PURPOSE: To carry out separating action for sheets in a favourable state by arranging a regulation member in the upstream of a part to press a separation plate by a pressing member and regulating a space of a part through which the sheet enters a handling part.

CONSTITUTION: The head end part of a sheet P inserted into a separation part through a copy tray enters between a lower part spring member 24 and a paper feeding roller 3 in the state a plural number of the sheets are stacked. As the paper feeding roller 3 rotates in the paper feeding direction, the lower part sheet P is moved toward the separation part by following the roller 3. In this case, the upper part sheet P moves in the paper feeding direction with the sheet p making contact with the roller 3. However, as an interval (y) set by a regulation member 22 from the back of a separation plate 21 is very narrow, a larger number of the sheets P are prevented from entering into a position where they are pressed by the regulation member 22. Additionally, even in the case where a copy is a cardboard, as the interval regulated by the regulation member 22 is not extended, a large number of the sheets P do not enter.