Patent ID: 7549631

Claim:
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: a tray which has a sheet stacking portion and an intermediate plate for supporting sheets thereon, wherein the tray is openably and closably provided in an apparatus main body; a sheet feeding member which feeds the sheets; a manually moving member which is selectively moved in a first direction to move said intermediate plate to a first position in which the sheets supported on said intermediate plate are brought into pressure contact with said sheet feeding member and in a second direction to move said intermediate plate to a second position in which the sheets supported on the intermediate plate are spaced apart from said sheet feeding member, wherein said manually moving member is disposed above the sheet stacking portion of said tray so as to partially cover the tray and in a direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction, and an opening through which a sheet is inserted onto said intermediate plate is formed between said manually moving member and said sheet stacking portion regardless of whether said manually moving member is moved in either the first direction or the second direction; and a stopper member which is pivotally mounted directly on an underside of said manually moving member and abuts against the sheet stacking portion or the sheets supported by the tray at a position upstream of said intermediate plate in an inserting direction of the sheet, wherein the stopper member hampers an insertion of the sheets through said opening onto said intermediate plate when said manually moving member is moved in the first direction, and the stopper member does not hamper the insertion of the sheets through said opening onto said intermediate plate when said manually moving member is moved in the second direction, and said stopper member abuts against the sheets stacked on said tray and is pivotally moved upwardly by contacting with the sheets stacked on said tray when said manually moving member has moved said intermediate plate to said first position.