Patent ID: 7694956

Claim:
A recording apparatus, comprising: a hopper, adapted to stack a plurality of recording sheets thereon; a sheet feed roller, adapted to rotate to deliver an uppermost one of the stacked recording sheets; a sheet delivery roller, adapted to deliver the uppermost one of the stacked recording sheets to a recoding section at which a recording operation is performed with respect to the delivered uppermost one of the recording sheets; and a hopper moving mechanism, operable to move the hopper among a first position where the sheet feed roller is pressed against the uppermost one of the stacked recording sheets, a second position where the sheet feed roller is separated from the uppermost one of the stacked recording sheets, and a third position which is positioned between the first position and the second position and is variable in accordance with an amount of the stacked recording sheets, wherein: the hopper moving mechanism comprises: a rotary cam having a plurality of guide surfaces disposed on separate diametric locations on the rotary cam adapted to rotate in conjunction with rotation of the sheet feed roller; a cam lever selectively engaged with one of the guide surfaces of the rotary cam so as to swing in conjunction with rotation of the rotary cam; a cam lever holder holding the cam lever so as to swing in conjunction with swinging of the cam lever; and a release bar having one end portion which is in contact with the cam lever holder and the other end portion which is engaged with the hopper so as to move the hopper in conjunction with swing of the cam lever holder; and wherein said one of the guide surfaces, with which the cam lever is engaged, is selected depending on the amount of the stacked recording sheets so that the third position of the hopper is varied in accordance with said one of the guide surfaces with which the cam lever is engaged.