Patent ID: 8678372

Claim:
A medium feeding device comprising: a feeding roller that conveys a medium in a conveying direction; a brake roller arranged to be in pressure contact with the feeding roller; and a rotational load generating unit that is connected to the brake roller and causes the brake roller to generate a rotational load in a direction counter to the conveying direction, the rotational load generating unit comprising: a first load generating unit that is directly connected to the brake roller and generates a load of a first predetermined torque based on a driving power generated by a driving source; a second load generating unit that is arranged in series with the first load generating unit on a power transmission path along which the rotational load is transmitted to the brake roller, and that generates a load of a second torque smaller than the first torque; and a switching unit that is connected to the first load generating unit side rather than the second load generating unit side on the power transmission path and switches between connection and disconnection between the power transmission path and a bypass route which bypasses the second load generating unit, wherein the rotational load of the brake roller can be changed to the first torque or the second torque by the switching of the switching unit.