Patent ID: 7451973

Claim:
A sheet feeding apparatus for feeding sheets comprising: a sheet cassette adapted to load sheets; a cassette tray attached to the sheet cassette and adapted to support the sheets; a sheet feeding assisting unit detachably attached to the sheet cassette and including an air blowing mechanism operable to blow air against edges of the sheets to be fed, wherein the sheet feeding assisting unit includes a sheet tray supporting the sheets to be fed and a case defining a sheet loading space where the sheet tray is disposed and an air blowing mechanism disposed in the case and blows air against the sheets supported by the sheet tray; and a lifter mechanism configured to rotate the sheet tray so as to maintain the position of the top surface of the sheets supported by the sheet tray when the sheet feeding assisting unit is attached to the sheet cassette, wherein the cassette tray is attached to the sheet cassette and supports the sheets when the sheet feeding assisting unit is detached from the sheet cassette, and the cassette tray is detached from the sheet cassette when the sheet feeding assisting unit is attached to the sheet cassette.