Patent attributes
An object of the present invention is to improve separability with respect to other sheet without damaging sheets in a sheet-feeding mechanism used in an image forming apparatus. For the purpose of accomplishing the object, the sheet-feeding mechanism includes: a feeding roller (10) which rotates in a sheet-conveying direction, at least a contact member (12) is made of material having elasticity; and a retard roller (20) having a plurality of press-contact rollers (21) which comes in contact with the feeding roller (10) at a predetermined pressure to form a plurality of press-contact surfaces (311), and a hardness of the contact member (12) of the feeding roller (10) is different from that of the press-contact roller (21) of the retard roller (20).
