Sheet material feed apparatus and recording apparatus

A sheet material feed apparatus comprising:

• sheet material stacking means for stacking sheets of a sheet material;
• a feed roller for feeding the sheets stacked on the sheet material stacking means;
• a separation roller rotated according to the feed roller to separate a sheet;
• a separation roller holder for rotatably holding the separation roller, said separation roller holder being rotated thereby to move the separation roller to a position in contact with the feed roller and a position apart from the feed roller;
• means for rotating the separation roller holder to cause the separation roller to move to a contact position with the feed roller and to a release position being from the feed roller;
• a return lever rotatably supported by a rotation center for returning the sheets other than the sheet separated by the separation roller to the sheet material stacking means, wherein the sheet is returned by the rotation of the return lever;
• means for rotating the return lever to return the sheet;
• holding means for holding to the return lever so that the rotation center of the return lever is movable toward and apart from the sheet separated by the separation roller;
• and
• urging means for urging the return lever toward the sheet separated by the separation roller, the return lever being capable of pushing the sheet separated by the separation roller.

A recording apparatus for recording on a sheet of a sheet material by a recording head, said apparatus comprising:

• a head mounting block for mounting a recording head;
• sheet material stacking means for stacking sheets of the sheet material;
• a feed roller for feeding the sheets stacked on the sheet material stacking means;
• a drive source for driving the feed roller;
• a separation roller rotated according to the feed roller to separate a sheet;
• a separation roller holder for rotatably holding the separation roller, said separation roller holder being rotated thereby to move the separation roller to a position in contact with the feed roller and a position apart from the feed roller;
• means for rotating the separation roller holder to cause the separation roller to move to a contact position with the feed roller and to a release position from the feed roller;
• and
• return means for returning the sheet other than the sheet separated by the separation roller to the sheet material stacking means, the return means being controlled by one-direction rotation for driving the feed roller of the drive source,
• wherein the return means is movable to a first position for closing a sheet material feed route from the sheet material stacking means to the feed roller, a second position for pushing the sheet back to a position closer to the sheet material stacking means than the first position, and a third position in which the return means is not in contact with the sheet material.

A recording apparatus for recording on a sheet material by a recording head, said apparatus comprising:

• a head mounting block for mounting a recording head;
• sheet material stacking means for stacking sheets of the sheet material;
• a feed roller for feeding the sheets stacked on the sheet material stacking means;
• a separation roller rotated according to the feed roller to separate a sheet;
• a separation roller holder for rotatably holding the separation roller, the separation roller holder being rotated thereby to move the separation roller to a position in contact with the feed roller and a position apart from the feed roller;
• means for rotating the separation roller holder to cause the separation roller to move to a contact position with the feed roller and to a release position from the feed roller;
• a return lever rotatably supported by a rotation center for returning the sheets other that the sheet separated by the separation roller to the sheet material stacking means, wherein the sheet is returned by the rotation of the return lever;
• means for rotating the return lever to return the sheet;
• holding means for holding the return lever so that the rotation center of the return lever is movable toward and apart from the sheet;
• and
• urging means for urging the return lever toward the sheet separated by the separation roller, the return lever being capable of pushing the sheet separated by the separation roller.