Let a point at which a lock member and a leading end positioning member abut against each other when a roller holding member is located at a feeding retracted position be represented by a contact point. A tangential direction of a surface of the leading end positioning member at the contact point is substantially parallel to a direction in which the roller holding member moves to a feeding position from a feeding retracted position.

A cloth clamping device includes a clamping mechanism that comes into contact with a cloth and an up-and-down movement mechanism that moves the clamping mechanism up and down. The clamping mechanism includes a support portion, a leg portion, a foot portion, and a clamping portion. The clamping portion has a leading end portion facing the foot portion in a sideway direction and a base end portion being pivotally supported by the support portion. When the leg portion is lowered with respect to the support portion, the leading end portion pivots downward and is positioned in a sideway direction with respect to the foot portion, and when the leg portion is raised with respect to the support portion, the clamping portion comes into contact with the upper surface of the cloth and the leading end portion is positioned above the foot portion, and the clamping mechanism draw up the cloth.

The present invention is to provide a processing unit which can move smoothly to accurate position in a proper posture. The processing unit is provided with a support mechanism that supports a processing unit 26 so as to allow the processing unit 26 to be moved to a sheet processing position (processing tray) 24. The support mechanism includes the processing unit 26 and first and second support portions 50 and 55 that support the processing unit 26. The first and second support portions 50 and 55 apply, to different positions (j and k) of the processing unit 26 which are spaced from each other, a support force Fa acting from below to above (in a direction opposite to a gravity acting direction) and a support force Fb acting from above to below (in a direction same as the gravity acting direction), respectively.

A sheet conveying device, which is included in an image forming apparatus, includes a first guide, a second guide, and a lever. The first guide is fixedly disposed to the sheet conveying device. The second guide is disposed opposite the first guide and defining a sheet conveyance passage with the first guide and is configured to rotate about a support shaft thereof operable to open and close the sheet conveyance passage. The lever is configured to rotate about a rotation shaft thereof operable to rotate the second guide. The second guide is configured to change from a closed state in which the sheet conveyance passage is closed to an open state in which the sheet conveyance passage is open, after an angle of rotation of the lever exceeds a threshold value.

A sheet-transporting element includes suction openings for holding print sheets, longitudinal sliders including air passages, and transverse sliders including air passages. The longitudinal sliders and the transverse sliders are disposed in a cross-wise configuration and are movable into different positions corresponding to various sheet formats in the positions blocking selected ones of the suction openings.

A conveyor device, including: a first roller; a second roller disposed under the first roller and configured to be movable between a nip position at which the second roller cooperates with the first roller to nip a sheet therebetween so as to discharge the sheet in a discharge direction and a separated position located at a height level lower than the nip position; a cover configured to be movable between a first position and a second position located at a height level lower than the first position, the cover including a downstream wall which at least partially covers a downstream portion of the second roller located at the nip position when the cover is located at the first position; and a moving mechanism configured to move the second roller between the nip position and the separated position and to move the cover between the first position and the second position.

A sheet stacking device including a position regulating member movable in a first direction toward a sheet edge and in a second direction away from the sheet edge, in order to regulate position of the sheet. The position regulating member includes a lock member movable between an engage position and a release position and a lock releaser that moves the lock member from the engage position to the release position. The lock releaser includes a lever member, an upper portion of the lever member including an operation portion, a pivot support that allows the lever member to tilt in the first direction and the second direction, and release mechanisms that move the lock member to the release position when the operation portion is tilted in either direction. Both the release mechanisms are provided on one side of the pivot support in the first direction or the second direction.

In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a dispenser assembly for dispensing supplies of sheet material. The dispensing assembly can include a carrier supporting the supplies of sheet material and being moveable along a track between various dispensing positions. The dispenser assembly also can include a carrier pivoting assembly with a lever that engages one of the supplies of sheet material and rotates during dispensing thereof, as well as one or more biased pins connected to the lever and configured to engage locking features provided along the track to support the carrier in one of the dispensing positions. The biased pins further can be configured to retract with rotation of the lever such that they disengage the locking features so the carrier to moves along the track to different dispensing position. Other aspects also are described.

A media registration system includes a puller clamp, and a puller track to support the puller clamp. The puller track is to open and close the puller clamp with movement of the puller clamp along the puller track.

A sheet conveying apparatus includes a main body, a stack unit having a contact portion and a stack portion on which a sheet is to be placed, a conveyance guide, and a moving member having a contacted portion. The stack unit can be inserted into and extracted from the main body. The conveyance guide can be located at a guide position for guiding the sheet conveyed on a conveying path and a release position for releasing the conveying path. The moving member moves the conveyance guide from the guide position to the release position by moving in a first direction from a first to a second position. The moving member moves from the first position in a second direction opposite the first direction by the stack unit contact portion contacting the moving member contacted portion when the stack unit is inserted to and extracted from the main body.