Abstract: There is provided a sheet conveyance apparatus, including: a casing; a sheet support unit including a first surface inclined to a placement surface; a separation unit arranged in the sheet support unit on a side of the placement surface and abutting against edges of the sheets supported by the first surface; a first plate member including a second surface arranged in the sheet support unit on a side opposite to the separation unit and faces in the same direction as the first surface; and a feed unit which feeds the sheet supported by the first surface and the distal end of the second surface to the conveyance path while slidably moving the sheet with respect to the separation unit.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a discharging slot provided for discharging a recording medium on which an image is formed; a discharge tray including a supporting surface supporting the recording medium discharged from the discharging slot; a discharge mechanism configured to discharge the recording medium to the discharge tray through the discharging slot; and a press down mechanism including an abutting surface which is provided for pressing down the upper surface of the recording medium supported by the supporting surface of the discharge tray. The press down mechanism is rotatable about a rotation center provided on the upstream of the discharging slot in a discharge direction in which the recording medium is discharged from the discharging slot, and the abutting surface contacts with the supporting surface when no recording medium is supported by the discharge tray.

Abstract: A sheet conveyer device, including a transmitter to transmit ultrasonic waves arranged on a conveyer path to face a first side of a sheet; a receiver to receive the ultrasonic waves arranged on the conveyer path to face a second side of the sheet; a measurement unit to measure an intensity of the received ultrasonic waves; and a determination unit to determine a condition of a range in the conveyer path between the transmitter and the receiver among a first condition, wherein no sheet is present in the range, a second condition, in which a sheet is present in the range, and a third condition, in which a plurality of sheets are present in the range, based on intensities of the ultrasonic waves measured by the measurement unit in a plurality of periods separately after transmission of the ultrasonic waves, is provided.

Abstract: Provided is an image forming apparatus, including: a manual feed tray on which a recording material is stacked; a first detecting unit; a second detecting unit arranged on an upstream side of the first detecting unit; a third detecting unit arranged on an upstream side of the second detecting unit; a fourth detecting unit detecting a length of the recording material; a display portion; and a control portion determining a size of the recording material based on detection results and causing the display portion to display a first screen displaying the determined size, wherein the control portion causes the display portion to display a second screen for designating the size, when, among the first to third detecting units, a detecting unit located on a downstream side does not detect presence of the recording material and another detecting unit located on an upstream side of the detecting unit, detects the presence.

Abstract: The conveyance apparatus includes a first engaging portion of a first planetary gear unit and a second engaging portion of a second planetary gear unit, and a stopping member movable to a first stop position to stop a first engaged gear, and to a second stop position to stop a second engagement gear, in which a pivot fulcrum of the stopping member is arranged at an intersection between an extension line of a vector of a force that the first engaging portion receives from the first engaged portion under a state in which the stopping member is at the first stop position, and an extension line of a vector of a force that the second engaging portion receives from the second engaged portion under a state in which the stopping member is at the second stop position.

Abstract: The present invention provides a conveyor mechanism for conveying sheets. The conveyor mechanism comprises a movable conveyor body, a drive mechanism, and an adjustment system configured to detect and correct skewing of the conveyor body, comprising one or more markers provided on or in the conveyor body, a sensor arrangement for detecting each marker at two or more discrete positions, and a processor to determine the skewing of the conveyor body. The conveyor body and the drive mechanism of the conveyor mechanism are mounted on a movable conveyor frame, and the adjustment system includes a frame shifting device comprising one or one or more actuator for shifting or moving the conveyor frame relative to a fixed framework. The invention also provides a related method of correcting skewing in a conveyor mechanism for conveying sheets along a transport path.

Abstract: A sheet conveyance apparatus includes: a support member having a support surface configured to support sheets, a feed unit configured to feed the sheets stacked on the support surface in a feed direction, a guide member provided on the downstream side of the support member in the feed direction, and a separating member projecting from an inclined surface of the guide member toward the support surface. The inclined surface is curved such that a separating area where the separating member is provided comes closest to the side of the support surface. The support surface has a first support surface located on the immediate upstream side in the feed direction to correspond to the separating area, and second support surfaces arranged respectively on both sides of the first support surface in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction to be lowered than the first support surface.

Abstract: A printing machine includes a printing unit which performs printing while transferring a sheet at a printing transfer speed, a circulation transfer unit which receives the sheet after simplex printing and transfers the sheet by reversing the sheet upside down, during duplex printing; and a paper refeed unit which refeeds, to the printing unit, the sheet transferred by the circulation transfer unit after simplex printing, wherein the circulation transfer unit includes a reversing unit which receives the sheet at the printing transfer speed, reverses the sheet upside down by switching back the sheet and accelerates the sheet up to a circulation transfer speed which is higher than the printing transfer speed when sheet transfer is restarted after temporal stop in the switching back, and a horizontal transfer unit which transfers the sheet switched back by the reversing unit, at the circulation transfer speed.

Abstract: A conveying mechanism has a pair of nipping members configured to nip a sheet from both sides thereof at a nipping position and to convey the sheet from upstream to downstream side. The pair of nipping members includes a conveying roller. A controller performs: a motor controlling process of controlling the motor to perform a conveying operation of the sheet by rotation of the conveying roller; a reaction-force calculating process of calculating a reaction-force inference value which corresponds to reaction force that acts on the motor, by removing a friction component generated due to rotation of the motor from a disturbance inference value, the disturbance inference value being calculated from both a control input to the motor and a control output relative to the control input; and a warning process of outputting warning in response to occurrence of multiple feeding of the sheet, based on the reaction-force inference value.

Abstract: A sheet loading apparatus includes: a sheet loading portion that includes a bottom portion on which a sheet is loaded; and a regulating mechanism that butts an end edge of the sheet extending in a first direction to limit a position of the sheet in a second direction. The regulating mechanism includes: a guide portion that is formed on the bottom portion to extend in the second direction; and a limiting member slidable along the guide portion. The guide portion includes: first engaged portions that are formed at predetermined intervals along the second direction; and a second engaged portion that is formed continuously along the second direction. The limiting member includes: a pair of engaging portions that are composed of: a first engagement portion able to engage with one of the first engaged portions; and a second engagement portion which engages with the second engaged portion.

Abstract: There is provided a conveyance unit including a conveyance roller; a nip member movable between a contact position and a separation position; a tray movable between an installation position and a pull-out position; and a lever. The lever is configured to have a first state, a second state and a third state. The lever in the first state can make contact with the tray moving between the installation position and the pull-out position. The lever pivots from the first state to the second state when the tray moves from the installation position to the pull-out position, and the lever pivots from the first state to the third state when the tray moves from the pull-out position to the installation position. The conveyance unit further includes an interlocking mechanism.

Abstract: A sheet conveying device has a pair of upper discharge rollers including a first discharge roller and a first following roller, a second discharge tray, a corrugation member, and a moving mechanism. The first discharge roller is rotatable in forward and reverse directions. The corrugation member corrugates the sheet by making contact with its sheet face. The moving mechanism moves the corrugation member between a first position, where it makes contact with the sheet face of the sheet, and a second position, where it is located above, away from, the nip portion of the pair of upper discharge rollers. An image forming apparatus incorporates such a sheet conveying device.

Abstract: A screening or screen for use in classifying material. The screening includes a plurality of warp screening elements. Preferably, the plurality of warp screening elements is a plurality of warp wires. The plurality of warp screening elements includes a first warp screening element having a plurality of horizontal undulations. The plurality of warp screening elements further includes a second warp screening element. Preferably, one of the first warp screening element and the second warp screening element is a shaped wire having two substantially flat sidewalls. At least one retaining member is operably associated with the plurality of warp screening elements to form an integral screen segment having a plurality of openings for permitting material to be classified to pass through the openings. The first warp screening element has a cross-sectional height or shape different from the cross-sectional height or shape of the second warp screening element.

Abstract: This paper guiding mechanism (110) includes a base member (1) including a placing surface (11) for placing papers (200) thereon and a base-side lock portion (12) and a paper guide member (2), while the paper guide member includes a paper aligning portion (21) coming into contact with the papers, a guide-side lock portion (22) locked to the base-side lock portion, and a lever portion (23) canceling a locked state of the guide-side lock portion with respect to the base-side lock portion and maintaining an unlocked state when the paper aligning portion is slidingly moved.

Abstract: A printer includes a platen roller, a first pulley connected to the shaft of the platen roller, a motor, a second pulley connected to the shaft of the motor, and a belt wrapped around the first pulley and the second pulley. At least one of the first pulley and the second pulley has a variable diameter.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided. Sheets, a plurality of which form a set, are contained in each of containers, and sheets are fed from the corresponding containers. If a first sheet to be fed is in the same layer as a second sheet that was fed from the containers last time, the first sheet is fed from a set that included the second sheet in the containers is fed. If the layer of the first sheet is higher than the layer of the second sheet that was fed from the containers last time, all remaining sheets in the set that included the second sheet are discharged from the containers.

Abstract: A roller member includes an endless belt elastically deformable and configured to convey a sheet and a holding unit holding the endless belt. The holding unit includes a first holding portion being in contact with an inner circumferential surface of the endless belt, a second holding portion being in contact with an outer circumferential surface of the endless belt and movable with respect to the first holding portion, and an engage portion engaging with an engaged portion. The second holding portion is moved with respect to the first holding portion by resilient force of the endless belt in a state in which the second holding portion is in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the endless belt in response to a disengagement of the engage portion from the engaged portion.

Abstract: Provided is a transport device including a transport unit that transports a recording medium by interposing the recording medium, a driving unit that drives the transport unit, a detection unit that detects a peak value of a load of the driving unit when the recording medium is discharged from the transport unit, and a derivation unit that derives a thickness of the recording medium based on the peak value detected by the detection unit.

Abstract: A feeding device includes a roller configured to feed an uppermost sheet of a plurality of sheets stacked in a stacking unit, and an inclined separator located downstream of the roller in a feed direction and configured to separate one sheet from another sheet. The inclined separator includes a first separator and a second separator that are arranged along the feed direction. Resistance imparted to each sheet by the first separator is greater than resistance imparted to each sheet by the second separator.

Abstract: A sheet stacking tray that includes a single pneumatic baffle which uses the pressure differential caused by the flow of air across a cross process curved bottom surface of the pneumatic baffle to hold the lead edge of sheets driven by an input nip into the sheet stacking tray above a stack especially for longer and lighter weight sheets as they are driven by the input nip to a registration wall.