An image forming apparatus employing an electrophotographic image forming method includes a casing having a front wall to which an opening is formed and a rear wall facing the front wall, a photosensitive drum located close to the front wall, a support member configured to support the photosensitive drum. The support member is slidably movable between an accommodated position a drawn position at which the photosensitive drum is drawn out of the casing through the opening. The image forming apparatus further includes a sheet tray, a feeding roller configured to feed the plurality of sheets supported by the sheet tray, a first conveying guide arranged between the support member and the sheet tray to face the support member, and a second conveying guide formed to the support member at a position facing the first conveying guide to guide the sheet inserted through the opening.

A paper medium skew correcting device includes: a support including a pair of fixed stop plates arranged in parallel; a skew correcting tapered roller assembly including a tapered roller, a reference plate located at a large end face of the tapered roller and a transmission shaft; a tapered cover plate covering on the tapered roller with a skew correcting passage formed between an inner wall of the tapered cover plate and an outer wall of the tapered roller, an auxiliary pressure roller mechanism is mounted on an outer wall of the tapered cover plate and is configured to press a paper medium against the outer wall of the tapered roller tightly, the tapered cover plate is provided with an opening; and a driving transmission assembly. The device fully uses combined action of centrifugal force and friction force to realize skew correction and conveying of the paper medium.

Systems and methods for folding a stack of substrate sheets are provided. The system may include a roller assembly and a positioning mechanism. The roller assembly is configured for folding the stack of substrate sheets and the positioning mechanism is configured to position the substrate or stack for entry into the roller assembly. The positioning mechanism includes an upper curved for and a lower curved form to guide the stack of substrate sheets into a curved position for folding. The positioning mechanism further includes a folding blade positioned to extend through the gap between the upper and lower curved forms. The roller assembly can move the folded stack of substrate sheets in at least two directions.

A printer includes a platen on which a recording medium is placed, an ink head including a nozzle that discharges ink onto the recording medium placed on the platen and that moves in a main scanning direction, an upstream guide located on an upstream side of the platen in a secondary scanning direction and that guides the recording medium, the upstream guide including an upper surface tilted obliquely downward from a downstream side to the upstream side in the secondary scanning direction, and grit rollers provided in the platen and that move the recording medium in the secondary scanning direction. The upstream guide is recessed from the upper surface of the upstream guide, and includes a concave recess that indicates a position of each of the grit rollers in the main scanning direction so that a position of the grit roller is easily acknowledged when the recording medium is placed on the platen.

A sheet processing apparatus includes a first conveyer to convey a sheet, a first folding device to fold the sheet and put a crease in the sheet, a second conveyer to convey the sheet folded by the first folding device, a second folding device to fold the sheet and put a crease in the sheet, and a guide. The first conveyer and the second conveyer are rotatable in reverse. The guide guides the sheet conveyed downstream from the first conveyer and the sheet conveyed downstream from the second conveyer.

A sheet feeding device includes a feeding guide of resin material constituting a sheet feeding path along which a sheet is fed; a feeding roller for feeding the sheet along the feeding path, the feeding roller being provided with a metal shaft; a sheet sensor configured to detect the sheet fed along the sheet feeding path; and a grounding member electrically grounding the shaft. The feeding guide has a guiding surface for guiding the sheet, and the guiding surface is provided with a hole portion for exposing the shaft to the sheet feeding path.

A first transport unit transports, along a first path, a sheet transported from an image forming unit. A second transport unit transports the sheet along a second transport path branched from a junction with the first transport path. A first cover, when open, holds the sheet transported to an exterior of a housing and, when closed, partially constitutes the second transport unit. A flap is disposed at the junction and, when at a first position, blocks the second transport path and guides the sheet along the first transport path and, when at a second position, blocks the first transport path and guides the sheet along the second transport path. A drive unit moves the flap between the first position and the second position. A moving mechanism moves away from the flap in response to closing of the first cover, and pushes and moves the flap to the second position.

A sheet conveyor includes a feed roller configured to contact a sheet from above and feed the sheet in a sheet feed direction, a frictional member disposed downstream from the feed roller, a separation roller disposed downstream from the feed roller and facing the frictional member from above, and a guide portion located downstream from the feed roller and upstream from the separation roller. The guide portion includes a pointed portion located above a portion of a common tangent to the feed roller and the separation roller when viewed in a cross section that is orthogonal to an axial direction of the feed roller and an axial direction of the separation roller. The pointed portion is located along a width direction of the sheet. The guide portion is configured to guide the sheet fed over the pointed portion toward a nip between the separation roller and the frictional member.

An image forming apparatus employing an electrophotographic image forming method includes a casing having a front wall to which an opening is formed and a rear wall facing the front wall, a photosensitive drum located close to the front wall, a support member configured to support the photosensitive drum. The support member is slidably movable between an accommodated position a drawn position at which the photosensitive drum is drawn out of the casing through the opening. The image forming apparatus further includes a sheet tray, a feeding roller configured to feed the plurality of sheets supported by the sheet tray, a first conveying guide arranged between the support member and the sheet tray to face the support member, and a second conveying guide formed to the support member at a position facing the first conveying guide to guide the sheet inserted through the opening.

An image recording device is provided, having a recording unit configured to record an image on a sheet, and a tray disposed below the recording unit. The tray includes a sheet holding surface configured to hold the sheet. Additionally, the image recording device includes a sheet feeder disposed between the recording unit and the tray. The sheet feeder includes a roller for feeding the sheet from the tray. The roller is configured to move between a first roller position in which the roller contacts the sheet holding surface of the tray and a second roller position in which the roller is separated from the sheet holding surface. A return guide, disposed between the recording unit and the sheet feeder, defines a second conveying path to guide the sheet having an image recorded on one side thereof back to the feed guide. The return guide has a first opening configured to accommodate the roller of the sheet feeder when the roller is in the second roller position.