There is provided a stacking apparatus capable of stably conveying and stacking sheets without occurrence of damage or buckling of the sheets in the structure of discharging the curled sheets one by one. In regard to each of a plurality of clamp guides which project toward stacking trays from conveyance means to guide sheets S, the projecting position varies in accordance with a size and an amount of stacked sheets Sa on the stack trays. The stacking tray comprises an inclined surface and a curved surface. An upper guide is located to face the inclined surface by a predetermined interval, and the upper guide is located not to face the curved surface or is located to face it by an interval larger than a predetermined interval.

A feeder (12) for feeding envelopes in a mail handling machine comprising a transport deck (30) for receiving a stack of envelopes, feed rollers (34) for conveying downstream envelopes towards a reference wall (32) leaving a clearance path for the envelopes; a stack sensor (48) for detecting the presence of the stack of envelopes at a predetermined height threshold; and a control unit (46) configured for decreasing acceleration of the feed rollers when the stack of envelopes goes below the predetermined height threshold.

A feeder (12) for feeding envelopes in a mail handling machine comprising a transport deck (30) for receiving a stack of envelopes, feed rollers (34) for conveying downstream envelopes towards a reference wall (32) leaving a clearance path for the envelopes; a stack sensor (48) for detecting the presence of the stack of envelopes at a predetermined height threshold; and a control unit (46) configured for decreasing acceleration of the feed rollers when the stack of envelopes goes below the predetermined height threshold.

A conveying apparatus has first and second trays arranged on an upstream of a conveyor and configured to support the sheet in contact with the conveyor, a feeder configured to feed the sheet on the first tray toward the conveyor, a first sensor configured to output a first signal in response to the sheet being present on the first tray, a second sensor configured to output a second signal in response to the sheet being present between the first tray and the conveyor and configured to output the second signal in response to the sheet being present between the second tray and the conveyor, and a controller configured to execute a removal notifying process to output a notification indicating removal of the sheet on the first tray in response to output of the second signal before a time period since the first signal was output exceeds a threshold period.

A conveying apparatus has first and second trays arranged on an upstream of a conveyor and configured to support the sheet in contact with the conveyor, a feeder configured to feed the sheet on the first tray toward the conveyor, a first sensor configured to output a first signal in response to the sheet being present on the first tray, a second sensor configured to output a second signal in response to the sheet being present between the first tray and the conveyor and configured to output the second signal in response to the sheet being present between the second tray and the conveyor, and a controller configured to execute a removal notifying process to output a notification indicating removal of the sheet on the first tray in response to output of the second signal before a time period since the first signal was output exceeds a threshold period.

A sheet feed cassette monitor includes an actuator with another end portion, a detecting circuit, a plurality of protrusions, a signal monitoring circuit, and a signal determining circuit. When the one end portion is in contact with a paper sheet, the other end portion swings in a first direction. When the one end portion is not in contact with the paper sheet, the other end portion swings in a second direction opposite direction to the first direction. The detecting circuit detects the swinging of the other end portion on the actuator. The plurality of protrusions are convexly installed in an asymmetric manner with respect to a putting-in/taking-out direction of the feed cassette. The signal determining circuit determines a presence/absence state of the paper sheet housed in the sheet feed cassette and an open/close state of the sheet feed cassette based on a pattern of change in the monitored signal.

A sheet feed cassette monitor includes an actuator with another end portion, a detecting circuit, a plurality of protrusions, a signal monitoring circuit, and a signal determining circuit. When the one end portion is in contact with a paper sheet, the other end portion swings in a first direction. When the one end portion is not in contact with the paper sheet, the other end portion swings in a second direction opposite direction to the first direction. The detecting circuit detects the swinging of the other end portion on the actuator. The plurality of protrusions are convexly installed in an asymmetric manner with respect to a putting-in/taking-out direction of the feed cassette. The signal determining circuit determines a presence/absence state of the paper sheet housed in the sheet feed cassette and an open/close state of the sheet feed cassette based on a pattern of change in the monitored signal.

In one example a bend sensor is disclosed. The bend sensor extends into a media tray. The bend sensor has a tip where a deflection amount of the tip indicates a media parameter.

In one example a bend sensor is disclosed. The bend sensor extends into a media tray. The bend sensor has a tip where a deflection amount of the tip indicates a media parameter.

Provided is a sheet processing apparatus, including: a placement portion to which a sheet conveyed by a conveyance portion in a conveyance direction is placed; a processing portion configured to perform predetermined processing on a sheet placed on the placement portion, and to be movable in a predetermined moving range; and a control portion configured to control the processing portion to position, at a timing at which a sheet conveyed by the conveyance portion passes through the moving range, from a first position of preventing from interfering with the sheet to a second position of performing the predetermined processing on a preceding sheet having been conveyed by the conveyance portion and placed on the placement portion before the sheet.