The invention relates to a method and a device (2) for exactly positioning and processing textiles or the like, in particular fitting pieces (1), having the following method steps:orienting and/or positioning (2) the fitting piece (1),supplying (3) the fitting piece (1) to a station (9),checking (4) the orientation and/or positioning of the fitting piece (1), wherein markings on the fitting piece (1) are captured by sensor means and the actual marking sequence is compared with a setpoint marking sequence,determining (5) correction requirements andtransmitting (6) the correction requirement to a correction station (12),correcting (7) the orientation of the fitting piece (1) by means of the correction station (12) in accordance with the correction requirement,supplying (8) the fitting piece (1) to a processing station (13),optionally repeating individual method steps or several method steps.

In a first punching mode, a control portion displaces a support member from a first-path-side end side to a second-path-side end side, and causes a first punching portion on the first-path-side end side to operate in a state where the support member has reached a first target position. In a second punching mode, the control portion displaces the support member from the second-path-side end side to the first-path-side end side, and causes a second punching portion on the second-path-side end side to operate in a state where the support member has reached a second target position. The first and second target positions are based on positions of the support member at points of time when edges on the first-path-side end side and the second-path-side end side are detected by the first sheet sensor and the second sheet sensor, respectively.

In a first punching mode, a control portion displaces a support member from a first-path-side end side to a second-path-side end side, and causes a first punching portion on the first-path-side end side to operate in a state where the support member has reached a first target position. In a second punching mode, the control portion displaces the support member from the second-path-side end side to the first-path-side end side, and causes a second punching portion on the second-path-side end side to operate in a state where the support member has reached a second target position. The first and second target positions are based on positions of the support member at points of time when edges on the first-path-side end side and the second-path-side end side are detected by the first sheet sensor and the second sheet sensor, respectively.

A sheet conveying device, which is included in an image forming apparatus, includes a pair of rollers configured to convey a sheet in a sheet conveyance passage, a detector configured to optically detect an attitude of the sheet, one of a rotation device to rotate the pair of rollers in a direction parallel to a plane of the sheet and a moving device to move the pair of rollers in a width direction, and a controller configured to correct the attitude of the pair of rollers at a time interval, based on a detection result obtained by the detector. The controller performs the correcting operation by setting, according to reflectance of the sheet, at least one of a light emission time of the detector, the time interval of the correcting operation, light emission intensity of the detector and a conveying speed of the sheet.

A paper sheet transport apparatus (10) includes transport member that is slidable along the widthwise direction of a transport path (11) (e.g., a drive roller (36) and a driven roller (38)), and a paper sheet detection unit (inlet-side paper sheet detection sensor (70)) that is arranged on an upstream side of the transport member in the paper sheet transport direction along the transport path (11) and detects the position of the paper sheet in the widthwise direction of the transport path (11). A control unit (80) calculates an amount of movement of the transport member based on the position of the paper sheet in the widthwise direction of the transport path (11) detected by the paper sheet detection unit and a previously set predetermined position of the paper sheet in the widthwise direction of the transport path (11).

A paper sheet transport apparatus (10) includes transport member that is slidable along the widthwise direction of a transport path (11) (e.g., a drive roller (36) and a driven roller (38)), and a paper sheet detection unit (inlet-side paper sheet detection sensor (70)) that is arranged on an upstream side of the transport member in the paper sheet transport direction along the transport path (11) and detects the position of the paper sheet in the widthwise direction of the transport path (11). A control unit (80) calculates an amount of movement of the transport member based on the position of the paper sheet in the widthwise direction of the transport path (11) detected by the paper sheet detection unit and a previously set predetermined position of the paper sheet in the widthwise direction of the transport path (11).

An edge detection device that detects an edge position in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of a conveyance object, and includes: a photoelectric converter that is arranged in a conveyance path of the object and includes photoelectric conversion elements aligned along the width direction; a binarizer that binarizes an output from each of the photoelectric conversion elements by threshold comparison; a detector that detects a position of the photoelectric converter at which a binarized value is switched; a storage that stores therein a detection range as a range used for edge detection among the photoelectric conversion elements for each size of the object; and a determiner that reads out the detection range corresponding to the size of the object from the storage and determines a position detected by the detector within the detection range to be an edge position in the width direction of the object.

An edge detection device that detects an edge position in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of a conveyance object, and includes: a photoelectric converter that is arranged in a conveyance path of the object and includes photoelectric conversion elements aligned along the width direction; a binarizer that binarizes an output from each of the photoelectric conversion elements by threshold comparison; a detector that detects a position of the photoelectric converter at which a binarized value is switched; a storage that stores therein a detection range as a range used for edge detection among the photoelectric conversion elements for each size of the object; and a determiner that reads out the detection range corresponding to the size of the object from the storage and determines a position detected by the detector within the detection range to be an edge position in the width direction of the object.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a supporting portion, a sheet feeding unit, a side edge regulation plate, a separation unit configured to separate the sheets by blowing air onto the plurality of sheets supported by the supporting portion, a regulation plate position detection unit configured to detect a position of the side edge regulation plates in the width direction, and a control unit configured to execute a separation mode so as to perform an air-blow operation by the separation unit in feeding the sheets by the sheet feeding unit. In the separation mode, in a case where the position of the side edge regulation plate detected by the regulation plate position detection unit does not correspond to size of the sheets supported by the supporting portion in the width direction, the control unit is configured to stop the air-blow operation.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a supporting portion, a sheet feeding unit, a side edge regulation plate, a separation unit configured to separate the sheets by blowing air onto the plurality of sheets supported by the supporting portion, a regulation plate position detection unit configured to detect a position of the side edge regulation plates in the width direction, and a control unit configured to execute a separation mode so as to perform an air-blow operation by the separation unit in feeding the sheets by the sheet feeding unit. In the separation mode, in a case where the position of the side edge regulation plate detected by the regulation plate position detection unit does not correspond to size of the sheets supported by the supporting portion in the width direction, the control unit is configured to stop the air-blow operation.