A conveying apparatus includes: a first casing having a first bottom portion and formed with a conveyance path in which a sheet is conveyed; a first tray provided for the first casing and supported by the first bottom portion; a first feeding section arranged above the first tray in the first casing and configured to feed a sheet supported by the first tray in a feeding direction toward the conveyance path; a second casing being detachably attached to the first casing and located below the first bottom portion in a state that the second casing is attached to the first cashing; a second tray provided for the second casing; and a second feeding section arranged above the second tray in the second casing and configured to feed a sheet supported by the second tray in the feeding direction toward the conveyance path.

A rotation detecting unit includes a light emitting device, a light receiving device, an output device, a rotatable plate, and a discriminating device. The rotatable plate includes a first portion and a second portion which are alternately provided along a circumferential direction, a third portion provided between the first portion and the second portion, and a fourth portion provided between the second portion and the first portion. When a region of the first portion is irradiated with light emitted from the light emitting device and received by the light receiving device, received light quantity of the light receiving device is a maximum. When a region of the second portion is irradiated with the light, the received light quantity is a minimum. When the third or fourth portion is irradiated with the light, the received light quantity is larger than the minimum and is smaller than the maximum.

An image forming apparatus which is able to stably perform paper feeding without double feeding the printing medium, and is also able to prevent a quality of the printing medium from being damaged is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a pick-up roller configured to pick up the printing medium, and a driving source configured to transmit a driving force to the pick-up roller, wherein the pick-up roller is provided to be raised and then to be returned to its original location when picking up the printing medium.

A feeding device to feed a conveyed medium stacked on a stacker, includes a first suction unit, a second suction unit, and third suction units. The first suction unit includes a suction chamber; a suction fan to exhaust air from the suction chamber; and a first driver to rotate the suction fan. The suction units are disposed above the conveyed medium stacked on the stacker. The second suction unit includes a rotary fan including a board and a plurality of walls extending from the board; and a second driver to rotate the rotary fan. The second suction unit generates a vortex flow directed to the conveyed medium. The plurality of third suction units is disposed in a direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the conveyed medium and attracts ends of the conveyed medium in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

A feeding device includes a plurality of suction units, disposed above a conveyed medium stacked on a stacker, to attract the conveyed medium. At least one of the plurality of suction units includes a rotary fan including a board and a plurality of walls extending from the board; and a driver to rotate the rotary fan. The at least one of the plurality of suction units generates a vortex air with a side of the board with the plurality of walls directed to the conveyed medium. The at least one of the plurality of suction units being a suction unit generates a vortex air.

A sheet feed device includes: a stacking tray on which sheets are stacked in such a manner as to be capable of being lifted and lowered; and a position restricting member configured to come into contact with a sheet end portion to restrict a position of the sheets. The position restricting member is provided to an opening/closing member capable of being opened and closed. When the opening/closing member is closed, the position restricting member restricts a position of the sheet end portion in an opening/closing direction of the opening/closing member.

An image forming apparatus includes a print medium tray in which a print medium is loaded and a pickup roller which is configured to pick up the loaded print medium from the print medium tray. The pickup roller includes at least one first pickup block and at least one second pickup block configured to alternately come into contact with an upper portion of the loaded print medium. Using such a configuration, the pickup performance of the image forming apparatus may be improved.

A sheet conveying apparatus configured to convey a sheet includes: a rotatable support portion configured to support a rotary portion which is configured to convey a sheet; an urging portion configured to urge the support portion in a direction of a rotary shaft center of the support portion with a support shaft, which is configured to support the support portion in a rotatable manner and is inserted through the urging portion; and a regulating portion configured to regulate a position of the support portion urged by the urging portion.

A sheet feeding device, which is included in an image forming apparatus, includes a sheet container to accommodate a recording medium, a sheet feeding body to press a surface of the recording medium in the sheet container and feed the recording medium in a sheet conveying direction, a pair of sheet position regulators to regulate a position of the recording medium in a sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, and a load applier to contact the surface of the recording medium and apply a load to the recording medium at the surface. The recording medium is brought to move toward one of the pair of sheet position regulators while the recording medium is being fed. A lower face position in a standby state of the sheet feeding body is lower than a lower face position in a standby state of the load applier.

A sheet-member separation device includes a first air blower, an attractor, a conveyor, a second air blower, and an adjuster. The first air blower blows air onto a front side of a stack of sheet members in a sheet-member conveyance direction. The attractor attracts an uppermost sheet member floated from the stack of sheet members by the air blown from the first air blower. The conveyor conveys, in the sheet-member conveyance direction, the sheet member attracted by the attractor. The second air blower blows air toward a lateral side of the sheet member. The adjuster moves the second air blower and the attractor together to adjust positions of the second air blower and the attractor in the sheet-member conveyance direction.