A sheet stacking apparatus includes a sheet stacking unit configured to stack a sheet thereon and a sheet regulating unit configured to regulate a position of a sheet stacked on the sheet stacking unit. The sheet regulating unit includes a main body movable with respect to the sheet stacking unit and an operating portion having a pressable pressure surface, moved from a first position to a second position by pressing the pressure surface, and pivotably supported on the main body about a pivoting fulcrum positioned above a middle position of the pressure surface, the main body being regulated from moving with respect to the sheet stacking unit when the operating portion is in the first position, and the main body being allowed to move with respect to the sheet stacking unit when the operating portion is in the second position.

An accumulator for an automatic sheet media punching and collating system includes a proximal end, having a shoulder, a distal end, and a moveable collating belt, disposed below the shoulder, extending from the proximal end to the distal end. The collating belt has an upwardly extending lower stop with an accumulating position opposite the shoulder, defining a drop region. The lower stop is configured to contact a lower edge of sheets of media sequentially received at the proximal end, whereby the sheets stop and accumulate in the drop region in a lift in a book order. The collating belt is selectively moveable to discharge the lift as a unit toward the distal end.

The postprocessing device includes: a stapling unit for stapling a sheet bundle with a staple; a discharge tray to which a bound sheet bundle bound with the staple is to be discharged; a moving member movable in both a direction of approaching the discharge tray and a direction of going away from the discharge tray; and a control section for, when the bound sheet bundle has been discharged, driving the moving member to execute a process of making the moving member hit against the bound sheet bundle or against the discharge tray.

When performing an alignment process on a sheet loaded on the processing tray in a state where a front end of the sheet is protruded from a discharge outlet above a discharge tray, the control unit performs a front end alignment process in which a pair of discharge tray cursors sandwich the front end of the sheet protruded above the discharge tray in the width direction, and a rear end alignment process in which the pair of processing tray cursors sandwich a rear end of the sheet on the processing tray in the width direction.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a stacking part, a feeding part, a separation part, an abutment part comprising an abutment area, the abutment part being configured to move between a first position and a second position, a transmission part comprising a rotary member and configured to transmit driving power from a driving source to the feeding part via the rotary member, the rotary member being configured to be stopped every one rotation, and a moving part configured to move the abutment part in response to rotation of the rotary member such that (1) the abutment part positions at the first position in a case where the rotary member is stopped, and (2) the abutment part moves from the first position to the second position and from the second position to the first position while the rotary member makes one rotation.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a support member having a support surface, a feed roller, a stopper, and a restriction member. The stopper includes a restriction surface configured to contact leading edges of sheets supported on the support surface. A tangent extends in parallel to the support surface and passes through a point on an outer peripheral surface of the feed roller, and the tangent and the restriction surface of the stopper crosses at an intersection point. When the stopper moves from a first position to a second position, the intersection point moves with a movement velocity in a direction parallel to the tangent, the movement velocity at the intersection point being defined as a specified movement velocity. The restriction member is configured to restrict movement of the stopper such that the specified movement velocity is greater than or equal to a circumferential velocity of the feed roller.

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a support member having a support surface, a feed roller rotatable about a rotation axis located below a portion of the support surface, a separation roller disposed downstream from the feed roller, a separator disposed upstream from the separation roller, a stopper, when viewed in a direction of the rotation axis, disposed at least partially overlapping the separator and movable between a first position in which the stopper crosses the support surface and restricts leading edges of the sheets supported on the support surface and a second position, downstream from the first position in a conveying direction, in which the stopper is spaced apart from the support surface, and a restriction member configured to hold the stopper in the first position and to restrict movement of the stopper while continuing to support the stopper moving from the first position to the second position.

An accumulator for an automatic sheet media punching and collating system includes a proximal end, having a shoulder, a distal end, and a moveable collating belt, disposed below the shoulder, extending from the proximal end to the distal end. The collating belt has an upwardly extending lower stop with an accumulating position opposite the shoulder, defining a drop region. The lower stop is configured to contact a lower edge of sheets of media sequentially received at the proximal end, whereby the sheets stop and accumulate in the drop region in a lift in a book order. The collating belt is selectively moveable to discharge the lift as a unit toward the distal end.

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.

Process and apparatus for applying noise reducing elements to tyres for vehicle wheels. The apparatus includes a loading station of stacks of noise reducing elements, an extraction station of noise reducing elements from each stack placed downstream of the loading station, and a conveyor placed downstream of the extraction station and extending along a predefined path. The conveyor is configured for supporting and advancing in a row the noise reducing elements extracted from the stacks which are then applied to a radially inner surface of the tyres. The extraction of each of the noise reducing elements contemplates: retaining a first noise reducing element placed at the base of a stack; raising the remaining noise reducing elements of the stack from the first noise reducing element; moving away the first noise reducing element according to a set path; and lowering the remaining noise reducing elements of the stack.