Patent ID: 8328180

Claim:
An image forming apparatus for performing printing operations at a printing speed on printing media, comprising: a print media feeding unit configured to receive therein one or more printing media; a printing unit configured to print one or more images on a printing medium received from the print media feeding unit; a registration roller configured to feed the printing medium toward the printing unit at a first feeding speed that corresponds to the printing speed; a pickup roller configured to pick up the printing medium from the print media feeding unit and to feed the picked-up printing medium to the registration roller at a second feeding speed slower than the first feeding speed; a pickup roller shaft about which the pickup roller is rotatable; and a pickup gear mounted to the pickup roller shaft, the pickup gear including a first clutch gear and a second clutch gear configured to engage each other in a direction parallel to an axial direction of the pickup roller shaft, the second clutch gear including a connection hole and the first clutch gear including a hooked protrusion configured to engage the connection hole to couple the first and second clutch gears together.