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, wherein
- when the stacked sheets are lifted by the lifting members such that the uppermost sheet contacts the pickup roller, and when a total number of the stacked sheets is less than a number at which the uppermost sheet contacts the pickup roller without contacting the first guide, a corner portion of the stacked sheets located at a downstream side in the conveyance direction and at an outer side in the width direction contacts the first guide and is thereby displaced toward 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, wherein
- when the stacked sheets are lifted by the lifting members such that the uppermost sheet contacts the pickup roller, and when a total number of the stacked sheets is less than a number at which the uppermost sheet contacts the pickup roller without contacting the first guide, a corner portion of the stacked sheets located at a downstream side in the conveyance direction and at an outer side in the width direction contacts the first guide and is thereby displaced toward the tray.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.