Patent ID: 8231124

Claim:
A paper feeding device, comprising: a recording medium storing section which stores a recording medium to be fed; a transport section which feeds out and transports, sheet by sheet, the recording medium from the recording medium storing section; a lifting section on which the recording medium stored in the recording medium storing section is placed, and one end side of which is raised so as to cause the recording medium to abut the transport section, and which has an opening to expose the lowermost face of the placed recording medium; a measurement unit which is disposed below the lifting section, and which measures, from below the lifting section and through the opening, a first distance up to the lowermost face of the recording medium placed on the lifting section, and a second distance up to the lowermost face of the recording medium placed on the lifting section, after the recording medium is transported by the transport section; and a calculation unit which calculates the number of sheets of the recording medium that is placed on the lifting section, on the basis of the measured first and second distances.