A pickup mechanism includes a paper feeding channel, a pickup roller assembly disposed in the paper feeding channel and projecting beyond a top of the paper feeding channel, a paper tray disposed to an upstream of the pickup roller assembly, and a guiding swing arm assembly. The guiding swing arm assembly includes two guiding swing arms mounted adjacent to and spaced from two opposite sides of the pickup roller assembly. Each guiding swing arm includes a pivoting shaft, a stopping block, and an extending arm connected between the pivoting shaft and the stopping block. The two stopping blocks of the two guiding swing arms are disposed between the pickup roller assembly and the paper tray for blocking paper. An axial direction of the pivoting shaft of each guiding swing arm is deviated from a center axis direction of the pickup roller assembly.

A stack of products is moved using a robot. The robot has an articulated arm and grippers on the articulated arm to grip the stack of products. The stack of products is selectively turned in the depositing scheme. Two grippers are used in the method and, upon the deposit, the grippers are removed from the stack of products in the horizontal and in two directions perpendicular to one another. It is possible to move and selectively deposit stacks of product in a turned or unturned orientation.

An apparatus is disclosed. For example, the apparatus includes a paper feed to feed print media a single sheet at a time, a plurality of rotating discs, wherein each one of the plurality of rotating discs comprises an elastomer ring to secure a leading edge of the single sheet against a registration wall and initiate a flipping process, a curved baffle positioned above the plurality of rotating discs and the single sheet, an air duct located above the plurality of rotating discs and the single sheet to force an air flow towards the curved baffle, wherein the air flow follows a shape of the curved baffle to create a low pressure zone above the single sheet to keep a trailing edge of the single sheet levitated during completion of the flipping process, and a movable platform to hold a stack of the print media.

A magnetic-ink reading device includes a housing and a conveyor in the housing. A medium inlet and outlet port for inserting and pulling out a medium printed using magnetic ink are in the housing. The conveyor conveys the medium along a conveying path. The magnetic-ink reading device includes a magnetizing mechanism configured to magnetize the magnetic ink of the medium on the conveying path and a magnetism detection head disposed near the magnetizing mechanism and configured to read magnetism of the magnetized magnetic ink. The magnetic-ink reading device includes a reversing mechanism provided on the medium inlet and outlet port side of the conveying path and configured to reverse front and rear surfaces of the medium on a reversing path on an inside. The reversing mechanism includes a retraction path for temporarily retracting the medium when the magnetism of the medium is read by the magnetism detection head.

A magnetic-ink reading device includes a housing and a conveyor in the housing. A medium inlet and outlet port for inserting and pulling out a medium printed using magnetic ink are in the housing. The conveyor conveys the medium along a conveying path. The magnetic-ink reading device includes a magnetizing mechanism configured to magnetize the magnetic ink of the medium on the conveying path and a magnetism detection head disposed near the magnetizing mechanism and configured to read magnetism of the magnetized magnetic ink. The magnetic-ink reading device includes a reversing mechanism provided on the medium inlet and outlet port side of the conveying path and configured to reverse front and rear surfaces of the medium on a reversing path on an inside. The reversing mechanism includes a retraction path for temporarily retracting the medium when the magnetism of the medium is read by the magnetism detection head.

A pickup mechanism includes a paper feeding channel, a pickup roller assembly disposed in the paper feeding channel and projecting beyond a top of the paper feeding channel, a paper tray disposed to an upstream of the pickup roller assembly, and a guiding swing arm assembly. The guiding swing arm assembly includes two guiding swing arms mounted adjacent to and spaced from two opposite sides of the pickup roller assembly. Each guiding swing arm includes a pivoting shaft, a stopping block, and an extending arm connected between the pivoting shaft and the stopping block. The two stopping blocks of the two guiding swing arms are disposed between the pickup roller assembly and the paper tray for blocking paper. An axial direction of the pivoting shaft of each guiding swing arm is deviated from a center axis direction of the pickup roller assembly.

A printer includes an inversion path that inverts a medium, an inversion roller having a circumferential surface that serves as a path surface of the inversion path, an advancing roller having a circumferential surface that faces both a first path that is a path before the medium is inverted and a second path that is a path after the medium is inverted. The printer also includes an idler roller disposed above the inversion roller and a supply mechanism that is disposed above the idler roller and that supplies the medium toward the recording head. The inversion roller is made smaller in diameter than the advancing roller, and the inversion roller is positioned within a height range of the advancing roller, and at least part of the idler roller is positioned within the height range of the advancing roller.

An object processing machine for processing a plurality of objects, the machine comprising: a plurality of processing modules, each processing module having a modular structure co-operable with the modular structure of another processing module to form a modular assembly constituting the object processing machine; each processing module being operable to perform a corresponding processing operation on an object and being provided with at least one transfer unit located at a respective port of the processing module; each transfer unit being arranged to transfer an object to or from the corresponding processing module and/or to or from a transfer unit of another processing module of the modular assembly; the transfer units being arranged to co-operate with one another and/or with another processing unit such that objects can be guided from an input of the machine to an output of the machine via a plurality of different transport pathways through the machine, wherein the transport pathway taken by a said object being processed corresponds to the pre-determined processing operations to be performed on the said object. A method of processing a plurality of objects using such a machine is also described.

A printer includes an inversion path that inverts a medium, an inversion roller having a circumferential surface that serves as a path surface of the inversion path, an advancing roller having a circumferential surface that faces both a first path that is a path before the medium is inverted and a second path that is a path after the medium is inverted. The printer also includes an idler roller disposed above the inversion roller and a supply mechanism that is disposed above the idler roller and that supplies the medium toward the recording head. The inversion roller is made smaller in diameter than the advancing roller, and the inversion roller is positioned within a height range of the advancing roller, and at least part of the idler roller is positioned within the height range of the advancing roller.

This disclosure is directed to an automatic sheet feeding device having a flipping mechanism which is used for a sheet. The automatic sheet feeding device has a sheet outputting tray, a sheet outputting channel, the flipping mechanism and a switching guide mechanism. The sheet outputting channel is disposed corresponding to the sheet outputting tray. The flipping mechanism is arranged between the sheet outputting channel and the sheet outputting tray. The switching guide mechanism is arranged between the sheet outputting channel and the flipping mechanism, and the switching guide mechanism is used for guiding the sheet to be conveyed to the sheet outputting tray from the sheet outputting channel or conveyed to the sheet outputting tray from the flipping mechanism. Therefore, an efficiency of duplex scanning of the automatic sheet feeding device may be improved.