Patent ID: 8641037

Claim:
A sheet feeding device for use in an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus, comprising: a sheet holder configured to be removed from and attached to the apparatus body and to hold a stack of sheets therein, the sheet holder having an opening; an actuator including a base portion pivotally attached to the apparatus body via a first shaft and a movable portion pivotally attached to the base portion via a second shaft and extending toward the sheet holder; and a detector configured to detect whether a sheet is being held in the sheet holder based on a position of the base portion, the base portion being configured to activate and deactivate the detector, wherein the actuator is configured such that the base portion and the movable portion pivot in response to presence or absence of a sheet being held in the sheet holder, and wherein the movable portion is configured to, when the sheet holder is removed from the apparatus body, pivot relative to the base portion to a position such that the movable portion extends from the second shaft to a sheet contact end in a removal direction in which the sheet holder is removed from the apparatus body, the movable portion is configured to contact a sheet held by the sheet holder at the sheet contact end of the movable portion and to enter the opening when no sheet is held by the sheet holder, and the movable portion is configured to pivot around the second shaft to a position in which the movable portion extends from the second shaft to the sheet contact end in an attachment direction in which the sheet holder is attached to the apparatus body, and the attachment direction is opposite to the removal direction relative to the second shaft.