Provided is a sheet placement apparatus that is capable of changing the force of pushing a hopper configured to push up a sheet, without an increase in size, and a printing apparatus that is equipped with such a sheet placement apparatus.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a casing; a sheet stacking unit rotatable between a closing position and first and second opening positions; a sheet feeding unit; a link unit provided with a slidable engaging portion; and a spring. The sheet stacking unit includes a first guide; and a second guide branching from the first guide. The first guide includes a first portion, a first supporting portion, and a second portion. The second guide includes a second supporting portion. The engaging portion is guided from the second guide to the first portion of the first guide by the sheet stacking unit being closed from the second opening position, and the engaging portion is guided from the first portion of the first guide to the second portion by way of the branch portion by the sheet stacking unit being opened from the closed state.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a damper mechanism having a movable portion supported by a sheet storage portion and movable with respect to the sheet storage portion by abutting against a body in a case where the sheet storage portion is inserted to the body, and a resistance member. In addition, a first transmission portion actuates the resistance member to produce a resistive force and transmits the resistive force so that an insertion speed of the sheet storage portion is reduced when the sheet storage portion is inserted to the body, and a second transmission actuates the resistance member to produce the resistive force and transmits the resistive force so that a lowering speed of the sheet supporting member is reduced when the sheet storage portion with the sheet supporting member having been lifted by a lift portion is drawn out of the body.

A recording apparatus includes a placement unit on which sheets of paper are placed, a feeder that feeds a sheet, thrust mechanisms that push up the placement unit toward the feeder, and an edge guide. Each of the thrust mechanisms includes a coil spring that imparts an urging force to the placement unit, one case that is mounted on the placement unit and receives the coil spring from one end thereof and accommodates the coil spring, and another case that is disposed so as to partially overlap the one case and receives the coil spring from the other end thereof and accommodates the coil spring. The one case and the other case are configured to be movable relative to each other in the urging direction of the coil spring and to be rotatable together in the circumferential direction.

Examples include: a leveling system for a top feeder of a printer, where the top feeder includes a media positioning arrangement. The leveling system has a detector for detecting reflected light and generating a three-dimensional image comprising at least one media positioning region corresponding to the media positioning arrangement on a top sheet of a media stack installed into the top feeder. Also, the leveling system has an actuator configured to adjust heights of different points of the bottom of the media stack. Further, it has a controller for selecting, based on the three-dimensional image, adjustments to the heights for improving leveling of at least one of the at least one media positioning region; and controlling the actuator to implement the adjustments.

A post-processing apparatus includes an ejection tray receiving a recording medium that is ejected, an elastic member urging the ejection tray upward in a vertical direction, a moving mechanism causing the ejection tray to move up and down in the vertical direction, and a driving source driving the moving mechanism.

An apparatus includes a housing provided with a conveyance path, a conveyance unit which conveys a sheet along the conveyance path, a discharge port from which the sheet conveyed along the conveyance path is discharged, a discharge tray on which the sheet discharged from the discharge port is stacked, and an attitude change unit which changes an attitude of the discharge tray. The discharge tray includes a first sheet receiving surface which is a portion facing the discharge port in a discharge direction of the sheet and on which a leading edge of the sheet lands, and a second sheet receiving surface which is formed at a predetermined inclination with respect to the first sheet receiving surface. The attitude change unit changes the attitude of the discharge tray so that the first sheet receiving surface of the discharge tray is inclined toward the discharge port.

The sheet feed device includes a sheet containing cassette with a sheet stacking plate therein, a sheet feed part enabled to feed a sheet within the sheet containing cassette set in a setting position, a first sensing mechanism, a lift mechanism, a drive mechanism, and a controller. The lift mechanism includes a cassette-side coupling member for transmitting driving force to the sheet stacking plate. The drive mechanism includes a main body-side coupling member coupled with the cassette-side coupling member. When the first sensing mechanism has sensed that no sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking plate, the controller makes the main body-side coupling member rotate reverse to move down the sheet stacking plate and, even after the sheet stacking plate lowers, makes the main body-side coupling member continue to be rotated reverse so as to move out the sheet containing cassette from the setting position.

A sheet container includes a bottom plate, a regulating body, and a holding body. The bottom plate is disposed movable and has a bottom plate-side contact portion. The regulating body regulates a position of a trailing end of a sheet. The holding body has a holding body-side contact portion and to hold the regulating body. The bottom plate and the holding body have a gap between the bottom plate-side contact portion of the bottom plate and the holding body-side contact portion of the holding body in a state in which the bottom plate is not rotated. The bottom plate-side contact portion of the bottom plate and the holding body-side contact portion of the holding body contact with each other along with rotation of the bottom plate. The holding body moves to a downstream side in a sheet feeding direction in conjunction with the rotation of the bottom plate.

A manual tray device comprises a tray storage body; a tray main body rotatably supported on the tray storage body with a lower end side as a rotation fulcrum; an assistance tray arranged at an upstream side of the tray main body in a sheet feed direction; a rotation regulation link, one end part side of the rotation regulation link being rotatably supported on the tray storage body, the other end part side being slidably supported on the tray main body in a predetermined stroke range; and an interlocking mechanism configured to interlock displacement of the other end part side of the rotation regulation link with forward and backward displacement of the assistance tray. The assistance tray protrudes from the tray main body in a state where rotation of the tray main body in the opening direction is regulated by the rotation regulation link.