
• and
• a controller configured to execute a notification operation of notifying of information about replacement of the rotary feeding member based on a detection result of the sheet detector,
• wherein the rotary feeding member comprises:
• a plurality of protruding portions that are provided, on a cross-section perpendicular to a width direction of the rotary feeding member, at a plurality of positions in a rotating direction of the rotary feeding member, the plurality of protruding portions constituting an outer circumferential surface of the rotary feeding member to be in contact with the sheet;
• a plurality of first recessed portions each provided, on the cross-section, between any adjacent two of the plurality of protruding portions in the rotating direction, the plurality of first recessed portions being recessed to a first depth with respect to the outer circumferential surface;
• and
• a plurality of second recessed portions each provided, on the cross-section, between any adjacent two of the plurality of protruding portions in the rotating direction separately from the first recessed portions, the plurality of second recessed portions being recessed to a second depth smaller than the first depth with respect to the outer circumferential surface.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a rotary feeding member configured to feed a sheet by rotating in contact with the sheet;
• and
• an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet fed by the rotary feeding member;
• wherein the rotary feeding member comprises:
• a plurality of protruding portions that are provided, on a cross-section perpendicular to a width direction of the rotary feeding member, at a plurality of positions in a rotating direction of the rotary feeding member, the plurality of protruding portions constituting an outer circumferential surface of the rotary feeding member to be in contact with the sheet;
• a plurality of first recessed portions each provided, on the cross-section, between any adjacent two of the plurality of protruding portions in the rotating direction, the plurality of first recessed portions being recessed to a first depth with respect to the outer circumferential surface;
• and
• a plurality of second recessed portions each provided, on the cross-section, between any adjacent two of the plurality of protruding portions in the rotating direction separately from the first recessed portions, the plurality of second recessed portions being recessed to a second depth smaller than the first depth with respect to the outer circumferential surface.