Patent Publication Number: US-7584959-B2

Title: Media stacker, liquid ejecting apparatus, and recording device

Description:
BACKGROUND 
   1. Technical Field 
   The present invention relates to a media stacker capable of being inserted into a main body of a liquid ejecting apparatus and stacking an ejected recording medium, a liquid ejecting apparatus, and a recording device including the media stacker. 
   2. Related Art 
   Generally, in an ink jet type printer which is an example of a recording device, end portions of new recording media are lifted up by a hopper while being supported by a paper support which is disposed on a rear side of a main body of the printer, and an uppermost recording medium is drawn out by a feed roller and fed. The fed recording medium is transported by a transport roller to be recorded on, and, after information is recorded thereon, the recording medium is discharged by a discharge roller to be discharged into a stacker which is disposed on a front side of the main body of the printer (see JP-A-2003-73007). 
   Since the stacker is required to stack various sizes of recording media in a limited space, the stacker has a multi-level structure having three or more levels which can be inserted and extracted. As the position of a stacker portion of the stacker having the multi-level structure becomes higher, a support width of the stacker portion is reduced. Accordingly, when a recording medium having a relatively big size such as a JIS A2 size is discharged, an end portion of the recording medium, especially both sides of the end portion, may be protruded off the stacker to be bent. 
   On the other hand, a stacker which can be inserted into or extracted from a main body of a printer by being slid approximately parallel to a bottom surface of the main body of the printer has been proposed (see JP-A-2004-75264 and JP-A-200-59174). When the stacker having this structure is used, a stacking area can be formed to be large to make it possible to stack a relatively large recording medium stably. In order to slide the stacker substantially parallel to the bottom surface of the main body of the printer, a guide mechanism is required. 
   The guide mechanism may include guide pins and guide grooves, as an example. Two guide pins are installed with a predetermined distance therebetween so as to protrude on each side of a discharge stacker. One guide groove is formed on each one of side frames which are located on both sides of the stacker in the main body of the printer. The guide mechanism having this structure guides sliding of the stacker by causing the guide pins to slide along the guide grooves. However, since the guide pins slide along the same guide groove, twisting occurs between the guide groove and the guide pins to deteriorate the operability of the guide mechanism when a force is unevenly applied to the guide pins. The twisting easily occurs especially when the stacker is slid at a sharp angle between the insertion position and the extraction position without greatly changing an angle of the stacker. 
   SUMMARY 
   An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a media stacker capable of stably stacking a discharged recording medium including a relatively large size medium and being easily inserted into and extracted from a main body of a liquid ejecting apparatus, the liquid ejecting apparatus including the media stacker, and a recording device including the media stacker. 
   According to an aspect of the invention, a media stacker which can be inserted into a main body of a liquid ejecting apparatus and stack a discharged recording medium moves downward in an inclined direction to be located below a liquid ejecting portion and a discharge portion when the media stacker is being inserted and moves upward in the inclined direction to be located vicinity to a discharge slot when the media stacker is being extracted. In addition, a guide mechanism for guiding movement of the media stacker and a guide gear which is rotated while following to the guide mechanism are formed on both sides of the media stacker. Accordingly, a large space can be provided below the liquid ejecting portion and the discharge portion. Therefore, even when the media stacker does not have a multi-level structure, the media stacker can stack relatively large media and can stably stack the media. In addition, the media stacker can be smoothly inserted into and extracted from the main body of the liquid ejecting apparatus. 
   The guide mechanism may include a guide pin which is formed in a main body of the media stacker and a guide groove which is formed on the main body of the liquid ejecting apparatus and extends in insertion/extraction directions and inclined upward/downward directions. In addition, the guide gear may include a pinion gear which is formed on the main body of the media stacker and a rack gear which is formed on the main body of the liquid ejecting apparatus and extends in the insertion/extraction directions and the inclined upward/downward directions. Accordingly, a mechanism for guiding the media stacker can be easily obtained. Two sets of the guide mechanisms may be disposed to be displaced from each other in the insertion/extraction direction and in the upward/downward directions. Accordingly, the media stacker can be smoothly inserted and extracted. 
   The media stacker may further include a first stacker portion in which the guide mechanisms are formed; a second stacker portion which can be inserted into or extracted from the first stacker portion; and an operation regulation mechanism which regulates operations, so that the second stacker portion is not extracted when the first stacker portion is being extracted and the first stacker portion is not inserted when the second stacker portion is being inserted. Accordingly, the second stacker portion can be extracted after the first stacker portion is extracted, and the first stacker portion can be inserted after the second stacker portion is inserted. As a result, twisting between the stackers can be prevented and the media stacker can be smoothly inserted and extracted. 
   The operation regulation mechanism may include a first regulation mechanism for regulating an operation of insertion of the first stacker portion in an extracted state, a second regulation mechanism for regulating an operation of extracting the second stacker portion in an inserted state, and a third regulation mechanism for regulating an operation of insertion of the second stacker portion in an extracted state. The first operation regulation portion may include a recessed portion which is formed on a main body of the liquid ejecting apparatus and a projecting portion which is formed in a rear side of the first stacker portion and can be inserted into the recessed portion. The second operation regulation portion may include a first locking protrusion which is formed in the rear side of the first stacker portion and a protrusion to be locked which can be locked by the first locking protrusion. The third operation regulation portion may include a second locking protrusion which is formed in a front side of the first stacker portion and can lock the protrusion to be locked. Accordingly, the operation regulating mechanism can be easily structured. 
   According to another aspect of the invention, a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting liquids onto a medium includes the above-described media stacker. In addition, according to another aspect of the invention, recording device for recording information on a recording medium includes the above-described liquid ejecting apparatus according. Thus, a liquid ejecting apparatus and a recording device that provide the above-described advantages are provided. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a whole exterior of an ink jet type printer as viewed from a front side of the inclination as a recording device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the printer in  FIG. 1  as viewed from a rear side of the inclination. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a schematic internal structure of the printer in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a first side cross-sectional view showing a schematic internal structure of the printer in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5  is a second cross-sectional side view showing a schematic internal structure of the printer in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing an insertion status of a stacker of the printer in  FIG. 1  as viewed from an upstream side of a feed direction. 
       FIG. 7  is a side view of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view showing a protruded status of a stacker of the printer in  FIG. 1  as viewed from a downstream side of a feed direction. 
       FIG. 9  is a side view of  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 10  is a diagram showing positions of a bottom of the stacker, guide pins in guide grooves, and a pinion gear when a stacker is inserted or extracted. 
       FIG. 11  is a first diagram for describing an operation regulation mechanism in inserting or extracting the stacker of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 12  is a second diagram for describing an operation regulation mechanism in inserting or extracting the stacker of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 13  is a third diagram for describing an operation regulation mechanism in inserting or extracting the stacker of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 14  is a fourth diagram for describing an operation regulation mechanism in inserting or extracting the stacker of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 15  is a fifth diagram for describing an operation regulation mechanism in inserting or extracting the stacker of  FIG. 6 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
   Embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention, and not all of the combinations of the characteristics described in the embodiments are essential to solve the problems to be solved by the invention. 
     FIGS. 1 and 2  are perspective views of an ink jet type printer which is an example of a recording device according to an embodiment of the invention as viewed from front and rear sides, respectively.  FIG. 3  is a schematic perspective view of the ink jet printer illustrating an internal structure of the ink jet type printer.  FIGS. 4 and 5  are schematic side cross-sectional views of the ink jet type printer showing the internal structure thereof. The ink jet type printer  100  has a function for recording information on a single sheet of paper (hereinafter, referred to as recording medium) of L,  2 L, postcard, JIS A4, JIS A3 Nobi, JIS A2 sizes with ink (liquid). 
   As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a housing  101  which has an substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape constitutes an outer surface of the ink jet type printer  100 . On a front right side of a top side of the housing  101 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , an operation portion  100  is disposed, and on a front left side of the top side of the housing  101 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , a cartridge receiving portion  120  is disposed. On a rear side of the front side of the housing  101  shown in  FIG. 1 , a first rear feed portion  130  is disposed, and on a rear side of the housing  101  shown in  FIG. 2 , a second rear feed portion  140  is disposed. On the front side of the housing  101  shown in  FIG. 1 , a discharge portion (ejection portion)  150  including a characteristic portion of the invention and a front feed portion  160  are disposed, and on a front right side of the housing  101  shown in  FIG. 1 , a waste ink collector  170  is disposed. Inside the ink jet type printer  100 , a transport portion  180  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a controller  190  shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  4 , and  5 , and a recording portion  200  (liquid ejecting portion) shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5  are disposed. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , between the operation and cartridge receiving portions  110  and  120  and the first rear feed portion  130 , an opening portion  102  is formed. The opening portion  102  is covered with an approximately flat rectangular printer cover  210 . The printer cover  210  is attached so as to be able to pivot around a pivoting shaft on the rear side thereof in a direction of an arrow a. A user can easily perform operations including maintenance of internal mechanisms such as the transport portion  180  and the recording portion  200  through the opening portion  102  by lifting the printer cover  210  up to open the opening portion  102 . 
   The operation portion  110 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , includes an substantially rectangular control panel  111 , and in the approximate center of the control panel  111 , a liquid crystal panel  112  for displaying an operational status or the like is disposed. On both sides of the liquid crystal panel  112 , buttons  113  including a power button for turning the power on/off, an operational button for cueing of a recording medium or for flushing the ink, and a process button for instructing processing of an image are disposed. The user can operate the buttons  113  while monitoring information displayed on the liquid crystal panel  112 , and accordingly an erroneous operation of the user can be prevented. 
   The cartridge receiving portion  120 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , stores a predetermined number of color inks, which is nine in the example, for printing and is installed so that the ink cartridge  121 , shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5  can be inserted into or extracted from the cartridge receiving portion  120 . The cartridge receiving portion  120  is covered with a cartridge cover  122  having an “L” shaped cross section. The cartridge cover  122  is attached so as to be able to pivot around a pivoting shaft on the rear side thereof in a direction of an arrow b. The user can easily perform operations including replacing the ink cartridge  121  by lifting the cartridge cover  122  to open the cartridge receiving portion  120 , and accordingly the efficiency of the operations can be improved. 
   The first rear feed portion  130  is for automatic sheet feeding (ASF). As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the first rear feed portion  130  includes a first paper support  132  of a four level structure which has functions for opening/closing a first pickup slot  131  and supporting one recording medium or multiple recording media to be fed. The first paper support  132  is attached so as to be able to pivot around the pivoting shaft on the rear side in a direction of an arrow c. The relatively thin recording medium, for example, a recording medium of a regular or photo paper having a depth of 0.08 mm to 0.27 mm is used for the paper to be fed from the first rear feed portion  130 . 
   Before using the ink jet type printer  100 , the user inserts his finger into a hole  132   a  which is formed in a front center of the first paper support  132 , lifts the first paper support  132  up, and extracts a multi-level portion to complete setting of the ink jet type printer  100 . Accordingly, operations for storage, management, and the like which are required for an attachable/detachable paper support are needless. Since the structure of the first paper support  132  is multi-levels, the ink jet type printer can support for feeding recording media having various sizes effectively. In addition, by pushing the multi-level portion of the first paper support  132  the first paper support  132  can be closed to block the first pickup slot  131  after the ink jet type printer  100  is used, and accordingly penetration of dusts into the main body of the printer can be prevented, and the first paper support  132  can be stored compactly. 
   A second rear feed portion  140  is for manual feeding. The second rear feed portion  140  includes a second paper support  142  of a two level structure having functions for opening/closing a second pickup slot  141  of which open shape is rectangular toward the rear side and supporting one recording medium to be fed. The second paper support  142  is attached to be able to pivot around the pivoting shaft on the rear side in a direction of an arrow d. As a recording medium which is fed from the second rear feed portion  140 , a recording medium which has a depth which cannot be fed with a transport angle of the first rear feed portion  130 , for example, a recording medium including drawing paper or ink jet paper having a width of about 0.29 mm to 0.48 mm is used. Since the first rear feed portion  130  is used for automatic sheet feeding (ASF), the first rear feed portion  130  picks up a recording medium into the feed roller. Accordingly, when paper dusts are attached to the feed roller  82 , and the dusts are accumulated, slip may occur to generate a feed fault. For this reason, a type of paper which can easily generate paper dusts, for example, velvet fine art paper having a depth of about 0.48 mm or ultra smooth fine art paper having a depth of about 0.46 mm, needs to be manually fed into the second rear feed portion  140 . 
   Before using the ink jet type printer  100 , the user hangs his finger on an upper portion of the second paper support, pushes the second paper support down, and extracts the multi-level portion to complete setting of the ink jet type printer  100 . Accordingly, operations for storage, management, and the like which are required for an attachable/detachable paper support are needless. Since the structure of the second paper support  142  is multi-levels, the ink jet type printer can support feeding recording media having various sizes effectively. In addition, since the multi-level portion of the first paper support  132  can be pushed to be closed for blocking the second pickup slot  141  after the ink jet type printer  100  is used, penetration of dusts into the main body of the printer can be prevented, and the second paper support  142  can be stored compactly. 
   The discharge portion  150 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , includes a two level stacker (media stacker) which includes first and second stackers  51  and  52  shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5  and has both functions for opening/closing a second discharge slot  151  (ejecting slot) having a rectangular shape open toward a front side and stacking one or multiple sheets of discharged paper. The first stacker  51  is attached to be able to pivot about a pivoting shaft at an front end of the second stacker  52  in a direction of an arrow e shown in  FIG. 1 . The second stacker  52  is attached to be able to be inserted or extracted by parallel moving upward or downward in the inclination of the discharge slot  151 . The stacker  152  which is an aspect of the invention will be described later in more details. 
   The front feed portion  160  is used for manual feeding. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the front feed portion  160  includes a feed tray  161  which is disposed at the discharge slot  151  above the stacker  152 . The paper feed tray  161  is formed to be able to move parallel to the paper discharge slot  151 . A relatively thick recording medium, for example, a mat board paper having a thickness of approximately 1.2 mm which cannot be bent in transporting is used as a recording medium to be fed into the front feed portion  160 . 
   Before using the ink jet type printer  100 , when the user softly pushes a front end of the feed tray  161  to pull out a stopper of the feed tray  161 , the feed tray  161  becomes protruded from the discharge slot  151 . In addition, after using the ink jet type printer  100 , when the user softly pushes the front end of the feed tray  161 , the stopper of the feed tray is locked, and accordingly the feed tray  161  is inserted into the discharge slot  151 . Accordingly, the space efficiency of disposition of the feed tray  161  can be increased. 
   As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the waste ink collector  170  is constructed in such a way that a waste ink tank  171  for storing waste ink and the like can be inserted or extracted. The waste ink collector  171  stores waste ink which is wasted at a time when the recording head  202  is cleaned, an ink cartridge is replaced, or the like. When the waste ink tank  171  is full of the waste ink and the like, the user can easily perform replacing the waste ink tank  5171  by only extracting the waste ink tank  171  and inserting a new waste ink tank  171 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5 , the transport portion  180  is disposed from the first and second feed portions  130  and  140  to the discharge portion  150 . The transport portion  180  includes an automatic sheet feed mechanism  181 , a transport mechanism  182 , and a paper discharge mechanism  183 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the automatic sheet feed mechanism  181  includes a hopper  81  for lifting up supported sheets of recording paper for feeding, a feed roller for taking out sheets lifted by the hopper  81 , a retard roller for separating one sheet among the overlaid sheets of paper fed by the feed roller  82 , and a paper return lever  84  for returning the remaining sheets after separation by the retard roller  83  to the hopper  81  of separated for return roller. 
   The hopper  81  is formed to have a flat-shape on which a sheet can be placed and disposed substantially parallel to a rear wall. A bottom end of the hopper  81  is located in proximity of the feed roller  82 , and a top end of the hopper  81  is in proximity of a top portion of the rear wall. To the other side of bottom end of the hopper  81 , an outer end of a pressing spring of which one end is attached to a rear wall is attached, and the bottom end side is disposed in such a way that the bottom end turns around the top end side by expansion and contraction of the compression spring. 
   The feed roller  82  of which a partial cross section is formed in a shape of a cutout letter “D” is disposed in the proximity of a lower end of the hopper  81 . The feed roller  82  rotates intermittently to feed by friction the recording medium which is lifted by the hopper  81 . The retard roller  83  is disposed to be able to contact the feed roller  82 . The retard roller  83  separates only an upper most sheet from lower sheets by friction when overlaid sheets are sent by the feed roller  82 . The paper return lever  81  is formed in a shape of a hook and disposed in the proximity of the feed roller  82 . The paper return lever  81  hooks and returns the lower recording media which are separated by the retard roller  83  to the hopper  81 . 
   In the transport mechanism  182 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a transport roller  85  which transfers a recording medium in a sub ejection direction in synchronization with a recording operation and a driven roller  81  which is driven by the transport roller  85  are included. The transport roller  85  is disposed on a feed upstream side of a platen  203 . The transport roller  85  pinches the recording medium fed by the feed roller  82  together with the driven roller  86  to be sent out to the platen  203 . 
   The paper discharge mechanism  183 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , includes a discharge roller  87 , a first saw-toothed roller  88   a  and a second saw-toothed roller  88   b . The first saw-toothed roller  88   a  is disposed on a transport down stream side of a platen  203 . The second saw-toothed roller  88   b  and the discharge roller  77  is disposed to face the transport down stream side of the first saw-toothed roller  88   a . A recording medium which passes the platen  203  is firstly discharged to the first saw-toothed roller  88   a  and then, continuously pinched by the second saw-toothed roller  88   b  and the discharge roller  87  to be arranged on the stacker  152 . The first saw-toothed roller  88   a  and the second saw-toothed roller  88   b  are supported by a same supporting member which is not shown in the figures. 
   The control portion  190 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , includes a main substrate  191  constructing a printer controller. On the main substrate  191 , control components, memory components, and other various circuit components including CPU, ROM, RAM, ASIC which are not shown in the figures are disposed. The control portion  190  controls the transport portion  180 , the recording portion  200 , and the like which construct a print engine. 
   In the recording portion  200 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a carriage  201  which moves in a main ejecting direction in synchronization with the recording operation, a recording head  202  which ejects ink in synchronization with the recording operation, a platen  203  which maintains a sheet smoothly in printing are included. The carriage  201 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , is disposed to perforate into a carriage guide shaft  204  above the platen  203  and connected to a carriage belt  205 . When a carriage belt  205  is operated by a carriage motor which is not shown in the figures, the carriage  201  is pulled in by a movement of the carriage belt  205  and guided to the carriage guide shaft  204  to reciprocate. 
   The recording head  202 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , is mounted on the carriage  201  while being spaced apart from the platen  203  by a predetermined distance. The recording head  202  can eject each one of two kinds of black ink, for example, photo black and mat black ink, and seven colors of ink including yellow, cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, grey, and red ink. In other words, in the recording head  202 , a pressure generation room and an open nozzle hole connected thereto are formed on a nozzle plate, and an ink drop having a controlled size is to be ejected from the open nozzle hole toward a sheet by storing ink in the pressure generation room and pressing the stored ink at a predetermined pressure. The platen  203  which is disposed between the feed roller  85  and the discharge roller  87  is disposed to face the recording head  202 . The platen  203  supports a sheet which is transported. Next, the stacker  152  which is an aspect of the invention will be described in more details with reference to figures. 
     FIG. 6  is a perspective view from an upstream side of a discharge direction showing an inserted status of the stacker, and  FIG. 7  is a side view thereof.  FIG. 8  is a perspective view from a downstream side of a discharge direction showing an extracted status of the stacker, and  FIG. 9  is a side view thereof. The stacker  152  has a two level structure including a first stacker  51  and a second stacker (stacker main body)  52 . The first stacker  51  is The first stacker  51  is attached to be able to pivot about a pivoting shaft at an end side of the second stacker  52 . The second stacker  52 . The second stacker  52  is attached to be able to be inserted or extracted by parallel moving upward or downward in the inclination of the discharge slot  151 . 
   The first stacker  51  pivots between a status being disposed substantially vertical to the second stacker  52  at the front end of the second stacker  52  shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  and a status being disposed substantially horizontal to the second stacker  52  shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . In other words, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , in the status in which the second stacker  52  is inserted, the first stacker  51  is disposed substantially vertical to the second stacker  52  to close the discharge slot  151 . On the other hand, as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , in a status in which the second stacker  52  is extracted, the first stacker  51  is disposed substantially vertical to the second stacker  52  to open the discharge slot  151 . 
   The second stacker  52  moves parallel upward and downward together with the first stacker  51  in the inclination between a insertion position in the printer main body which is located inside with respect to the discharge slot  151  shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  and an extracted position outside the printer main body which is located at a front side with respect to the discharge slot  151  shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . In other words, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , in the insertion position, the second stacker  52  moves downward in the inclination to be located below the recording portion  200  and the discharge portion  150 . On the other hand, as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , in an extracted position, the second stacker moves upward in the inclination to dispose a rear end close to the discharge slot  151 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the second stacker  52  has a two level structure including a first stacker portion  52   a  and a second stacker portion  52   b . The first stacker portion  52   a  is formed in a shape of a hollow flat plate. The second stacker portion  52   b  is formed in shape of a flat plate having the width slightly smaller than that of the first stacker portion  52   a . The second stacker portion  52   b  is disposed to be able to slide horizontally inside the first stacker portion  52   a.    
   Accordingly, the second stacker portion  52   b  can be inserted into or extracted from the first stacker portion  52   a . The second stacker  52  is used in the status in which the second stacker portion  52   b  is inserted into the first stacker portion  52   a  when a size of the discharged recording medium is small. On the other hand, the second stacker  52  is used in the status in which the second stacker portion  52   b  is extracted from the first stacker portion  52   a  when the size of the discharged recording medium is large. Since the second stacker  52  has a two level structure, a case where the support width becomes extremely small never happens as in a case where general stackers having three or more level structures are used. 
   A guiding mechanism  20 , as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 9 , includes a guide cam (guide means)  21  and a guide gear  22 , which are disposed on both sides of the second stacker  52 , respectively. The guide mechanism  20  guides parallel movement of the stacker  152  upward or downward the inclination smoothly. The guide cam  21  includes two guide pins  23  and  24  and two guide grooves into which the guide pins  23  and  24  are inserted, respectively, which are disposed on both sides of the second stacker  52 . 
   The guide pins  23  and  24  are disposed to be discrepant upward and downward in the insertion and extraction direction in rear positions on a side of the first stacker portion  52   a  of the second stacker  52 . In other words, the guide pin  23  is disposed to be protruded vicinity to a rear portion on the side of the first stacker portion  52   a , and the guide pin  24  is exposed to be extruded on the side of the first stacker portion  52   a  at a position which is lower than the guide pin  23  by a predetermined distance and is located in front of the guide pin  23  with a predetermined distance apart. 
   The guide grooves  25  and  26  are formed on a guide forming member  27  which is disposed along the both side portions of the first stacker portion  52   a . The guide grooves  25  and  26  are formed to connect first end portions  25   a  and  26   a  which determine the insertion position of the stacker to second end portions  25   b  and  26   b  which determine the extracted position of the stacker  152 , respectively. In other words, the guide grooves  25  and  26  are formed to be started with horizontal grooves  25   c  and  26   c  which are formed to be substantially horizontal starting from the first end portions  25   a  and  26   a  in a forward direction, passing through first inclination grooves  25   d  and  26   d  which are upward in the inclination at a gentle angle and second inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e  which are inclination upward in the inclination at an angle slightly more rapid than the first inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e , third inclination grooves  25   f  and  26   f  which are inclination upward in the inclination at an angle (for example, like  FIG. 4 ) which is slightly more gentle than the first inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e  to reach to the second end portions  25   b  and  25   b.    
   Into the guide grooves  25  and  26 , the guide pins  23  and  24  are inserted, respectively. The guide grooves  25  and  26  are disposed to be discrepant upward and downward in the insertion and extraction direction to pass simultaneously same type grooves, that is, the horizontal grooves  25   c  and  25   c , the first inclination grooves  25   d  and  26   d , the second inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e , or the third inclination grooves  25   f  and  26   f . In other words, the guide groove  25  is formed to be vicinity to a rear portion on the side of the guide forming member  27 , and the guide groove  26  is formed to exposed on the side of the groove forming member  27  at a position which is lower than the guide groove  25  by a predetermined distance and is located in front of the guide pin  23  with a predetermined distance apart. 
   A guide gear  22  includes a pinion gear  28  and a lock gear  29  which is engaged with the pinion gear. The pinion gear and the lock gear  29  are disposed on both sides of the second stacker  52 , respectively. The pinion gear is combined with the guide pin, so that the pinion gear can rotate around the guide pin with having the guide pin as a shaft. The lock gear  29  is disposed on the guide forming member  27  to engage with an upper edge of the pinion gear  28 . In other words, the lock gear  29  is disposed along the upper edge of the guide groove  25 . 
     FIG. 10  is a diagram showing positions of a bottom of the stacker, guide pins  23  and  24  in guide grooves  25  and  26 , and the pinion gear  28  when the stacker  152  is inserted or extracted. When the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  are in the first end portions  25   a  and  26   a  of the guide grooves  25  and  26 , respectively, which correspond to insertion positions, the bottom position L 1  of the stacker  152  is substantially horizontal. This status is maintained while the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  pass through the horizontal grooves  25   c  and  26   c  of the guide grooves  25  and  26  when the stacker  152  is extracted. 
   When the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  reach boundaries between the horizontal grooves  25   c  and  26   c  of the guide grooves  25  and  26  and the first inclination grooves  25   d  and  26   d  after the stacker  152  is extracted more, the bottom position L 2  of the stacker  152  is slightly inclination downward in a front inclination, but maintains a substantial horizontality. This status is maintained when the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  reach boundaries between the first inclination groove  25   d  and  26   d  and the second inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e  after passing through the first inclination groove  25   d  and  26   d  since the stacker is extracted further more. At this time, the stacker  152  moves upward in the inclination. 
   When the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  go into the second inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e  of the guide grooves  25  and  26  after the stacker  152  is extracted further more, the bottom position L 5  of the stacker  152  returns to be substantially horizontal. This status is maintained while the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  pass the second inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e  of the guide grooves  25  and  26  after the stacker  152  is extracted further more. At this time, the stacker  152  moves further upward in the inclination. 
   When the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  reach boundaries between the second inclination grooves  25   e  and  26   e  of the guide grooves  25  and  26  and the third inclination grooves  25   f  and  26   f  of the guide grooves  25  and  26  after the stacker  152  is extracted further more, the bottom position L 6  of the stacker  152  is slightly inclination upward in a front inclination, but maintains a substantial horizontality. This status is maintained when the guide pins  23  and  24  and the pinion gear  28  reach the second end portions  25   b  and  26   b  of the guide grooves  25  and  26 . At this time, the stacker  152  moves upward in the inclination and positioned in the extracted position. When the stacker  152  moves from the extracted position to the insertion position, the operations are the same as described above. 
   Before using the ink jet type printer  100  having the structure described above, the user hangs his finger on an upper portion of the first stacker  51  and rotates the first stacker  51  forward to open the discharge slot  151 . And then, the user pulls in a front end of the first stacker  51  with his finger and moves the second stacker  52  parallel upward in the inclination to be protruded. In addition, after using the ink jet type printer  100 , the user moves the second stacker  52  parallel downward in the inclination for insertion by pushing a front end of the first stacker  51  with his hand. And then, the user rotates the first stacker  51  backward to block the discharge slot  151  by touching the first stacker  51  with his hand. 
   According to a stacker  152  having the structure described above, large space below the recording portion  200  and the discharge portion  150  can be acquired to be able to form a stacker  152  having a size appropriate for a relatively large size recording medium without forming a three or more level stacker based on general technology for stable stacking of the recording medium. In addition, when the ink jet type printer  100  is not used, the discharge slot  151  can be blocked to prevent penetration of dusts into a main body of the printer. 
   In addition, two guide pins  23  and  24  are guided into two different grooves  25  and  26 , the stacker is moved between the insertion position and the extracted position without largely changing a substantial set angle of substantial horizontality of the stacker  152 , and according the twisting between the guide pins  23  and  24  and the guide grooves  25  and  26  doest not occur to acquire a smooth operation in the insertion and extraction of the stacker  152 . In addition, since the stacker  152  is guided by the pinion gear  28  and the rack gear  29 , and more over, the gear is combined with the guide pin  23  to guide the guide pin directly, a smoother operation can be acquired in the insertion and extraction of the stacker  152 . 
   As described above, the user hangs his finger on an upper portion of the first stacker  51  and rotates the first stacker  51  forward to open the discharge slot  151  when using the stacker  152 . And then, the user pulls in a front end of the first stacker  51  with his finger and moves the first stacker portion  52   a  into which the second stacker portion  52   b  is inserted parallel upward in the inclination to be protruded. And then, the user pulls in an front end of the first stacker  51  with his finger to draw the second stacker portion  52   b  out of the first stacker portion. 
   In addition, after using the stacker  152 , the user pushes the front end of the first stacker with his hand to insert the second stacker portion  52   b  into the first stacker portion  52   a . And then, the user parallel moves the first stacker portion  52   a  into which the second stacker portion  52   b  is inserted upward in the inclination to be protruded by pushing the front end of the first stacker  51  with his hand. And then, the user rotates the first stacker  51  backward to block the discharge slot  151  by touching the first stacker  51  with his hand. As described above, since the operation order of the first stacker portion  52   a  and the second stacker portion  52   b  needs to be reversed for insertion and extraction, an operation regulation mechanism  30  is formed. 
     FIGS. 11 to 15  are diagrams showing the operation regulation mechanism  30 . The operation regulation mechanism  30  includes a biasing portion (a first operation regulation portion)  31 , a rear locking portion (a second operation regulation portion)  32 , and a front locking portion (a third operation portion)  33  which are formed in a first stacker portion  52   a  and a protrusion portion (a second and third operation regulation portion)  34  formed in a second stacker portion  52   b  shown in  FIG. 14 . 
   The biasing portion  31 , as shown in  FIG. 11 , is formed between two guide pins  23  and  24  which are formed on both sides of the first stacker portion  52   a . The biasing portion  31  includes a fixed end on a guide pin  23  side and a cantilever type arm  31  of a free end on a guide pin side  24 . The fixed end of the biasing portion  31  is combined with a side portion of the first stacker portion  52   a  into one body, and on the free end side, a projecting portion  31   b  which is protruded outside is formed on the free end side. In the left biasing unit  31  shown in  FIG. 11 , a compression coil spring  31   c  of which one end contacts an inner side portion of the projecting portion and the other end contacts a side portion of the first stacker portion  52   a  is disposed. The compression coil spring  31   c  bends the arm  31  by pressing on an outside of the projecting portion. 
   The projecting portion  31   b  of the biasing portion  31  in the structure described above is located at a groove portion  27   a  between two guide grooves of the guide forming member  27  shown in  FIGS. 12(A) and 12(B) . When the second stacker portion  52   b  is in the insertion status, the first stacker portion  52   a  is parallel moved upward in the inclination to be protruded, and the projecting portion  31   b  is to be inserted into a depressed portion  27   b  formed in the groove portion  27   a  of the guide forming member  27 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 13 , the rear locking portion  32  and the front locking portion  33  are formed on both sides of a rear portion and both sides of a front portion on a bottom  52   a  of a receiving portion of the second stacker portion  52   b  in the first stacker portion  52   a , respectively. In  FIG. 13 , although only the rear locking portion  32  and the front locking portion  33  on one side are shown, however, a structure on the other side is the same. In the rear locking portion  32 , two locking protrusions  32   a  and  32   b  having trapezoid pole shapes of which shapes viewed from sides are trapezoids are disposed while being spaced by a predetermined distance in a insertion/extraction direction. In addition, when two locking protrusions  32   a  and  32   b  are collectively regarded as one set, two sets of the locking protrusions are disposed while being spaced by a predetermined distance in a direction perpendicular to the insertion/extraction direction of the second stacker portion  52   b . In the front locking portion  33 , two locking protrusions  33   a  and  33   b  having trapezoid pole shapes of which shapes viewed from sides are trapezoids are disposed while being spaced by a predetermined distance in a insertion/extraction direction of the second stacker portion  52   b.    
   As shown in  FIG. 14 , the protrusion portion  34  is formed on a rear portion of both sides on the other side of the second stacker portion  52   b . The protrusion portion  34  is disposed to be protruded as a protrusion  34   a  to be locked having a shape of a stick which extends in a direction perpendicular to the insertion/extraction direction of the second stacker portion  52   b . The protrusion  34   a  to be locked constructing the protrusion portion  34  is formed to have a width which is slightly smaller than the disposition space between the two locking protrusions  32   a  and  32   b  constructing the rear locking portion  32  and a little larger than the disposition space between two sets of locking protrusions  32   a ,  32   b  and  32   a  and  32   b.    
   As shown in  FIG. 15(A) , the protrusion  34   a  to be locked constructing the protrusion portion  34  in the structure described above is to be locked by being inserted between two locking protrusions  32   a  and  32   b  construction the rear locking portion  32  in a status that the first stacker portion  52   a  into which the second stacker portion  52   b  is inserted is parallel moved upward in the inclination to be protruded. As shown in  FIG. 15(B) , the protrusion  34   a  to be locked constructing the protrusion portion  34  is to be locked by passing two locking protrusions  32   a  and  32   a  to the front side in a status that the second stacker portion  52   b  is extracted to be protruded from the first stacker portion  52   a.    
   In using the stacker  152  of the structure described above, for pulling in the first stacker portion  52   a  into which the second stacker portion  52  is inserted instead of pulling the second stacker portion  52   b  out of the first stacker portion  52   a  when the user pulls a front end of the first stacker  51  with his finger, the following condition is required. That is, a friction force (resistance force) applied between the projecting portion  31   b  of the biasing portion  31  and the groove portion  27   a  of the guide forming member  27   a  should be smaller than a resultant force (resistance force) applied between the protrusion  34   a  to be locked constructing the protrusion portion  34  and the locking protrusion  32   b  constructing the rear locking portion  32 . Under this condition, the first stacker portion  52   a  into which the second stacker portion  52   b  is inserted can be parallel moved upward the inclination to be protruded. In addition, the second stacker portion  52   b  can be extracted from the first stacker portion  52   a  to be protruded. 
   In addition, when the user pushes the front end of the first stacker  51  with his hand after using the stacker  152 , only the second stacker portion  52   b  is to be inserted into the first stacker portion  52   a  rather than the first stacker portion  52   a  from which the second stacker portion is extracted is inserted. To achieve this, the following condition is required. That is, a retaining force applied when the projecting portion  31   b  of the biasing portion  31  is combined with the depressed portion  27   b  of the guide forming member  27  should be made be larger than a resultant force applied between the protrusion  34   a  to be locked constructing the protrusion portion and the locking protrusion  33   a  constructing the front locking portion  33 . Under this condition, the second stacker portion  52   b  can be inserted into the first stacker portion  52   a . In addition, the first stacker portion  52   a  into which the second stacker portion  52   b  is inserted can be parallel moved downward in the inclination to be inserted by pushing the front end of the first stacker  51 . As described above, switching between the insertion/extraction can be performed by one action, the operation ability can be improved. 
   The retaining force applied when the projecting portion  31   b  of the biasing portion  31  is combined with the depressed portion  27   b  of the guide forming member  27  can be easily set or changed by managing a spring constant of the compression coil spring  31   c , a combination depth of the projecting portion  31   b , or a rake angle of edges of the depressed portion  27   b . In addition, a resultant force (resistance force) applied between the protrusion  34   a  to be locked constructing the protrusion portion  34  and the locking protrusion  32   b  constructing the rear locking portion  32  and a resultant force (resistance force) applied between the protrusion  34   a  to be locked constructing the protrusion portion  34  and the locking protrusion  33   a  constructing the front locking portion  33  can be easily set and changed by managing tilt angles of slopes of the locking protrusions or heights of locking protrusions  32   b  and  33   a  and protrusions to be locked  34   a . Alternatively, a depressed portion into which the locking protrusions  32   b  and  33   a  can be combined may be formed instead of the protrusion  34   a  to be locked, or a depressed portion into which the protrusions  34   a  to be locked  2   b  can be combined may be formed instead of the locking protrusions  32   b  and  33   a.    
   Although an ink jet type printer as a recording device is described as an exemplary embodiment, however, the invention may be applied to any recording device including a facsimile device and a copy machine. In addition, the invention can be applied to a liquid ejecting apparatus which attaches liquids by ejecting liquids appropriate for the use from a liquid ejecting head onto a liquid-ejecting medium including a color ejecting head which is used for manufacturing a color filter for a liquid crystal display or the like, an electrode material ejecting (conduction paste) head which is used for forming an electrode including an organic EL display or a FED, a vital organic matter ejecting head, a sample ejecting head as a precision pipet, and the like.