Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a sheet feeding device that feeds a sheet and an image forming portion that forms an image on a sheet fed by the sheet feeding device,
• wherein the sheet feeding device includes:
• a tray that supports sheets;
• an air blowing portion that blows air at an upper portion of sheets on the tray to blow upward the sheets;
• a plurality of endless adsorption conveyance belts that is arranged to be parallel to a sheet feeding direction to adsorb and convey a blown-upward sheet;
• a guide member that is disposed downstream of the plurality of the adsorption conveyance belts in the sheet feeding direction and under the adsorption conveyance belt to guide the underside of a sheet conveyed by the plurality of the adsorption conveyance belts;
• a suction duct that generates an adsorption force with respect to the plurality of the adsorption conveyance belts;
• a lever that is installed to be movable up and down between the plurality of adsorption conveyance belts, and that moves upward to a position higher than an adsorbing surface of the plurality of the adsorption conveyance belts that adsorbs a sheet, from a position below the plurality of the adsorption conveyance belts by being pushed up by the blown-upward sheet;
• a sheet surface detecting mechanism that detects a position of the top surface of the blown-upward sheet, based on the position of the lever;
• an abutting portion against which the lever pushed up by the blown-upward sheet is abutted so that when the abutting portion abuts upper surface of the lever pushed up by the blown-upward sheet, the abutting portion regulates a position of the lever that is pushed up by a blown-upward sheet such that a difference in height between the adsorbing surface of the plurality of the adsorption conveyance belts and a lower surface of the lever pushed up by a blown-upward sheet is smaller than a difference in a height direction between the adsorbing surface of the plurality of the adsorption conveyance belts and the guide member.