There is provided a medium feeding apparatus including a feeding roller that feeds a printing medium, a roll holding portion that holds a roll body on which the printing medium is wound, an intermediate roller that pulls out the printing medium from the roll body and feeds the printing medium on the feeding roller, a rotation amount detection portion that detects an amount of rotation of the intermediate roller and an amount of rotation of the roll body when the printing medium is fed by the intermediate roller, and a controller that calculates a roll diameter of the roll body based on the detected amount of rotation of the intermediate roller and the detected amount of rotation of the roll body.

A printing system adapted to supply printed materials from a printing apparatus to a first stacking unit of a first sheet processing apparatus and a second stacking unit of a second sheet processing apparatus is provided. The system includes a receiver and controller, the receiver receiving via a user interface unit a specified instruction allowing the printing system to perform a first type operation that both the first stacking unit and the second stacking unit can be used in printing a job to be processed, the controller causing the printing apparatus to perform the first type operation wherein the specified instruction is received, and the controller causing the printing apparatus to perform a second type operation wherein the specified instruction is not received, the second type operation wherein one of the first stacking unit and the second stacking unit can be used in printing a job to be processed.

A sheet transfer assembly is provided for transferring a sheet from a supplying conveyor to a receiving conveyor. The receiving conveyor includes a transport belt having a support surface for supporting the sheet on a contact side of the sheet. The supplying conveyor is arranged for advancing the sheet in a transport direction towards the receiving conveyor. The sheet transfer assembly includes a sheet guidance element arranged downstream of the supplying conveyor in the transport direction for guiding the sheet towards the receiving conveyor, the sheet guidance element includes a guidance surface for supporting the sheet at its contact side; wherein the guidance surface includes two guide faces. Both guide faces extending in the transport direction over the support surface of the transport belt and being cooperatively arranged for supporting both side edge portions at the sides of the sheet in a lateral direction, which is substantially perpendicular to the transport direction, thereby forming a space in between one another allowing a middle portion of the sheet to move towards the support surface of the transport belt.

A printing system comprises a first bearing support for a first media roll of a first print medium and a second bearing support for a second media roll of a second print medium. Said first and second bearing supports are spaced apart from one another. A first print transport path extends from the first bearing support from the first media roll to a main transport path of the printing system. A second print transport path extends from the second bearing support to the main transport path of the printing system. An attachment transport path extends between the first and the second bearing support. The attachment transport path allows both print media to be brought together and attached to one another. Thereby, a relatively stiffer medium may be attached as a leader section to a relatively weaker medium.

A sheet stacking device include a guide unit and a blower. The guide unit receives a downstream end of a sheet in a sheet conveyance direction and guides the sheet downstream in the sheet conveyance direction. The blower blows air toward the sheet guided by the guide unit. A region of the blower from which the air is blown is changeable in response to a size of the sheet.

A gear train assembly comprises a gear train and a motor to drive the gear train. A shaft which is driven by the gear train, a rubber roller engaging the shaft and being co-axial therewith. The gear train also comprises a roller gear disposed on the shaft. The roller gear disengages from a second gear that drives the shaft or the rubber roller in response to pulling of media from the peripheral containing the gear train.

A medium transport device includes a first roller that applies a transporting force to a medium, a second roller that applies a transporting force to the medium transported from the first roller, a third roller that applies a transporting force to the medium transported from the second roller, a first rotor that transmits rotational torque to the third roller, a first shaft that is provided away from the first rotor at a first interval, and a second shaft that is provided away from the first rotor at the first interval and at a position different from a position of the first shaft. A shaft center of the first shaft and a shaft center of the second shaft are positioned on a circular arc, the center of which is a rotation center of the second roller.

A sheet guide includes an endless belt, and a guide supported by a plurality of places of the endless belt, the guide configured to hold a downstream end of the sheet in a conveyance direction of the sheet, wherein the endless belt is configured to rotate to move the sheet held by the guide in the conveyance direction.

A layer transfer device configured to transfer at least one layer of a multilayer film onto a toner image includes: a sheet conveying unit; a supply reel; a wind-up reel; a film transfer unit; and a peeling roller disposed between the film transfer unit and the wind-up reel in a conveyance path and configured to peel off the multilayer film from a sheet, and the film transfer unit includes: a first roller provided to contact the sheet; and a second roller provided to contact the multilayer film, and a tangent line of the second roller at a downstream end of a nip part passes between a center of the second roller and a center of the peeling roller, and an angle formed by the tangent line and a film tension portion of the multilayer film tensed between the nip part and the peeling roller is 15 to 37 degrees.

A drying device includes a drum, a contact conveyance roller, and a cooling device. The drum heats a continuous medium while conveying the continuous medium. The continuous medium is wound around a circumferential surface of the drum. The contact conveyance roller contacts the drum at a downstream end of a portion of the continuous medium wound around the circumferential surface of the drum in a conveyance direction of the continuous medium. Further, the contact conveyance roller conveys the continuous medium separated from the drum. The continuous medium is wound around the contact conveyance roller. The cooling device cools the contact conveyance roller.