A mail processing system utilizes a conveyor to shingle or de-shingle mailpieces as they move through the processing system and utilizes belts to move the mailpieces. A first shingling conveyor moves a first mailpiece to overlap with a second mailpiece to create shingled mailpieces. A second shingling conveyor moves a first mailpiece away from a second mailpiece to de-shingle them to create singulated mailpieces. A camera takes images of the mailpieces in the conveyor and image analysis software is used to determine dimensional aspects of the mailpieces that are used to control the belt speeds to move mailpieces with respect to each other. A mail processing system may include a mail processing station that scans addresses, applies postage and/or weighs the mailpieces. Mail may be de-shingled prior to being weighed and then re-shingled for subsequent processing, or mail may shingled prior to passing through a scale if weighing is not necessary.

A sheet stacking apparatus includes a sheet stacking portion to be mounted into and drawn out of a mounting portion and provided with a side plate including a grip portion by which the sheet stacking portion can be drawn out in the draw-out direction. The sheet stacking portion is supported to be slidable in a draw-out direction by a rail, and the rail is supported to be slidable in the draw-out direction by a rail supporting portion provided in the mounting portion. A rotator is provided on either the rail supporting portion or the rail and disposed in contact with the other of the rail supporting portion and the rail. The rail, the rail supporting portion and the rotator are disposed on one side in the width direction of the sheet stacking portion, and the grip portion is disposed on the other side in the width direction.

A sheet transport apparatus includes a first casing in which a transport path is formed; a transport unit which transports a sheet along the transport path; a second casing which is provided to be movable with respect to the first casing; a sheet support unit which is rotatably provided in the first casing at a position on a side to which the second casing is moved, the sheet support unit being changeable between a first state, a second state, and a third state and supporting the sheet at least in the third state; and an urging unit which urges the sheet support unit toward the first state within a range from the first state to the second state and which urges the sheet support unit toward the third state within a range from the second state to the third state.

A sheet transport apparatus includes a first casing in which a transport path is formed; a transport unit which transports a sheet along the transport path; a second casing which is provided to be movable with respect to the first casing; a sheet support unit which is rotatably provided in the first casing at a position on a side to which the second casing is moved, the sheet support unit being changeable between a first state, a second state, and a third state and supporting the sheet at least in the third state; and an urging unit which urges the sheet support unit toward the first state within a range from the first state to the second state and which urges the sheet support unit toward the third state within a range from the second state to the third state.

The likelihood of a medium jamming is reduced or avoided during discharging media to a discharged-sheet receiving tray, and a plurality of media are appropriately discharged to, and stacked on, the discharged-sheet receiving tray. A scanner includes an apparatus body including a reading section that reads a sheet, a discharge roller pair that is provided inside the apparatus body and discharges the sheet after reads in the reading section, and a discharged sheet tray that receives the sheet being discharged by the discharge roller pair. The discharged sheet tray includes a first member that has at least a portion that is located inside the apparatus body. The first member is that supports the medium at a position higher than the placement surface of the discharged sheet tray.

The likelihood of a medium jamming is reduced or avoided during discharging media to a discharged-sheet receiving tray, and a plurality of media are appropriately discharged to, and stacked on, the discharged-sheet receiving tray. A scanner includes an apparatus body including a reading section that reads a sheet, a discharge roller pair that is provided inside the apparatus body and discharges the sheet after reads in the reading section, and a discharged sheet tray that receives the sheet being discharged by the discharge roller pair. The discharged sheet tray includes a first member that has at least a portion that is located inside the apparatus body. The first member is that supports the medium at a position higher than the placement surface of the discharged sheet tray.

There is provided a processing apparatus including: a processing unit that performs a predetermined process on a medium; a placement unit on which the medium is placed in a first posture; a medium feeding unit that feeds the medium from the placement unit toward the processing unit; and a feed unit that is detachably disposed on the placement unit. The feed unit causes the medium to be placed in a second posture which is different from the first posture. The first posture is a posture in which a surface of the medium is placed along a placement surface of the placement unit, and the second posture is a posture in which sides of a plurality of media are brought into contact with the placement surface of the feed unit.

An unstacker device comprises a floor and a retaining paddle that are designed to move a stack of mailpieces from a feed magazine towards an unstacker head under the action of a monitoring and control unit as the mailpieces are being unstacked from the front of the stack. The device further comprises a vision system suitable for forming a profile digital image of said stack of mailpieces in the magazine, and said unit is arranged to evaluate a certain inclination of the mailpieces in the stack on the basis of said profile image and to cause the floor and the paddle to move so as to present the mailpiece at the front of the stack in a satisfactory position on edge so that it can be unstacked by the unstacker head.

A pair of edge guides provided on a medium mounting section of a medium feeding apparatus each include a volume limiter spaced from the mounting surface of the medium mounting section and extending from the guide surface of at least one of the pair of edge guides in a direction intersecting the guide surface, the volume limiter including a limiting surface that limits a number of sheets mounted on the medium mounting section. The limiting surface includes a groove extending in the feed direction, at a position between a corner portion formed at an intersection of an end portion of the limiting surface in the width direction and the guide surface, and the other end portion of the limiting surface, and configured to insert at least a part of a side edge of the medium, to thereby restrict the side edge from moving in the width direction.

A pair of edge guides provided on a medium mounting section of a medium feeding apparatus each include a volume limiter spaced from the mounting surface of the medium mounting section and extending from the guide surface of at least one of the pair of edge guides in a direction intersecting the guide surface, the volume limiter including a limiting surface that limits a number of sheets mounted on the medium mounting section. The limiting surface includes a groove extending in the feed direction, at a position between a corner portion formed at an intersection of an end portion of the limiting surface in the width direction and the guide surface, and the other end portion of the limiting surface, and configured to insert at least a part of a side edge of the medium, to thereby restrict the side edge from moving in the width direction.