A paper blocking device includes a pick roller, a cover plate, a paper blocking component, a driving mechanism, a gear mechanism and a motor. The cover plate has a pick roller window penetrated the cover plate. The pick roller is positioned in the pick roller window. The paper blocking component is coupled to the cover plate. The driving mechanism has a driving shaft and a cam being connected to the driving shaft. The cam is connected to the paper blocking component. The gear mechanism is connected to the driving shaft. The motor is connected to the gear mechanism. As described above, the paper blocking device can block papers and align the leading edges of papers.

A media transport includes a feed roller to be rotated in a first direction, and an input/output roller to be rotated in the first direction to direct media into a media path with rotation of the feed roller in the first direction, where the feed roller is to be rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction to advance the media within the media path and, with the rotation of the feed roller in the second direction, the input/output roller is to be temporarily decoupled from rotation with the feed roller.

A feeding roller structure includes a fastening frame, a transmission component, a transmission roller and a floating coupler. The transmission component is assembled in the fastening frame. The transmission component includes a drive shaft mounted on two sides of the fastening frame. The transmission roller is concentrically arranged around the drive shaft. The floating coupler is mounted to the fastening frame. The floating coupler is coupled between the drive shaft and the transmission roller. Two opposite ends of the floating coupler are adjacent to and spaced from the two sides of the fastening frame to form two gaps. Each gap is formed between one end of the floating coupler and one side of the fastening frame. The two gaps limit an angular displacement of the floating coupler.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a stacking unit including a plate, a feeding unit including a roller, a holder including a detected member, a drive unit and a controller. The detected member is positioned in a first position where the detected member is not detected by a detector in a case that the feeding unit is new, and is moved from the first position to a second position where the detected member is projected so as to be detected by the detector when the new feeding unit is mounted on the holder and the roller is driven. The controller controls the drive unit to perform up-and-down operation of the plate so that the plate is set to a feedable state of the sheet in a case that the feeding unit is mounted, and determines whether or not the feeding unit is new based on a detection result of the detector.

An image reading apparatus, includes: a supply tray; a discharge tray; a conveyance guide; a reading sensor; a discharge unit, which includes a discharge opening to discharge the sheet conveyed by the conveyance guide to the discharge tray and is configured to move from a third position to a fourth as the document supported by the paper feed tray is decreased, the fourth position being higher than the third position; a first drive source, which generates a drive force; a first rotation body, which moves the movable plate by transmitting the drive force from the first drive source to the movable plate; and a second rotation body, which moves the discharge unit by transmitting the drive force from the first drive source to the discharge unit, wherein a diameter of the first rotation body and a diameter of the second rotation body are different from each other.

A paper feeding mechanism includes a feeding path, a driving motor, a bidirectional transmission mechanism, at least one feeding roller, a unidirectional transmission mechanism and at least one blocking roller. The driving motor is controllable to output a driving force towards a forward direction or a driving force towards a reverse direction. The bidirectional transmission mechanism is connected to the driving motor. The at least one feeding roller is mounted in the feeding path. The at least one feeding roller is connected to the bidirectional transmission mechanism. The unidirectional transmission mechanism is connected to the driving motor. The at least one blocking roller is mounted in the feeding path. The at least one blocking roller is disposed to a downstream of the at least one feeding roller. The at least one blocking roller is connected to the unidirectional transmission mechanism.

A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a drive source, a conveyance portion, a transmission mechanism configured to switch between a first state and a second state, a load detection portion configured to detect a load acting on the drive source, and a control portion configured to control the drive source and the transmission mechanism. The control portion is configured to change, on a basis of a detection result of the load detection portion, a timing in the conveyance operation at which a control signal for switching the transmission mechanism from the first state to the second state is issued, the timing being changed in accordance with a delay time from when the control signal is issued to when change in the load corresponding to the switching of the transmission mechanism from the first state to the second state appears.

A sheet feeding device includes a sheet feeding portion, a side end regulating portion, a feeding portion, first and second feeding roller pairs, an abutment member, an obliquely feeding roller pair, and first and second contact-and-separation mechanisms. Feeding of a long sheet is stopped after the sheet is fed to an upstream side of the second feeding roller pair by the feeding portion, and then is resumed in a state in which the first feeding roller pair is changed from a separated state to a feedable state and in a state in which the obliquely feeding roller pair is put in a separated state, and then the sheet is fed to the second feeding roller pair. A short sheet fed by the first feeding roller pair is obliquely fed by the obliquely feeding roller pair and then is fed to the second feeding roller pair.

In an example, a method may include determining a range of motion of a pick arm during lifting of the pick arm from a media stack position to a hard stop position in an image forming apparatus. The pick arm may have a pick roller at one end for picking a media sheet from a media stack and pivotally mounted at an opposite end to enable angular movement of the pick arm relative to the media stack. Further, the method may include estimating a height of the media stack based on the determined range of motion of the pick arm from the media stack position to the hard stop position. Furthermore, the method may include indicating an amount of media sheets remaining in the media stack corresponding to the estimated height.

A medium conveying apparatus includes a setting member to set a torque limiter that defines a maximum torque applied to a brake roller to a first torque limiter or a second torque limiter, a unit including the first torque limiter, the second torque limiter and the brake roller, and a transmission member to transmit a drive force to the first torque limiter. The unit is swingably supported so that a predetermined force acts on the brake roller in a direction away from the feed roller when the driving force is transmitted. A force in a direction in which the brake roller presses the feed roller when the second torque limiter defines the maximum torque applied to the brake roller is greater than the force in the direction in which the brake roller presses the feed roller when the first torque limiter defines the maximum torque applied to the brake roller.