Sheet feeding control method, sheet feeding device, and image forming apparatus

A sheet feeding control method for controlling a sheet feeding device, comprising:

• a feeding mechanism having a feeding rotating body that contacts an upper surface of a topmost sheet of a stack of sheets, and configured to execute a feeding process of feeding each sheet from the stack of sheets to a conveying path by rotating the feeding rotating body;
• a lift mechanism configured to lift the stack of sheets to a contact position where an upper surface of a topmost sheet of the stack of sheets contacts the feeding rotating body;
• a sheet detecting device configured to detect each sheet at a position on a downstream side of the feeding rotating body in a sheet feeding direction;
• and
• a timing device configured to measure an elapsed time from a time when the feeding process for each sheet is started to a time when each sheet is detected by the sheet detecting device;
• the sheet feeding control method comprising:
• a control device deriving a reference feeding time based on one or more reference measurement times measured by the timing device when one or more reference feeding processes are executed that satisfy a count condition that the one or more feeding processes are executed a predetermined number of times since the lift mechanism lifted the stack of sheets to the contact position;
• and
• the control device adjusting, based on the reference feeding time, a feeding start timing at which the feeding mechanism starts the feeding process for each of the sheets fed by the feeding process after the reference feeding process has been executed.