An image forming apparatus includes a stacking portion including a lifting portion, a feeding member feeding a sheet stacked on the lifting portion to a conveyance passage, a position detector detecting movement of the sheet stacked on to a feedable position to the conveyance passage, a driver including a motor and performing the lifting operation of the lifting portion, a rotation detector detecting rotation of the motor, and a controller. The controller determines a factor that the position detector does not detect the movement of the sheet stacked on the lifting portion to the feedable position within a predetermined time based on a detection result of the rotation detector while controlling the driver to lift up the lifting portion.

A sheet supporting apparatus includes a body, a supporting portion configured to be held in an elevating manner by the body and to support a sheet, a sheet regulation portion regulating a position of the sheet supported on the supporting portion, a movement portion capable of moving between a first position where the sheet regulation portion regulates the position of the sheet supported on the supporting portion, and a second position where the supporting portion is regulated from elevating with respect to the body, and a movement regulation unit regulating the movement portion from moving to the second position.

A sheet supporting apparatus includes a body, a supporting portion configured to be held in an elevating manner by the body and to support a sheet, a sheet regulation portion regulating a position of the sheet supported on the supporting portion, a movement portion capable of moving between a first position where the sheet regulation portion regulates the position of the sheet supported on the supporting portion, and a second position where the supporting portion is regulated from elevating with respect to the body, and a movement regulation unit regulating the movement portion from moving to the second position.

A paper sheet handling apparatus has a pickup roller, a stage, a pressure sensor, and a measuring unit. For each feeding process, in which the pickup roller feeds paper sheets until the pressure detected by the pressure sensor becomes less than a predetermined set value, the stage presses paper sheets against the pickup roller until the pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches another set value. The pickup roller operates at a feeding speed of a first speed if a calculated feeding value is less than a threshold, and operates at a feeding speed of a second speed that is slower than the first speed if the calculated feeding value is equal to or greater than the threshold, the calculated feeding value being calculated based on: the amount of movement of the stage measured by the measuring unit; and the number of paper sheets fed by the feeding process.

A paper feed device includes: a sensor unit that includes a coil substrate and a conductive plate which is opposite the coil substrate, that outputs an output value corresponding to a position of the conductive plate; a first cursor link mechanism which moves the first conductive plate according to the position of the first cursor in the longitudinal direction of the first coil substrate; a storage unit which stores first sheet size data; and a control unit which recognizes the magnitude of the first output value of the sensor unit and which recognizes, based on the recognized magnitude of the first output value and the first sheet size data, the size of the set sheets.

A driven gear is relatively movable to a first support position and to a second support position on a support member. When a first gear rotates in a first direction, the driven gear rotates at the first support position in conjunction with rotation of the first gear to permit the rotation of the driven gear. When the first rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the driven gear moves to the second support position under a force received from the gear in an area where the driven gear meshes with the first gear. Then, at the second support position, the driven gear is locked on a locking member and thus stopped, preventing the first gear from rotating in the second direction.

A driven gear is relatively movable to a first support position and to a second support position on a support member. When a first gear rotates in a first direction, the driven gear rotates at the first support position in conjunction with rotation of the first gear to permit the rotation of the driven gear. When the first rotates in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the driven gear moves to the second support position under a force received from the gear in an area where the driven gear meshes with the first gear. Then, at the second support position, the driven gear is locked on a locking member and thus stopped, preventing the first gear from rotating in the second direction.

A medium feeding apparatus includes: a feed tray on which media M are placed; a draw-out unit that draws out an uppermost medium among the media placed on the feed tray; a hanging member that hangs the feed tray; and a load member that applies, when an amount of the media placed on the feed tray is equal to or smaller than a predetermined amount, a downward load to a portion of the feed tray located on an upstream side in a draw-out direction of the media.

A medium feeding apparatus includes: a feed tray on which media M are placed; a draw-out unit that draws out an uppermost medium among the media placed on the feed tray; a hanging member that hangs the feed tray; and a load member that applies, when an amount of the media placed on the feed tray is equal to or smaller than a predetermined amount, a downward load to a portion of the feed tray located on an upstream side in a draw-out direction of the media.

A sheet material feeding apparatus includes: a cassette configured to internally contain a sheet material; a push-up plate that is mounted on an inner bottom surface of the cassette and that is a plate on top surface of which the sheet material is mounted; a push-up plate displacement mechanism configured to include push-up plate biasing members and to change a posture of the push-up plate using a biasing force of one of the push-up plate biasing members; a width regulating member configured to be displaced in a width direction intersecting with a feeding direction and to regulate a position of the sheet material; and a biasing member selecting mechanism that includes a switching unit configured to switch application and release-application of the biasing force of one of the push-up plate biasing members to a posture change of the push-up plate, in interlocking with displacement of the width regulating member.