A rolled material dispenser; including a roll supporting structure that supports a plurality of rolls of material, each roll of material having a width and a long axis, the roll supporting structure supporting the rolls of material with the long axes parallel and with a free end of the rolled material extending downwardly from each of the of rolls. The dispenser includes a pinch roller assembly located beneath the roll supporting structure. The pinch roller assembly is movable in a direction perpendicular to the long axes of the rolls of material and the pinch rollers have a second long axis oriented parallel to the first long axis. A conveyor is positioned below the pinch roller assembly and a material cutter assembly facilitates cutting the rolled material.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet supplying apparatus in which the user can select either automatic sheet feeding or manual sheet feeding. A sheet supplying apparatus of the present invention includes a driving unit configured to cause a roll including a wound consecutive sheet to rotate in a first direction for feeding the sheet or a second direction opposite to the first direction, a first sensor that detects a leading end portion of the sheet separated from an outer circumferential surface of the roll, a second sensor that detects the leading end portion which is manually set in a conveyance path by a user, and a determination unit configured to determine whether or not automatic sheet feeding is performed on the basis of a detection result of the second sensor.

A roll sheet in which a continuous sheet is wound in a roll form is caused to rotate in a forward direction to supply the sheet to a printing unit. First and second sensors are arranged at positions facing an outer circumferential surface of the roll sheet and deviated in an axis line direction of the roll sheet. Outputs of the first and second sensors are changed in accordance with a distance to the sheet of the roll sheet. A rotation direction of the roll sheet is switched from a forward direction to a reverse direction on the basis of the outputs of the first and second sensors while the roll sheet is being rotated in the reverse direction.

Automatic sheet feeding of an installed roll is performed more reliably. To this end, a leading end F of a sheet is detected on the basis of a change in an output value of a sensor while causing a roll R to rotate in a winding direction using the sensor capable of detecting a distance to the sheet separated from the roll R. After the detection, the roll R is caused to rotate in a feeding direction, and a feeding state of the sheet is determined on the basis of the change in the output value of the sensor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet supplying apparatus which is capable of winding the sheet tightly. A sheet supplying apparatus according to the present invention includes a driving unit configured to cause a roll including a wound consecutive sheet to rotate in a first direction for feeding the sheet or a second direction opposite to the first direction, a sensor that detects a leading end portion of the sheet separated from an outer circumferential surface of the roll, and a contact body that presses the outer circumferential surface, in which, before the sheet is fed, in a state in which the contact body presses the outer circumferential surface, the driving unit causes the roll to continuously rotate in the second direction until a detection cycle of the leading end portion by the sensor is smaller than a predetermined value.

A medium supply apparatus supplying a rolled medium includes a tension member contacts to the medium to apply a tension to the medium, a state switching part that switches states of the tension member between first and second states, and a control unit. The tension member is swingable between a first position at which a first corner angle (1) and a second position at which a second corner angle (2) is formed, the second corner angle (2) being greater than the first corner angle (1). The control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the fixed state in the first position when the medium is supplied, the control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the releasing state in the first position when the control unit does not receive an image forming start signal for a predetermined period, and the control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the fixed state when the tension member reaches the second position.

A medium supply apparatus supplying a rolled medium includes a tension member contacts to the medium to apply a tension to the medium, a state switching part that switches states of the tension member between first and second states, and a control unit. The tension member is swingable between a first position at which a first corner angle (1) and a second position at which a second corner angle (2) is formed, the second corner angle (2) being greater than the first corner angle (1). The control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the fixed state in the first position when the medium is supplied, the control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the releasing state in the first position when the control unit does not receive an image forming start signal for a predetermined period, and the control unit causes the state switching part to switch the state of the tension member to the fixed state when the tension member reaches the second position.

A sheet feeding apparatus is provided which restrains a borne rolled sheet from being deflected to allow the sheet to be reliably fed. The sheet feeding apparatus includes a holder configured to hold the rolled sheet so as to be rotated; and a rotator configured to bear an outer periphery of the rolled sheet held by the holder from below in a direction of gravity, the rotator rotating with the rolled sheet while feeding.

A medium feeding unit that is configure to be mounted to an image forming apparatus provided with an image forming unit and feeds a medium to the image forming unit includes a medium introducing part that introduces the medium to the image forming unit and a medium holding part that holds the medium at a feeding position from which the medium is fed to the image forming unit. The medium holding part is configured to be positioned at one of at least two different feeding positions relative to the medium introducing part.

A printing apparatus includes: a printing unit configured to perform printing on a sheet; a driving unit configured to apply a rotational force to a roll member that is rotatably held; and a pressing unit having a roller configured to apply a pressing force to an outer peripheral surface of a roll sheet wound around the roll member, wherein the pressing unit changes the pressing force during a sequence in which the driving unit applies a rotational force to the roll member and a sheet that has passed through the printing unit is wound.