A sheet transport apparatus according to an embodiment includes a roller having a surface formed from an elastic material. The roller transports a sheet. A rotation mechanism rotated the roller around an axis of the roller. A twist mechanism selectively twists the roller with respect to the axis. When the roller is twisted and the rotation mechanism rotates the roller, a sheet transported by the roller is transported in a first direction perpendicular to the axis and in a second direction parallel to the axis. When the roller is not twisted and the rotation mechanism rotates the roller, a sheet transported by the roller is transported in the first direction and not in the second direction.

A sheet transport apparatus according to an embodiment includes a roller having a surface formed from an elastic material. The roller transports a sheet. A rotation mechanism rotated the roller around an axis of the roller. A twist mechanism selectively twists the roller with respect to the axis. When the roller is twisted and the rotation mechanism rotates the roller, a sheet transported by the roller is transported in a first direction perpendicular to the axis and in a second direction parallel to the axis. When the roller is not twisted and the rotation mechanism rotates the roller, a sheet transported by the roller is transported in the first direction and not in the second direction.

An ink-jet recording apparatus includes: an image recorder; a first supporter including support ribs extending to positions under the image recorder; an ink receiver disposed downstream of the support ribs; first and second roller pairs disposed downstream of the first supporter; a guide; and a protrusion disposed between the ink receiver and the first roller pair and having an upper end located below upper ends of the support ribs and above a first imaginary line connecting between a nip position of the first roller pair and a downstream end of the ink receiver. A distance between an upstream end of the ink receiver and a nip position of the second roller pair is less than a length of a first-size sheet and greater than a length of a second-size sheet. The protrusion is disposed, in a widthwise direction, in a region through which the second-size sheet is conveyed.

An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a sheet includes a recording section which records the image on the sheet in a transport passage for transporting the sheet in a transport direction and multiple plates which are spaced apart from each other in a widthwise direction. These multiple plates include a first type of plate and a second type of plate. Plates of a first type of plate are configured to overlap a sheet when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction and the widthwise direction, while plates of the second type of plate do not.

In some illustrative embodiments of the present invention, a novel expandable slit paper expansion device design is provided that, among other things, avoid complications of prior systems and eliminates the crushing effect of the rollers. Among other things, the preferred embodiments provide a unique structure that provides a novel S shape path of the expandable slit sheet paper, such that the expandable slit sheet paper is tortuously weaved between at least two expansion rollers without being compressed there-between, in a manner that the expandable slit sheet paper follows along surfaces of the expansion rollers without pinching or compression that occurs in the background art.

In one example in accordance with the present disclosure a media transport device is described. The device includes a number of drive rollers coupled to a frame. A number of media rollers are also coupled to the frame. The media rollers are in contact with, and rotated by, the number of drive rollers. Media rollers in a first set have a first diameter and media rollers in a second set have a second diameter that is different from the first diameter. The device also includes a number of pinch rollers coupled to the frame. The pinch rollers are in contact with the number of media rollers to form a number of nips through which media passes along a feed path.

The invention provides a paper feed roller capable of reducing abnormal noise caused by a knurled shape while maintaining characteristics thereof, including maintaining friction coefficient and coping with paper powder. The paper feed roller comprises a roller body formed of elastic material in a cylindrical shape and is characterized in that the roller body has protruding lines and recessed grooves inclinedly extending relative to an axis of the roller body so that convex and concave portions having predetermined widths are alternatively formed in a circumferential direction of a peripheral surface, and the protruding lines have one-end side protruding line portions extending from a central part in an axial direction of the roller body toward one end thereof and other-end side protruding line portions extending from the central part in the axial direction toward the other end, and they are inclined relative to the axis in opposite directions.

A medium, of which skew is appropriately corrected, is fed from an intermediate unit to a post processing unit so as to suppress an adverse effect of the skew of the medium in the post processing unit.

There is provided an intermediate unit including a transportation path along which a paper sheet, on which printing has been performed by a printing unit that performs printing on the paper sheet as a medium by using liquid, can be transported to a post processing unit that performs post processing on the paper sheet, in which the transportation path is provided with a drying unit that accelerates the drying of the paper sheet.

An image forming apparatus includes a print medium tray in which a print medium is loaded and a pickup roller which is configured to pick up the loaded print medium from the print medium tray. The pickup roller includes at least one first pickup block and at least one second pickup block configured to alternately come into contact with an upper portion of the loaded print medium. Using such a configuration, the pickup performance of the image forming apparatus may be improved.