A media drive may include a media drive member, a shaft, a pick arm rotationally supporting the media drive member and a transmission operably coupling the shaft and the media drive member such that rotation of the shaft in a first direction drives the media drive member. A one-way clutch may be coupled to the shaft so as to be operably disengaged from the shaft in response to the shaft rotating in the first direction, wherein the one-way clutch is to rotate with the shaft in response to the shaft being rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction. A torque limiter may be connected to the one-way clutch to rotate with the one-way clutch, wherein the torque limiter is coupled to the pick arm to pivot the pick arm and the media drive member in response to the shaft being rotated in the second direction.

A medium feeding apparatus includes a feeding roller, a separation roller which nips a medium between the separation roller and the feeding roller to separate the medium and to which a driving torque is applied by a driving source in a second rotation direction that is opposite to a first rotation direction in which the medium is fed to a downstream side, and a torque limiter that causes the separation roller to idle in the first rotation direction when a rotational torque applied to the separation roller in the first rotation direction exceeds a limit torque that is a predetermined upper torque limit, in which separation setting including a pressing load of the separation roller, a rotational speed of the separation roller, and the limit torque is changeable according to condition of feeding.

A sheet feeding device includes a stacking portion, a first roller, a second roller, a third roller rotatable to provide peripheral movement in a predetermined direction and to provide peripheral movement in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction, a detecting unit, a driving unit for executing a feeding operation by the first roller, and a control unit for providing an instruction to the driving unit so as to continue or stop the feeding operation. The predetermined rotational frequency is larger than 0 and is smaller than a rotational frequency of the third roller in a period in which the third roller is rotated in the predetermined direction in a state in which a single recording material is fed to the nip.

An image forming apparatus includes image forming units forming images, a movable body moving along a path extending in a direction in which the image forming units are arranged while the images are sequentially formed on the movable body or on a recording material transported by the movable body so as to be superposed with one another, a contact and separation unit moving to a contact position at which the contact and separation unit is in contact with the movable body and to a separation position at which the contact and separation unit is separated from the movable body and changing a load applied to the moving movable body as a position of the contact and separation unit is changed, and a change unit changing the load in a manner opposite to a change in the load upon a change in the position of the contact and separation unit.

A paper blocking device includes a pick roller, a cover plate, a paper blocking component, a driving mechanism, a gear mechanism and a motor. The cover plate has a pick roller window penetrated the cover plate. The pick roller is positioned in the pick roller window. The paper blocking component is coupled to the cover plate. The driving mechanism has a driving shaft and a cam being connected to the driving shaft. The cam is connected to the paper blocking component. The gear mechanism is connected to the driving shaft. The motor is connected to the gear mechanism. As described above, the paper blocking device can block papers and align the leading edges of papers.

A medium conveying apparatus includes a torque limiter provided on a rotation axis of the separation roller, a unit including a first gear, a second gear provided on the rotation axis, and a third gear provided between the first gear and the second gear. The separation roller is pressed toward a feed roller side by a force generated by the torque limiter. The first gear rotates in a direction for generating a force for separating the separation roller from the feed roller. The third gear is a two-stage gear. The number of teeth of a gear on the second gear side of the third gear is more than the number of teeth of a gear on the first gear side of the third gear.

A sheet folding apparatus includes a conveyor, a first folding roller, a second folding roller, a third folding roller, a guide, a motor, and a driving force transmission mechanism. The motor causes the second folding roller to perform either forward rotation in which the second folding roller rotates to convey a sheet on a main conveying path in a conveying direction and to convey the sheet on a reflux conveying path from a joining position toward a branching position or backward rotation in a direction opposite to the forward rotation. The driving force transmission mechanism rotates the guide toward a first posture from a second posture in conjunction with the forward rotation of the second folding roller and rotates the guide from the first posture toward the second posture in conjunction with the backward rotation of the second folding roller.

A feeding apparatus includes a feeding member to feed a recording material stacked on a stacking portion, a first conveyance member, a separation member to form a nip portion with the first conveyance member and separate a plurality of recording materials at the nip portion, a second conveyance member, a detection unit, and a control unit. The control unit controls to feed a stacked first recording material and, after a first recording material rear end passes through the feeding member, the control unit controls to feed a stacked second recording material while partially overlapped with the first recording material and thereby the first recording material rear end passes through the nip portion after a second recording material leading end passes through the nip portion. The control unit controls so that the second recording material is stopped before the second recording material leading end reaches the second conveyance member.

A medium winding device for winding a medium includes: a rotatable winding member; a driver configured to rotate the winding member to wind the medium around the winding member into a roll; a rotating friction member rotatably disposed upstream of the winding member in a conveying direction in which the medium is conveyed, the rotating friction member having a high friction member forming an outer surface of the rotating friction member, and being configured to apply tension to the medium when the medium is wound around the winding member; and a tension adjusting member connected to the rotating friction member and configured to maintain the tension applied to the medium constant.

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus that reduces image artifacts caused by the back tension of a separating unit. A control unit decreases the number of rotations (the rotational speed) of a resist roller pair after the leading edge of a sheet reaches a transfer position.