A sheet feeding apparatus includes a first rotary member to feed a sheet supported on a sheet supporter, a second rotary member to feed the sheet with a feeding force weaker than the first rotary member, and a third rotary member in contact with a separation member to separate the sheets fed by the first rotary member one by one. A drive transmission switches between a first drive transmission state in which a driving force from a motor to the first rotary member and the third rotary member is transmitted while the driving force from the motor to a second rotary member is cut off, and a second drive transmission state in which the driving force from the motor to the second rotary member is transmitted while the driving force from the motor to the first rotary member and the third rotary member is cut off.

Provided herein may be a pick-up roller with a front-edge alignment element and a media separation apparatus using the pick-up roller. The pick-up roller may include a pick-up element configured to pick up and transfer a media sheet, and the front-edge alignment element provided at a position opposite to the pick-up element. During a process of picking up a stacked media sheet and transferring it into a space between a feed roller and a separation roller unit, the front-edge alignment element may align in advance a front edge of a media sheet disposed subsequent to the medial sheet that is being transferred, to a position of the entrance between the feed roller and the separation roller unit, and thereafter, the pick-up element may pick up the media sheet aligned by the front-edge alignment element and transfer it into the space between the feed roller and the separation roller unit.

The feeding apparatus includes a pick-up roller, a feed roller, a separation roller which forms a separation nip portion with the feed roller, an encoder, and an engine control unit. The engine control unit obtains variation in rotation speed of the separation roller based on a detection result of the encoder, and determines a life condition of the separation roller based on the obtained variation in rotation speed of the separation roller.

A sheet feeder includes a delivery roller, a supply roller, a separating member, a driving source, a first drive transmission mechanism, a second drive transmission mechanism, and a controller. The first drive transmission mechanism transmits the rotary drive power in the first direction to the delivery roller in a first drive transmission time from the start of driving of the driving source. The second drive transmission mechanism transmits the rotary drive power in the first direction to the supply roller in a second drive transmission time from the start of driving of the driving source. The second drive transmission period of the second drive transmission mechanism is longer than the first drive transmission period of the first drive transmission mechanism. When the control starts driving the driving source, the supply roller starts to rotate in the first direction after the delivery roller starts to rotate in the first direction.

A transport module for flat items comprising at least one transport element borne in a transport element carrier having a drive shaft is designed for installation in a station of an item processing system and, after installation, is borne rotatably around an axis of the drive shaft. It is one of multiple transport modules of an identical design. The transport element has, on one side, a lower friction coefficient than on the other side of an equator and is driven by the drive shaft via transmission means of the transport module. The transport element carrier carries the transmission means of the transport module and has a spring assembly allowing it to be shifted in the direction of gravity and contrary to it.

An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a sheet includes a recording section which records the image on the sheet in a transport passage for transporting the sheet in a transport direction and multiple plates which are spaced apart from each other in a widthwise direction. These multiple plates include a first type of plate and a second type of plate. Plates of a first type of plate are configured to overlap a sheet when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction and the widthwise direction, while plates of the second type of plate do not.

A sheet conveying apparatus includes: a supporter having a support surface configured to support sheets; a supplier having a conveying surface exposed from the support surface and moved to supply one or more sheets; a separator including a separating roller and a retard roller located downstream of the supplier; and an inclined surface disposed upstream of the nip position and pivotable about a pivot axis. The inclined surface has a first end portion and a second end portion, and the second end portion is located downstream of the first end portion. The inclined surface is inclined such that the second end portion is nearer to the support surface than the first end portion. The first end portion is located upstream of a downstream end portion of the conveying surface. The second end portion is spaced apart from the conveying surface.

A sheet feeder includes a first rotary member, a separation member that cooperates with the first rotary member in holding the sheet between the separation member and the first rotary member to define a separation nip, a conveyance unit disposed downstream of the separation nip in a conveyance direction of the sheet, a driving unit, and a control unit. The first rotary member feeds a sheet. The conveyance unit conveys the sheet. The driving unit drives the first rotary member. The control unit controls the driving unit to stop driving the first rotary member when a leading edge of the sheet reaches the conveyance unit, and controls the driving unit to restart driving the first rotary member when a trailing edge portion of the sheet comes out of the separation nip.

A method and apparatus for processing documents are provided. The apparatus includes a feeder for receiving a packet of a plurality of documents and separating the documents to serially feed the documents to a scanner. A drop feeder conveys the document packets to the feeder. A sensor provides information related to the thickness of the document packets and the drop feeder is controlled in response to the information related to the thickness of a packet in the feeder. The method includes the control of the drop feeder in response to information related to the thickness of a document packet at the feeder.

A method and apparatus for processing documents are provided. The apparatus includes a feeder for receiving a packet of a plurality of documents and separating the documents to serially feed the documents to a scanner. A retard adjacent the feeder is operable in first and second positions. In the first position the retard forms a nip with the feeder so that the retard is operable to impede the progress of one or more documents in the packet while the feeder feeds one of the documents in the packet. In the second position, the retard is spaced apart from the feeder to form a gap between the feeder and the retard. The system further includes a sensor for detecting a characteristic of the documents in a packet indicative of whether the number of documents in the packet exceeds a predetermined threshold. A drive mechanism automatically drives the retard pad between the first and second positions in response to the detected characteristic.