Sheet feeding device, electrophotographic image forming apparatus incorporating same, and sheet separation method for the apparatus

摘要

A sheet feeding device incorporable in an image forming apparatus includes a sheet holder to hold multiple sheets including an uppermost sheet placed on the sheet holder, a sheet separating and feeding unit disposed above the sheet holder and movable between a first position and a second position, a controller to control operations performed by the sheet separating and feeding unit moving between the first position and the second position, and a sheet regulator disposed downstream from the sheet holder in the sheet feeding direction to regulate movement of the multiple sheets on the sheet holder in the sheet feeding direction. The controller controls the separating and feeding unit to move the uppermost sheet forward to abut against the sheet regulator and backward to its original position on the sheet holder to separate the uppermost sheet from the multiple sheets on the sheet holder.