Patent ID: 8684349

Claim:
A sheet feeder comprising: a holding portion having a holding surface on which a plurality of sheets are held in a stack; a supply portion configured to supply the plurality of sheets sequentially from an uppermost one of the plurality of sheets held on the holding portion; an inclined member disposed downstream of the holding portion in a direction in which the sheets are supplied by the supply portion and having an inclined surface that is inclined relative to the holding surface and faces a leading edge of each of the sheets held on the holding portion, the inclined member being configured to guide said each of the sheets supplied from the holding portion in a sheet feed direction in which said each of the sheets is fed along the inclined surface; and a plurality of separation protrusions which are provided on the inclined member and arranged in the sheet feed direction and each of which protrudes from the inclined surface such that a distal end thereof is located more downstream in the sheet feed direction than a proximal end thereof, wherein each of the separation protrusions has a contact surface and said each of the sheets supplied from the holding portion comes into contact with one or more contact surfaces of the separation protrusions, wherein each of the separation protrusions protrudes from the inclined surface such that the distal end of one of the separation protrusions is located more downstream in the sheet feed direction than the proximal end of another of the separation protrusions that is located immediately downstream of the one of the separation protrusions in the sheet feed direction, and wherein each of the separation protrusions has at least one projection each of which is provided between the proximal end and the distal end so as to project from the contact surface.