A sheet supplying apparatus includes an alignment member pivotable to an alignment location for blocking and aligning fore-ends of media contained on a loading table, and a transport-allowing location for allowing a medium picked up by a pickup member to be transported, a cam gear including a gear portion partially including a tooth-omitted portion, and a cam portion for switching the alignment member between the alignment location and the transport-allowing location at first and second rotating locations, a swing arm pivotable about a same axis as a rotation axis of a main gear, and first and second swing gears supported by the swing arm to interlock with the main gear, selectively interlocking with the gear portion according to a rotating direction of the main gear, and rotating the cam gear to the first and second rotating locations.

A sheet conveying device includes a sheet supporting portion, a first lever pivotable by contact with a sheet supported by the sheet supporting portion, a hook movable together with the first lever, a first cam configured to, when engaging the hook, stop rotating in a rotation direction of the first cam, a spring configured to urge the first cam in a rotation direction, a sector gear rotatable together with the first cam, a drive gear configured to, when engaging the sector gear, transmit a drive force to the sector gear, a feed roller rotatable in contact with the sheet, and a drive mechanism configured to receive a drive force from the sector gear and move one of the feed roller and the sheet supporting portion toward the other of the feed roller and the sheet supporting portion, to increase contact pressure between the feed roller and the sheet.

Provided are a sheet feeding device and a printing apparatus that are capable of estimating the number of remaining sheets without errors. The sheet feeding device includes: a loading member on which sheets are loaded; a lift unit that moves the loading member up and down; a position detection unit that detects a lift-up position to which the loading member moves up; a sheet detection unit that detects that a sheet at an uppermost position of the sheets loaded on the loading member has moved up to a feeding position by an upward movement of the loading member; a feeding roller that feeds a sheet at the feeding position; and an estimation unit that estimates the number of remaining sheets loaded on the loading member, based on a combination of detection results of the sheet detection unit and the position detection unit.

A sheet feeding device includes: a feeding unit that is provided to be movable in a forward-backward direction to move forward or backward relative to a sheet placing unit on which a sheet is placed, and feeds the sheet; a moving unit that moves the feeding unit in the forward-backward direction; a contact unit that is provided to be movable, with which the sheet placed on the sheet placing unit is brought into contact; a limitation unit that limits movement of the contact unit; and a releasing unit that, when the moving unit moves the feeding unit in a direction away from the sheet placing unit, with the movement of the feeding unit, releases limitation on the movement of the contact unit by the limitation unit.

A drive transmitting device includes a first gear; a second gear in engagement with the first gear; wherein a first tooth which is at least one of teeth of the first gear has a tooth surface contacting a tooth of the second gear, wherein the tooth surface has such a shape that a contact point of the first tooth of the first gear to the tooth of the second gear is in a region of a first gear side with respect to a line of action which is formed by movement of a contact point between a tooth of the second gear and a second tooth of the first gear immediately before the first tooth with respect to a rotational moving direction of the first gear.

A sheet feeding device includes: a feeding unit that is provided to be movable in a forward-backward direction to move forward or backward relative to a sheet placing unit on which a sheet is placed, and feeds the sheet; a moving unit that moves the feeding unit in the forward-backward direction; a contact unit that is provided to be movable, with which the sheet placed on the sheet placing unit is brought into contact; a limitation unit that limits movement of the contact unit; and a releasing unit that, when the moving unit moves the feeding unit in a direction away from the sheet placing unit, with the movement of the feeding unit, releases limitation on the movement of the contact unit by the limitation unit.

A thermal transfer apparatus is disclosed. The thermal transfer apparatus has a heating roller movable between a film contact position and a retracted position. The thermal transfer apparatus also includes a nip roller positioned opposed to the heating roller when the heating roller is in the film contact position. The heating roller is moved from the film contact position to the retracted position in response to opening of the cover and is not moved from the retracted position to the film contact position during closing of the cover.

A clutch device includes a sector gear, a cam, an electromagnetic solenoid, a first lever, a second lever, a first spring, and a second spring. The cam includes a slide portion. The first lever engages with the electromagnetic solenoid and includes a first restricting portion. The second lever includes a hook and a second restricting portion. The first spring is configured to urge the second lever in a direction in which the first restricting portion and the second restricting portion contact each other. The second spring is configured to, when the electromagnetic solenoid is in a de-energized state, move the first lever. The slide portion of the cam has a surface configured to, when the electromagnetic solenoid is in an energized state, press the hook in a direction opposite to an urging direction of the first spring such that the second restricting portion is separated from the first restricting portion.

An example braking system is described including a support structure which is pivotable about a first axis and a braking mechanism including a gear engagement mechanism which is fixed with respect to the first axis. The gear engagement mechanism may have a first and a second toothed portion, a first gear wheel rotatable about a second axis, and a second gear wheel rotatable about a third axis. The first gear may be connected to a first damping mechanism to damp pivoting of the support structure in a first direction when the first gear wheel is engaged with the first toothed portion. The second gear wheel may be connected to a second damping mechanism to damp pivoting of the support structure in a second direction when the second gear wheel is engaged with the second toothed portion. A print target holder system and a printer system are also described.

In an example, a load stop may comprise a stop paddle, a paddle link, a swingarm engaged with a motive element, and a cam gear to engage the swingarm with the paddle link. The paddle link may move the stop paddle from a locked position, to a gathering position, and to a stowed position. The swingarm may transfer the motion of the motive element to the cam gear such that the cam gear is to move in a first direction, the cam gear to drive the paddle link to move the stop paddle from the locked position, to the gathering position, and to the stowed position when the motive element moves in a first drive direction, and the swingarm moves the cam gear in the first direction.