Patent ID: 7384033

Claim:
A feed roller unit comprising: a feed roller that abuts against a topmost sheet of a stack of sheets, and rotates to convey the topmost sheet in a conveyance direction, the feed roller being provided to be displaceable in a direction reverse to the conveyance direction while rolling on the topmost sheet; a driving force transmission unit that transmits a driving force generated by a driving source to the feed roller via a driving shaft to rotate the feed roller; an urging unit that provides an urging force to the feed roller in a direction to suppress the displacement of the feed roller; and a holder unit that swings, at one end thereof, around the driving shaft and supports, at the other end thereof, a rotating shaft of the feed roller, wherein the driving force transmission unit includes a switching mechanism disposed in the holder unit and between the driving shaft and the feed roller, the switching mechanism connecting and disconnecting the transmission of the driving force from the driving shaft to the feed roller.