Patent ID: 7497430

Claim:
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming mechanism configured to form a visible image using toner on a sheet according to image data; a sheet feeding mechanism configured to feed the sheet to the image forming mechanism and including, a bottom plate configured to load sheets, a first roller configured to feed an uppermost sheet of the sheets loaded on the bottom plate, a separator configured to separate the uppermost sheet from the other sheets when a plurality of sheets are fed by the first roller and including, a second roller connected to the first roller via gears and configured to feed the uppermost sheet fed by the first roller and a third roller disposed to pressingly contact the second roller, and a sensor disposed between heads of the sheets loaded on the bottom plate and the separator and configured to detect the uppermost sheet fed by the first roller; and a controller configured to continue driving of the second roller and to drive the first roller to feed a next uppermost sheet of the sheets loaded on the bottom plate when the sensor does not detect the next uppermost sheet when a tail portion of the previous sheet passes the separator, wherein the controller is configured to stop driving the second roller before the tail of the previous sheet passes a nip formed between the second roller and the third roller when the sensor detects a head portion of the next uppermost sheet.