An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion, a fixing unit, a position adjustment mechanism, a number-of-printed-sheets counter, and a control unit. The image forming portion includes an image carrier, a charging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, and a transfer member. The fixing unit has a heated rotary member and a pressing member and heats and presses the sheet passing through a fixing nip portion. A position adjustment mechanism adjusts the width-direction position of the sheet parallel to the scanning direction of optical scanning by the exposure unit. Every time the number of printed sheets reaches a predetermined number, the control unit makes the correction unit shift the width-direction position of the sheet by a predetermined amount and changes the start position of scanning by the exposure unit on the image carrier according to the direction and amount of shift.

An image forming apparatus may include a mechanism for forming a corrugated shape in a sheet to be conveyed. The mechanism may include various components include one or more pressing portions, one or more ribs, one or more discharge rollers, a switching mechanism and the like. In one arrangement, ribs and pressing portions configured to create the corrugated shape may be disposed at various locations upstream or downstream of the platen, recording portion and/or nozzles thereof. In one example, pressing portions may be disposed both upstream and downstream of the nozzles of the recording portion to maintain a corrugated shape in the conveyed sheet. Various other configurations may be used.

Alignment apparatuses include a frame and contact elements connected to the frame. The contact elements contact items that are to be transported in a processing direction relative to the frame. The contact elements are in permeant fixed positions relative to the frame, and do not move relative to the frame. Adjustable mounts are connected to the frame and move the frame in the processing direction and in a perpendicular cross-processing direction. A controller is electrically connected to the adjustable mounts, and the controller is adapted to control the adjustable mounts to simultaneously move the frame and all the contact elements in the cross-processing direction and the processing direction while rotating the frame. Methods laterally shift imaging on sheets that have had rotational correction performed by such alignment apparatuses.

Disclosed is a media rotation mechanism. The media rotation mechanism may include a housing, a media receiver, and a rotation motor. The housing may define a first opening and a second opening. The media receiver may define a media receiver opening. The rotation motor may be configured to rotate the media receiver between a first position and a second position. The first position may correspond to the media receiver opening facing the first opening. The second position may correspond to the media receiver opening facing the second opening.

This disclosure relates to a banknote validator. The banknote validator comprises a banknote path formed within an interior of the banknote validator to transport a banknote from an opening of the banknote path through the interior of the banknote validator, one or more banknote edge detection surfaces each configured to provide images of edges of a banknote in the banknote path, an image sensor configured to capture the images of the edges of the banknote provided by the one or more banknote edge detection surfaces, a steerable drive wheel at least partially disposed within the banknote path, the steerable drive wheel operable to reorient a banknote in the banknote path, and the steerable drive wheel operable to move from a first position to a second position to angle the steerable drive wheel in relation to the banknote path.

Various embodiments herein each include at least one of systems, assemblies, devices, components, methods, software and firmware for a note validator transport path centralizer, such as may be present in a Self-Service Terminal, e.g., an Automated Teller Machine. One example method embodiment includes receiving a note by a receiving and transport module of a note validator and sensing a lateral positioning of the note on a transport path of the note validator. This method further includes engaging at least one centralizing mechanism to move the note to a medial position on the transport path of the note validator and disengaging the at least one centralizer mechanism upon sensing the note reaching the medial position on the transport path of the note validator. The method may then output the note from the receiving and transport module of the note validator to a note validation module.

A sheet conveying device includes a pickup roller, a separator, a conveyor, and circuitry. The pickup roller contacts an uppermost sheet of sheets stacked on a sheet stacker and feed the uppermost sheet. The separator moves the pickup roller between a contact position at which the pickup roller is in contact with the uppermost sheet and a separation position at which the pickup roller is separated from the uppermost sheet. The conveyor conveys the uppermost sheet fed by the pickup roller. The circuitry is to control the conveyor to temporarily stop conveyance of the uppermost sheet, and control the separator to move the pickup roller from the contact position to the separation position in response to the temporarily stop of the conveyor.

A sensing apparatus can be configured to detect an edge of a paper that is received by an automated transaction machine (ATM). The paper can move along a path located inside the ATM, the path having opposite first and second sides. The sensing apparatus can include a light emitter and a light detector on the first side of the path, with the light emitter positioned so that it can emit light across the path to the second side. The light detector can be configured to detect light from the light emitter and can emit a signal corresponding to an amount of detected light. The sensing apparatus can also include a control circuit that can control a flow of power to the light emitter, and the control circuit can also receive the signal emitted by the sensor.

A relay conveyance device includes a relay conveyance path arranged between an image forming apparatus and a post processing device to convey a sheet from the image forming apparatus to the post processing device, two reversing units reversing a surface side and a back-face side of the sheet, and a control device controlling conveyance of the sheet on the relay conveyance path. The relay conveyance path includes two reverse paths respectively passing through the two reversing units, a branch section branching into the two reverse paths at an upstream side, and a confluence section joining the two reverse paths. The control device controls the branch and confluence sections to convey the sheet while alternately switching the two reverse paths, measures an interval time between the sheets passing through the confluence section, and controls conveyance of the sheet in the two reverse paths so as to uniformize the interval time.

A single nip de-skew, lateral registration, and process direction registration device removes skew, laterally registers, and registers in the process direction substrates moving along a media transport path. The single nip de-skew, lateral registration, and process direction registration device includes a fixed roller that is longer than a rotating wheel that forms a nip with the fixed roller. The wheel has a coefficient of friction that is higher than a coefficient of friction of the roller so an actuator translating the wheel along the fixed roller laterally registers and de-skews substrates.