Sheet feeding mechanism

A sheet feeding mechanism comprising:

• a sheet supporter capable of supporting a plurality of sheets in a stacked manner;
• a pick-up roller that rotates while contacting with a surface of, among the plurality of sheets supported by the sheet supporter, an endmost sheet in an stacking direction, to thereby pick up and convey the sheet;
• a guide having a surface that extends along a predetermined conveyance direction for the sheet;
• and
• a friction portion having a higher coefficient of friction against the sheet than that of the surface of the guide, the friction portion being contactable with the sheet that is under conveyance by the pick-up roller,
• wherein a line segment, between a center of the pick-up roller with respect to a direction of a rotation axis of the pick-up roller and a point at which the rotation axis intersects with the surface of the guide, forms an acute angle with a line segment extending forward in the predetermined conveyance direction from the point at which the rotation axis intersects with the surface of the guide,
• wherein the friction portion is disposed within a forepart of the sheet supporter in the predetermined conveyance direction and, with respect to a direction perpendicular to the predetermined conveyance direction, disposed only between the surface of the guide and a center of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the predetermined paper conveyance direction, and
• wherein the friction portion is elastically displaceable in the predetermined conveyance direction.