A sheet feeding apparatus includes: a conveying roller; a separating roller which forms a nip portion by pressing the conveying roller and separates a sheet conveyed by the conveying roller one by one in the nip portion; a moving portion configured to move a stacking portion from a first position at which a sheet stacked in the stacking portion and a feeding roller are separated from each other to a second position at which the sheet stacked in the stacking portion abuts on the feeding roller; and a cover member which is movable between a third position to cover a rotation shaft of the separating roller and a fourth position to expose the rotation shaft of the separating roller, in which the cover member placed in the fourth position moves to the third position along with movement of the stacking portion from the first position to the second position.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet accommodating unit, a sheet feeding unit, a first lifting portion, a second lifting portion, a linear member configured to liftably support the first lifting portion and the second lifting portion, and stretched between the first lifting portion and the second lifting portion on a lower side of the stacking surface, a first winding unit, an second winding unit, and an adjustment member configured to adjust both a first distance of the linear member between the first winding unit and the first lifting portion and a second distance of the linear member between the second winding unit and the second lifting portion.

A sheet feeding device includes a lift plate, a feeding portion, a lifting member lifting the lift plate, a motor coupled to a pivot shaft serving as the pivot fulcrum of the lifting member, a control portion, and an encoder outputting a pulse signal according to the rotation of the pivot shaft. The encoder includes a rotary member and an optical sensor. The control portion recognizes the remaining quantity of sheets on the lift plate based on the count value of the pulse signal. When the motor stops being driven, the control portion thereafter does not count the pulse signal until a predetermined period elapses.

A sheet feeding apparatus can perform appropriate separation corresponding to the type of sheet without an actuator which changes the separation action of a separation unit. For this purpose, a separation unit includes a first inclined part and a second inclined part, each having different inclination angles, and selects, in accordance with the type (stiffness, thickness, or the like) of sheet to be fed, either one of the first inclined part or the second inclined part as an inclined part used in separating sheets by lifting/lowering a tray, and separates sheets, so that appropriate separation can be performed in accordance with the type of sheet with a simple configuration.

A pick-up device picking up stacked sheet-shaped workpieces from the top, the device includes a nozzle mechanism that includes a pick-up nozzle pulling up a first workpiece from the top of the stacked workpieces by air blowing, and a holding mechanism that holds the first workpiece from the top. The pick-up nozzle includes a ventilation groove provided on a bottom surface opposite to an upper surface of the first workpiece from the top and passing through to an air blowing side end part of the bottom surface, and a nozzle port blowing air toward the air blowing side end part of the bottom surface along the inside of the ventilation groove, and the air blowing side end part of a groove inner bottom surface of the ventilation groove is formed in a shape directed in a direction of being separated from the workpiece.

A medium feeding device includes a lower portion unit in which a feeding roller is provided, and an upper portion unit in which a separating roller is provided and which is connected to the lower portion unit so as to be openable and closable. The lower portion unit has a cover member which covers a holding portion of the feeding roller while exposing a portion of the feeding roller to the transport path, and the cover member is configured to be removable in a direction including a component directed toward an upstream side in the transport direction by being attachable to and detachable from the lower portion unit.

A controller controls a floating unit and a conveyor to convey a sheet to a supply destination, and performs a following control of acquiring a detection value of a detector which detects an output signal acquired due to an input to a side of a sheet stack, during floating of sheets floated by the floating unit each time a sheet is conveyed by the conveyor and lifting a stacking tray upon the acquired detection value being less than a threshold value. The controller controls the floating unit and the conveyor to perform a feeding retry upon an occurrence of empty feeding in the conveyor, and determines the threshold value such that a target position for a height position of an upper surface of the sheet stack in the following control is a position where empty feeding is more likely to occur than multiple sheet feeding in the conveyor.

An image forming apparatus includes feeding, conveying, and separating members, and detecting, image forming, and control units. The feeding member feeds a recording material placed on a tray. The separating member and the conveying member separate recording materials at a nip. The detecting unit detects that the recording materials have been fed to the nip. The image forming unit forms an image on fed recording material. The control unit switches between a first and second control. Under the first control, the feeding member starts feeding a recording material placed on the tray, and ends feeding before a recording material trailing end passes through the feeding member. Under the second control, the feeding member starts feeding a recording material placed on the tray, and ends feeding after a recording material trailing end passes through the feeding member when the detection unit detects that the recording materials are fed to the nip.

There is provided a sheet feeding apparatus which can perform appropriate separation corresponding to the type of a sheet without being newly provided with an actuator which changes the separation action of a separation unit. For this purpose, a separation unit 105 includes a first inclined part 105a-1 and a second inclined part 105a-2 each having different inclination angles, and selects, in accordance with the type (stiffness, thickness, or the like) of a sheet to feed, either one of the first inclined part 105a-1 or the second inclined part 105a-2 as an inclined part used in separating sheets by lifting/lowering a tray 101, and separates sheets, so that appropriate separation can be performed in accordance with the type of a sheet with a simple configuration.

A medium feeding device includes a placement section on which a medium group is supported; a raising and lowering section configured to raise and lower the placement section; a pickup unit that includes a pickup roller that comes into contact with an upper section of the medium group and a support section that applies a downward force to the pickup roller, and that feeds a medium in order from a top in a feed direction while applying a downward pressing force to the medium group from the pickup roller; a control section; and a detection section configured to detect the pressing force, wherein the control section causes the raising and lowering section to raise and lower the placement section such that a detected pressing force falls within a target range.