In order to provide a configuration capable of suppressing reductions in productivity of sheets, a pair of regulation guides are capable of guiding opposite end edges in a sheet width direction Y of a sheet S1 conveyed by a conveyance belt and spheres, while being nipped. Further, the pair of regulation guides are capable of shifting to guide positions for guiding the opposite end edges of the sheet, and retract positions retracted from the opposite end edges of the sheet more than the guide positions. A sheet detecting sensor is disposed on the downstream side relative to the conveyance belt in a conveyance direction X to detect the presence or absence of the sheet.

To enable highly accurate fold processing by properly moving a sheet that has been subjected to fold processing. In a sheet processing apparatus that that performs fold processing in such a manner as to apply first fold processing to a sheet and then apply second fold processing at a position different from a fold line formed in the first fold processing so as to make one end of the sheet folded in the first fold processing lie inside the folded sheet, the first fold processing is applied to a sheet conveyed to an intermediate tray by a fold roller pair and, when a regulating stopper is moved to move the folded sheet that has been subjected to the first fold processing to a predetermined position of the intermediate tray, the folded sheet is gripped by a grip unit.

A bunch of valuable media items are transported along a track surface within a deskew/pick module of a depository until a bottom item of the bunch covers a track sensor adjacent to an exit. Upper rollers are disengaged from a topmost item of the bunch and lower track-surface rollers are rotated in a direction that is perpendicular to a sidewall forcing a bottommost item of the bunch in alignment to the sidewall. Upper rollers are lowered onto the topmost item and pick rollers are activated to urge the bottommost item through the exit of the module. Upper rollers are raised off the topmost item and lower track-surface rollers are rotated; upper rollers are lowered onto the topmost item and pick rollers are activated to urge a next bottommost item through the exit. This process is repeated until no items are left in the bunch to process.

A sheet stacker includes a pair of sheet holders, a sheet leading-edge aligner, a sheet stacking member, and control circuitry. A downstream side of the pair of sheet holders in a conveyance direction of a conveyed sheet is lowered along the conveyance direction. Each one of the pair of sheet holders is movable in an orthogonal direction to the conveyance direction. The pair of sheet holders hold both side-end portions of the sheet in the orthogonal direction. The sheet stacking member is disposed below the pair of sheet holders. A downstream side of the sheet stacking member in the conveyance direction is lowered along the conveyance direction. The sheet stacking member stacks the sheet dropped from the pair of sheet holders after a leading edge of the sheet is aligned by the leading-edge aligner. The control circuitry controls operations of the leading-edge aligner and the pair of sheet holders.

According to one embodiment, a sheet conveying device includes a tray and a correcting member. On the tray, a sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets are overlapped is stacked in a thickness direction of the sheet bundle. The correcting member moves relative to the tray in the thickness direction. The correcting member abuts against an upper layer portion of an outer peripheral portion of the sheet bundle on the tray, and presses the upper layer portion from an outside after abutting. The correcting member corrects a position of the upper layer portion in a lateral direction intersecting the thickness direction toward an inside from the outside of the sheet bundle.

According to one embodiment, a sheet conveying device includes a tray and a correcting member. On the tray, a sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets are overlapped is stacked in a thickness direction of the sheet bundle. The correcting member moves relative to the tray in the thickness direction. The correcting member abuts against an upper layer portion of an outer peripheral portion of the sheet bundle on the tray, and presses the upper layer portion from an outside after abutting. The correcting member corrects a position of the upper layer portion in a lateral direction intersecting the thickness direction toward an inside from the outside of the sheet bundle.

A sheet conveying apparatus for conveying a sheet in a conveying direction includes a pair of conveying rollers receiving and conveying a sheet; an endless conveying belt conveying the sheet; a plurality of balls to be rotatable in any direction while nipping the sheet with the conveying surface; a pair of regulating guides disposed on both sides of the conveying belt; a guide moving unit that moves the pair of regulating guides; and a roller moving unit that moves at least one of the pair of conveying rollers to a nip position and a nip release position. Before a rear end of the sheet passes the pair of conveying rollers, the pair of conveying rollers is moved to the nip release position by the roller moving unit, and then, the guide moving unit makes each of the pair of regulating guides reach the guide position from the retracting position.

A pair of regulating guides is disposed on both sides of a conveying belt in a sheet width direction Y, each having a support surface that supports an end edge in the width direction of the sheet conveyed while being nipped by the conveying belt and balls and a guide surface that faces the end edge of the sheet in the width direction. Each of the pair of regulating guides is movable to a first guide position at which the end edge of the sheet in the width direction is supported by the support surface and guided by the guide surface and to a second guide position at which the end edge of the sheet in the sheet width direction is supported by the support surface and which is retracting further away from the end edge in the sheet width direction than the guide position.

The present invention is to provide a configuration facilitating removal of a sheet stopped on a conveying belt. In a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys a sheet using a conveying belt and balls, a sheet may be jammed and stopped on the conveying belt. In this case, it is difficult for a user to take out the sheet through a take-out port if the sheet is nipped by conveying roller pairs disposed upstream and downstream relative to the conveying belt in a sheet conveying direction. Thus, conveying roller pairs and the conveying belt are operated such that the sheet, which is stopped on the conveying belt and hence should be taken out through the take-out port, is brought into a state of being nipped only by the conveying belt and balls.

The present invention is to provide a configuration facilitating removal of a sheet stopped on a conveying belt. Regulating guides are disposed on both sides of a conveying belt in a sheet width direction Y and can guide both end edges in the sheet width direction of a sheet S conveyed while being nipped by the conveying belt and the balls. A take-out port is provided on the side closer to the regulating guide in the sheet width direction Y, through which a sheet stopped on the conveying belt is taken out. A guide moving part moves the regulating guides. When a sheet is stopped on the conveying belt, the guide moving part moves the first and second regulating guides such that the regulating guide is retracted to a position at which a support surface does not support a first sheet end edge.