An image forming apparatus includes a casing, an image forming unit movable between an accommodated position and a shifted position, an actuator, an urging member, a cam, and a contact portion. The actuator includes a pivot shaft and a protrusion protruding therefrom. The protrusion at a standby position crosses a conveyance path and is contactable with a sheet conveyed along the conveyance path. When the image forming unit is at the accommodated position, the contact portion and the cam contact each other and maintain the protrusion at the standby position against an urging force of the urging member. As the image forming unit moves from the accommodated position to the shifted position, the contact portion and the cam move away from each other such that the protrusion pivots from the standby position, by the urging force, to a retracted position at which the protrusion is retracted from the conveyance path.

A medium accommodation cassette includes a first medium accommodation portion that forms a portion of a medium accommodation region and a second medium accommodation portion that forms a portion of the medium accommodation region and is configured to be switchable between a first state and a second state in which the second medium accommodation portion is displaced from a position thereof in the first state in a cassette removing direction so as to stretch the medium accommodation region. A step portion on a side surface, which is formed between the first medium accommodation portion and the second medium accommodation portion, is positioned inside an insertion/removal mouth when the second medium accommodation portion assumes the second state in the state in which the medium accommodation cassette is installed in the insertion/removal mouth.

An image forming apparatus comprises a plurality of sheet detection units, provided at different positions along a sheet width direction, configured to detect the sheet conveyed on a conveyance path. A controller determines, by using the plurality of sheet detection units, a presence or absence of a sheet being conveyed in each of a plurality of regions sectioned in the sheet width direction, and determines, based on input image data, a presence or absence of an image to be formed in each of the plurality of regions. The controller further determines, based on the above determination results, whether or not the image to be formed on the sheet being conveyed is to be formed with a deviation from the sheet, and controls an image forming operation in accordance with this determination result.

Provided is a technique capable of detecting the amount of a stack of discharged print media and increasing print speed. A printing apparatus includes a displacement member configured to be in contact with the discharged print media and be displaced according to the amount of the stack of the print media, and detects the stack amount based on the displacement of the displacement member. The apparatus performs a first or second detection operation based on the detected stack amount. In the first detection operation, after a specified number of print media are discharged with the displacement member positioned at the evacuation position where it does not come into contact with a print medium, the displacement member is brought into contact with the print media to detect the stack amount. In the second detection operation, the stack amount is detected with the displacement member in contact with the print media.

A sheet detecting apparatus includes a sheet supporting surface, a first sensor flag including a first flag portion, a first contact portion, and a third contact portion, a second sensor flag including a second flag portion, and a second contact portion, a first detection sensor configured to transit to a first state of outputting a first detection signal and to a second state of outputting a second detection signal, the first detection sensor transiting to one of the first state and the second state in response to a position of the first flag portion, and a second detection sensor configured to transit to a third state of outputting a third detection signal and to a fourth state of outputting a fourth detection signal, the second detection sensor transiting to one of the third state and the fourth state in response to a position of the second flag portion.

A cash box has a storage area for storing several notes of value and a counterpressure unit, which delimits the storage area and is movable between first and second positions. The cash box includes a sensor unit with at least one sensor element, the sensor unit emitting a sensor signal that is dependent on the position of the sensor element. The counterpressure unit has a recess for receiving at least a part of the sensor element. The sensor element and the recess are arranged such that the sensor element is only received whenever the counterpressure unit is in the first position and no note of value is present between the sensor element and the recess. The cash box has a control unit which determines on the basis of the sensor signal of the sensor unit and the position of the counterpressure unit whether the cash box is empty.

A packaging machine for packaging products to be packaged using a stretchable film has a film transporter supplying the film. The film transporter has first and second belt conveyors that each have first and second transport belts, which are synchronously driven and arranged next to one another in a film transport direction. A belt conveyor is movable in a direction perpendicular to the film transport direction, and has a movable film guide to insert the film into the film transporter. The film guide has a guide plate for guiding the film. The guide plate has first and second recesses in an upper edge in the vertical direction facing the belt conveyors. The belt conveyors are to be inserted into a respective one of the recesses. The film transporter has cleaners for the belt conveyors.

A conveyance mechanism capable of attaining high conveyance performance and protecting a conveyance object and a mechanism itself, a medium processing device and a conveyance method using the conveyance mechanism are provided to solve the problem. The conveyance mechanism includes a conveyance passage which is a passage where a conveyance object is conveyed, a conveyance member moving the conveyance object along the conveyance passage, a motor driving the conveyance member, a control part controlling an output torque of the motor, a conveyance state identifying means identifying a conveyance state that is a position and/or a conveyance direction of the conveyance object in the conveyance passage, and a storage part which upper limit torque information which is an upper limit value of an output torque allowable for the motor or a parameter value required for calculation of the upper limit value is registered for each type of the conveyance state.

A sheet sorting apparatus includes a first tray detachable from an apparatus main body, a second tray arranged below the first tray, a discharge unit to discharge a sheet to the first or second tray, a tray detecting unit to detect that the first tray is detached from the apparatus main body, a full stack detecting unit to detect a fully stacked condition of the first tray, and a control unit to control the discharge unit. In a case where the tray detecting unit detects that the first tray is detached from the apparatus main body, the control unit controls the discharge unit not to discharge a sheet to the second tray when a number of sheets discharged to the second tray reaches a threshold number of sheets, even though the full stack detecting unit does not detect the fully stacked condition.

A detection system for detecting double sheets being supplied to a lateral positioning device (100) for a sheet element (20, 20) in a sheet element processing machine. The machine has a drive system including a cam disk (174) and a cam follower lever (172). The detection system includes a detector lever (130) mounted so as to be displaceable between a sheet receiving position and a detection position. The detector lever (130) has a sheet sensing end (132) for engagement with an upper face of the sheet element (20, 20) when being in the detection position, and a position detector end (133) for cooperating, when being in the detection position, with a position detector (140) adapted for generating a signal dependent on the thickness of the sheet element (20, 20), and further includes a raising lever (170) for raising the sheet sensing end (132) of the detector lever (130). The raising lever (170) is mounted on the cam follower lever (172) of the sheet element processing machine. Further disclosed is a sheet element processing machine including a detection system as outlined above, mounted in an introduction station (10) upstream of a processing station.