A document conveyance apparatus includes a feed roller, a first and a second conveyance rollers, a conveyance shaft, an arm portion rotatably moving the feed roller to a standby position to a feeding position, a transmission portion transmitting rotation of the conveyance roller shaft to the arm portion, and a torque limiter. The feed roller and the first conveyance roller rotate in a conveyance direction when the conveyance roller shaft rotates in a first direction, and the feed roller moves from a feeding position to a standby position when the conveyance roller shaft rotates in a second direction. When a document fed by the second conveyance roller moves through a nip portion, a transmission portion does not transmit rotation of the first conveyance roller rotated in the second direction by the separation roller to an arm portion by operation of the torque limiter.

A sheet conveying apparatus includes a transmitting mechanism, a movable member, and a control portion to input a signal having first and second levels. The transmitting mechanism transmits driving force and includes a spring clutch and an electromagnetic clutch. The driving force pivotally moves the movable member. The spring clutch idles by a slackness of a spring when the rotation in a second direction is inputted to the transmitting mechanism and the movable member is regulated from pivoting at a predetermined position. The control portion inputs the signal to the transmitting mechanism such that the state electromagnetic clutch state changes the engagement state to the disengagement state through an intermediary state gradually varying a length of time where the signal of the first level is inputted into the electromagnetic clutch after the movable member reaches the predetermined position by inputting the rotation in the second direction to the transmitting mechanism.

A feeding device to transport a recording medium includes a main body having a drive source, a tray that is rotatably attached to the main body and on which the recording medium is to be loaded, a handling mechanism provided on the tray, an operation arm portion attached to the main body, and an operation lever provided on the tray so as to face the operation arm portion. The handling mechanism handles the recording medium. The operation arm portion moves in one direction along a rotation axis of the tray by a driving force from the drive source. The operation arm portion moves in the one direction so that the operation arm portion abuts on the operation lever and transmits the driving force to the operation lever so that the operation lever is pushed. The driving force received by the pushed operation lever is transmitted to the handling mechanism.

A medium feeder includes: a path blocking member configured to rotate to switch between a blocking state that blocks a feed path for a medium fed out from a tray at a position of the guide member, and an open state that opens the feed path; and a switching unit that performs switching of the path blocking member, wherein the switching unit includes a rack configured to be displaced in a feeding direction in which a medium is fed from the tray to thereby perform switching of the path blocking member, and a pinion gear that drives the rack.

A sheet feeding device includes a stacking portion, a sheet detecting portion including a movable member, a first sheet feeding roller, a second sheet feeding roller, and a sheet separating member. When the first feeding roller is in a sheet feeding position, with respect to a widthwise direction of the sheet perpendicular to a sheet feeding direction, a contact position where the movable member contacts the sheet is in a region in which the first sheet feeding roller contacts the sheet, as viewed in the sheet feeding direction.

A sheet feeding device includes a pickup roller, a lifting/lowering mechanism, and a driver device. The lifting/lowering mechanism includes a restricting member that releasably restricts the pickup roller from being lowered from a lifted position of the pickup roller at the lifted position. In the sheet feeding device, the driver device drives the lifting/lowering mechanism so that the pickup roller is lowered from the lifted position of the pickup roller, and a drive suspend operation is performed in which the driving of the lifting/lowering mechanism by driver device is suspended after a predetermined time during which the pickup roller does not contact a sheet loading tray or a sheet on the sheet loading tray elapses from a time point when the pickup roller is released from being restricted by the restricting member at the lifted position.

An image forming apparatus has an apparatus main body, a sheet conveyance passage, a cover member, a conveyance unit, a sheet tray, a first sheet feeding portion, and a feed unit. The sheet conveyance passage is inside the apparatus main body. The conveyance unit is inside the cover member and is supported to be pivotable between an open position and a closed position. The first sheet feeding portion has a feed unit. The conveyance unit has a swing guide of which a lower end part is swingably supported on the apparatus main body and which, in the closed position, is located in a first position to face the feed unit and constitute part of the sheet conveyance passage and, in the open position, is located in a second position to be located away from the feed unit.

An image recording apparatus including: a recording unit; an accommodation part configured to accommodate therein a plurality of recording media including first and second recording medium and having a support surface on which the plurality of the recording media is supported; a conveying path; a feeder roller contacting the recording medium in the accommodation part from above; a reversing path; a recording medium detection unit located above the support surface and between the feeder roller and a downstream end of the support surface in the conveying direction; and a controller configured to control the feeder roller so as to feed the second recording medium in a manner that a front end portion of the second recording medium overlaps a rear end portion of the first recording medium, when the recording medium detection unit detects the rear end portion of the first recording medium fed by the feeder roller.

A sheet conveyor includes a separation roller, a retard roller forming a nip with the separation roller, and a load application device configured to apply a load to the retard roller. The load application device includes a motor, a first drive train, a second torque limiter isolated from the first drive train, and a controller. The first drive train includes a plurality of gears for transmitting a driving force from the motor to the retard roller, a first torque limiter, and a clutch disposed between the motor and the first torque limiter. The second torque limiter is configured to communicate with the retard roller. The controller is configured to, during conveyance of a sheet, control the clutch to allow transmission of the driving force from the motor for a predetermined time period and to interrupt transmission of the driving force from the motor after expiration of the predetermined time period.

Disclosed is a sheet conveying apparatus, including: a first guide member for restricting a movement of an end portion of a sheet in a sheet width direction; a second guide member for restricting a movement of the other end portion of the sheet in the sheet width direction; and a moving portion, wherein when one guide member of the first guide member and the second guide member is moved in the sheet width direction, the moving portion moves the other guide member in a direction opposite to a direction in which the one guide member is moved while being interlocked with a movement of the one guide member in a first area of a moving area, and allows the one guide member to be moved without being interlocked with a movement of the other guide member in a second area of the moving area.