Patent ID: 8891143

Claim:
A sheet feeding device comprising: a sheet supporting portion configured to support a sheet; a sheet feeding portion configured to feed an uppermost sheet of sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion; a movable regulating portion disposed downstream of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion in a sheet feeding direction such that the movable regulating portion is configured to be positioned a regulation position, where the movable regulating portion regulates movement of the sheets in the sheet feeding direction, moved to fall forward from the regulation position to release regulation of the sheets, and then positioned at a regulation release position, where the movable regulating portion does not regulate the movement of the sheets in the sheet feeding direction; and a movement mechanism configured to move the movable regulating portion between the movable regulating portion and the regulation release position, wherein, while the movable regulating portion regulates the movement of the sheets in the regulation position, the sheet feeding portion is operated to form a loop in the uppermost sheet between the sheet feeding portion and the movable regulating portion and, after the loop has been formed, the movable regulating portion is moved to fall toward a paper feeding-direction downstream side to remove the loop formed in the uppermost sheet and, after removal of the loop, the movable regulating portion is returned from the regulation release position towards the regulation position such that the movable regulating portion raises a leading end of the uppermost sheet to separate the uppermost sheet from other sheets, wherein the movement mechanism comprises a cam for moving the movable regulation portion between the regulation position and the regulation release position by being rotated with driving power from a driving source.