SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet feeding apparatus in which a lowering speed of a sheet stacking portion is made high until lowering by a predetermined amount irrespective of a stacking amount, and to provide an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: The sheet feeding apparatus includes a lift mechanism 40 in a sheet storage portion. The lift mechanism 40 is engaged with a driving input gear 41, thereby pushing up a sheet stacking plate 35 to move it in a feeding enable range. The sheet stacking plate 35 is lowered when the engagement with the driving input gear 41 is released. The sheet feeding apparatus includes, in the sheet storage portion, a damper gear 51 engaged with the lift mechanism 40 to exert a damper effect on the sheet stacking plate 35 lowered due to disengagement from the driving input gear 41. The damper gear 51 exerts no damper effect on the sheet stacking plate 35 until the engagement of the lift mechanism 40 with the driving input gear 41 is released to lower the sheet stacking plate 35 by a predetermined amount.