A transmission device includes a pickup roller assembly, a feeding roller assembly including a feeding shaft, a paper-out roller assembly including a paper-out shaft, a driving motor, a one-way drive gear module, a first transmission gear module, a second transmission gear module and a one-way clutch. The first transmission gear module includes a plurality of transmission gears disposed to two ends of the feeding shaft and two ends of the paper-out shaft. The second transmission gear module is engaged with one of the transmission gears mounted around one end of the feeding shaft. The one-way clutch disposed between the feeding shaft and the paper-out shaft, includes a first clutch gear, a second clutch gear, a third one-way clutch gear disposed between the first clutch gear and the second clutch gear, and a compression spring disposed to one end of the second clutch gear.

An image reading device includes: a conveyer, and an imaging device that reads optical information on a surface of a sheet-like member being conveyed by the conveyer, in an imaging area of a predetermined range in a conveyance direction. The conveyer includes a conveyance path moving mechanism that moves a conveyance path in the imaging area so that a distance from the imaging device changes and adjusts a position of the surface of the sheet-like member to a position at a predetermined distance from the imaging device. An image forming apparatus includes: the image reading device; and an image forming section that uses the sheet-like member being conveyed by the conveyer as a recording medium and forms an image on a surface of the recording medium.

A transport module for flat items comprising at least one transport element borne in a transport element carrier having a drive shaft is designed for installation in a station of an item processing system and, after installation, is borne rotatably around an axis of the drive shaft. It is one of multiple transport modules of an identical design. The transport element has, on one side, a lower friction coefficient than on the other side of an equator and is driven by the drive shaft via transmission means of the transport module. The transport element carrier carries the transmission means of the transport module and has a spring assembly allowing it to be shifted in the direction of gravity and contrary to it.

A roller drive transmission device includes a drive input gear, a drive transmission gear, a roller unit and a ratchet mechanism. When a rotational drive force is input to the drive input gear and the drive transmission gear is slid to a first position, the drive input gear, the drive transmission gear and the roller unit are integrally rotated in a first rotational direction. When the input of the rotational drive force to the drive input gear is cut off and the roller unit is rotated, following a sheet, the drive transmission gear is slid to a second position and the roller unit and the drive transmission gear are decoupled. The ratchet mechanism includes a load adjustment mechanism configured to make a rotational load in the first rotational direction of the drive transmission gear arranged at the second position larger than a movement load in an axial direction.

A method and apparatus for processing documents are provided. The apparatus includes a feeder for receiving a packet of a plurality of documents and separating the documents to serially feed the documents to a scanner. A drop feeder conveys the document packets to the feeder. A sensor provides information related to the thickness of the document packets and the drop feeder is controlled in response to the information related to the thickness of a packet in the feeder. The method includes the control of the drop feeder in response to information related to the thickness of a document packet at the feeder.

A method and apparatus for processing documents is provided. The documents may be conveyed to a feeder for feeding documents to a scanner. The scanner scans each document to obtain image data and then discharges the document to one or more output or sort locations. The system may include a skew reduction assembly for reducing skew in the documents as the documents are fed to the scanner. The system may also include elements for improving image quality and reducing document damage while the document is scanned. The system may further include features for improving the stacking of the discharged documents.

A method and apparatus for processing documents are provided. The apparatus includes a feeder for receiving a packet of a plurality of documents and separating the documents to serially feed the documents to a scanner. A retard adjacent the feeder is operable in first and second positions. In the first position the retard forms a nip with the feeder so that the retard is operable to impede the progress of one or more documents in the packet while the feeder feeds one of the documents in the packet. In the second position, the retard is spaced apart from the feeder to form a gap between the feeder and the retard. The system further includes a sensor for detecting a characteristic of the documents in a packet indicative of whether the number of documents in the packet exceeds a predetermined threshold. A drive mechanism automatically drives the retard pad between the first and second positions in response to the detected characteristic.

A parallel veneer standby step, a cross veneer moving step, a cross veneer positioning step, a cross veneer standby step, a parallel veneer returning step, a parallel veneer positioning step, a superimposing step, and a superimposed veneer gluing step are included. Accordingly, a superimposed veneer is obtained in which the parallel veneer and the cross veneer are bonded with a high degree of adhesion and corresponding edges of the parallel veneer and the cross veneer substantially align with each other.

A system includes an image forming station, which is configured to apply droplets of one or more printing fluids to a target substrate, so as to form an image thereon, and a substrate conveyor, which includes one or more perforated plates having multiple openings, and is configured to grip and move the target substrate to and from the image forming station for forming the image, the substrate conveyor includes one or more rotatable elements, which are fitted in the respective openings, and are configured to provide mechanical support to the target substrate, and when the target substrate moves over the one or more rotatable elements, at least one of the rotatable elements is configured to rotate in response to a physical contact with the target substrate.

A medium-transport apparatus includes: an apparatus main body having the transport path for transporting the medium; and a cover CV provided on the side surface of the apparatus main body and configured to be switched between a first state of exposing the transport path and a second state of covering the transport path. The cover CV is divided into: a first cover that has the rotation shaft along a Z-axis and is rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body; and a second cover that is arranged on a Z side of the first cover, has the rotation shaft along a Y-axis on the Z-side, and is rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body.