Abstract: A discharge device is usable for an image forming apparatus including a fixing portion having a heating roller in the shape of a hyperboloid for fixing a toner image formed on an envelope having a turned-up portion, and a stacking portion for stacking envelopes. The discharge device provided with a discharge roller system provided between the fixing portion and the stacking portion to discharge the envelope to the stacking portion has a upright portion provided near the discharge roller system below the transport path of the envelope to prevent the turned-up portion of the envelope from warping downward. This discharge device prevents a discharging envelope from coming into contact or colliding with the uppermost one of a stack of already discharged envelopes on the stacking portion, and enables the envelopes to be discharged suitably and to be stacked orderly on the stacking portion and increases an amount of envelopes stacked on the stacking portion.

Abstract: A copy item transport device is used in an image forming apparatus having an image bearing member and a pair of registration rollers before the image bearing member, and includes a separator for regulating multiple copy items to one copy item for each image formation. The separator is constructed by a forward roller being driven in a forward direction of transporting the copy item to the registration roller pair, a reverse roller in contact with the forward roller. The reverse roller is driven in a reverse direction of transporting the copy item backward, but rotatable in the forward direction together with the forward roller when receiving a greater transmitted forward torque from the forward roller than the reverse torque. The reverse drive to the reverse roller is stopped at the same time or after the forward drive to the forward roller is stopped to assure the nip of copy item by the registration roller pair.

Abstract: A sheet discharging device is used in an image forming apparatus including fixing means adopting heat roller fixing method of fusing a toner image transferred to a sheet so as to fix the same on the sheet while transporting the sheet by heating and pressing rollers rotated at a specified speed. This sheet discharging device is provided with a sheet discharger including first and second rollers and arranged downstream from the fixing device, a contact point of the first and second rollers being located toward the pressing roller from a tangent line on a point of a circumferential surface of the heat heating roller which intersects with a straight line connecting centers of the heating and pressing rollers, and a drive mechanism for driving the first roller and the heating roller so that a speed of the first roller at the circumferential surface thereof is greater than that of the healing roller. Accordingly, a sheet curled in the fixing device can be straightened with a simple construction.

Abstract: A cassette is attachable to an image forming apparatus including a feed roller. The cassette is provided with a push-up member for pushing up leading edges of sheets placed in the cassette so as to bring the uppermost one of the contained sheets into contact with the feed roller, and a restricting member for restricting displacement of the contained sheets from a specified position. By attaching thus constructed cassette to the image forming apparatus, sheets can be fed properly by the feed roller.

Abstract: A parallel transport apparatus for transporting sheets side by side along a plurality of transport paths is provided with a feed roller which is brought into contact with uppermost sheets of a plurality of stacks of sheet contained side by side in a cassette and is adapted for feeding the uppermost sheets side by side; a separation roller pair arranged at a specified position of each of the plurality of transport paths and adapted for separating the sheets fed side by side so that one each of sheets are transported along the respective transport paths simultaneously; a sheet detector arranged downstream from the separation roller pair with respect to a sheet transport direction and adapted for detecting the presence or absence of sheets being transported side by side; and a multifeed discriminator for discriminating whether the multiple feeding has been occurred along any of the transport paths in accordance with an output from the sheet detector.