Patent ID: 8167297

Claim:
A sheet separating device comprising: an air blowing unit that is configured to blow air toward a side face of stacked sheets being stacked with a plurality of sheets to separate the sheets by forming an air layer between the sheets; and a sheet pressing unit further comprising: a rotary shaft that is disposed above the uppermost sheet to be in parallel with the sheets; and a plurality of eccentric rollers that are attached to the rotary shaft, wherein the eccentric rollers are configured to rotate along with rotation of the rotary shaft while repeat contacting and separating from the uppermost sheet, wherein the sheet pressing unit is configured to apply a pressing force on the uppermost sheet in the stacked sheets while the uppermost sheet is separated from other sheets, the pressing force having a downward component and a component in a direction along the uppermost sheet and is further configured to apply the pressing force on the uppermost sheet while varying a position where the pressing force acts in a direction in which the sheets are stacked, and wherein the eccentric rollers are configured to apply the pressing force at timings different from one another.