A folding apparatus for folding absorbent sanitary articles having an absorbent central body and two wings projecting from opposite side edges of said absorbent central body, comprising: a vacuum conveyor comprising a conveyor belt which holds the absorbent central bodies of said absorbent sanitary articles and moves said absorbent sanitary articles in a longitudinal direction, and a pair of stationary folding elements that engage respective wings of said absorbent sanitary articles while these are moved in said longitudinal direction by said vacuum conveyor, wherein said conveyor belt comprises a plurality of recessed seats which receive the absorbent central bodies of said absorbent sanitary articles, with said wings extending laterally outwards from said recessed seats on an outer surface of said conveyor belt.

An image forming apparatus includes a transfer unit including a transfer nip portion, a fixing unit including a fixing nip portion, a suction belt conveyance unit arranged between the transfer unit and the fixing unit and conveying the sheet toward the fixing nip, a first casing, a second casing connected to the first casing and supporting the fixing unit, a first positioning portion, and, a second positioning portion. The first positioning portion is disposed in the first casing and performs positioning of the suction belt conveyance unit in a predetermined direction along a surface perpendicular to a width direction of the sheet. The second positioning portion is disposed in the second casing and performs positioning of the suction belt conveyance unit in the predetermined direction.

In an example, a media sheet conveyance system includes a first transport assembly, a plurality of subject transport assemblies, and a controller. The first transport assembly includes an endless first belt having a plurality of rows of holes, including a first and a second edge row separated by a distance “x”. Each subject transport assembly includes an endless subject belt having a subject edge row of holes, with a distance to a nearest edge row of an adjacent transport assembly being less than or equal to the distance “x.” The controller is to, in order to convey a media sheet, control a first drive roller to circulate the first belt over a first vacuum element set, and control a subject drive roller to circulate a subject belt over a subject vacuum element.

A paper transport device includes a transport mechanism that transports paper to which an image is transferred to a fixing device while sucking the paper and a switching mechanism that switches between suction regions in a width direction of the transport mechanism, which corresponds to a width direction of the paper, according to a size of the paper.

A vacuum belt moves between a print head and a manifold. The manifold has manifold chambers, and each of the manifold chambers has manifold openings. Vacuum lines are connected to the manifold chambers. The vacuum lines exert vacuum force upon the manifold chambers, and the manifold openings exert the vacuum force through belt perforations. A cylindrical valve structure is connected to the vacuum lines. The cylindrical valve structure includes a cylindrical sleeve (having sleeve openings connected to the vacuum lines) and an internal valve cylinder positioned within the cylindrical sleeve. The internal valve cylinder has groups of vacuum slots. The internal valve cylinder moves linearly within the cylindrical sleeve (in directions parallel to cylindrical walls of the cylindrical sleeve) to align only one of the groups of vacuum slots with the sleeve openings at a time, so as to control which of the manifold chambers receive the vacuum draw.

A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a rotary drive member configured to rotate by receiving transmission of driving force from a driving source, a driven rotary member arranged with a predetermined distance in a sheet conveyance direction from the rotary drive member, an endless belt member supported on the rotary drive member and the driven rotary member, and configured to be rotated by a rotation of the rotary drive member, and a guide member configured to guide a sheet conveyed by the belt member. The guide member is mounted to a shaft configured to support the rotary drive member, and the rotary drive member is supported on the shaft in a rotatable manner with respect to the shaft.

A sheet conveying system includes an upstream conveyor section having an endless first conveyor belt movable in a first conveying direction x and extending in a first lateral direction z, the first conveying direction x and the first lateral direction z defining a first conveying plane xz; and a downstream conveyor section having an endless second conveyor belt that adjoins the first conveyor belt and is movable in a second conveying direction x′ and extends in a second lateral direction z′, the second conveying direction x′ and the second lateral direction z′ defining a second conveying plane x′z′. The conveyor sections are adapted to hold the sheets slip-free on the first and second conveyor belts. The second conveyor belt has a shear compliance in the second conveying plane x′z′ that is larger than the shear compliance of the first conveyor belt in the first conveying plane xz.

Described is a transport device for paper which includes a metal conveyor belt through which air can flow and which is guided over at least two rollers, with the upper section of the belt forming the transport section and its lower section forming the returning section. A vacuum generator is arranged below the upper section. The conveyor belt is a metal mesh so as to be easy to produce and install.

An apparatus and method of conveying parts underneath an array of inkjet printheads in such a way as to minimize print defects caused by variation in motion. The conveyor is composed of a series of rigid conveyor track segments that are forced to move in a precise straight line due to a combination of accurate ball bearing wheel assemblies and precision machine guideways that are incorporated into the conveying system.

A trolley device is used to convey laminar elements. The trolley device includes at least one belt that defines a closed loop, a plurality of pulleys, at least one drive pulley being configured to act on the belt, the pulleys being mounted on a frame with a supporting region over which a section of the belt can be slid and wherein suction means linked to the belt are provided. The belt includes at least on the outer face thereof a projecting section of predetermined length that protrudes in height with respect to the rest of the belt, the projecting section being provided with a plurality of through holes aligned in position with through holes made in the belt.