A sheet conveyance device transports a sheet to a predetermined processing unit, and includes a conveyance belt, a ventilation unit, and a suction unit. The conveyance belt has a first surface and a second surface, and is arranged to be opposed to the processing unit to transport the sheet on the first surface in a predetermined conveyance direction. On an upstream side of the processing unit in the conveyance direction, the ventilation unit blows out wind toward the sheet to adhere the sheet to the first surface of the conveyance belt. The suction unit is arranged to be opposed to the processing unit with the conveyance belt interposed therebetween to generate a negative pressure between the sheet adhered to the first surface by the ventilation unit and the conveyance belt, thereby bringing the sheet into close contact with the first surface of the conveyance belt.

An image forming apparatus includes an image former, a conveyance path, a flipping conveyance path, a conveying mechanism and a hardware processor. The flipping conveyance path includes a side path connecting a first branch point in a downstream of the conveyance path to a junction in an upstream of the conveyance path and a re-feeding path connecting a second branch point in the side path to a re-feeding point in an upstream of the conveyance path. The hardware processor controls the conveying mechanism to perform (i) a conveyance operation to convey the sheet along the conveyance path, (ii) a draw-in operation to draw the sheet with the image into the side path, and (iii) a re-feeding operation to convey the sheet in a reverse direction to re-feed the flipped sheet from the re-feeding point to the conveyance path.

Provided is a sheet conveying apparatus that includes a conveying unit capable of changing its posture through rotation, and forms a sheet conveyance path capable of conveying a sheet without fail regardless of which posture the conveying unit is in. A first conveying unit is capable of being in a first posture and in a second posture by rotating from the first posture. In a case where the first conveying unit is in the first posture, a sheet conveyance path is formed in which the first conveyance path, the second conveyance path, and the third conveyance path are connected in this order. In a case where the first conveying unit is in the second posture, a sheet conveyance path is formed in which the first conveyance path and the third conveyance path are connected in this order.

A belt conveying apparatus includes: an endless belt member; a belt conveying roller that rotatably stretches the belt member; a pair of regulating members, disposed at both end parts of the belt conveying roller, that regulates movement of the belt member in a width direction thereof; a moving mechanism that moves at least one of the pair of regulating members in the width direction; and a supporting member that supports the belt member in an area extending in the width direction after the regulating member has moved.

A powder-amount detection device includes an outer electrode, an inner electrode, and a detector. The outer electrode is disposed outside a powder container to be replaceably installed to an image forming apparatus. The inner electrode is disposed inside a powder supply port of the powder container. The detector is configured to apply an electric field between the outer electrode and the inner electrode to detect a capacitance between the outer electrode and the inner electrode.

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

The present disclosure is generally related to an apparatus having cutter elements for destroying articles such as paper sheets and a mechanism for separating at least a sheet from a stack in a tray. A paper feed mechanism feeds paper that is separated from the stack by a stack separation mechanism to the cutter elements. The feed and separation mechanisms can be activated by rotation of the cutter elements. In one embodiment, the stack separation mechanism moves in an alternating manner between retracted and extended positions to disengage and engage and insert the stack to separate (with its edge) paper therefrom to feed to the feed mechanism for shredding. The paper stack separation mechanism can move in an non-undulating manner relative to the stack. A device for stripping stapled pages, a pivotable support plate, and pressure plate can also be used, as well as a number of sensors.

A paper sheet transportation mechanism includes: transportation portions between which a paper sheet is sandwiched so as to transport the paper sheet; and a transportation guide that protrudes in a direction of the paper sheet sandwiched by the transportation portions such that the paper sheet is deformed into a wave shape in a cross section perpendicular to a transportation direction of the paper sheet, and that extends in the transportation direction.

An image forming apparatus includes: a belt conveyance device that corrects leaning of an endless belt member, the belt conveyance device being detachably attachable to an apparatus body of the image forming apparatus; a first guiding portion that supports a first guided portion provided in a frame member supporting rotatably a first roller on which the belt member is laid under tension and guides the belt conveyance device attached to or detached from the apparatus body; and a second guiding portion that supports a second guided portion provided in a steering unit supporting rotatably a second roller on which the belt member is laid under tension, releases the second guided portion at an attachment position of the belt conveyance device to the apparatus body, and guides the belt conveyance device attached to or detached from the apparatus body.

A postprocessing device performs postprocessing on sheets received from an image forming apparatus. The postprocessing device includes a pair of folding rollers, a folding blade, a transport device, a drive portion, and a drive controller. The drive controller controls the drive portion to match moving speed of a tip portion of the folding blade with moving speed of a circumferential surface of the folding rollers, at a time point that the sheaf of the sheets makes contact with the circumferential surface of the folding rollers, when the image forming apparatus forms the image by ink jet printing, and to match the moving speed of the tip portion of the folding blade with the moving speed of the circumferential surface of the folding rollers, at a time point that the sheaf of the sheets reaches the nip region between the folding rollers.