Patent Publication Number: US-7594653-B2

Title: Medium feeding apparatus, liquid ejecting apparatus and recording apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a medium feeding apparatus for feeding a medium to be fed, a liquid ejecting apparatus including the medium feeding apparatus, and a recording apparatus. 
     2. Related Art 
     In a printer of an ink jet type to be one of general recording apparatuses, an automatic paper feeding apparatus is provided in an upper part on a back side. The automatic paper feeding apparatus comprises a hopper for supporting a paper together with a paper support and a paper feeding roller disposed opposite to the hopper and serving to feed the paper which is supported. A guide for regulating a support position of the paper and guiding the feed of the paper is attached to the hopper. Two guides are provided to carry out the regulation and the guide in contact with both side ends of the paper, respectively. One of the guides serves as a fixing guide fixed to the hopper and the other guide serves as a moving guide for being slid in a transverse direction of the paper over the hopper. 
     A user mounts a paper on the hopper and then slides the moving guide to cause the fixing guide and the moving guide to come in contact with each side end of the paper, respectively. However, a guide operation is carried out by a visual observation of the user. Therefore, a variation is easily generated in a gap between each side end of the paper and each guide. For this reason, in the case in which the gap is large, there is a possibility that the paper might be inclined in the feed of the paper, causing a paper jam. In the case in which the gap is small, there is a possibility that a frictional resistance (a back tension) between each side end of the paper and each guide might be increased to generate a paper feeding failure in the feed of the paper. Therefore, a guide is provided with a limiter mechanism to set a constant gap between each side end of the paper and each guide, thereby reducing a frictional resistance (a back tension) between the side end of the paper and the guide (see Patent Document 1). 
     Patent Document 1: JP-UM-A-5-12428 
     In the printer of the ink jet type, the constant gap is always set between each side end of the paper and each guide. For this reason, there is a possibility that the paper might become loose due to a friction between the papers or a vibration in a recording operation, causing both side ends of the paper to come in contact with the fixed guide and the moving guide. When such a contact is generated, a frictional resistance (a back tension) between both side ends of the paper and the fixed guide and moving guide is increased in the feed of the paper so that the paper feeding failure is generated. In a recording operation in the latter stage of the paper feed, particularly, there is a possibility that recording precision might be deteriorated. 
     SUMMARY 
     An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a medium feeding apparatus capable of eliminating a frictional resistance between both side ends of a medium to be fed and each guide unit when feeding the medium to be fed, a liquid ejecting apparatus including the medium feeding apparatus, and a recording apparatus. 
     The advantage can be attained as at least one of the following aspects: 
     A first aspect of the invention is to provide a medium feeding apparatus comprising: a pivot unit, supporting a medium and pivoting to cause the medium to come in contact with and to separate from a feeding unit; a first guide unit, guiding one side end of the medium supported on the pivot unit; a second guide unit, guiding the other side end of the medium; a first moving unit, moving the first guide unit to come in contact with and to separate from the one side end of the medium in conjunction with the pivoting motion of the pivot unit; and a second moving unit, moving the second guide unit to come in contact with and to separate from the other side end of the fed medium in conjunction with the movement of the first guide unit. For example, consequently, both side ends and each guide unit can be caused to come in contact with each other in the non-feed of the medium to be fed and the initial stage of the feed, and the guide unit can be separated from both side ends in the latter stage of the feed of the medium to be fed. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate a frictional resistance between both side ends and the guide unit in the latter stage of the feed of the medium to be fed. 
     Moreover, the invention may be characterized in that the pivot unit is also moved with the movement of the first guide unit. Consequently, it is possible to separately constitute an automatic moving mechanism of the first guide unit by the first moving unit and a manual moving mechanism of the first guide unit by a user. Moreover, the first moving unit may be characterized by a guide protruded portion and a guide groove to be engaged with the guide protruded portion. The guide groove may be characterized by a straight groove formed on the side of the feeding unit extended in a pivoting direction of the pivot unit and an inclined groove formed on an opposite side to the feeding unit inclined with respect to the straight groove. Consequently, the first moving unit to be in conjunction with the pivoting motion of the pivot unit can have a simple structure. Moreover, the second moving unit may be characterized by a pair of pinion gears and a pair of rack gears to be engaged with the pinion gears. The invention is characterized in that the pinion gears may be attached to the pivot unit and the rack gears may be attached to the second moving unit. Consequently, the second moving unit to be in conjunction with the movement of the first guide unit can have a simple structure. 
     A second aspect of the invention is to provide a liquid ejecting for ejecting a liquid onto a medium to be ejected and comprises any of the medium feeding apparatuses. 
     Moreover, a third aspect of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus for carrying out recording over a medium to be recorded and comprises any of the medium feeding apparatuses. Consequently, it is possible to provide a medium feeding apparatus or a recording apparatus which can produce each of the functions and advantages. 
     Moreover, a fourth aspect of the invention is to provide a medium feeding apparatus comprising: a pivot unit having a protruded portion at lower edge thereof; an abutment portion, disposed below the pivot unit and having a groove therein; a first guide unit, fixing its position with respect to the pivot unit while the pivot unit pivots; a second guide unit, disposed opposite to the first guide unit with respect to the pivot unit, wherein the protruded portion of the pivot unit moves along the groove of the abutment portion and thereby the first guide unit and the second guide unit change the distance therebetween. 
     In the fourth aspect of the invention, it is preferably that the groove including a straight groove extended in a direction of the pivoting motion of the pivot unit and an inclined groove which is inclined with respect to the straight groove and thereby the first guide unit moves toward or separates from the second guide unit. 
     In the fourth aspect of the invention, it is preferably that a pair of pinion gears attached to the pivot unit and a pair of rack gears are engaged with each other and thereby the second guide unit moves toward or separates from the first guide unit. 
     The present disclosure relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese patent application No. 2005-326963 filed on Nov. 11, 2005, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a whole structure of an appearance of a printer of an ink jet type to be one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the invention as seen obliquely from a front part, 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the whole structure of the appearance of the printer in  FIG. 1  as seen obliquely from a rear part, 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view schematically showing an internal structure of the printer in  FIG. 1 , 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional side view schematically showing the internal structure of the printer in  FIG. 1 , 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing an automatic paper feeding mechanism of the printer in  FIG. 1 , 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of  FIG. 5 , 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of  FIG. 5 , 
         FIGS. 8A and 8B  are a side view showing an edge guide moving mechanism in the automatic paper feeding mechanism illustrated in  FIG. 5 , 
         FIGS. 9A and 9B  are sectional views taken along IXA-IXA of  FIG. 8A  and IXB-IXB in  FIG. 8B  respectively, 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view showing a reference end guide moving mechanism in the automatic paper feeding mechanism illustrated in  FIG. 5 , and 
         FIGS. 11A and 11B  are plan views showing an operation of each moving mechanism. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     An embodiment according to the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment which will be described below is not restricted to the invention according to the claims and all of combinations of the features described in the embodiment are not always essential to the means for solution according to the invention. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  are perspective views showing a whole structure of an appearance of a printer of an ink jet type to be one of recording apparatuses according to an embodiment of the invention as seen obliquely from front and rear parts,  FIG. 3  is a perspective view schematically showing an internal structure thereof, and  FIG. 4  is a sectional side view schematically showing the internal structure thereof. A printer  100  of an ink jet type has a function capable of carrying out recording, with an ink (a liquid), over a cut-form paper having a size such as an L size/2L size, a postcard, or an A4, A3 extension or A2 size on the JIS (hereinafter referred to as a paper (a medium to be fed, a medium to be ejected or a medium to be recorded)). 
     The printer  100  of the ink jet type is covered with a housing  101  which wholly takes a shape of an almost rectangular parallelepiped as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In the housing  101 , an operating portion  110  is provided at a right and front side on an upper surface shown in  FIG. 1  and a cartridge housing portion  120  is provided at a left and front side on the upper surface shown in  FIG. 1 . Furthermore, a first rear paper feeding portion  130  is provided at a rear side on the upper surface shown in  FIG. 1  and a second rear paper feeding portion  140  is provided on a back side shown in  FIG. 2 . A paper discharging portion  150  and a front paper feeding portion  160  are provided on a front side shown in  FIG. 1  and a waste ink collecting portion  170  is provided at a right side on a front surface shown in  FIG. 1 . Moreover, a paper delivery portion  180  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a control portion  190  shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4  and a recording portion  200  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  which include characteristic portions of the invention are provided in the printer  100  of the ink jet type. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an opening portion  102  taking a rectangular shape is formed between the operating portion  110  and cartridge housing portion  120  and the first rear paper feeding portion  130  in the upper surface of the housing  101 . The opening portion  102  is covered with a printer cover  210  taking a shape of an almost rectangular plate. The printer cover  210  is attached to be rotatable in a direction of an arrow “a” shown in the drawing around a rotating axis of a rear end. A user can easily carry out a maintenance work of internal mechanisms such as the paper delivery portion  180  and the recording portion  200  through the opening portion  102  by lifting the printer cover  210  to open the opening portion  102 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the operating portion  110  includes an operation panel  111  taking an almost rectangular shape, a liquid crystal panel  112  for displaying an operation state is provided in an almost central part of the operation panel  111 , and a button  113  such as a power system for turning ON/OFF a power, an operating system for carrying out an operation to find the beginning of a paper and operating the flush of an ink, and a processing system for performing an image processing is provided on both sides of the liquid crystal panel  112 . The user can operate the button  113  while seeing and confirming the liquid crystal panel  112 . Therefore, a malfunction can be prevented. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the cartridge housing portion  120  accommodates an ink cartridge  121  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  which stores inks having respective colors for printing (nine colors in the example) in such a manner that it can be pulled in/out. The cartridge housing portion  120  is covered with a cartridge cover  122  having an L-shaped section. The cartridge cover  122  is attached to be rotatable in a direction of an arrow “b” shown in the drawing around a rotating axis of a rear end. The user can easily exchange the ink cartridge  121  by lifting the cartridge cover  122  to open the cartridge housing portion  120 . Therefore, a working efficiency can be enhanced. 
     The first rear paper feeding portion  130  is used for an automatic sheet feed (ASF) and includes a first paper support  132  with a four-stage structure having both a function of opening/closing a first paper feeding port  131  opened upward and rectangularly and a function of supporting at least one paper to be fed as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The first paper support  132  is attached to be rotatable in a direction of an arrow “C” shown in the drawing around the rotating axis of the rear end. For the paper to be fed by the first rear paper feeding portion  130 , a comparatively thin paper (for example, a plain paper or a photographic paper which has a thickness of approximately 0.08 mm to 0.27 mm) is used. 
     Before using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, the user puts a finger in a hole  132   a  provided on a center at this side shown in the drawing in the first paper support  132  to lift the first paper support  132  and to pull out a multistage portion, thereby completing setting. Therefore, it is not necessary to carry out a storage and a maintenance which are required for a paper support of a removable type. Because of the first paper support  132  having the multistage structure, furthermore, it is possible to reliably support papers having various sizes which are to be fed. After using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, moreover, the multistage portion of the first paper support  132  is pushed in to carry out closing. Consequently, the first paper feeding port  131  can be closed. Thus, it is possible to prevent dust from entering a printer body, and furthermore, to store the first paper support  132  to be compact. 
     The second rear paper feeding portion  140  is used for manually feeding a paper and includes a second paper support  142  with a two-stage structure having both a function of opening/closing a second paper feeding port  141  opened to be rearward rectangular and a function of supporting one paper to be fed as shown in  FIG. 2 . The second paper support  142  is attached to be rotatable in a direction of an arrow “d” shown in the drawing around a rotating axis of a lower end. For a paper to be fed by the second rear paper feeding portion  140 , there is used a paper having such a thickness that it cannot be fed at a delivery angle in the first rear paper feeding portion  130  (for example, a painting material paper or a special paper which has a thickness of approximately 0.29 mm to 0.48 mm). Furthermore, the first rear paper feeding portion  130  is used for the automatic sheet feed (ASF). Therefore, the paper is picked up by means of a paper feeding roller  82 . When paper powder sticks to the paper feeding roller  82  and is accumulated thereon, consequently, there is a possibility that a slip might be caused in the paper feeding roller  82 , resulting in a paper feeding failure. For this reason, papers to easily generate the paper powder (for example, Velvet Fine Art Paper having a thickness of approximately 0.48 mm and Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper having a thickness of approximately 0.46 mm) are to be also fed manually by means of the second rear paper feeding portion  140 . 
     Before using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, the user puts a finger in an upper part of the second paper support  142  which is shown in the drawing, thereby pushing the second paper support  142  downward to pull the multistage portion out. Thus, the setting is completed. Therefore, it is not necessary to carry out a storage and a maintenance which are required for the paper support of the removable type. Because of the second paper support  142  having the multistage structure, furthermore, it is possible to reliably support papers having various sizes which are to be fed. After using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, moreover, it is possible to close the second paper feeding port  141  by pushing in the multistage portion of the second paper support  142  to carry out closing. Consequently, it is possible to prevent dust from entering the printer body, and furthermore, to store the second paper support  142  to be compact. 
     The paper discharging portion  150  includes a stacker  152  with a two-stage structure having a first stacker  51  and a second stacker  52  shown in  FIG. 3  which has both a function of opening/closing a paper discharging port  151  opened forward and rectangularly and a function of stacking at least one paper to be discharged. The first stacker  51  is attached to be rotatable in a direction of an arrow “e” shown in the drawing around a rotating axis at a tip side of the second stacker  52 . The second stacker  52  is attached to be moved obliquely and vertically in parallel with respect to the paper discharging port  151  and to be freely protruded and stored. 
     Before using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, the user puts the finger on an upper part of the first stacker  51  to rotate the first stacker  51  toward this side, thereby opening the paper discharging port  151 , and holds a tip of the first stacker  51  with fingers to pull out the first stacker  51  and moves and protrudes the second stacker  52  obliquely and upward in parallel to complete the setting. Thus, it is not necessary to carry out the storage and maintenance which is required for the stacker of the removable type. Because of the stacker  152  having the multistage structure, furthermore, the papers having various sizes to be discharged can be reliably stacked and mounted, and furthermore, the papers subjected to recording are always discharged from a front side. Consequently, the user can easily take the papers out. After using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, moreover, the tip of the first stacker  51  is pushed in by a hand to move the second stacker  52  obliquely and downward in parallel and to store the second stacker  52 , and the first stacker  51  is rotated rearward with a hand so that the paper discharging port  151  can be closed. Thus, it is possible to prevent dust from entering the printer body and to store the stacker  152  to be compact. 
     The front paper feeding portion  160  is used for manually feeding a paper and includes a paper feeding tray  161  provided above the stacker  152  in the paper discharging port  151  as shown in  FIG. 3 . The paper feeding tray  161  is provided to be horizontally movable with respect to the paper discharging port  151 . For a paper fed from the front paper feeding portion  160 , there is used a comparatively thick paper (for example, a mat board having a thickness of approximately 1.2 mm) which cannot be bent in a delivery. 
     Before using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, the user lightly pushes a tip of the paper feeding tray  161  in so that a stopper of the paper feeding tray  161  slips off and the paper feeding tray  161  is protruded from the paper discharging port  151 . After using the printer  100  of the ink jet type, moreover, the tip of the paper feeding tray  161  is lightly pushed in so that the stopper of the paper feeding tray  161  is hung and the paper feeding tray  161  is thus stored in the paper discharging port  151 . Accordingly, it is possible to enhance an installation space efficiency of the paper feeding tray  161 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the waste ink collecting portion  170  has a waste ink tank  171  for storing a waste ink so as to be freely put in/out. The waste ink tank  171  stores the waste ink discharged in a cleaning treatment for a recording head  202  or an exchange of an ink cartridge. It is sufficient that the user simply pulls out the waste ink tank  171  and inserts a new waste ink tank  171  when the waste ink tank  171  is filled with the waste ink. Therefore, it is possible to easily carry out a work for exchanging the waste ink tank  171 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the paper delivery portion  180  is provided from the first rear paper feeding portion  130  and the second rear paper feeding portion  140  to the paper discharging portion  150 , and includes an automatic paper feeding mechanism (a medium paper feeding apparatus)  181 , a delivery mechanism  182 , and a paper discharging mechanism  183 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the automatic paper feeding mechanism  181  includes a hopper (pivot unit)  81  for lifting a paper supported on the first paper support  132  so as to be fed, the paper feeding roller (feeding unit)  82  for taking out the paper lifted by the hopper  81 , a retard roller  83  for separating papers fed with an overlap by the paper feeding roller  82  one by one, and a paper return lever  84  for returning the residual papers separated by the retard roller  83  to the hopper  81 . 
     The hopper  81  is formed like a plate capable of mounting a paper thereon and is provided in almost parallel with a rear wall, and is disposed in such a manner that a lower end is positioned in the vicinity of the paper feeding roller  82  and an upper end is positioned close to a top of the rear wall. The hopper  81  has a back face on the lower end side to which one of ends of a compression spring (not shown) having the other end attached to the rear wall is fixed, and is provided in such a manner that the lower end side is turned around the upper end side by the expansion and contraction of the compression spring. 
     The paper feeding roller  82  is formed like a D shape with a part of a section taken away and is provided in the vicinity of the lower end of the hopper  81 , and is intermittently rotated to frictionally feed the paper lifted by means of the hopper  81 . The retard roller  83  is provided to freely abut on the paper feeding roller  82  and serves to frictionally separate only a paper on an uppermost layer from papers on lower layers when the papers are fed with an overlap by means of the paper feeding roller  82 . The paper return lever  84  is formed like a click and is provided in the vicinity of the paper feeding roller  82 , and serves to hang the paper on the lower layer separated by the retard roller  83  onto a click, thereby returning the paper to the hopper  81 . 
     The delivery mechanism  182  is provided with a paper feeding roller  85  for feeding a paper in a secondary scanning direction synchronously with a recording operation and a driven roller  86  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The paper feeding roller  85  is provided on an upstream side of a delivery of a platen  203  and serves to interpose a paper fed by the paper feeding roller  82  together with the driven roller  86  and to feed the paper to the platen  203 . 
     The paper discharging mechanism  183  includes a paper discharging roller  87 , and a first support roller  88   a  and a second support roller  88   b  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The first support roller  88   a  is provided on a downstream side of the delivery of the platen  203 , and the second support roller  88   b  and the paper discharging roller  87  are provided opposite to each other on the downstream side of the delivery of the first support roller  88   a . The paper passing through the platen  203  is first discharged and fed by the first support roller  88   a , and subsequently, is interposed between the second support roller  88   b  and the paper discharging roller  87  and is thus discharged onto the stacker  152 . The first support roller  88   a  and the second support roller  88   b  are held by the same holding member which is not shown. 
     The control portion  190  includes a main substrate  191  constituting a printer controller as shown in  FIG. 4 . Control devices and storage devices such as a CPU, an ROM, an RAM and an ASIC which are not shown and other various circuit devices are attached to the main substrate  191 . The control portion  190  serves to control the paper delivery portion  180  and the recording portion  200  which constitute a print engine. 
     The recording portion  200  is provided with a carriage  201  to be moved in a primary scanning direction synchronously with a recording operation, the recording head  202  for discharging an ink synchronously with the recording operation, and the platen  203  for flatly holding the paper in the recording operation as shown in  FIG. 4 . A carriage guide shaft  204  is provided through the carriage  201  above the platen  203  so that the carriage  201  is coupled to a carriage belt  205  as shown in  FIG. 3 . When the carriage belt  205  is operated by means of a carriage motor which is not shown, the carriage  201  is guided and reciprocated by means of the carriage guide shaft  204  in accordance with the motion of the carriage belt  205 . 
     The recording head  202  is mounted on the carriage  201  to form a predetermined interval from the platen  203  as shown in  FIG. 4 , and can discharge inks having two kinds of black colors such as photo black and mat black, and seven colors such as yellow, cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, gray and red, respectively. More specifically, in the recording head  202 , a pressure generating chamber and a nozzle opening connected thereto are provided on a nozzle plate. By storing the ink in the pressure generating chamber to carry out a pressurization at a predetermined pressure, ink droplets having sizes controlled are discharged from the nozzle opening toward the paper. The platen  203  is provided opposite to the recording head  202  between the paper feeding roller  85  and the paper discharging roller  87  and serves to support the delivered paper through a face. Next, the details of the automatic paper feeding mechanism  181  including the characteristic portions of the invention will be further described with reference to the drawings. 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing the automatic paper feeding mechanism  181 ,  FIG. 6  is a front view showing the same, and  FIG. 7  is a side view showing the same. In the automatic paper feeding mechanism  181 , the hopper  81 , the paper feeding roller  82 , the retard roller  83  and the paper return lever  84  are provided in a paper feeding frame  89  taking such a shape as to surround three directions including both side surface sides of the printer and aback side of the printer. More specifically, the paper feeding roller  82  is disposed on a forward side of a lower part of the hopper  81  opposite thereto and the retard roller  83  is disposed opposite below the paper feeding roller  82 , and a plurality of paper return levers  84  is arranged on both sides of the retard roller  83 . 
     The hopper  81  is provided to be pivotable toward the paper feeding roller  82  side in a predetermined timing in the feed of the paper around a shaft  81   a . More specifically, the hopper  81  is engaged with a hopper cam  82   b  formed integrally in the vicinity of both ends of a paper feeding roller shaft  82   a  and a position thereof is regulated, and at the same time, the hopper  81  is pivoted by the rotation of the hopper cam  82   b  with the rotation of the paper feeding roller shaft  82   a . The hopper  81  is provided with an edge guide (first guide unit)  11  for guiding one end side in the primary scanning direction of a paper P stacked on the paper feeding frame  89  and a reference end guide (second guide unit)  12  for regulating, into a reference end, the other end side in the primary scanning direction of the paper P stacked on the paper feeding frame  89  and guiding the paper P. 
     The edge guide  11  is hung and attached to an upper end of the hopper  81  through an arm portion  11   a , and furthermore, is provided to be manually slidable in a direction shown in S corresponding to a size of the paper P in engagement with a long slot  13  in the primary scanning direction which is formed on the hopper  81 . The edge guide  11  is provided with a rise preventing guide  11   b  for preventing the fed paper P from rising. Similarly, the reference end guide  12  is hung and attached to the upper end of the hopper  81  through an arm portion  12   a , and furthermore, is provided to be automatically slidable in the direction shown in S in a release operation which will be described below in engagement with the long slot  13  in the primary scanning direction which is formed on the hopper  81 . The reference end guide  2  is also provided with a rise preventing guide  12   b  for preventing the paper P fed from the paper feeding frame  89  from rising. 
     As described in the background art, when both side ends of the paper come in contact with the edge guide  11  and the reference end guide  12 , a frictional resistance between the both side ends of the paper and the edge guide  11  and reference end guide  12  is increased in the feed of the paper, resulting in a paper feeding failure. In the recording operation in the latter stage of the paper feed, particularly, there is a possibility that recording precision might be deteriorated. In the embodiment, therefore, there is employed a structure in which the edge guide  11  and the reference end guide  12  are particularly released from both side ends of the paper in the recording operation in the latter stage of the paper feed. Description will be given with reference to the drawings. 
       FIGS. 8A and 8B  are side views showing a mechanism for moving the edge guide  11 , and  FIGS. 9A and 9B  are sectional views taken along IXA-IXA′ in  FIG. 8A  and IXB-IXB′ in  FIG. 8B  respectively. As shown in  FIGS. 8A and 8B , an edge guide moving mechanism (first moving unit)  20  includes a guide protruded portion  21  formed on the lower end of the hopper  81  and a guide groove  22  formed on an abutment portion  89   a  on which a lower end of the paper P supported on the hopper  81  abuts. The guide protruded portion  21  is engaged with the guide groove  22  and is thus moved along the guide groove  22 . 
     The guide groove  22  is constituted by a straight groove  22   a  extended in the pivoting direction of the hopper  81  and formed on the paper feeding roller  82  side and an inclined groove  22   b  inclined with respect to the straight groove  22   a  and formed on the opposite side of the paper feeding roller  82 . The hopper  81  is provided to be pivotable toward the paper feeding roller  82  side and to be movable in the primary scanning direction. When the hopper  81  is pivoted in such a direction as to separate from the paper feeding roller  82 , accordingly, the guide protruded portion  21  passes through the straight groove  22   a  of the guide groove  22  as shown in  FIG. 9A  and then passes through the inclined groove  22   b  as shown in  FIG. 9B . Accordingly, the guide protruded portion  22   a  is moved in the primary scanning direction by the inclined groove  22   b . Thus, the hopper  81  is also moved in the primary scanning direction together with the edge guide  11 . 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view showing a mechanism for moving the reference end guide  12 . A reference end guide moving mechanism (second moving unit)  30  includes two pinion gears  31   a  and  31   b  provided on the back side of the hopper  81 , and rack gears  32   a  and  32   b  provided on the arm portion  12   a  and a lower portion  12   c  in the reference end guide  12  and engaged with the pinion gears  31   a  and  31   b . At the same time that the hopper  81  is moved in the primary scanning direction together with the edge guide  11  by means of the edge guide moving mechanism  20 , accordingly, the pinion gears  31   a  and  31   b  are rotated reversely to move the rack gears  32   a  and  32   b  together with the reference end guide  12  in the primary scanning direction. Thus, the pinion gears  31   a  and  31   b  and the rack gears  32   a  and  32   b  are disposed vertically. Therefore, the reference end guide  12  and the hopper  81  can be smoothly moved in parallel without a wrench. Even if the wrench is caused by an increase in a width of the reference end guide  12 , a backlash can be minimized. 
     According to the edge guide moving mechanism  20  having the structure, the edge guide  11  can be moved from a first position p 1  in  FIG. 11A  to a second position p 3  in  FIG. 11B  with the pivoting motion of the hopper  81 . In the first position p 1 , a side end Pa of the paper P abuts on the edge guide  11 . In the second position p 3 , a gap d 1  is formed between the side end Pa of the paper P and the edge guide  11 . Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a frictional contact in the side end Pa of the paper P on the edge guide  11  side, thereby eliminating a frictional resistance (a back tension). 
     At the same time that the hopper  81  is moved together with the edge guide  11  in the primary scanning direction by means of the edge guide moving mechanism  20 , furthermore, the reference end guide  12  can be moved from a third position p 2  in  FIG. 11A  to a fourth position p 4  in  FIG. 11B  by means of the reference end guide moving mechanism  30 . In the third position p 2 , a side end Pb of the paper P abuts on the reference end guide  12 . In the fourth position p 4 , a gap d 2  is formed between the side end Pb of the paper P and the reference end guide  12 . Also in the side end Pb of the paper P on the reference end guide  12  side, accordingly, it is possible to prevent a frictional contact, thereby eliminating a frictional resistance (a back tension). 
     In the recording operation in the latter stage of the paper feed, thus, the edge guide  11  and the reference end guide  12  are released from both side ends of the paper. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the frictional contact of both side ends of the paper and the edge guide  11  and reference end guide  12 , thereby eliminating a frictional resistance, and to maintain a recording picture quality with high precision also in a paper having a large size. Moreover, the movement of the edge guide moving mechanism  20  and the reference end guide moving mechanism  30  can utilize the pivoting motion of the hopper  81 . Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a new power source. Furthermore, the edge guide moving mechanism  20  and the reference end guide moving mechanism  30  are only provided with the guide protruded portion  21  and the guide groove  22 , the pinion gears  31   a  and  31   b , and the rack gears  32   a  and  32   b . Consequently, it is possible to have a simple structure. In addition, the guide groove  22  of the edge guide moving mechanism  20  is provided with the straight groove  22   a  and the inclined groove  22   b . Therefore, the movement of the edge guide  11  and the reference end guide  12  in the primary scanning direction can be controlled based on the pivoting motion of the hopper  81  in one cycle. Furthermore, the guide groove  22  is provided with the straight groove  22   a  on the paper feeding roller  82  side. Therefore, there is no possibility that the press of the paper P against the paper feeding roller  82  to be the original functions and advantages of the hopper  81  might be hindered. 
     While the description has been given by taking the printer of the ink jet type as an example of the recording apparatus, any recording apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus or a copying apparatus can be applied. In addition to the recording apparatus, moreover, the invention can also be applied to an apparatus comprising a coloring material ejecting head to be used for manufacturing a color filter in a liquid crystal display, an electrode material (a conductive paste) ejecting head to be used for forming an electrode in an organic EL display or a surface emitting display (FED), a bioorganic ejecting head to be used for manufacturing a biochip or a sample ejecting head to be a precision pipette, for example, as a liquid ejecting apparatus for ejecting a liquid corresponding to uses from a liquid ejecting head onto a medium to be ejected, thereby sticking the liquid onto the medium to be ejected in place of an ink.