A printing apparatus comprises a conveyance control unit which controls conveyance of printing sheets so that a trailing edge of a preceding sheet as a printing sheet precedingly fed from the stacking unit and a leading edge of a succeeding sheet as a printing sheet succeedingly fed from the stacking unit overlap each other; and a skew correction unit which performs skew correction of the succeeding sheet while the succeeding sheet overlaps the preceding sheet by the conveyance control unit. The skew correction unit makes the leading edge of the succeeding sheet abut against the conveyance roller during a time from an end of a last line feed operation by the conveyance roller for printing on the preceding sheet by the printing unit to start of a next conveyance operation.

An image reading apparatus includes a reading unit, a transport unit that transport a document, a feeding unit that transports the document to the transport unit, a controller that stops the feeding operation of the feeding unit after the leading end of the preceding document transported from the feeding unit reaches the transport unit and restarts the feeding operation after the rear end of the preceding document passes a predetermined position. The controller, restarts the feeding operation a first time after the rear end of the succeeding document following the preceding document passes the predetermined position when a size of the preceding document indicates a first size, and restarts the feeding operation a second time after the rear end of the succeeding document passes the predetermined position where the second time is longer than the first time when the size indicates a second size larger than the first size.

Embodiments of a system and method for shingulating, singulating, and synchronizing articles in an article feeder system are disclosed. The article feeder system may include a shingulating device configured to receive a stack of articles and to produce a positively lapped stack of articles, a plurality of picking devices configured to pick one or more articles from the positively lapped stack of articles and to produce one or more singulated articles, and one or more synchronization devices configured to deliver the one or more singulated articles to one or more sorter windows.

A sheet feeding device includes a feeding guide of resin material constituting a sheet feeding path along which a sheet is fed; a feeding roller for feeding the sheet along the feeding path, the feeding roller being provided with a metal shaft; a sheet sensor configured to detect the sheet fed along the sheet feeding path; and a grounding member electrically grounding the shaft. The feeding guide has a guiding surface for guiding the sheet, and the guiding surface is provided with a hole portion for exposing the shaft to the sheet feeding path.

In accordance with an embodiment, a sheet processing apparatus, containing a controller that acquires a predetermined data associated with a physical quantity of one of a driving motor or a driven member driven by the motor based on a predetermined signal, compare the predetermined data with a threshold value, and determine whether to transmit a request for increasing a discharge interval of a sheet based on the comparative result.

In accordance with an embodiment, a sheet processing apparatus, containing a controller that acquires a predetermined data associated with a physical quantity of one of a driving motor or a driven member driven by the motor based on a predetermined signal, compare the predetermined data with a threshold value, and determine whether to transmit a request for increasing a discharge interval of a sheet based on the comparative result.

A sheet discharge device includes a sheet discharge roller pair composed of an upper roller and a lower roller; and a placement tray, arranged below the sheet discharge roller pair, configured to place a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge roller pair. The device further includes a sheet presser configured to be held on a sheet discharge side of the upper roller in a movable manner and pushed up by a sheet front end to be discharged, and depress a sheet rear end with the dead weight thereof after the sheet rear end passes through a nip between the sheet discharge roller pair. The device additionally includes an auxiliary tray that is movable between a first position where the sheet rear end depressed by the sheet presser is caught and a second position where the sheet rear end is released from the sheet presser.

A sheet discharge device includes a sheet discharge roller pair composed of an upper roller and a lower roller; and a placement tray, arranged below the sheet discharge roller pair, configured to place a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge roller pair. The device further includes a sheet presser configured to be held on a sheet discharge side of the upper roller in a movable manner and pushed up by a sheet front end to be discharged, and depress a sheet rear end with the dead weight thereof after the sheet rear end passes through a nip between the sheet discharge roller pair. The device additionally includes an auxiliary tray that is movable between a first position where the sheet rear end depressed by the sheet presser is caught and a second position where the sheet rear end is released from the sheet presser.

A document feeder includes: a first conveyer that picks up sheets from a sheet bundle sheet by sheet, where rear edge of a preceding sheet overlaps front edge of a succeeding sheet; a second conveyer that conveys each sheet picked up by the first conveyer; a front edge sensor that is disposed on a conveyance path from the first conveyer to the second conveyer, and senses whether the sheet falls within a sensing range; and a shift unit that shifts, while the first and second conveyers convey the sheet, positional relation between the sheet and the front edge sensor by increasing distance therebetween in a direction crossing a sheet conveyance direction, such that the sheet falls outside the sensing range. When the preceding sheet falls outside the sensing range, the first conveyer picks up the succeeding sheet such that the front edge of the succeeding sheet enters the sensing range.

A document feeder includes: a first conveyer that picks up sheets from a sheet bundle sheet by sheet, where rear edge of a preceding sheet overlaps front edge of a succeeding sheet; a second conveyer that conveys each sheet picked up by the first conveyer; a front edge sensor that is disposed on a conveyance path from the first conveyer to the second conveyer, and senses whether the sheet falls within a sensing range; and a shift unit that shifts, while the first and second conveyers convey the sheet, positional relation between the sheet and the front edge sensor by increasing distance therebetween in a direction crossing a sheet conveyance direction, such that the sheet falls outside the sensing range. When the preceding sheet falls outside the sensing range, the first conveyer picks up the succeeding sheet such that the front edge of the succeeding sheet enters the sensing range.