Patent ID: 8417174

Claim:
A sheet feeding device for feeding a sheet of recording medium from a top of a stack of recording medium sheets, comprising: a sheet feed cassette including an opening at the top thereof to accommodate the recording medium sheets; a bottom plate disposed at the bottom of the sheet feed cassette, hinged at a trailing edge thereof in a sheet feed direction, a tip portion of the bottom plate in the sheet feed direction vertically rotatable about the hinged end; and an end wall mechanism to align the trailing edge of the recording medium sheet in the sheet feed direction, the end wall mechanism including: a first urging member disposed substantially at the back of the end wall mechanism; a first pressing member to press the trailing edge of the recording medium sheet in the sheet feed direction when pushed by the first urging member; a support member to rotatably support the first pressing member relative to the pressure of the first urging member; and a second pressing member disposed substantially at the bottom of the end wall mechanism at the trailing edge of the sheet feed direction, to move downward due to the weight of the recording medium sheet placed on the second pressing member, the second pressing member including a second urging member that pushes the second pressing member upward from the trailing edge of the sheet feed direction, wherein the first pressing member and the second pressing member constitute independent members, and wherein when the second pressing member is at a lower position, the first pressing member retracts to a position at which the first pressing member does not press the trailing edge of the recording medium sheet relative to the pressure of the first urging member.