| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet feeder and an image formation apparatus capable of suppressing a fluctuation of a position of a sheet tip end for entering into a separation nip portion due to an inclined angle of a sheet loading unit and stabilizing feeding performance while using an inexpensive mechanical configuration.SOLUTION: A sheet feed unit 8 includes: separation means (21, 27) for separating sheets S fed by a pickup roller 20 one by one in a separation nip portion, and feeding the separated sheets S downstream; and a nip guide member 26 guiding tip ends of the sheets fed from a sheet loading unit 14 by the pickup roller to the separation nip portion. The sheet feed unit also includes a lifter drive mechanism 60 for gradually increasing a moving amount of the pickup roller relative to the sheet loading unit so as to introduce the tip ends of the sheets fed from the sheet loading unit toward a predetermined position of the nip guide member to follow a reduction in a sheet loading amount on the sheet loading unit as the pickup roller feeds the sheets. |
