Patent ID: 7108257

Claim:
A sheet-supply device for supplying sheets one at a time from a stack of sheets in a sheet feeding direction, the sheet-supply device comprising: a sheet supporting member that supports the stack of sheets; a sheet feed unit applying a force to a sheet in the stack to move the sheet in the sheet feed direction; a guide member disposed at a downstream side of the sheet supporting member with respect to the sheet feed direction, the guide member having a guide surface that guides the sheet in a guide direction; a high friction member extending in the guide direction and disposed in the guide member, the high friction member having a separation surface exposed through the guide surface so that the stack of sheets supported by the sheet supporting member abuts against the separation surface; and a resilient support member supporting the high friction member and allowing the separation surface to protrude from and retract into the guide surface depending on the force provided by the sheet feed unit, wherein the separation surface retracts into the guide surface by elastic deformation of the high friction member and the resilient support member in response to the force.