A feeder includes a mount board that moves vertically while allowing sheet-shaped media to be stacked thereon; a transport device allows an uppermost one of the sheet-shaped media stacked on the mount board to be sucked by a suction portion to transport the uppermost medium to a transporter and to feed the uppermost medium to a destination; left and right edge air blowers blow air to transportation left and right edge portions of upper ones of the sheet-shaped media stacked; and a tip-end air blower blows air to below the uppermost medium sucked by the suction portion from a position downstream from a transportation leading end of the uppermost medium in a transport direction. When the uppermost medium is sucked by the suction portion, the feeder performs a first operation of spacing an upwardly bent transportation leading-end portion of a second uppermost medium apart downward from the sucked uppermost medium.

A sheet conveying device includes a sheet container, an air blower, and a guide. The sheet container is configured to store a plurality of sheets. The air blower is configured to blow air to the plurality of sheets to separate a single sheet from subsequent sheets of the plurality of sheets. The guide is configured to contact a surface of the single sheet separated from the subsequent sheets of the plurality of sheets over a given region downstream from any position of an upstream region in a sheet conveyance direction to guide the single sheet. The upstream region is from an upstream end to a center of the single sheet in the sheet conveyance direction.

A sheet feeding device includes a sheet loader, a first conveyor, a second conveyor, and a guide. The sheet loader is configured to load a sheet bundle including a sheet with a flap. The first conveyor is configured to convey the sheet with the flap loaded on the sheet loader. The second conveyor is disposed adjacent to the first conveyor. The guide is disposed below the flap of the sheet to be conveyed, between the second conveyor and the sheet loader in a sheet conveying direction of the sheet, and is configured to guide the sheet.

A paper feeder sucking and feeding a paper sheet from a stack of paper sheets loaded on a paper table, the paper feeder includes: a pair of blowing ports that are disposed across a stack of paper sheets and blow air toward a side surface of the stack of paper sheets to float a paper sheet; and a hardware processor that performs blowing control of blowing air to float a paper sheet in a first operation mode in which a height of one blowing ports is different from a height of another blowing ports.

A paper feeding apparatus includes a tray, an air blower, a floating detector, and a hardware processor. In the tray, a sheet of paper is loaded. The air blower blows air to the sheet loaded in the tray to float the sheet. The floating detector is provided above the sheet loaded in the tray and detects the floating of the sheet to a predetermined level. The hardware processor causes the air blower to blow the air and determines a basis weight of the sheet loaded in the tray from an air amount that has caused the floating detector to detect the floating of the sheet.

A paper feeding parameter management system may include air paper feeding devices and a management device. Each of the air paper feeding devices may be provided with an air paper feeder which may feed paper by blowing air and by absorption to paper and which may be provided with a paper feeding parameter capable of being switched. Each of the air paper feeding devices may be provided with a paper type information obtaining unit and a hardware processor. The paper type information obtaining unit may obtain paper type information of paper to be fed. The hardware processor (i) may adjust the paper feeding parameter of the air paper feeder and (ii) may transmit the paper type information, device configuration information regarding a device configuration of the air paper feeding device, and the adjusted paper feeding parameter to the management device.

A sheet feeding device includes a sheet loader, a sheet feeder, a misfeeding detector, a memory, and circuitry. The sheet loader is configured to load a sheet of a sheet bundle. The sheet feeder is configured to feed a sheet from the sheet bundle loaded on the sheet loader. The misfeeding detector is configured to detect a misfeeding of the sheet. The memory is configured to store sheet feed information on sheet feeding. The circuitry is configured to change a sheet feed setting based on the sheet feed information stored in the memory and perform a retry sheet feeding at a detection of the misfeeding by the misfeeding detector.

A sheet-material supply device includes a lift, a sheet-material detector, and a sheet-material retaining conveyor. The lift elevates sheet materials in a stacked state. The sheet-material detector detects that an uppermost sheet material of the sheet materials in the stacked state has reached a predetermined height. The sheet-material retaining conveyor retains and conveys the uppermost sheet material that has reached the predetermined height. The sheet-material supply device stops elevation of the sheet materials in the stacked state when the sheet-material detector detects that the uppermost sheet material has reached the predetermined height. The sheet-material retaining conveyor is disposed to be movable in a direction in which the sheet materials in the stacked state elevate.

A medium supply device includes: a loading unit on which media are loadable in an up-down direction; a supply unit that supplies air to a plural media loaded on the loading unit to float and separate the plural media; a transporting unit that sequentially feed the media that are floated and separated by the supply unit; a photographing unit that photographs a state in which the media are floated and separated by the supply unit; and a light irradiation unit that irradiates end portions of the media on a photographing side of the photographing unit with light from a plural different positions in the up-down direction.

A medium feeding mechanism includes: a feeder that feeds a medium; a transport path that is coupled to the feeder; a transporter that transports the medium through the transport path; a transport drive that drives the transporter; an entry detection sensor that detects when the medium fed from the feeder has entered the transport path; a take-in transporter that takes in the medium transported by the transporter; and a transport controller that controls the feeder and the take-in transporter, wherein when the entry detection sensor detects entry of the medium at a time that falls within a first range set in advance, the controller controls the take-in transporter so as to take in the medium, and when the entry detection sensor detects entry of the medium at a time that falls within a second range following the first range.