A printing apparatus includes a supply unit, a supply path, first and second conveyance paths, a printing unit, and an inversion roller. The first conveyance path conveys, to a first direction, a print medium. The printing unit prints an image on the two surface of the print medium. The inversion roller inverts a conveyance direction of the print medium and conveys the print medium in a second direction. The second conveyance path conveys the print medium conveyed in the second direction to the first conveyance path while inverting the print medium. When performing printing on both sides of print media, the print media are convey such that a first print medium supplied from the second conveyance path and a second print medium supplied from the supply path overlap in the first conveyance path.

A printing apparatus includes a first conveyance path, a conveyance roller, a printing unit, a reverse roller provided at a position on a downstream side of the printing unit in a first direction, a second conveyance path configured to reverse the front and back of the print medium, and a control unit. In a case where a first print medium on which printing has been performed first is conveyed in a second direction via the second conveyance path, the control unit controls the conveyance roller and the reverse roller, such that a trailing edge of the first print medium in the second direction passes through the reverse roller before a second print medium conveyed by the conveyance roller subsequent to the first print medium reaches the reverse roller.

An electrode sheet turning mechanism includes a housing, a conveyor belt, a driver, and a stripper. The housing has a suction cavity, and forms an arc-shaped guide surface. A material feeding region and a material discharging region are formed on the arc-shaped guide surface, which is further provided with first suction holes. Second suction holes run through the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is wound on the arc-shaped guide surface, and seals the first suction holes. The driver is for driving the conveyor belt to move. The stripper is for extending to the position between the conveyor belt and the electrode sheet. In the present utility model, the electrode sheet can be automatically turned.

The invention relates to a handling device for presenting a flat piece to at least a first and a second treatment device in particular for presenting a plastic card substrate to a printer device and a flipping device. The handling device comprises an elongated backbone element; wherein the backbone element is rotatable along a longitudinal axis and has at least a first and a second angular position; a holding element configured to hold the flat piece relative to the backbone element; and a control unit, configured to control the angular position of the backbone element; wherein, when the backbone element is at the first angular position, the flat piece is at a first treatment position for the first treatment device, and when the backbone element is at the second angular position, the flat piece is at a second treatment position for the second treatment device.

A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a conveyance section, the conveyance section including a roller rotatable in a first rotation direction and a second rotation direction, a guide member configured to move between a first position and a second position, a drive source, a drive switching unit including an input unit, an output unit, and a switching unit, a drive interruption unit configured to transition between a transmission state and a non-transmission state. The roller is configured to rotate by the driving force output from the output unit of the drive switching unit while the guide member moves between the first position and the second position.

An image forming apparatus includes a drawer unit, a sheet inverting unit, a sheet guide plate, and a projection. The drawer unit is drawable from an apparatus body. The sheet inverting unit is disposed in the apparatus body, and pulls a sheet into a lower portion of the drawer unit to invert the sheet. The sheet guide plate is disposed on the sheet inverting unit to face the drawer unit, and includes a recess extending in a pull-out direction of the drawer unit that crosses a direction in which the sheet is transported. The projection protrudes toward the recess from a portion of a lower surface of the drawer unit facing the sheet guide plate near a pull-out start point in the pull-out direction and on a rear of a transport area of the sheet.

A sheet flipping device comprising: a flipping element rotatably disposed adjacent to a sheet receiving plane and having, in its outer periphery, at least two insertion slots for insertion of a respective leading edge of a sheet to be flipped; a sheet transport device configured for feeding sheets with their respective leading edges into the insertion slots; and a controller configured to control the sheet transport device and a rotary drive (54) for the flipping element such that each sheet the leading edge of which has been inserted into one of the insertion slots is temporarily restrained while the transport mechanism continues to feed the sheet, so that the sheet flips over, and the sheet is then dropped onto the receiving plane, wherein each insertion slot has a mouth defined between a peripheral surface of the flipping element and a flexible finger that extends tangentially from said peripheral surface, the controller is configured to move one of the insertion slots into a sheet receiving position regardless of whether or not a trailing edge of a preceding sheet has left the sheet transport device, and the flexible finger has sufficient flexibility to be deflected by a sheet which has its trailing edge still held in the sheet transport device.

A sheet flipping device comprising: a flipping element rotatably disposed adjacent to a sheet receiving plane and having, in its outer periphery, at least two insertion slots for insertion of a respective leading edge of a sheet to be flipped; a sheet transport device configured for feeding sheets with their respective leading edges into the insertion slots; and a controller configured to control the sheet transport device and a rotary drive (54) for the flipping element such that each sheet the leading edge of which has been inserted into one of the insertion slots is temporarily restrained while the transport mechanism continues to feed the sheet, so that the sheet flips over, and the sheet is then dropped onto the receiving plane, wherein each insertion slot has a mouth defined between a peripheral surface of the flipping element and a flexible finger that extends tangentially from said peripheral surface, the controller is configured to move one of the insertion slots into a sheet receiving position regardless of whether or not a trailing edge of a preceding sheet has left the sheet transport device, and the flexible finger has sufficient flexibility to be deflected by a sheet which has its trailing edge still held in the sheet transport device.

A medium transport unit includes an upstream route in which a print sheet is transported, a first switchback route, a second switchback route, a first guide route, a second guide route, a guide flap configured to switch the route so that the print sheet in the upstream route is transported either toward the first guide route or toward the second guide route, a first discharge route from which the print sheet in the first switchback route is discharged, a second discharge route from which the print sheet in the second switchback route is discharged, and a downstream route passing between the first switchback route and the second switchback route and having an upstream end connected to a junction of downstream ends of the first discharge route and the second discharge route.

A medium transport unit includes an upstream route in which a print sheet is transported, a first switchback route, a second switchback route, a first guide route, a second guide route, a guide flap configured to switch the route so that the print sheet in the upstream route is transported either toward the first guide route or toward the second guide route, a first discharge route from which the print sheet in the first switchback route is discharged, a second discharge route from which the print sheet in the second switchback route is discharged, and a downstream route passing between the first switchback route and the second switchback route and having an upstream end connected to a junction of downstream ends of the first discharge route and the second discharge route.