Sheet feeding apparatus

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• sheet supporting means removably insertable into said image forming apparatus for supporting sheets;
• regulating means provided on said sheet supporting means to regulate and position lateral edges of the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• urging means for urging with a predetermined force the sheets stacked in said sheet supporting means against said regulating means;
• urging force adjusting means for adjusting said urging means so that a magnitude of said urging force is increased during insertion of said sheet supporting means into said image forming apparatus;
• sheet supply means for supplying the sheets stacked in said sheet supporting means;
• and
• image forming means for forming an image on the sheet supplied by said sheet supply means.

A sheet feeding apparatus comprising:

• sheet supporting means removably insertable into said sheet feeding apparatus for supporting sheets;
• regulating means provided on said sheet supporting means to regulate and position lateral edges of the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• a plurality of urging means arranged in a sheet feeding direction for urging the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means against said regulating means by respective predetermined forces;
• and
• releasing means for selectively releasing an urging force of at least one of said plurality of urging means so that a magnitude of urging by said plurality of urging means is reduced when said sheet supporting means is inserted into said sheet feeding apparatus.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• sheet supporting means removably insertable into said image forming apparatus to support sheets;
• regulating means provided on said sheet supporting means to regulate and position lateral edges of the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• a plurality of urging means arranged in a sheet feeding direction for urging the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means against said regulating means by respective predetermined urging forces;
• and
• releasing means for selectively releasing an urging force of at least one of said plurality of urging means so that a magnitude of urging by said plurality of urging means is reduced when said sheet supporting means is inserted into said image forming apparatus;
• sheet supply means for supplying the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• and
• image forming means for forming an image on the sheet supplied by said sheet supply means.

A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising:

• sheet supporting means removably insertable into said sheet feeding apparatus and for supporting sheets;
• regulating means provided on said sheet supporting means to regulate and position lateral edges of the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• urging means for urging the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means against said regulating means by a predetermined force;
• and
• urging force adjusting means for adjusting said urging means so that a magnitude of the urging force is reduced in response to the insertion of said sheet supporting means into said sheet feeding apparatus.

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• sheet supporting means removably insertable into said image forming apparatus and for supporting sheets;
• regulating means provided on said sheet supporting means to regulate and position lateral edges of the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• urging means for urging the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means against said regulating means by a predetermined force;
• urging force adjusting means for adjusting said urging means so that a magnitude of the urging force is reduced in response to insertion of said sheet supporting means into said image forming apparatus;
• sheet supplying means for supplying the sheets stacked in said sheet supporting means;
• and
• image forming means for forming an image on the sheet supplied by said sheet supplying means.

A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising:

• sheet supporting means removably insertable into said sheet feeding apparatus and for supporting sheets;
• regulating means provided on said sheet supporting means to regulate and a position lateral edges of the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• a plurality of urging members arranged in the sheet feeding direction for urging the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means against said regulating means by respective predetermined urging forces;
• and
• releasing means for selectively releasing the urging force of at least one of said plurality of urging members in response to the insertion of said sheet supporting means into said sheet feeding apparatus,
• wherein the urging force to be released by said releasing means is set larger, while the urging force not to be released is set smaller.

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• sheet supporting means removably insertable into said image forming apparatus for supporting sheets;
• regulating means provided on said sheet supporting means to regulate and position lateral edges of the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• plurality of urging members arranged in the sheet feeding direction for urging the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means against said regulating means by respective predetermined urging forces;
• releasing means for selectively releasing the urging force of at least one of said plurality of urging members in response to the insertion of said sheet supporting means into said image forming apparatus, wherein the urging force to be released by said releasing means is set larger, while the urging force not to be released is set smaller;
• sheet supply means for supplying the sheets supported in said sheet supporting means;
• and
• image forming means for forming an image on the sheet supplied by said sheet supplying means.