Patent ID: 8246040

Claim:
A sheet feeding apparatus comprising: a sheet loading section including a raising and lowering plate which stacks sheets and is capable of being raised and lowered with the stacked sheets; a sheet side surface regulating member which regulates a side surface of the sheets being stored in the sheet loading section; an air blowing section which blows air towards a leading edge side in a conveyance direction and the side surface of the sheets in a top part among the sheets stacked in the sheet loading section; a sheet suction and conveying section which is installed above the sheet loading section, having a gap with a topmost sheet in the sheets stacked in the sheet loading section and sucks and conveys the topmost sheet; a reflection sensor arranged at the leading edge side in the conveyance direction and the side surface of the sheets, the reflection sensor pointing towards the side surface of the sheets in a stacked state and stored in the sheet loading section; and a control section which carries out control so that the raising and lowering plate is raised in a case when the reflection sensor does not detect sheets in a stacked condition under the topmost sheet, and the raising of the raising and lowering plate is stopped in a case when the reflection sensor detects the sheets in the stacked condition under the topmost sheet while the topmost sheet is in a floated up state caused by an air flow that is blown out by the air blowing section.