A medium transfer device includes a swinging member, a hopper in which a setting plate on which a plurality of mediums are placed such that the mediums are moved toward the swinging member by gravitation, and a driving unit configured to swing the swinging member such that the mediums are shaken by the swinging member.

A sheet feeding device includes a feeder, a contact member, a movement restricting member, a moving mechanism, and control circuitry. The feeder is configured to feed a sheet. A leading end of the sheet in a feeding direction is to contact the contact member. The movement restricting member is configured to lock the contact member to restrict movement of the contact member from a contact position where the contact member contacts the sheet. The moving mechanism is configured to move the movement restricting member between a locking position and a lock releasing position. The contact member is configured to take the contact position by gravity or a biasing force of a biasing part. The control circuitry is configured to control the moving mechanism to move the movement restricting member to the lock releasing position and then to the locking position when a feeding operation of the sheet is finished.

Disclosed is an automated insert feeding system and related methods, capable of removing bulk-packaged items from a tray or other package, and separating the bulk-packaged items individually for distribution into individual packages in high speed reliable fashion. The disclosed systems can also be loaded with multiple packages of the pre-packaged items for automatic feeding into the system which allows human operators to load several packages and allow the system to work unattended, thereby reducing man-hours spend on the process.

Disclosed is an automated insert feeding system and related methods, capable of removing bulk-packaged items from a tray or other package, and separating the bulk-packaged items individually for distribution into individual packages in high speed reliable fashion. The disclosed systems can also be loaded with multiple packages of the pre-packaged items for automatic feeding into the system which allows human operators to load several packages and allow the system to work unattended, thereby reducing man-hours spend on the process.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet supporting portion including a supporting surface, an abutment portion against which a leading edge of the sheet abuts, a feeding rotator configured to feed the sheet, and a first friction member provided on the supporting surface so as to face the feeding rotator. The first friction member includes a first friction surface having a static friction coefficient greater than that of the supporting surface, a trailing end supporting portion configured to support a trailing end portion of the sheet curved upward, and a second friction member disposed upstream of the first friction member in the sheet feeding direction on the supporting surface. The second friction member includes a second friction surface which has a static friction coefficient greater than that of the supporting surface and is configured to be in contact with the sheet supported by the supporting surface.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet supporting portion including a supporting surface, an abutment portion against which a leading edge of the sheet abuts, a feeding rotator configured to feed the sheet, and a first friction member provided on the supporting surface so as to face the feeding rotator. The first friction member includes a first friction surface having a static friction coefficient greater than that of the supporting surface, a trailing end supporting portion configured to support a trailing end portion of the sheet curved upward, and a second friction member disposed upstream of the first friction member in the sheet feeding direction on the supporting surface. The second friction member includes a second friction surface which has a static friction coefficient greater than that of the supporting surface and is configured to be in contact with the sheet supported by the supporting surface.

A paper money handling apparatus includes a dispenser unit to dispense paper money, a pressing unit to move between a pressing position at which the pressing unit presses dispensed paper money that is the paper money dispensed to the dispenser unit and a retraction position to which the pressing unit is retracted from the pressing position, a drive unit to move the pressing unit, a placement unit on which at least one portion of the dispensed paper money is placed, a clamp detection sensor to detect that the dispensed paper money is clamped between the pressing unit and the placement unit, a take-in carrier to take the dispensed paper money in an interior of the apparatus, a paper money detection sensor to detect presence/absence of the dispensed paper money, and a controller, when the dispensed paper money being remaining is detected by the paper money detection sensor, to control the drive unit to cause the pressing unit to move to the pressing position, and when the clamp detection sensor detects the dispensed paper money being clamped, the controller controls the take-in carrier to take the dispensed paper money in the interior of the apparatus.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a support member having a support surface, a feed roller, a stopper, and a restriction member. The stopper includes a restriction surface configured to contact leading edges of sheets supported on the support surface. A tangent extends in parallel to the support surface and passes through a point on an outer peripheral surface of the feed roller, and the tangent and the restriction surface of the stopper crosses at an intersection point. When the stopper moves from a first position to a second position, the intersection point moves with a movement velocity in a direction parallel to the tangent, the movement velocity at the intersection point being defined as a specified movement velocity. The restriction member is configured to restrict movement of the stopper such that the specified movement velocity is greater than or equal to a circumferential velocity of the feed roller.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a support member having a support surface, a feed roller, a stopper, and a restriction member. The stopper includes a restriction surface configured to contact leading edges of sheets supported on the support surface. A tangent extends in parallel to the support surface and passes through a point on an outer peripheral surface of the feed roller, and the tangent and the restriction surface of the stopper crosses at an intersection point. When the stopper moves from a first position to a second position, the intersection point moves with a movement velocity in a direction parallel to the tangent, the movement velocity at the intersection point being defined as a specified movement velocity. The restriction member is configured to restrict movement of the stopper such that the specified movement velocity is greater than or equal to a circumferential velocity of the feed roller.

An apparatus for franking flat items of mail removed individually or at the underside of a supplied stack and guided in a transport direction at one side edge, includes a separating station formed from a feeder for items of mail separating device, and a downstream processing line of a franking machine, following in a conveying manner in the transport direction, for franking/printing the individual items of mail. The processing line in the transport region between feeder and the separating device of the separating station assigned to the latter includes a plurality of driven transport rollers which form a transport plane for receiving an item of mail or the respective lowest item of mail from a stack, which rollers are mounted in a frame in the transport direction of the items of mail transversely and beside one another and in the same direction and at the same peripheral speed.