Patent ID: 8157257

Claim:
A sheet feeding device, comprising: a sheet holder to hold multiple sheets including an uppermost sheet placed on top thereof; an endless belt of multilayer construction including an outer layer formed of a dielectric material, the endless belt configured to attract the uppermost sheet to separate the uppermost sheet from the multiple sheets and feed the uppermost sheet in a sheet conveyance direction; a charging member to charge the outer layer of the endless belt with an alternating voltage; a belt supporting unit including a drive roller having a drive roller shaft to rotatably support the endless belt and a driven roller having a driven roller shaft to rotatably support the endless belt with the drive roller; a roller position detection sensor to detect a position of the driven roller and generate output regarding the position of the driven roller; a moving mechanism movable between a proximal position where the sheet holder approaches the endless belt and a distal position where the sheet holder moves away from the endless belt, the moving mechanism being configured to translate the sheet holder vertically between the proximal position and the distal position; and a controller to control operation of the moving mechanism, the controller configured to alternately control the moving mechanism to move the sheet holder to the proximal position, the endless belt to contact the uppermost sheet held on the sheet holder, and the driven roller to rotate about the drive roller, to attract the uppermost sheet, and control the moving mechanism to move the sheet holder to the distal position, the driven roller to rotate about the drive roller, and the endless belt to incline at an angle of separation, to separate the uppermost sheet from the multiple sheets, the controller being further configured to control the moving mechanism to move the sheet holder, based on the output from the roller position detection sensor, so the endless belt can incline at the angle of separation with respect to non-attracted sheets of the multiple sheets.