Patent ID: 8540238

Claim:
An automatic sheet transporting apparatus comprising: a transporting unit comprising a discharge roller, the transporting unit being configured to discharge a sheet; a discharge tray configured to support at least one sheet discharged from the transporting unit in a stack, the discharge tray including an upstream end and a downstream end; a discharge guide positioned on a portion of the discharge tray that is closer to the upstream end than the downstream end in a sheet discharging direction, the discharge guide being configured to guide a subsequent sheet transported by the transporting unit to a position between the discharge tray and a bottom surface of a previously discharged sheet in the stack; and at least one rotating member positioned in another portion of the discharge tray that is closer to the downstream end than the upstream end in the sheet discharging direction, the at least one rotating member being configured to be driven to rotate by the subsequent sheet when the discharge guide guides the subsequent sheet to the position between the discharge tray and the bottom surface of the previously discharged sheet in the stack, wherein the at least one rotating member comprises a plurality of rotating members spaced at a predetermined interval along the sheet discharging direction.