Sheet feeding device and sheet processing apparatus

Abstract

A sheet feeding device has a conveying belt, a first roller, a second roller, a support portion, a takeout section. The conveying belt is wound along the first roller and the second roller, and the first roller forms a conveying terminal portion of the conveying belt in the first conveying direction. The second roller forms a slope portion of the conveying belt that slopes downward toward the conveying terminal portion. The support portion supports each of a plurality of sheets dropped from the conveying terminal portion in an upright position, at a position more downward in the vertical direction than the conveying terminal portion. The upper sheet, out of the sheets which are overlapping on the conveying belt in the vertical direction, is arranged to relatively deviate toward a downstream side in the first conveying direction than the lower sheet.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sheet feeding device, comprising:
 a conveying belt to convey a plurality of sheets in a first conveying direction;   a conveying terminal portion at an end of the conveying belt;   a first and a second roller along which the conveying belt is wound, wherein the first roller is positioned lower and downstream in the first conveying direction from the second roller thereby forming a sloped portion of the conveying belt;   a support portion below the conveying terminal portion which supports each of the plurality of sheets dropped from the sloped portion in an upright position; and   a takeout section which takes out a front sheet from the plurality of sheets arranged on the support portion, and conveys the taken-out sheet in a second conveying direction;   wherein the plurality of sheets being loaded on the conveying belt are positioned in an overlapping manner.   
     
     
         2 . The sheet feeding device according to  claim 1 , wherein a distance between the conveying terminal portion of the conveying belt and the support portion in the vertical direction can be changed. 
     
     
         3 . The sheet feeding device according to  claim 2 , wherein the first roller can change a position thereof in the vertical direction. 
     
     
         4 . The sheet feeding device according to  claim 2  or  claim 3 , wherein the support portion can change a position thereof in the vertical direction. 
     
     
         5 . The sheet feeding device according to any one of  claim 1  to  claim 4 , further comprising a position adjusting portion which arranges the upper sheet, out of the sheets which are overlapping on the conveying belt in the vertical direction, to relatively deviate toward the downstream side in the first conveying direction than the lower sheet. 
     
     
         6 . The sheet feeding device according to  claim 5 , wherein the position adjusting portion slopes downward the conveying belt toward a downstream in the first conveying direction, at an upstream side of the first roller in the first conveying direction, and vibrates the relevant conveying belt which slopes downward. 
     
     
         7 . The sheet feeding device according to  claim 5 , wherein:
 the conveying belt comprises a pair of separation conveying belts which are separated with a prescribed interval in a width direction thereof; and   the position adjusting portion has a roller which rotates in a direction reverse to a rotation direction of the first roller, and is arranged between the pair of separation conveying belts, at an upstream side of the first roller in the first conveying direction, and an outer surface of the relevant roller projects upward from surfaces of the pair of separation conveying belts.   
     
     
         8 . The sheet feeding device according to  claim 5 , wherein:
 the conveying belt comprises a pair of separation conveying belts which are separated with a prescribed interval in a width direction thereof; and   the position adjusting portion has a blowing portion to blow out air and a suction portion to suck air, which are arranged between the pair of separation conveying belts, at an upstream side of the first roller in the first conveying direction, and the blowing portion is arranged at a downstream of the suction portion in the first conveying direction.   
     
     
         9 . The sheet feeding device according to any one of  claim 1  to  claim 8 , further comprising a conveying portion to convey the plurality of sheets arranged in the support portion toward the takeout section. 
     
     
         10 . A sheet processing apparatus, comprising:
 a conveying belt to convey a plurality of sheets in a first conveying direction;   a first roller along which the conveying belt is wound, which forms a conveying terminal portion of the conveying belt;   a second roller along which the conveying belt is wound that is upstream from the first roller in a first conveying direction, the first and second rollers forming a slope portion of the conveying belt that slopes downward toward the conveying terminal portion;   a support portion which supports each of the plurality of sheets dropped from the conveying terminal portion in an upright position, the support portion located lower than the conveying terminal portion;   a takeout section which takes out a front sheet from the plurality of sheets arranged in the support portion, and conveys the taken-out sheet in a second conveying direction;   wherein the plurality of sheets being loaded on the conveying belt are arranged in an overlapping manner; and   a sorting processing section to perform sorting processing of the plurality of sheets to be conveyed by a sheet processing device.