A paper feeding apparatus includes: a sheet loading unit for loading a bundle of sheets; a separation unit that separates a topmost sheet of the bundle of sheets loaded on the sheet loading unit, from the bundle of sheets; a conveyance unit that conveys the separated topmost sheet; an end fence that is movable in a sheet conveyance direction, abuts trailing ends in the sheet conveyance direction, and positions the bundle of sheets in the sheet conveyance direction; and a pressing unit that is provided in such a manner as to protrude from the end fence, and is able to press the trailing ends in the sheet conveyance direction of at least an upper part of the bundle of sheets, wherein the pressing unit has different pressing forces at an upper and a lower portion thereof, and has the lower pressing force stronger than the upper pressing force.

A sheet feeding apparatus, includes: a loading table on which a plurality of sheets are loaded; a flotation air supply unit that causes the sheets to float by supplying air toward the edge surfaces of the plurality of sheets which are loaded on the loading table; a suction conveying unit that suctions and conveys the topmost sheet among the plurality of sheets which are caused to float by the supply of air; an image capturing unit that captures an image of a flotation state of the plurality of sheets which are caused to float by the supply of air; a control parameter adjusting unit that adjusts control parameters of the flotation air supply unit based on information on the flotation state obtained from the image captured by the image capturing unit; and a control unit that controls the flotation air supply unit based on the control parameters.

Provided is a sheet feed apparatus including: a loading unit loaded with a sheet stack including sheets; a feed unit that comes into contact with a surface of the uppermost sheet of the sheet stack and feeds the sheet in a feed direction; and a separation mechanism that jets out air to sheets to separate the sheets in a height direction, the separation mechanism has a first jetting unit that jets out air to a first region including a downstream end of the uppermost sheet and a second jetting unit that jets out air to a second region of the sheet stack below the first region, the first jetting unit jets out air such that a first jetting direction to the first region varies, and the second jetting unit jets out air in a second jetting direction directed to the second region and set independently of the first jetting direction.

The invention discloses a sheet processing machine with an alignment plate at the input. The sheets are piled against the plate, and during each machine cycle, the bottommost sheet is extracted and delivered to a gripper bar of the machine. The alignment plate can move precisely longitudinally and diagonally to adjust the position and the skew of the sheet for correct positioning in the gripper bar. The alignment plate is guaranteed to be kept vertical by using a pair of synchronized linear actuators on each side of the plate. The machine can adapt to varying sheet thickness by adjusting the gap below that plate thanks to a motorized gauge. To even better position the sheets, a set of abutments is provided after the plate, and at a fixed distance to the plate. The abutments are pivoting to get out of the way of the gripper bar when needed.

A sheet feeding device includes an air blower and circuitry. The air blower includes a first suction fan, and a second suction fan serially coupled to the first suction fan. The circuitry is to stop the first suction fan at a first timing, and stop the second suction fan at a second timing different from the first timing. An image forming apparatus includes the sheet feeding device.

A sheet feeding device includes a sheet tray, a feeder to feed the uppermost sheet of a sheet bundle supported by a supporting surface of the sheet tray; a blowing portion provided on one side in a widthwise direction perpendicular to a feeding direction and to blow air through a blowing opening toward a side edge of the sheet bundle supported by the supporting surface; and a rotatable portion. The rotatable portion is rotatably provided opposite to the blowing opening in the widthwise direction and to the sheet tray, and is rotatable between a first position along the supporting surface and a second position rotated upward from the supporting surface by the air being blown by the blowing portion. When the rotatable portion is positioned in the second position, the rotatable portion includes a restricting portion to restrict the air from being blown to the supporting surface.

A sheet feeding device includes a supporting portion supporting sheets, an air blower blowing an air toward an upstream end from a downstream end of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion in a sheet feeding direction, a belt feeding and sucking the uppermost sheet of the sheets to which the air is blown by the air blower, and an upstream suction portion disposed upstream of the feeding belt in the sheet feeding direction and sucking the uppermost sheet. The belt includes a first suction area opposing the uppermost sheet and sucking the uppermost sheet. The upstream suction portion includes a second suction area opposing the uppermost sheet and sucking the uppermost sheet. In a widthwise direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction, a width of the second suction area is narrower than a width of the first suction area.

An apparatus separates printed products that have been assembled into a stack. The apparatus includes a conveyor for transporting the stack, which is connected to an advanceable element, which implements separation of the printed products in the stack. The printed products in a receiving support are transferred into a skewed position, which leads to a reduction of the load on the printed products that are to be de-stacked. A retainer, which is part of the receiving support, and a support are set with a clearance with respect to the predefined printed product thickness.

An article supporter for a supply device includes a feeder that supplies, by air suction, an uppermost thinly tabular article from a bundle of a plurality of thinly tabular articles that is stacked and is partially different in thickness, the article supporter for supporting the bundle with a gap between the uppermost thinly tabular article and the feeder, and the article supporter includes: a first support that supports respective thinner parts of the plurality of thinly tabular articles; a second support that supports respective thicker parts of the plurality of thinly tabular articles and is movable upward and downward; and an adjuster that adjusts a level of the second support such that the uppermost thinly tabular article of the bundle is set within a predetermined range in a vertical direction.

A method is provided for supplying a corrugated board article or a paperboard sheet article from a feeder apparatus for receipt by an article processing host machine. The method includes feeding the article to a feeder apparatus including a sheet supporting feed table surface having a feed end and a delivery end, feed elements, and a control surface selectively movable between a covering state and an exposing state. In the exposing state the feed elements are exposed to contact and drive the article along the sheet supporting feed table. The control surface is selectively movable to an angled state to selectively angle the control surface to consecutively conceal the respective feed elements as the article moves over the feed elements.