An agitator for agitating sheets of material passing through a sheet transport device that has upper and lower guide sections defining a sheet transport path therebetween. The agitator includes first and second sets of rollers each having a roller axis of rotation and a width, and the rollers are mounted to at least one holder such that the axes of rotation of the rollers are radially spaced from a line and such that rotating the at least one holder around the line causes the rollers to orbit around the line. At least one support supports the holder for rotation around the line, and the set of first rollers is spaced from the set of second rollers in the direction of the line by a distance greater than the width of the rollers. Also a sheet transport device including the agitator.

A sheet aligning mechanism includes first and second conveyance mechanisms disposed on first and second sides of a sheet conveyance path, respectively. A nip is formed between the first and second conveyance mechanisms. The first conveyance mechanism includes a first roller, a second roller, and a first conveyance belt wound around the first and second rollers. The first and second rollers are configured to rotate in a first direction along a sheet conveying direction for sheet conveyance, and stop rotation or rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction for sheet alignment. The first conveyance belt includes an extended region between the first and second rollers in an extending direction inclined with respect to the sheet conveying direction, such that a width of the sheet conveyance path becomes narrower towards the nip in the sheet conveying direction.

In order to thread a web material in a converting machine a system is provided, with a first continuous flexible member and a second flexible member. An anchoring element, to which there can be fixed the web material leading edge, may be transferred from one to the other of the two flexible members so as to facilitate the threading operations.

A drive unit includes a drive source and a driving force transmitter that includes a plurality of rotators, an endless belt stretched by the plurality of rotators, a pressing member to press the endless belt, a first support shaft, a first link member to hold the pressing member, a second support shaft, a second link member to press the first link member, a biasing member to bias the second link member. A relation of L1 to L2 satisfies L1>L2, where L1 denotes a distance between the second support shaft and a biasing position and L2 denotes a distance between the second support shaft and a first pressing position. A relation of L3 to L4 satisfies L3>L4, where L3 denotes a distance between the first support shaft and the pressing position and L4 denotes a distance between the first support shaft and a second pressing position.

A rewinding machine winds web material into a log. The machine has a winding drum that is rotatable about a center axis and about which the web material to be wound is directed. A continuous loop is spaced from the winding drum and with the winding drum defines a nip through which the web material is directed when winding the web material into the log. The continuous loop is configured to move in a direction generally opposite of a direction of the winding drum at the nip. The continuous loop is configured to change speed relative to a speed of the winding drum during winding the web material into the log about a lead edge of the web material. The continuous loop is positionable relative to the winding drum at the nip to accommodate winding the web material into the log about the lead edge of the web material and to sever the web material.

According to an example, printed media stack alignment may include actuating a belt and a paddle to shift first and second sheets to a stopper position represented by register of the first and second sheets against a stopper. The stopper may be actuated to shift the first and second sheets to an eject position, where the eject position is intermediate to a sheet deposit position and the stopper position. The belt and the paddle may be actuated to shift the first sheet, the second sheet, and a third sheet received at the sheet deposit position to the stopper position. The stopper may be actuated to shift the first, second, and third sheets to the eject position. Further, an ejector may be actuated to eject a stack including the first, second, and third sheets from the eject position.

The curl straightening device includes supporting rollers, an endless belt, a curl straightening roller, and a contact member. The supporting rollers are disposed rotatably about a shaft extending in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the sheet. The endless belt is stretched across the supporting rollers, and circulates in the conveying direction. The curl straightening roller makes contact with an outer peripheral surface of the endless belt between the supporting rollers so as to form a nip portion, and straightens curl of the sheet which passes through the nip portion. The nip portion is shaped so that the endless belt curves along a peripheral surface of the curl straightening roller. The contact member is disposed to oppose a center portion of the curl straightening roller in an axial direction, and makes contact with the curl straightening roller so as to prevent deformation of the curl straightening roller.

A transfer transporting device includes multiple rollers, an endless belt, a pair of support members, and a pair of unloading members. The rollers include a driving roller and a driven roller. The driving roller is disposed closer to an image carrier that has a toner image formed thereon and that holds the toner image. The driven roller is disposed apart from the driving roller downstream in a sheet transport direction. The endless belt is wound around the rollers. The pair of support members each have an outer wall surface facing a side end surface of the belt. The pair of support members are disposed on both sides of the belt to rotatably support a rotation shaft protruding from side end surfaces of the driving roller. The pair of unloading members are interposed between the outer wall surfaces of the pair of support members and the side end surfaces of the driving roller. The pair of unloading members each reduce, while being in contact with a corresponding one of the side end surfaces of the belt, a driving load on the driving roller further than in a case where the side end surfaces of the belt come into direct contact with the outer wall surfaces. The image carrier and the belt hold therebetween a sheet transported thereto to transfer the toner image on the image carrier to the sheet, and transport the sheet downstream.

A belt driving device includes an annular belt member, rotary members, a protrusion, and a contact member. The belt member includes first and second edges. The belt member is wound around the rotary members. The protrusion protrudes from an inner peripheral surface of the belt member. The protrusion and each rotary member are arranged in an extending direction of the rotary member. The protrusion is provided at the second edge. The contact member is closer to the first edge. When the belt member deviates, the contact member comes into contact with the belt member. A difference between a position of the belt member when the protrusion comes into contact with an end surface of one of the rotary members and a position of the belt member when the belt member comes into contact with the contact member is equal to or less than a width of the protrusion.

A rewinding machine winds web material into a log. The machine has a winding drum that is rotatable about a center axis and about which the web material to be wound is directed. A continuous loop is spaced from the winding drum and with the winding drum defines a nip through which the web material is directed when winding the web material into the log. The continuous loop is configured to move in a direction generally opposite of a direction of the winding drum at the nip. The continuous loop is configured to change speed relative to a speed of the winding drum during winding the web material into the log about a lead edge of the web material. The continuous loop is positionable relative to the winding drum at the nip to accommodate winding the web material into the log about the lead edge of the web material and to sever the web material.