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 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 positional deviation amount of a target sheet from an initial reference position at a time when the feeding process for the target sheet is started, based on a preset reference feeding time and a target measurement time measured by the timing device for the target sheet fed by the feeding process;
• and
• the control device adjusting a feeding start timing for causing the feeding mechanism to start the feeding process for the next sheet following the target sheet in accordance with the positional deviation amount of the target sheet.