Patent ID: 7976008

Claim:
A sheet feeder configured to feed sheets, comprising: a feed tray configured to receive the sheets to be fed; a catch tray configured to receive the sheets ejected thereon; a feeding mechanism configured to convey the sheets from the feed tray to the catch tray; an ejection mode switching mechanism configured to switch an ejection mode between a first mode and a second mode, the feeding mechanism ejecting, in the first mode, the sheets sequentially on a stack of sheets already ejected on the catch tray, the feeding mechanism ejecting, in the second mode, the sheets sequentially under a stack of sheets already ejected on the catch tray; an ejection detecting sensor configured to detect a sheet ejected on the catch tray; and a controller configured to control the feeding mechanism, wherein the controller is configured to, in response to an instruction issued to start feeding the sheets, forbid driving of the feeding mechanism when determining that the ejection mode is set to the second mode and determining based on a detection result of the ejection detecting sensor that there is a sheet on the catch tray.