In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, a media lifting device is described. The media lifting device includes a media lifting strip to sit on a media transport belt of a printing system. The media lifting strip is to raise a lateral edge of incoming media. That lateral edge of incoming media is a portion of the incoming media that is parallel to a media travel direction. The media lifting device also includes a clamp to affix the media lifting strip to the printing system.

An intermediate unit includes a transportation path provided with a drying unit that accelerates the drying of the medium. The transportation path includes an inlet path, an outlet path, a first branch path, a second branch path, a first junction path, a second junction path, a switch-back type inversion path with a first inversion path and a second inversion path. The first branch path and the second branch path which branch off at a branch point from the inlet path. The first junction path and the second junction path and the outlet path join each other at a junction point. The first branch path and the first junction path and the first inversion path join each other at a first connection point. The second branch path and the second junction path and the second inversion path join each other at a second connection point.

An intermediate unit includes a transportation path provided with a drying unit that accelerates the drying of the medium. The transportation path includes an inlet path, an outlet path, a first branch path, a second branch path, a first junction path, a second junction path, a switch-back type inversion path with a first inversion path and a second inversion path. The first branch path and the second branch path which branch off at a branch point from the inlet path. The first junction path and the second junction path and the outlet path join each other at a junction point. The first branch path and the first junction path and the first inversion path join each other at a first connection point. The second branch path and the second junction path and the second inversion path join each other at a second connection point.

A printer includes a curved path through which a medium is transported toward a line head, a transport roller pair provided in the curved path, pinching the medium by a driving roller and a driven roller at a pinching position, and transporting the medium, a gate portion having a contact surface configured to switch between a contact position located upstream of the pinching position in a transport direction in the curved path and a retreat position at which the contact surface does not contact with the medium, and a guide portion guiding a tip of the transported medium to the contact surface located at the contact position.

When duplex printing non-rectangular sheets of printable media, the sheets require proper registration to prevent misalignment of front and back images. This is ensured by: determining relative orientations of three different edges of a sheet being transported towards print station on a first pass; registering the sheet on the first pass by aligning one of the edges with respect to a predetermined alignment direction; printing a first image on a first side of the registered sheet; flipping the sheet on a second pass; registering the flipped sheet by aligning one of the edges with respect to a predetermined alignment direction; and printing a second image on a second side of the registered, flipped sheet aligned with the first image based on the determined relative orientations.

When duplex printing non-rectangular sheets of printable media, the sheets require proper registration to prevent misalignment of front and back images. This is ensured by: determining relative orientations of three different edges of a sheet being transported towards print station on a first pass; registering the sheet on the first pass by aligning one of the edges with respect to a predetermined alignment direction; printing a first image on a first side of the registered sheet; flipping the sheet on a second pass; registering the flipped sheet by aligning one of the edges with respect to a predetermined alignment direction; and printing a second image on a second side of the registered, flipped sheet aligned with the first image based on the determined relative orientations.

A media sheet drive has a continuous belt of a dielectric material for transporting sheet media supported on the belt in a transport direction. A launch mechanism is used to launch a sheet medium onto a top surface of the belt. A charging circuit including a charging roller is used to charge a top surface of the sheet medium and the belt as the sheet medium is launched. Charging acts to generate an electrostatic tacking force to tack the sheet medium to the belt. The charging roller has a second function to smooth out curled edges of paper as it is acted on by the charging circuit so that the full extent of a launched sheet medium may be subject to the electrostatic tacking force.

A printing apparatus includes a print section configured to perform printing on a first side of a medium and then perform printing on a second side that is a back side of the first side, a supply path configured to supply the medium toward the print section, a feeding roller configured to feed the medium along the supply path from an upstream side to a downstream side in a transport direction, a toothed roller provided on the downstream side of the feeding rollers in the transport direction, a drive source configured to rotate the feeding roller and the toothed roller, and a controller configured to control driving of the drive source. The controller performs rotation control for rotating the feed rollers prior to the rotation of the toothed roller with which the medium has collided.

A meandering correction apparatus includes a transport mechanism, an orientation measurement part, a Young's modulus calculation part, a meandering prediction part and a meandering correction part. The transport mechanism transports an elongated strip-shaped base material in a longitudinal direction thereof along a transport path. The orientation measurement part measures fiber orientations of the base material in respective measurement regions on the transport path, the measurement regions being different in widthwise position from each other. The Young's modulus calculation part calculates Young's moduli of the base material for the respective measurement regions, based on the fiber orientations. The meandering prediction part predicts subsequent meandering of the base material, based on the Young's moduli, to output meandering prediction information. The meandering correction part corrects the widthwise position of the base material, based on the meandering prediction information. The meandering correction is made based on the fiber orientations of the base material. Thus, the widthwise position of the base material is corrected without depending on only edge sensors.

A meandering correction apparatus includes a transport mechanism, an orientation measurement part, a Young's modulus calculation part, a meandering prediction part and a meandering correction part. The transport mechanism transports an elongated strip-shaped base material in a longitudinal direction thereof along a transport path. The orientation measurement part measures fiber orientations of the base material in respective measurement regions on the transport path, the measurement regions being different in widthwise position from each other. The Young's modulus calculation part calculates Young's moduli of the base material for the respective measurement regions, based on the fiber orientations. The meandering prediction part predicts subsequent meandering of the base material, based on the Young's moduli, to output meandering prediction information. The meandering correction part corrects the widthwise position of the base material, based on the meandering prediction information. The meandering correction is made based on the fiber orientations of the base material. Thus, the widthwise position of the base material is corrected without depending on only edge sensors.