Sheet feeder and image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet feeder

A sheet feeder comprising

• a rotary body configured to contact and feed a recording medium downstream along a sheet conveying path;
• a friction body facing the rotary body with the sheet conveying path interposed therebetween, the friction body forming a separation nip region with the rotary body and including an upstream transverse edge in the conveyance path, a downstream transverse edge in the conveyance path and two opposing lateral edges connecting the upstream and downstream transverse edges;
• a receiver directly supporting the friction body at a position of the friction body opposite to the separation nip region;
• and
• multiple projections for guiding the recording medium toward the separation nip region, each of the multiple projections including a first inclined surface that is upstream of the upstream transverse edge and a second inclined surface that is downstream of the upstream transverse edge,
• at least a portion of each of the multiple projections projecting from the receiver beyond the friction body toward the rotary body
• wherein a top portion of each of the multiple projections, above the friction body, originates upstream of an upstream end of the friction body in the sheet conveying direction.