Sheet loading device, and image forming apparatus having the same

An image forming apparatus including an image forming portion that forms an image on a sheet, and a sheet loading device to which the sheet on which the image is formed is discharged,

• the sheet loading device comprising:
• a housing;
• a sheet discharge portion that discharges a sheet in a predetermined discharge direction;
• a sheet loading portion disposed in the housing, on which the sheet discharged from the sheet discharge portion is loaded;
• a plurality of ribs protruding upward from the sheet loading portion along the discharge direction, each rib having a sloped part that tapers downward to an upstream side in the discharge direction;
• an actuator including
• a shaft disposed above the sheet loading portion, the shaft extending in a sheet width direction intersecting the discharge direction, and
• a contact piece extending from the shaft to the sheet loading portion, in a position where the plurality of ribs are not disposed in the sheet width direction, the contact piece rotating integrally with the shaft when the sheet discharged to the sheet loading portion comes into contact with the contact piece;
• and
• a sheet detecting portion capable of detecting, in accordance with the rotation of the contact piece about the shaft, a first state where no sheet is loaded on the sheet loading portion, a second state where one sheet discharged from the sheet discharge portion is loaded on the sheet loading portion, and a third state where sheets as many as a predetermined number of sheets regarded as a full load state are loaded on the sheet loading portion, wherein
• in the first state, the contact piece is positioned at a stand-by position in which a tip of the contact piece is extended so as to be lower than an upper edge of the plurality of ribs.