A feeding device includes a roller configured to feed an uppermost sheet of a plurality of sheets stacked in a stacking unit, and an inclined separator located downstream of the roller in a feed direction and configured to separate one sheet from another sheet. The inclined separator includes a first separator and a second separator that are arranged along the feed direction. Resistance imparted to each sheet by the first separator is greater than resistance imparted to each sheet by the second separator.

A driving force transmission device includes a drive gear, a driven gear, which includes a gear portion and a partially toothless gear portion, rotates by the gear portion meshing with the drive gear, stops rotating in response to the partially toothless gear portion facing the drive gear, a first cam member and a second cam member which operate in conjunction with the driven gear, a first elastic member for urging the first cam member, a follower member to which urging force is applied by a second elastic member and which is moved by the second cam member, and a contact portion for coming into contact with the first cam member by urging force of the first elastic member. The first cam member includes a home cam surface for coming into contact with the contact portion so that rotation of the driven gear is limited.

A roller drive transmission device includes a drive input gear, a drive transmission gear, a roller unit and a ratchet mechanism. When a rotational drive force is input to the drive input gear and the drive transmission gear is slid to a first position, the drive input gear, the drive transmission gear and the roller unit are integrally rotated in a first rotational direction. When the input of the rotational drive force to the drive input gear is cut off and the roller unit is rotated, following a sheet, the drive transmission gear is slid to a second position and the roller unit and the drive transmission gear are decoupled. The ratchet mechanism includes a load adjustment mechanism configured to make a rotational load in the first rotational direction of the drive transmission gear arranged at the second position larger than a movement load in an axial direction.

A conveying apparatus has first and second trays arranged on an upstream of a conveyor and configured to support the sheet in contact with the conveyor, a feeder configured to feed the sheet on the first tray toward the conveyor, a first sensor configured to output a first signal in response to the sheet being present on the first tray, a second sensor configured to output a second signal in response to the sheet being present between the first tray and the conveyor and configured to output the second signal in response to the sheet being present between the second tray and the conveyor, and a controller configured to execute a removal notifying process to output a notification indicating removal of the sheet on the first tray in response to output of the second signal before a time period since the first signal was output exceeds a threshold period.

A sheet feeding device includes a feeder, a contact member, a movement restricting member, a moving mechanism, and control circuitry. The feeder is configured to feed a sheet. A leading end of the sheet in a feeding direction is to contact the contact member. The movement restricting member is configured to lock the contact member to restrict movement of the contact member from a contact position where the contact member contacts the sheet. The moving mechanism is configured to move the movement restricting member between a locking position and a lock releasing position. The contact member is configured to take the contact position by gravity or a biasing force of a biasing part. The control circuitry is configured to control the moving mechanism to move the movement restricting member to the lock releasing position and then to the locking position when a feeding operation of the sheet is finished.

An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a sheet includes a recording section which records the image on the sheet in a transport passage for transporting the sheet in a transport direction and multiple plates which are spaced apart from each other in a widthwise direction. These multiple plates include a first type of plate and a second type of plate. Plates of a first type of plate are configured to overlap a sheet when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction and the widthwise direction, while plates of the second type of plate do not.

An image recording device having a recording unit to record an image on a sheet is provided. The image recording unit includes a feed guide defining a first conveying path; an arm disposed between the recording unit and the tray, the arm having a feed roller rotatably disposed at a free end and configured to feed the sheet in the tray to the first conveying path. The arm pivots between a first arm position, and a second arm position. The return guide pivots between a first return guide position, and a second return guide position. A space occupied by the return guide in the first return guide position overlaps a space occupied by the arm in the second arm position. The return guide is in the second return guide position when the arm is in the second arm position which is retracted from an insertion space occupied by the tray.

A sheet conveying device includes a conveyor, a supporting section which supports a sheet to be fed to the conveyor and a guide section which is provided on the supporting section and configured to guide a sheet to the conveyor. The supporting section includes a first support region and a second support region which support a sheet. The first support region is provided at a position on an upstream side from the second support region in a sheet conveyance direction. The first support region extends substantially horizontally, and the second support region is inclined in a lower direction toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. The guide section includes a first portion which extends substantially horizontally along the first support region, and a second portion which is connected to the first portion and extends obliquely in the lower direction along the second support region.

An image forming apparatus and roller separation device are provided. The image forming apparatus including a main body having a print unit, a first paper feeding unit containing print paper and insertable in or pullable from the main body, a feed roller in the main body feeding the print paper from the first paper feeding unit to the print unit and comprising a driven roller contacting a driving roller, an elastic member applying an elastic force to the driven roller in a direction to contact the driving roller, a handle member in the main body movable to a first position and a second position, and a separation member connected to the handle member and switched to a normal position separated from the driven roller and a separation position separating the driven roller from the driving roller.

A sheet transportation device includes a sheet loading table, a feeding unit that feeds a sheet placed on the sheet loading table, a first detection unit that is provided downstream of the feeding unit in a sheet transportation direction and that detects a position of a leading end of the sheet, a second detection unit that is provided upstream of the feeding unit in the sheet transportation direction and that detects a position of a leading end of a small-size sheet which is smaller than the sheet detected by the first detection unit, and a control unit that starts feeding the sheet based on a result of detection performed by any of the first detection unit or the second detection unit in accordance with a size of the sheet.