A transport mechanism includes a transport belt in which holes are formed and a suction clinging mechanism. The transport mechanism transports the medium in the first transporting direction, and when the upstream edge reaches a switching position, the transport mechanism transports the medium in the second transporting direction and stacks the medium in a stacker. The suction clinging mechanism includes an opening of a first suction chamber and an opening of a second suction chamber, and the opening of the first suction chamber is located downstream of the opening of the second suction chamber in the first transporting direction. The switching position is located upstream of the opening of the first suction chamber in the first transporting direction. In the first transporting direction, the distance from the switching position to the opening of the first suction chamber is longer than the length of each hole.

The invention relates to an apparatus, in particular a roll cross cutter, for forming a shingled stream of underlapping or overlapping sheets, in particular paper or cardboard sheets, comprising a transport device for transporting sheets, a shingling device for underlapping or overlapping of the sheets at least in some regions, a braking device following the shingling device in the transport direction of the sheets for braking of shingled sheets, in particular by the formation of a brake gap for the passage of sheets brought together in a shingled manner, and a cross-cutting device upstream of the shingling device for cutting a material strip into individual sheets. According to the invention, an intake section is provided between the shingling device and the braking device for intake and further transport of a sheet, trailing in the shingled stream, into the braking device.

An assembly method and a combined and bivalent workstation for automatically assembling photovoltaic panels, with printing of ECA on cell portions and progressive arrangement with a partial superimposition on the contacts, pre-forming shingled strings in a continuous cycle, which are ready for loading on a backsheet, without dry-curing. The method provides a macro-phase of lay-up entirely made in the station, with simultaneous and coordinated sub-phases: picking of portions with a first handler and control, oriented loading on a vacuum belt, control of positioning on the belt, printing of ECA, control of printing and positioning, progressive superimpositions on a shuttle-tray with bidirectional translation coordinated with a second handler with chocked vacuum, picking of the shingled string with a third handler, control of string alignment, loading and pre-fixing. Vision systems are integrated for the execution of said sub-phases.

A stacker includes a medium stacking portion for receiving and stacking a medium processed and discharged by a processing unit, a medium butting portion for aligning the medium by contacting a leading end of the medium, and a paddle that includes a feeding portion and is for transporting the medium received by the medium stacking portion in a direction toward the medium butting portion by rotating. Furthermore, the stacker has a first mode in which the paddle stops in a state in which the feeding portion does not contact the medium on the medium stacking portion and a second mode in which the paddle stops in a state in which the feeding portion comes into contact with the medium on the medium stacking portion and is deformed.

An inkjet printer includes an air-permeable media-support-layer positioned on top of a vacuum table. The vacuum table includes a plurality of cavity rooms, connected to a vacuum source, for forming a plurality of vacuum zones on the air-permeable media-support-layer; each cavity room from the plurality of cavity rooms is closed by an air-permeable part from the air-permeable media-support-layer for forming a vacuum zone from the plurality of vacuum zones. Each cavity room from the plurality of cavity rooms includes a) a space formed by a set of walls; and b) a bottom layer including a set of air-channels; wherein a ratio of width to length from the minimum bounding box of the area formed by the set of walls is between 1:1 and 2:5.

A medium transporting apparatus including a transport belt that transports a medium while suctioning the medium against a transport surface, a first tray on which the medium transported with the transport belt is mounted, and a transport roller configured to move between a transporting position that nips the medium with the transport belt, and a retracted position that is a position distanced away from the transport belt with respect to the transporting position, in which the transport roller is positioned at the retracted position when a single medium is transported with the transport belt and is positioned at the transporting position when a plurality of mediums in a superposed state are transported with the transport belt.

A medium discharging device includes a first tray, a second tray receiving a medium from the first tray, a supporter which is configured to be displaced from a retreat position in the first tray and an advance position above the second tray and which supports the medium, an aligner which is provided in the supporter and that aligns a first end portion which is an upstream end portion in a discharge direction of the medium supported by the supporter, to be displaced together with the supporter, and a restrictor configured to be displaced between a restriction position where an upstream movement of the first end portion of the medium in a position of the aligner in the discharge direction and a non-restriction position where the movement is not restricted, when the supporter is in the advance position.

An image inspection device has a first suction conveyance unit which is arranged on the upstream side with a conveyance surface as an upper surface, a second suction conveyance unit which is arranged on the downstream side with a conveyance surface as a lower surface to make the conveyance surface continuous from the upstream side, a first inspection section which inspects an image on a front surface of an inspection object which is conveyed to the first suction conveyance unit and a second inspection section which inspects an image on a back surface of the inspection object which is conveyed to the second suction conveyance unit. The inspection object is conveyed in a state of being sucked and held on the first and second suction conveyance units and therefore is stable in position and posture in conveyance and an expected accuracy is maintained in inspection performed by the first and second inspection sections.

A hanging prevention roller is installed between a first suction conveyance unit on an upstream side and a second suction conveyance unit. When an inspection object is sent from the first suction conveyance unit into the second suction conveyance unit, a top edge of the inspection object abuts on and runs on the hanging prevention roller before the top edge of the inspection objects hangs down under its own weight or due to downward curling and so forth, the top edge is sandwiched between the roller and the second suction conveyance unit, and thereby stable suction conveyance is started without delay.

A suction conveyor device comprising a suction arrangement having a suction side on which low pressure is generated, continuously rotating flexible conveying means made of flexible flat material having holes, an inner side enabling the conveying means to move along the suction side, and an outer side for receiving flat items in the active area of the suction side, where the conveying means moves in the transporting direction, the suction arrangement and the conveyor means designed with a transport path width in the active range perpendicular to the transporting direction. The conveying means includes continuously circulating individual, single-piece, flexible conveying means, both lateral edges thereof extending in the transporting direction at a distance from each other being at least the same as the total width of the transport path such that the individual, single-piece flexible conveyor means extend over the total width of the transport path.