A transport device includes a drive roller and a driven roller. The drive roller transports paper-sheets in a predetermined transport direction by rotation thereof. The driven roller rotates with rotation of the drive roller, and regardless of from which direction the paper-sheets hit a contact point with the first roller, moves in a direction diagonally forward than a vertical direction with respect to the transport direction. The transport device further includes a bearing groove formed so that a shaft of the driven roller moves in a direction diagonally forward than the vertical direction with respect to the transport direction along an inclined surface.

A transporting device includes a first belt, a second belt that transports a medium in cooperation with the first belt, a first shifting member that shifts the first belt in a width direction of the first belt, a second shifting member that shifts the second belt in a width direction of the second belt, a rotatable member that is rotatable around its own axis, and a forming member provided across the first belt and the second belt from the rotatable member and that forms a nip between the first and second belts in cooperation with the rotatable member. The rotatable member and the forming member cooperate to form the nip at a pressure ratio lower than about 1. The pressure ratio is obtained by dividing a pressure applied to each of two axial ends of the rotatable member by a pressure applied to an axial center of the rotatable member.

A printing apparatus includes a printing unit that prints an image on a sheet by using ink, a feed path along which the sheet is transported toward the printing unit, a switchback mechanism that, when two sides of the sheet are to be printed, switches back the sheet of which one of the two sides has been printed and sends the sheet to the feed path, and a correction roller pair capable of correcting skew of the sheet by having firm contact with the sheet transported along the feed path.

A sheet feed apparatus includes a sheet separation unit, and the sheet separation unit includes a separation roller that is provided so as to be brought into contact to an outer peripheral surface of a sheet feed roller, and separates a sheet fed by the sheet feed roller into one. The sheet separation unit comprises a hook for rotatably supporting the sheet separation unit in a main body casing of the sheet feed apparatus and an engaging claw that makes the sheet separation unit engage with the main body casing. Therefore, the sheet separation unit is held in the main body casing detachably.

A conveyor includes: a first roller; a second roller opposed to the first roller; a roller holder including a roller supporter; a frame supporting the roller holder and having a first surface and second surface; and a moving member that is moved to move the roller supporter. The roller holder includes: a contact portion that is located upstream of the roller supporter in a conveying direction and contacts the second surface; a thin portion disposed between the roller supporter and the contact portion; and an engaging portion engaged with the moving member at a position located downstream of the thin portion in the conveying direction. The roller supporter is moved from a first position to a second position by bending of the thin portion, which bending is caused when the engaging portion is moved away from the second roller with movement of the moving member.

A sheet conveyor including a separation roller, a separation pad, an urging member urging the separation pad, and a feed roller unit disposed downstream relative to the separation roller in a conveyance direction, the feed roller unit including a first outer circumferential surface disposed on a first side in a width direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, a second outer circumferential surface disposed on a second side opposite to the first side in the width direction, and a concave portion disposed between the first and second outer circumferential surfaces in the width direction, the concave portion being recessed inward in a radial direction of the first and second outer circumferential surfaces from the first and second outer circumferential surfaces, an urging member being disposed upstream relative to the concave portion in the conveyance direction and disposed between the first and second outer circumferential surfaces in the width direction.

A medium ejection apparatus is provided which may be part of an image forming apparatus. The medium ejection apparatus may include an ejection roller configured to eject a recording medium and a pinch roller disposed opposite to the ejection roller. The pinch roller is configured to move toward and away from the ejection roller and to press a recording medium toward the ejection roller. Also, the medium ejection apparatus may include an elastic member configured to press the pinch roller toward the ejection roller and a lever disposed downstream of the pinch roller in a recording medium transport direction. The lever is configured to be moved between a first position and a second position. When the lever is in the second position, the lever contacts the pinch roller, which causes a force to be applied against the elastic member, and the pinch roller is spaced away from the ejection roller.

A thickness measurement device for a sheet-type medium comprises: a fixing frame (1), used for installing and bearing the following parts and components; a reference shaft (2), having two ends installed on the fixing frame (1) through bearings, wherein a reference roller (21) is fixedly fitted on the reference shaft (2); a detection shaft (3), wherein at least one floating support frame (31) having one end capable of rotating freely around the detection shaft (3) is arranged on the detection shaft (3), and a detection roller (32) and a signal generator (33) are arranged on the floating support frame (31); an elastic pressing plate (4), for pressing against the floating support frame (31) to keep an approaching trend between the detection roller (32) and the reference roller (21), wherein the elastic pressing plate (4) is composed of at least two elastic sheets; a signal sensor (5); and a data processing unit. By means of the device, system damping is provided through friction between the elastic sheets, an output signal impact peak value instantly caused by the fact that a front end of the sheet-type medium crushes into a floating support frame bearing and a power shaft meshing point at a certain speed is reduced, and the adjustment time of oscillation of an output signal is shortened.

A separation roller is provided in a first end portion of a separation roller shaft through a torque limiter. The separation roller is provided to be able to come into pressure contact with a conveying roller rotatably supported by a conveying roller shaft. A support portion supports the separation roller in a cantilever condition and is formed to be elastically deformable. The support portion supports the separation roller shaft such that the separation roller shaft is inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the conveying roller shaft such that the first end portion of the separation roller shaft is positioned upstream in a sheet conveying direction of a second end portion in a state in which the conveying roller is not driven.

An image processing device includes first and second feeding units. The first feeding unit feeds a sheet toward the second feeding unit in a sheet feeding direction via a sheet feeding path. The device further includes an image processing portion. The first feeding unit is in the path upstream of the processing portion and includes a first shaft rotating in the feeding direction. The second feeding unit is in the path downstream of the processing portion, and the first and the second units feed and hold the sheet. The second feeding unit includes a second shaft rotating in the feeding direction. The device includes a first supporting member supporting first and second ends of the first shaft, a second supporting member supporting first and second ends of the second shaft, and a third supporting member supporting one shaft at a predetermined portion which is not either end of either shaft.