Patent ID: 8585035

Claim:
A document feeder provided on an image reader having a reading device that reads an image of a document of a plurality of documents at a reading position, the document being conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction, the document feeder comprising: a document transporting pathway through which the document can pass from a feeding tray to a discharge tray; an input device that feeds the document, one by one, into the document transporting pathway; a discharge device including a discharge roller that discharges the document from the document transporting pathway onto the discharge tray, the discharge roller being a final document advancing component, with respect to the discharge tray, for advancing the document and being configured to contact the document at a contact position and to drive the document at the contact position during discharge of the document; and an elastic supporting member that supports, at a support position, the document wholly discharged by the discharge roller and on the discharge tray, the support position being higher than and downstream of the contact position, the elastic supporting member having a substantially L-shape in section, the elastic supporting member including: a base end that is fixed on an engaging member disposed at sides of the discharge roller in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined conveying direction; and a free end that extends diagonally downward, the free end being inserted into a slit provided in the engaging member.