Patent ID: 7688482

Claim:
A document feeding apparatus disposed in a cover body supported by a document reading table an upper surface of which is at least partially constituted by a platen glass, the cover body being openable and closable relative to the document reading table such that the cover body covers the platen glass when closed, the document feeding apparatus feeding a document sheet along a feed path beginning at a document setting portion on which the document sheet is set and ending at a document ejecting portion onto which the document sheet as having been fed along the feed path is ejected, the document feeding apparatus comprising: a pair of feed rollers including an upper feed roller and a lower feed roller disposed below the upper feed roller, and disposed along the feed path in order to feed the document sheet by pinching the document sheet therebetween; a bearing member which supports a shaft of the lower feed roller such that the lower feed roller is movable onto and away from the upper feed roller; a protrusible member which is disposed in the cover body and below the lower feed roller, to be movable between an outer position to protrude from a bottom surface of the cover body and an inner position not to protrude from the bottom surface, the protrusible member being placed at the outer position when the cover body is open, and being placed at the inner position by the document reading table when the cover body is closed; and a biasing member supported by the protrusible member and biasing the lower feed roller toward the upper feed roller, such that when the protrusible member is at the outer position, the lower feed roller is off the upper feed roller, and when the protrusible member is at the inner position, the lower feed roller is in pressing contact with the upper feed roller.