A packer forms stacks of segments cut from a web of material. The packer has a shoe that contacts the segment and pushes the segment onto the stack. A follower is operatively connected to the shoe. A drive shaft is operatively connected to a motor. A drive crank is operatively mounted to the drive shaft operatively pivotally connected to the follower. A motion control assembly is configured for synchronized motion with the drive shaft. The motion control assembly has a member operatively connected to the follower. When the drive shaft rotates, the drive crank moves the follower toward and away from a face of the segment and the motion control assembly operates in a manner to move the follower toward and away from a leading edge of the segment.

A recording medium post-processing device includes a binding unit and a hole forming unit. The binding unit performs a binding process on a recording medium bundle. The hole forming unit performs a hole forming process in a region of recording media that constitute the recording medium bundle including a part of a binding region in which the binding process is performed.

A printing apparatus includes: a printing unit; a first conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet to the printing unit with nipping the sheet; a second conveyance unit provided on a downstream side of the first conveyance unit in a conveyance direction of the sheet, and configured to convey the sheet with nipping the sheet; a third conveyance unit provided on a downstream side of the second conveyance unit in the conveyance direction, and configured to convey the sheet with nipping the sheet; and a switching unit configured to switch a nip state of the second conveyance unit and a released state in which the nip state is released. When the sheet is conveyed by the third conveyance unit, the switching unit switches the nip state and the released state in accordance with a length of the sheet.

A dispenser for dispensing a flexible, rolled sheet material can include a housing and a supply of the sheet material supported within the housing for feeding the sheet material along a path defined through the housing. A feed roller can be rotatably mounted within the housing and have a body that engages the sheet material to pull the sheet material from the supply to dispense a selected amount of the sheet material therefrom. The dispenser also can include pressing rollers positioned adjacent the feed roller and biased to engage the sheet material between the pressing rollers and the feed roller, and a cutting mechanism arranged along the body of the feed roller that can have a cutting blade operatively connected to the body of the feed roller and actuated with rotation thereof to at least partially cut or perforate a selected portion of the sheet material.

A sheet conveying device includes: a holding mechanism configured to hold suction members; and a driving device including a rotary shaft which is rotatable about a second axis parallel to the first axis and a connecting mechanism configured to connect the rotary shaft and suction members to each other; and a support mechanism configured to support the holding mechanism and the drive device. The connecting mechanism is connected to the suction members in a state where the suction members are movable in a radial direction of the circle about the first axis. The support mechanism supports the holding mechanism and the drive device such that the holding mechanism and the drive device are relatively movable from each other in a direction orthogonal to the first axis.

A post-processing apparatus includes: a cutter that cuts a transported sheet; a waste bin that stores a cutting waste generated by a cutting operation of the cutter and falling from the cutter; a sensor that detects the cutting waste at a predetermined position in a depth direction in the waste bin; and a hardware processor that controls the cutting operation of the cutter according to a cutting mode, sets a predetermined value according to the cutting mode when the sensor detects the cutting waste, counts the number of times of cutting by the cutter after the sensor starts to detect the cutting waste, and detects that the waste bin is full when the counted number of times of cutting reaches the predetermined value.

A method for detecting irregularities on a material strand made of an elastomeric material comprises the steps of: (a) providing a material strand which defines a longitudinal axis along which the material strand is to be conveyed; (b) bringing a detection element in contact with the material strand, wherein at least one of the detection element being movably mounted in a direction of deflection transverse to the longitudinal axis and a force can act on the detection element in a force direction, (c) setting up a relative movement between the detection element and the material strand along the longitudinal axis; and (d) detecting at least one of a deflection of the detection element in the deflection direction and a force acting on the detection element in the force direction, so as to detect irregularities in the material strand.

A component supply device supplies a component accommodated in a carrier tape including a base tape and a cover tape pasted on the base tape and having a length to a forward end thereof that is longer than that of the base tape. The component supply device includes a tape conveying part, a turning over correcting part, and a peeling part. The tape conveying part conveys the carrier tape along a conveyance path. The turning over correcting part moves the forward end of the cover tape folded to a side opposite to a side of a conveyance direction, to a position located ahead of a forward end of the base tape in the conveyance direction in the conveyance path. The peeling part captures the forward end of the cover tape, and peels off the cover tape from the base tape.

A sheet processing apparatus includes a conveyance portion, a punching portion, a moving portion, a first detecting portion, and a control unit configured to control the conveyance portion, the punching portion and the moving portion, wherein the control unit is configured, for a target position of each of a plurality of holes to be formed to a single sheet, to cause the first detecting portion to execute a detection process, and to execute a moving process of moving the moving portion based on the output value of the first detecting portion corresponding to the target position and a punching process of performing punching to the target position of the sheet by the punching portion after the moving process has been completed.

A tape dispenser housing wound adhesive tape includes a brake spoke tapering (i.e., narrowing) from a distal radial end to a proximal radial end relative to a tape rotational axis, wherein the brake spoke effectuates the braking of wound adhesive tape on a hub by contacting the wound adhesive tape, the hub, or both simultaneously.