A paper separation mechanism includes a separation roller assembly, a one-way clutch module, a transmission gear assembly connected with and driving the one-way clutch module, a driving motor for driving the transmission gear assembly, and a locking module. The separation roller assembly includes a separation shaft, a separation roller fastened around the separation shaft, and a pickup roller disposed to the separation roller. The one-way clutch module includes a gear shaft, and a one-way clutch mounted around the gear shaft. The locking module includes a swing arm, a hooking portion fastened to a bottom of the swing arm, a blocking portion fastened under the swing arm, and a spring disposed to the bottom of the swing arm. One side of the swing arm is fastened to the gear shaft, the other side of the swing arm is fastened to the separation shaft.

When an operating lever is moved from an operation position to a stand-by position, a standard size fixing member is lowered in advance of a non-standard size fixing member, so that a regulating member for regulating a position of an end portion of a sheet can be set to a desired position, enabling stable sheet feeding.

A bag supply device used in a rotary bag-filling packaging machine and including: an empty-bag holding member (9) for holding a bag (B), a reciprocating mechanism (13) for moving the empty-bag holding member back and forth between a bag receiving position and a bag delivery position, a first turning mechanism (14) for turning the empty-bag holding member around a first axis (O.sub.1) parallel to a bag width direction thereof upon operation of the reciprocating mechanism and orienting the holding face of the empty-bag holding member vertically in the delivery position, and a second turning mechanism (15) for turning the empty-bag holding member around a second axis (O.sub.2) parallel to a bag length direction thereof and causing the bag held by the empty-bag holding member in the delivery position to be directly across from the pair of grippers stopped in the empty bag supply position.

A sheet supporting apparatus includes a body, a supporting portion configured to be held in an elevating manner by the body and to support a sheet, a sheet regulation portion regulating a position of the sheet supported on the supporting portion, a movement portion capable of moving between a first position where the sheet regulation portion regulates the position of the sheet supported on the supporting portion, and a second position where the supporting portion is regulated from elevating with respect to the body, and a movement regulation unit regulating the movement portion from moving to the second position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide sheet supplying apparatus. The sheet supplying apparatus has a tray; a guide mechanism; a movement conversion mechanism; a rotary member; a cam and slider mechanism and a compression spring. The movement conversion mechanism converts an up and down motion of the tray to a rotational motion. The rotary member comprises a transmitted portion configured to receive a rotational motion converted from the up and down motion of the tray in cooperation with the movement conversion mechanism and a driven portion configured to receive a rotational driving force to lift the tray. The cam and slider mechanism converts the rotational motion of the rotary member to a linear motion of a linearly movable member. The compression spring elastically presses the linearly movable member of the cam and slider mechanism in the rotational axis direction to lift the tray.

A feeding apparatus includes a stacking member provided to a feeding cassette, a feeding member, a contact portion provided on a regulating member provided on the feeding cassette, a movement unit, and a switching unit. The movement unit raises the feeding member when the feeding cassette is pulled out and lowers the feeding member when the feeding cassette is inserted. The switching unit switches a positional relationship between the feeding and stacking member. After the feeding member is lowered and before the feeding member performs a sheet feeding operation, the switching unit switches the relationship to the second positional relationship from the first. When a stacked sheet amount is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, the contact portion is disposed in contact with the stacked sheets and when the amount is smaller than the predetermined amount, the contact portion is disposed not in contact with the stacked sheets.

The present disclosure provides a paper stop structure, a paper feed unit, and an image forming apparatus. The paper stop structure includes a movement stopper and a paper stopper both swingably configured in a paper feed path, and a separation structure to separate the movement stopper and the paper stopper. In paper stopping state, the paper stopper is pushed by an external force to swing until contacting the movement stopper, and blocks paper sheets from entering the paper feed path. In non-paper stopping state, the paper stopper is pushed by an external force to swing and separates from the movement stopper. Accordingly, various functions of paper feeding, paper stopping, and paper detecting may be achieved, and large capacity paper feeding can also be achieved to improve product operating efficiency and to effectively prevent paper mis-feed and paper jam during the image forming apparatus operation.

An image forming apparatus includes a support portion configured to support a sheet, a roller configured to feed the sheet supported on the support portion, a separation member configured to apply a feeding resistance to the sheet fed by the roller from the support portion, a holder holding the roller, a holder pivoting member configured to pivot the holder between a first position where the roller contacts the sheet and a second position where the roller is separated from the sheet, a clutch mechanism, a clutch-state changing member, a rotator configured to rotate between an off position where the holder is at the second position and the clutch mechanism is at a cut-off state and an on position where the holder is at the first position and the clutch mechanism is at a transmission state, a stopper configured to stop the rotator, and an actuator connected to the stopper.

A removable media tray assembly for an image forming device according to one embodiment includes a media tray having a bottom surface and a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface. A bottom surface defines a media storage location for storing a stack of media sheets. The assembly includes a housing having an opening therein to receive the media tray. A magnet and a plate provide a latching force FL greater than a pick motor stall force keeping the media tray in a closed position during media picking. A handle assembly including a finger bar and a pivoting link is mounted to the front wall. With the media tray being held closed by the latching force, a user-supplied actuation force FA that is less than 22.2 N applied to the finger bar, pivots the link which acts as a force multiplier providing a release force exceeding the latching force.

A removable media tray assembly for an image forming device according to one embodiment includes a media tray having a bottom surface and a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface. A bottom surface defines a media storage location for storing a stack of media sheets. The assembly includes a housing having an opening therein to receive the media tray. A magnet and a plate provide a latching force FL greater than a pick motor stall force keeping the media tray in a closed position during media picking. A handle assembly including a finger bar and a pivoting link is mounted to the front wall. With the media tray being held closed by the latching force, a user-supplied actuation force FA that is less than 22.2 N applied to the finger bar, pivots the link which acts as a force multiplier providing a release force exceeding the latching force.