An image forming apparatus has: a cassette which stores a sheet; a pickup roller which picks up the sheet inside the cassette; a feed roller which feeds the sheet picked up by the pickup roller toward an image forming portion; and a retard roller which is pressed against the feed roller and forms a separation nip. In addition, the image forming apparatus has a conveying guide which guides the sheet picked up by the pickup roller to the separation nip. A first guide member of the conveying guide is configured to be slidable in a drawing direction when the feed roller is replaced, and the conveying guide is formed of a material whose property of light transmittance of light having a wavelength of 360 nm to 420 nm is 80% or more. The feed roller is detachable from the one end of a shaft in a state in which the cassette is drawn out along the rail and the conveying guide is slid in the drawing direction.

The pick-up device disposed between the input tray and the feeding path and includes a Paper feeding unit for feeding the paper from the input tray; a separation roller disposed opposite to the Paper feeding unit and contacting each other; a blocking arm disposed between the input tray and the Paper feeding unit, and configured to be switchable disposed between a blocking position for blocking the paper and a feeding position for passing the paper through the feeding path; and a guiding arm, the guiding arm is disposed in the feeding path through a pivot shaft, and includes a guiding portion, the pivot shaft is located upstream of the separation roller, and the guiding portion is swingable disposed in a seam space formed by the Paper feeding unit and the separation roller; and wherein a distance from the axle of the separation roller to the guiding portion is greater than the wheel diameter of the separation roller, and the vertical distance between the paper to be fed and the guiding portion is greater than the vertical distance between the paper to be fed and the separation roller.

A device for reducing rotation of an article during singulation of a stack of articles is disclosed. The device may include a torsion element, a rotatable member configured to rotate about an elongated axis of the torsion element between a first position and a second position, and a revolving member coupled to the rotatable member. An outer surface of the revolving member contacts a drive belt in the first position and an article in the second position. The torsion element exerts torque on the rotatable member when it moves from the first position towards the second position. The torque causes the outer surface of the revolving member to apply a frictional force to the article, thereby minimizing rotation of the article. Systems and methods of singulating articles are also disclosed.

There is provided a feed apparatus including a support unit having a support surface, a feed roller, a first arm to support the feed roller, a recess portion on the support surface, a second arm swingable, with a side of the one end as a swing shaft, between a first position at which the other end of the second arm is in the recess portion and a second position at which the other end is outside the recess portion; and a biasing member. In a case that the second arm is the first position, a guide surface of the second arm is positioned on an upstream side of the feed roller in the feed direction and in a case that the second arm is the second position, the other end of the second arm is positioned on a downstream side of the feed roller in the feed direction.

There is provided a feed apparatus including a support unit having a support surface, a feed roller, a first arm to support the feed roller, a recess portion on the support surface, a second arm swingable, with a side of the one end as a swing shaft, between a first position at which the other end of the second arm is in the recess portion and a second position at which the other end is outside the recess portion; and a biasing member. In a case that the second arm is the first position, a guide surface of the second arm is positioned on an upstream side of the feed roller in the feed direction and in a case that the second arm is the second position, the other end of the second arm is positioned on a downstream side of the feed roller in the feed direction.

A paper sheet separation device includes a separation roller coming into contact with paper sheets, a feed roller rotating with respect to the separation roller to convey the paper sheets separately one by one, and a pair of guide members having guide faces coming into sliding contact with a front end of the paper sheets and being provided on both sides in an axial direction of the separation roller. A friction coefficient of the guide face is smaller than a friction coefficient of a peripheral face of the separation roller. The guide face is provided protruding outward of the separation roller from the peripheral face of the separation roller in a radial direction of the separation roller. The guide face is supported to be able to move inward in the radial direction of the separation roller at a contact point between the separation roller and the feed roller.

A paper sheet separation device includes a separation roller coming into contact with paper sheets, a feed roller rotating with respect to the separation roller to convey the paper sheets separately one by one, and a pair of guide members having guide faces coming into sliding contact with a front end of the paper sheets and being provided on both sides in an axial direction of the separation roller. A friction coefficient of the guide face is smaller than a friction coefficient of a peripheral face of the separation roller. The guide face is provided protruding outward of the separation roller from the peripheral face of the separation roller in a radial direction of the separation roller. The guide face is supported to be able to move inward in the radial direction of the separation roller at a contact point between the separation roller and the feed roller.

A sheet separation device includes a rotator, a nipping member to nip the two-ply sheet with the rotator, a first conveyor to convey the two-ply sheet in a first direction toward the rotator and a second direction reverse thereto, a winding member to wind the two-ply sheet around the rotator, a second conveyor to convey a sheet medium in the second direction, a separation claw to move in a width direction; a sheet guide to guide the separated two sheets to different passages; and control circuitry. The first conveyor conveys the two-ply sheet to the rotator with a bonded portion at an upstream end. The control circuitry inserts the separation claw into a space between the two sheets, adjusts a projection amount of the two-ply sheet from a nip of the first conveyor in the second direction, and inserts the sheet medium in two-ply sheet adjusted in the projection amount.

A sheet separation device includes a rotator, a nipping member to nip the two-ply sheet with the rotator, a first conveyor to convey the two-ply sheet in a first direction toward the rotator and a second direction reverse thereto, a winding member to wind the two-ply sheet around the rotator, a second conveyor to convey a sheet medium in the second direction, a separation claw to move in a width direction; a sheet guide to guide the separated two sheets to different passages; and control circuitry. The first conveyor conveys the two-ply sheet to the rotator with a bonded portion at an upstream end. The control circuitry inserts the separation claw into a space between the two sheets, adjusts a projection amount of the two-ply sheet from a nip of the first conveyor in the second direction, and inserts the sheet medium in two-ply sheet adjusted in the projection amount.

A pickup mechanism includes a paper feeding channel, a pickup roller assembly disposed in the paper feeding channel and projecting beyond a top of the paper feeding channel, a paper tray disposed to an upstream of the pickup roller assembly, and a guiding swing arm assembly. The guiding swing arm assembly includes two guiding swing arms mounted adjacent to and spaced from two opposite sides of the pickup roller assembly. Each guiding swing arm includes a pivoting shaft, a stopping block, and an extending arm connected between the pivoting shaft and the stopping block. The two stopping blocks of the two guiding swing arms are disposed between the pickup roller assembly and the paper tray for blocking paper. An axial direction of the pivoting shaft of each guiding swing arm is deviated from a center axis direction of the pickup roller assembly.