Patent ID: 7429041

Claim:
An apparatus for feeding a sheet to a processing device processing the sheet, comprising: a feeder tray displaceable to a selected one of a retracted position and an unfolded position relative to the processing device, as a result of a pivotal movement of the feeder tray relative to the processing device about a line perpendicular to a feeding direction of the sheet to be fed to the processing device, and having a sheet-loaded plane on which the sheet is to be loaded; a pair of edge guides disposed at the sheet-loaded plane, having a pair of corresponding respective side walls co-extending along the feeding direction of the sheet in opposed relation with each other, to thereby guide lateral edges of the sheet; a supporting device supporting each of the edge guides pivotably about a pivot axis parallel to the feeding direction, to thereby allow the each edge guide to be displaced between a standing position on the sheet-loaded plane and an inclined position inclined to the standing position; and a holding mechanism holding each of the edge guides in the standing position, with the feeder tray being in the unfolded position, wherein the holding mechanism elastically biases each of the edge guides toward the standing position, to thereby allow the each edge guide to return to the standing position in timed relation with displacement of the feeder tray from the retracted position to the unfolded position.