A sheet feeding apparatus capable of lifting a feed roller at low cost without increasing size thereof and an image forming apparatus including the same are proposed. A sheet fed from a rotary feed member is conveyed by a rotary conveyance member while being separated one by one by a rotary separation member being in contact with the rotary conveyance member. The rotary feed member is moved between a standby position above the sheet and an abutment position where the rotary feed member abuts with the sheet by a lifting portion. The lifting portion includes an actuation member moving a holding portion up and down and a drive member driving the actuation member. The actuation member is disposed on a second shaft, which is configured to rotate the rotary separation member.

The present invention is to provide a media processing apparatus for enabling a plurality of discharge sections disposed one side of the apparatus to be disposed parallel inside saved space, the media processing apparatus is provided with a plurality of discharge sections (correct card discharge section and error card discharge section) disposed on one side of an apparatus housing, and a discharge member (card reverse section) that discharges a card C to each discharge section. In such a card processing apparatus, a width dimension (length dimension in the discharge direction of the card) of a discharge stacker of the first card discharge section is wider than a width dimension of the card C, and a width dimension of a frame body of the error card discharge section is narrower than the width dimension of the card C.

A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a controller controlling a driver to cause a guide to start rotation in a state in which a trailing end in a sheet conveyance direction of a preceding sheet conveyed by a roller pair having a first roller and a second roller such that the trailing end of the preceding sheet is moved from the position above a first guide to a position between a second guide and a sheet support by the rotation of the guide and that a succeeding sheet conveyed by the roller pair subsequently to the preceding sheet passes the position above the first guide after the rotation of the guide. The first roller is rotated by a driving force supplied from a driving source, and the guide rotates about a rotation axis of the first roller while rotating relatively to the first roller.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a card conveying mechanism capable of conveying a card in a horizontal direction and allowing for less space in a higher-level apparatus to be taken up even if the card conveying mechanism is capable of making the card parallel to the horizontal direction or tilting the card relative to the horizontal direction. The card conveying mechanism is provided with a card holder that has a draw and feed mechanism for drawing and feeding a card and temporarily holds the card therein, a draw and feed driving mechanism for driving the draw and feed mechanism, a carriage where the card holder is mounted, a carriage driving mechanism for moving the carriage linearly in a horizontal direction perpendicular to a direction in which the card is drawn into the card holder and a rotating mechanism for rotating the card holder with respect to the carriage around an axis in which the carriage moves.

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a light exposure device, a developing device, a fixing unit disposed opposite to the light exposure device relative to the developing device, a sheet supply tray disposed below the developing device, an ejection tray disposed above the developing device and having a sheet receiving surface inclined downward, relative to a horizontal direction, toward the charger, and a sheet conveying path through which a sheet is conveyed from the sheet supply tray to the ejection tray. A lowest end portion of the sheet receiving surface is disposed below an upper end of the charger in the vertical direction. The charger is disposed opposite to the developing device relative to the lowest end portion of the sheet receiving surface.

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a light exposure device, a developing device, a fixing unit disposed opposite to the light exposure device relative to the developing device, a sheet supply tray disposed below the developing device, an ejection tray disposed above the developing device and having a sheet receiving surface inclined downward, relative to a horizontal direction, toward the charger, and a sheet conveying path through which a sheet is conveyed from the sheet supply tray to the ejection tray. A lowest end portion of the sheet receiving surface is disposed below an upper end of the charger in the vertical direction. The charger is disposed opposite to the developing device relative to the lowest end portion of the sheet receiving surface.

A reading apparatus includes a reading unit configured to read a document, a feeding tray on which the document to be read by the reading unit is stacked, a feeding roller that feeds the document from the feeding tray to a position where the document is read by the reading unit, a feeding pressure plate that presses the document against the feeding roller so that the document is pinched between the feeding roller and the feeding pressure plate, and a discharge roller that discharges the document read by the reading unit to underneath the feeding pressure plate, wherein a position of the discharge roller moves depending on a number of documents pinched between the feeding roller and the feeding pressure plate.

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus main body, a sheet feed cassette, and a conveyance unit. The sheet feed cassette is attachably/detachably supported by the apparatus main body. The sheet feed cassette includes pressing portions provided on both sides thereof in the sheet width direction. The movable guide includes pressed portions provided on both sides thereof in the sheet width direction. By the pressed portions abutting on the pressing portions, the movable guide is pushed up by the sheet feed cassette, and the movable guide is positioned with respect to the fixed guide. The pressing portion provided on another side of the sheet feed cassette in the sheet width direction includes an adjusting mechanism that adjusts pressing force against the pressed portion provided on another side of the movable guide in the sheet width direction to enable adjustment of pressure abutment force between the conveyance rollers.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a card conveying mechanism capable of conveying a card in a horizontal direction and allowing for less space in a higher-level apparatus to be taken up even if the card conveying mechanism is capable of making the card parallel to the horizontal direction or tilting the card relative to the horizontal direction. The card conveying mechanism is provided with a card holder that has a draw and feed mechanism for drawing and feeding a card and temporarily holds the card therein, a draw and feed driving mechanism for driving the draw and feed mechanism, a carriage where the card holder is mounted, a carriage driving mechanism for moving the carriage linearly in a horizontal direction perpendicular to a direction in which the card is drawn into the card holder and a rotating mechanism for rotating the card holder with respect to the carriage around an axis in which the carriage moves.

A transport mechanism and method are provided for transporting sheets of a print medium in a printing system. The transport mechanism includes a first conveyor device having a first conveyor body configured to hold a plurality of sheets of print medium and to convey the sheets along the transport path, and a transfer system including a second conveyor device having a second conveyor body configured to hold the sheets and to convey the sheets further along the transport path. The transfer system is configured to transfer the sheets from the first conveyor body to the second conveyor body in a transfer region. The second conveyor body is adjacent the first conveyor body in the transfer region, and the transfer system includes a suction device configured to provide an under-pressure at the second conveyor body for contactless transfer of the sheets from the first conveyor body to the second conveyor body.