Patent ID: 7963517

Claim:
A sheet feed device comprising: a first sheet cassette comprising an accommodating portion configured to accommodate a first plurality of sheets; a second sheet cassette comprising a holding portion configured to hold a second plurality of sheets; a sheet feeder configured to selectively feed the first plurality of sheets and the second plurality of sheets in a sheet feed direction toward a sheet feed path, wherein the sheet feeder comprises a first sheet feed unit comprising a first sheet feed roller; a sheet separator configured to separate, one by one, the sheets fed by the sheet feeder; and a lifting mechanism configured to move up and down the first sheet feed roller, wherein the second sheet cassette is configured to move above the accommodating portion of the first sheet cassette between a first position and a second position, wherein the first sheet feed roller is configured to move between a first sheet feed position in which the first sheet feed roller contacts the holding portion of the second sheet cassette when the second sheet cassette is in the first position, and a second sheet feed position in which the first sheet feed roller contacts the accommodating portion of the first sheet cassette when the second sheet cassette is in the second position, and wherein the lifting mechanism is configured to move up the first sheet feed roller away from the accommodating portion of the first sheet cassette and the holding portion of the second sheet cassette when the second sheet cassette is in a third position which is between the first position and the second position and in which a downstream end of the second sheet cassette in the sheet feed direction passes the first sheet feed roller.