Patent ID: 7628392

Claim:
A sheet feed device comprising: a first sheet cassette comprising a first bottom surface configured to hold a first plurality of sheets; a second sheet cassette disposed on the first sheet cassette and comprising a second bottom surface configured to hold a second plurality of sheets, wherein at least one characteristic of the first plurality of sheets is different than at least one characteristic of the second plurality of sheets; a sheet feeder comprising: a sheet feed arm having a first end and a second end and configured to pivot about a pivot center at the first end, and a sheet feed roller mounted at the second end, wherein the sheet feed roller is configured to selectively feed the first plurality of sheets and the second plurality of sheets in a sheet feed direction toward a recording unit, and the sheet feed roller is located downstream from the pivot center in the sheet feed direction; and a sheet separator configured to separate, one by one, the sheets fed by the sheet feeder, wherein the second sheet cassette is configured to move relative to the first sheet cassette along the sheet feed direction between a first position and a second position, and the sheet feed roller is configured to contact a surface of the second plurality of sheets held on the second bottom surface when the second sheet cassette is in the first position, and a downstream portion of the second bottom surface downstream from the sheet feed roller in the sheet feed direction is inclined so as to increase in height in a direction toward the sheet separator.