Patent ID: 8382095

Claim:
A sheet feeding unit, comprising: a main body; a sheet stack portion attached to the main body to accommodate a stack of sheets; a sheet feeding device disposed substantially above the sheet stack portion, contactable against a top sheet of the sheet stack, to feed the sheet onward; a sheet feeding device holder to rotatably hold the sheet feeding device and move the sheet feeding device between a sheet feeding position at which the sheet feeding device contacts the sheet and feeds the sheet onward and a separating position at which the sheet feeding device separates from the sheet and does not feed the sheet onward; a separation unit to separate and feed onward the sheets fed onward by the sheet feeding device one by one; a restriction member disposed between the sheet feeding device and the separation unit and switchable between a sheet restriction state in which the restriction member prevents the sheet from reaching the separation unit and a sheet feeding state in which the restriction member allows the sheet to reach the separation unit; a restriction adjuster to switch the state of the restriction member to the sheet feeding state when the sheet feeding device is at the sheet feeding position and to the sheet restriction state when the sheet feeding device is at the separation position; a restriction member holder supported by the main body, to hold the restriction member; and a cover held by the main body and openably closable relative to the main body, the cover constituted as an independent member independent from the sheet feeding device holder, the separation unit, the restriction adjuster, and the restriction member holder, wherein the separation unit includes a feed roller to pick up and send a top sheet therethrough and a blocking member to prevent other sheets from advancing, wherein the restriction member holder and the sheet feeding device holder are held rotatably about a feed roller shaft that rotates the feed roller, and wherein the sheet feeding device holder and the restriction member holder are separate members and relatively moveable with respect to each other.