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.
Claims20
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.
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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.