A sheet guiding device includes a cover unit, a swing guide, a link member, and a contact member. The cover unit is configured to be openably disposed on a housing of an image forming apparatus. The swing guide is configured to move between a guide position at which the swing guide is open to guide a sheet and a retracted position at which the swing guide is closed. The swing guide is configured to move from the retracted position to the guide position along with closing movement of the cover unit. The link member has one end configured to be held by the housing and an opposite end engaged with the swing guide. The contact member is disposed on the cover unit. The contact member is configured to contact the link member to rotate the link member in the closing movement of the cover unit.

A sheet processing apparatus includes a rotating body pair capable of transporting a sheet in a first direction for nipping the sheet transported to a transport path thereby drawing the sheet for folding processing, and in a second direction for switching back the sheet to return to the transport path, a push member that pushes the sheet transported to the transport path to a nip portion of the rotating body pair, and a press member pressing one end portion of the sheet folded by the rotating body pair to guide, and including a press portion that presses the one end portion of the sheet in a direction of the transport path where the other end portion of the sheet exists, and a guide portion that guides the sheet pressed by the press portion to the guide face of the transport path where the other end portion of the sheet exists.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes: a storage part that stores a sheet, and a feeding part that has a feeding roller for feeding the sheet. The storage part and the feeding part are configured to be integrally inserted/withdrawn into/from an apparatus enclosure. The feeding roller is moved from a feeding position to a retracting position before the storage part and the feeding part are withdrawn from the enclosure.

A first transport path is put into a first state capable of transporting a paper sheet when a first portion and a second portion engage with each other, and put into a second state in which the second portion is swingable with respect to the first portion about a first swing axis extending in a direction orthogonal to a first direction and horizontal when engagement between the first portion and the second portion is released. A contact portion comes into contact with the second portion, thereby engaging the second portion with the first portion when a second unit in which the first transport path is in the second state is moved in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion to form an image on a sheet, a tray on which sheets to be fed are stacked, and a swing member supported by the tray and configured to swing in a case where the swing member is pushed by a discharged sheet. A stacking portion includes a first surface on an upper portion of a first portion, and a moving member in contact with the discharged sheet. The moving member can be positioned at a position downstream of the first surface in the discharge direction, wherein the swing member overlaps with the first surface as viewed in the sheet width direction in a case where the swing member is not in contact with a discharged sheet, and the swing member is arranged such that a lower end of the swing member is not in contact with the stacking portion.

A conveyance device includes a tray on an upper surface of the conveyance device and an upper guide below the tray. The tray receives a sheet, and the upper guide defines a conveyance path in which the sheet is conveyed. The upper guide is movable together with the tray to open the conveyance path.

A medium discharging device includes a first tray, a second tray receiving a medium from the first tray, a supporter which is configured to be displaced from a retreat position in the first tray and an advance position above the second tray and which supports the medium, an aligner which is provided in the supporter and that aligns a first end portion which is an upstream end portion in a discharge direction of the medium supported by the supporter, to be displaced together with the supporter, and a restrictor configured to be displaced between a restriction position where an upstream movement of the first end portion of the medium in a position of the aligner in the discharge direction and a non-restriction position where the movement is not restricted, when the supporter is in the advance position.

A method and apparatus for determining at least a portion of a media item pathway are disclosed. The apparatus includes a transfer module comprising shafts that are rotatable and spaced apart in a substantially parallel relationship. A removable module is located with respect to the transfer module to selectively locate spaced apart rows of protruding guide elements with respect to the arm elements. At least one arm element comprises an abutment member that moves with the arm element and abuts with an abutment region of at least one guide element when a respective shaft element is rotated. A portion of a media item pathway is at least partially determined via opposed guide surfaces of the guide elements and the arm elements.

A sheet folding device includes a sheet conveyance path, a first folding conveyance path, a first folding roller pair, a first folding guide, and a conveyance roller. The first folding roller pair is composed of a first roller and a second roller forming a first folding nip by being brought into pressure contact with an upstream side of the first roller. The first folding guide is movable between a folding position at which it approaches the first folding nip, guiding a to-be-folded part of a sheet to the first folding nip, and a retracted position at which it is away from the first folding nip. The conveyance roller forms, together with the second roller, a first assist roller pair that conveys the sheet along the sheet conveyance path. The first folding guide has a pivot fulcrum on a downstream side relative to the first folding nip in the conveyance direction.

A method is provided for controlling a web in a printing apparatus The printing apparatus includes a transport assembly for moving the web through a transport path along a printing unit for printing an image onto a print area of the web. The method includes feeding the web from a supply roll through the transport path to the transport assembly; and switching the printing apparatus to a ready-to-print mode, wherein the printing unit does not print an image on the web and the web is maintained ready to be printed on. In a printing mode after the ready-to print mode, the following steps are performed: moving the web through the transport path in a transport direction along the printing unit by the transport assembly; and printing the image onto the print area of the web by the printing unit. The image is printed by applying an image material, which solidifies on the web during the printing step. The ready-to-print mode includes the step of: operating the transport assembly to prevent a deformation of the print area of the web in the transport path, while maintaining the web in the ready-to-print mode. The web is maintained ready to print while preventing a deformation of the print area of the web in the transport path.