A sorting device is mounted, in an image forming apparatus, in a sheet discharge space open at its front and sheet-discharge-direction downstream side, insertably or extractably at the downstream side. The sorting device includes a base portion, a tray portion, and a flexible member. The base portion is mounted, with the tray portion, in the base portion. The base portion has, in its upstream part in sheet discharge direction, a base inclined portion inclined upward downstream. With the base portion mounted in the bottom portion, the base inclined portion faces, across a predetermined gap, a bottom inclined surface inclined upward downstream in discharge direction. The tray portion is supported on the base portion to be reciprocatable in sheet width direction orthogonal to discharge direction. The flexible member is fitted to the base inclined portion and fills the gap between the base inclined portion and the bottom inclined surface.

An image forming device includes a device body; a conveyance table that is inserted into and pulled out of the device body and that forms a conveyance path for a sheet; a sheet mount tray; a paper feeder that feeds the sheet from the sheet mount tray to the conveyance path; and a movable support that movably supports the paper feeder on the conveyance table in a state where the conveyance table is pulled out of the device body. The paper feeder covers a predetermined part of the conveyance path in a state where the paper feeder disposed on the conveyance table is inserted into the device body, the sheet mount tray is disposed in the device body and separates from the paper feeder when the conveyance table is pulled out of the device body, and the paper feeder moves away from the predetermined part.

A sorting device includes a base portion, a tray portion, and a tray driving portion. The tray driving portion includes a motor, a supporting shaft, an input member, an output member, a link mechanism, and an urging member. The input member includes a first boss portion movably supported on the supporting shaft, and is reciprocatable up and down along the supporting shaft. The output member has a second boss portion coupled with the first boss portion via a ratchet mechanism. The link mechanism converts a rotary motion of the output member to a linear motion of the tray portion. The ratchet mechanism operates such that, when a predetermined or heavier load is applied to the output member via the tray portion, the input member is pushed down against the urging force of the urging member and engagement between the first and second ratchet teeth is released.

A recording apparatus includes: an apparatus body that includes a recorder that performs recording on a medium; an opening-and-closing member that is able to be opened away from and closed toward the apparatus body; a unit module that is detachably attached to an attachment portion configured to become exposed by opening the opening-and-closing member, and constitutes a part of a first medium transportation path when attached to the attachment portion; a second medium transportation path that is provided above the first medium transportation path; and a path forming member that is located above the attachment portion and forms a part of the second medium transportation path; wherein the path forming member is retracted from the second medium transportation path and advances onto the opening-and-closing trajectory of the opening-and-closing member when the unit module is detached from the attachment portion.

A removable media handling module includes a body that is horizontally slidable into and removable from an imaging apparatus. The media handling module includes a lower media guide extending between a front and a rear of the body in a direction of insertion of the body into the imaging apparatus. With the media handling module inserted into the imaging apparatus, the lower media guide is positioned parallel to and spaced from a corresponding upper media guide mounted in the imaging apparatus to form at least a portion of a duplex media path therebetween. The media handling module includes a media feed through channel extending from a bottom of the body to an entrance of a simplex media path to allow media to be fed from a media tray below the media handling module and into the simplex media path when the media handling module is installed in the imaging apparatus.

A sheet feeding apparatus has a conveying roller, a separation member which presses against the conveying roller to form a separation nip portion that separates received sheets one by one, a feeding member configured to feed a sheet towards the separation nip portion, a nip guide member having a first guide portion configured to contact with a leading edge of the sheet fed by the feeding member and a second guide portion disposed at facing position to the conveying roller and configured to guide the sheet abutted with the first guide portion for the separation nip portion and a biasing member configured to bias the nip guide member. The nip guide member rotates around a rotation shaft and the second guide portion is disposed at predetermined distance from the conveying roller and moves in a direction of separating from the conveying roller against biasing force by the biasing member.

The present invention provides a sheet feeding apparatus capable of feeding sheets at a proper position without a regulating member being bent even if a cassette unit is closed in a state in which a large volume of sheets are stacked. A large-volume feeding deck includes a non-reference-side regulating plate, an external casing plate, and positioning members, which are movable relative to the cassette unit.

A device for dispensing rolled items, such as tape. The hand-held or mounted tape dispensing device is designed to accommodate variously sized or shaped rolls of tape. The tape dispensing device for dispensing a tape may comprise a support structure and one or more tape holder sliders configured to be moveable from a first position to at least one second position. The tape dispensing device may also include one or more tape holder sliders, which may move simultaneously in a single direction. The tape dispensing device may also include a tape dispenser blade having a cutting edge and configured to be moveable from a first position to at least one second position and to rotate to a position along the cutting edge at different angles.

There is provided an image recording apparatus having a housing having a front wall and a rear wall, and a right wall and a left wall defining an internal space of the housing, a sheet roll holder configured to hold a sheet roll, a supporting member configured to support the sheet roll, the supporting member extending in an axial direction of the sheet roll and being supported by the sheet roll holder, a sheet conveyer arranged in an internal space of the housing, the sheet conveyer being configured to convey a sheet unwound from the sheet roll, and a recording device configured to record an image on the sheet unwound from the sheet roll and conveyed by the sheet conveyer. The sheet roll holder is configured to be slidable with respect to the housing so as to be detachable from and attachable to the housing.

A pinch roller mechanism includes a rail, a slider, a roller bracket, a spring, and a pinch roller. The rail extends in a first direction crossing the conveyance direction of a medium while being apart from a medium driving roller configured to convey the medium. The slider is supported by the rail to be movable along the rail. The roller bracket is supported by the slider to be movable with respect to the medium driving roller. The spring is provided between the slider and the roller bracket and biases the roller bracket toward the medium driving roller. The pinch roller is rotatably supported by the roller bracket while setting the axial direction in the first direction.