Sheet collating device for accumulating sheets from at least one hopper, comprising: a lower transport path and an upper transport path; a switchable guide for directing the sheets from the at least one hopper to the lower or the upper transport path; left and right upper drive shafts connected to a right and a left upper drive pulleys supporting a pair of upper belts, a drive direction of the pair of upper belts being changed dependent on what transport path of the upper and lower transport paths is selected; first and second lower drive shafts connected to a right and a left lower drive pulleys supporting first and second pairs of lower belts; and a first series of right paddles mounted on the first pair of lower belts and a first series of left paddles mounted on the second pair of lower belts for registering a collated set of sheets.

An image forming apparatus includes a transfer unit forming a transfer nip portion, a fixing unit forming a fixing nip portion, and first and second belt suction conveyance units to suck a sheet onto a first belt and a second belt, respectively. The fixing nip portion is arranged at a position above the transfer nip portion. In a sheet conveyance direction, an upstream end portion of the first belt in the first belt suction conveyance unit is provided below the transfer nip portion, a downstream end portion of the first belt is provided above an upstream end portion of the second belt in the second belt suction conveyance unit, and a downstream end portion of the second belt is provided below the fixing nip portion. The first and second belts are inclined from a lower position to an upper position from upstream to downstream in the sheet conveyance direction.

A layboy includes an upper belt section with a plurality of transversely spaced upper belts that extend in a longitudinal direction such that bottom portions of the upper belts lie in a first plane that defines an upper boundary of a transport path through the layboy and a lower belt section having a plurality of transversely spaced lower belts that extend in the longitudinal direction such that top portions of the lower belts lie in a second plane that defines an upper boundary of the transport path. The bottom portion of one of the top belts and/or the top portion of one of the bottom belts extends away from the transport path to define a gap in the transport path at which scrap moving through the layboy can fall out of the transport path.

A media separation apparatus may include: a pickup roller disposed at one side of the loaded media, and configured to sequentially pick up and transfer the loaded media; a feed roller disposed separately from the pickup roller in a media feeding direction, and configured to feed the media picked up and transferred by the pickup roller toward a transfer path; and a media separator disposed at a position facing the feed roller, having a plurality of separation rollers and a separation belt wound around a part of the circumference of each of the separation rollers, and configured to separate a following medium from a leading medium through friction of the separation belt, the following medium being in close contact with the leading medium fed by the feed roller and transferred at the same time as the leading medium.

An object of the invention is to provide a banknote storing/feeding unit which is capable of effectively utilizing winding spaces of a drum and a reel, to increase the number of banknotes to be stored. The banknote storing/feeding unit includes the drum which winds and rewinds a banknote together with a tape, and the reel which winds and rewinds the tape on and from the drum. A guide body swinging according to winding and rewinding of the tape and the banknote on and from the drum is provided between the drum and the reel. The guide body has a guide passage that guides the tape and the banknote to be wound and rewound on the drum. The guide body swings centering on a supporting point located within a region parallel to a virtual line connecting a rotational center of the drum and a rotational center of the reel.

A layboy includes an upper belt section with a plurality of transversely spaced upper belts that extend in a longitudinal direction such that bottom portions of the upper belts lie in a first plane that defines an upper boundary of a transport path through the layboy and a lower belt section having a plurality of transversely spaced lower belts that extend in the longitudinal direction such that top portions of the lower belts lie in a second plane that defines an upper boundary of the transport path. The bottom portion of one of the top belts and/or the top portion of one of the bottom belts extends away from the transport path to define a gap in the transport path at which scrap moving through the layboy can fall out of the transport path.

A layboy conveyor includes a first end and a second end and an upper conveyor having a top and a bottom and a first end and a second end and a lower conveyor having a top and a bottom and a first end and a second end. The lower conveyor top is disposed adjacent to the upper conveyor bottom and defines with the upper conveyor bottom a transport path configured to transport a sheet of material in a direction from the first end of the layboy conveyor to the second end of the layboy conveyor. A drive is operably connected to the upper conveyor and to the lower conveyor, and the drive is configured to drive the upper conveyor bottom and the lower conveyor top in the direction. A length of the lower conveyor top is adjustable.

A sheet stacking device include a guide unit and a blower. The guide unit receives a downstream end of a sheet in a sheet conveyance direction and guides the sheet downstream in the sheet conveyance direction. The blower blows air toward the sheet guided by the guide unit. A region of the blower from which the air is blown is changeable in response to a size of the sheet.

A sheet storage device includes a reel around which a tape is wound, a drum onto which a sheet is wound together with the tape, an input and output opening through which the sheet is passed, and a frame that forms at least a portion of a transport path on which the sheet is transported from the input and output opening to the drum, the frame has a first and a second frame part, the first and second frame parts move relative to each other to switch between a state in which the transport path is formed and a state in which at least a portion of the transport path is open, the first frame part supports the reel, and forms a tape path extending from the reel to the drum, the first frame part moves together with the reel and the tape path relative to the second frame part.

Disclosed is an automated insert feeding system and related methods, capable of removing bulk-packaged items from a tray or other package, and separating the bulk-packaged items individually for distribution into individual packages in high speed reliable fashion. The disclosed systems can also be loaded with multiple packages of the pre-packaged items for automatic feeding into the system which allows human operators to load several packages and allow the system to work unattended, thereby reducing man-hours spend on the process.