Patent ID: 8210673

Claim:
A recording apparatus comprising: a first retainer and a second retainer arranged side by side in a thrust direction, the first and second retainers being rotatable and retaining a long recording medium wound therearound; a guide mechanism that draws the recording medium wound around the first retainer in the thrust direction and guides the recording medium in a direction in which the recording medium can be wound around the second retainer; a recording unit that performs a first recording process on the recording medium wound in a single layer around and retained by the first retainer under rotation of the first retainer and a second recording process on the recording medium wound in a single layer around and retained by the second retainer under rotation of the second retainer, wherein the recording medium wound in a single layer around and retained by the first retainer is equal in length in a transport direction of the recoding medium as the recording medium wound in a single layer around and retained by the second retainer; a rotatable hollow body case having a plurality of communication portions providing communication between an inside and an outside of the body case; a first shaft that is accommodated in the body case and supports the recording medium wound in a roll shape in a manner that the recording medium can be fed from the inside to the outside of the body case through the communication portion positioned at an upstream side of a transportation path of the recording medium among the communication portions; and a second shaft that is accommodated in the body case and is capable of taking up the recording medium introduced from the outside to the inside of the body case through the communication portion positioned at a downstream side of the transportation path of the recording medium among the communication portions, wherein the guide mechanism guides the recording medium introduced from the outside to the inside of the body case through the communication portion on the upstream side of the guide mechanism from the inside to the outside of the body case through the communication portion on the downstream side of the guide mechanism, wherein the recording medium drawn from the inside to the outside of the body case through the communication portions is wound around separate regions of an outer circumference of the body case, the separate regions being arranged in the thrust direction, and introduced from the outside to the inside of the body case through the communication portions, and wherein the first retainer and the second retainer are formed of the separate regions of the outer circumference of the body case.