A feeding tray includes a first member supported, via a housing member, by a main body of a recording device configured to perform recording onto a medium, and a second member that includes a second support surface configured to support the medium and is coupled to the first member to be movable relatively to the first member, with a transport direction of the medium being a movement direction. The second member includes a second frame body forming an outer peripheral portion of the second member, and a plurality of second ribs spanning across the second frame body to form the second support surface.

Embodiments of a system and method for unloading articles from a container of items for use in an automatic stack feeder are disclosed. The automatic stack feeder may comprise a belt, a moveable lower paddle, and a moveable upper paddle, wherein the lower paddle is configured to partially extend through a belt of the automatic stack feeder. The movement of the belt, the lower paddle, and the upper paddle are coordinated such that there is no need to interrupt the operation of the automatic stack feeder to unload the container.

An image forming apparatus includes a housing in which an image forming section is contained and a paper output section into which a sheet of paper on which an image has been formed is ejected. The paper output section includes a paper output tray that supports the front side or back side of the sheet of paper, a back-end supporting member that supports a back end of the sheet of paper in a paper ejection direction, and a paper takeout slot through which the sheet of paper is taken out. The paper output section is provided at the outer edge of the interior of the housing. The housing has an external wall whose inner face side is used as the paper output tray. The paper takeout slot opens upward.

A medium conveying apparatus includes a conveyance guide that is supported by a frame so as to be able to be lifted and lowered, and guides a medium to a conveyance path by sliding along one surface of the medium, a conveyance roller that is rotatably supported by the frame, and conveys the medium by coming into contact with an other surface of the medium, the other surface being on the reverse side of the one surface, and a pinch roller that is supported by the frame so as to be able to be lifted and lowered, and presses the medium against the conveyance roller by coming into contact with the one surface of the medium, wherein the conveyance guide lifts or lowers the pinch roller relatively to the frame, by being lifted or lowered relatively to the frame.

There is provided a feed apparatus including a support unit, a feed roller, a swingable arm to support the feed roller, a guide unit, a movable member movable to a retracted position and a protruding position at which the movable member can abut against the sheet supported by the support unit, a driving source, driving transmission units; and a contact-separating mechanism to move the feed roller to a separated position and an abutment position at which the feed roller abuts against the sheet supported by the support unit. In a state in which the movable member is the protruding position and the feed roller is the separated position, a time required to start feeding of the sheet by the feed roller moved from the separated position to the abutment position is longer than a time required to shift the movable member from the protruding position to the retracted position.

A sheet transport apparatus includes a first casing in which a transport path is formed; a transport unit which transports a sheet along the transport path; a second casing which is provided to be movable with respect to the first casing; a sheet support unit which is rotatably provided in the first casing at a position on a side to which the second casing is moved, the sheet support unit being changeable between a first state, a second state, and a third state and supporting the sheet at least in the third state; and an urging unit which urges the sheet support unit toward the first state within a range from the first state to the second state and which urges the sheet support unit toward the third state within a range from the second state to the third state.

A sheet transport apparatus includes a first casing in which a transport path is formed; a transport unit which transports a sheet along the transport path; a second casing which is provided to be movable with respect to the first casing; a sheet support unit which is rotatably provided in the first casing at a position on a side to which the second casing is moved, the sheet support unit being changeable between a first state, a second state, and a third state and supporting the sheet at least in the third state; and an urging unit which urges the sheet support unit toward the first state within a range from the first state to the second state and which urges the sheet support unit toward the third state within a range from the second state to the third state.

A device and a method for feeding flat objects, in particular mail items such as envelopes or letters, in an upright position into a transport container. The device comprises a feed device for transporting flat objects and for feeding the transported flat objects into a transport container, and a container receiver for positioning the transport container during the feeding of the flat objects in a feed position in which the transport container is arranged obliquely. The device and the method enable to take full advantage of the capacity of the transport container by using a compression unit for compressing the flat objects fed into the transport container, in particular while the transport container is arranged in the input position.

An image forming apparatus includes a housing in which an image forming section is contained and a paper output section into which a sheet of paper on which an image has been formed is ejected. The paper output section includes a paper output tray that supports the front side or back side of the sheet of paper, a back-end supporting member that supports a back end of the sheet of paper in a paper ejection direction, and a paper takeout slot through which the sheet of paper is taken out. The paper output section is provided at the outer edge of the interior of the housing. The housing has an external wall whose inner face side is used as the paper output tray. The paper takeout slot opens upward.

There is provided a feed apparatus including a support unit, a feed roller, a swingable arm to support the feed roller, a guide unit, a movable member movable to a retracted position and a protruding position at which the movable member can abut against the sheet supported by the support unit, a driving source, driving transmission units; and a contact-separating mechanism to move the feed roller to a separated position and an abutment position at which the feed roller abuts against the sheet supported by the support unit. In a state in which the movable member is the protruding position and the feed roller is the separated position, a time required to start feeding of the sheet by the feed roller moved from the separated position to the abutment position is longer than a time required to shift the movable member from the protruding position to the retracted position.