Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same

A sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets, comprising:

• a lifter base on which a sheet sheaf has been stacked;
• a pickup roller which feeds out sheets from said lifter base;
• a blow-off port arranged to oppose to an end portion of the sheet sheaf on said lifter base;
• a fan which blows air on an end portion of the sheet sheaf stacked on said lifter base through said blow-off port;
• a temperature and humidity sensor which detects temperature and humidity in the neighborhood of said lifter base;
• a controller for controlling said fan to perform a blowing operation before a sheet feeding operation of said pickup roller is started;
• and
• a control table of blowing time in which data of blowing time period of the fan corresponding to the temperature and humidity has been stored;
• wherein said controller calls out data of the blowing time period from said control table of blowing time on the basis of temperature and humidity information from said temperature and humidity sensor and controls said fan to perform the blowing operation before the sheet feeding operation during the blowing time period called from the control table.