A sheet processing apparatus includes: a processing tray section having a sheet mounting surface on which a transported sheet is mounted and a processing section that performs processing on the sheet; a side edge alignment section that is provided on the processing tray section and aligns a side edge of the sheet; a lower support section that is provided downstream of the processing tray section in a transport direction of the sheet and supports the sheet from below; and a discharge tray located below the lower support section. The side edge alignment section performs a shift operation of shifting the sheet in a shift direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet. The lower support section moves in the shift direction in conjunction with a movement of the sheet in a state of supporting the sheet from below during the shift operation by the side edge alignment section.

A conveying apparatus for feeding sheets into a processing apparatus is discloses which comprises a plurality of nips within which sheets are gripped and driven along a conveying direction towards the processing apparatus, each nip being defined between a respective drive wheel and an opposing reaction surface. The drive wheels are omni-wheels configured to apply a frictional force to advance the sheets in the conveying direction while permitting free movement of the sheets in a direction transverse to the conveying direction, the reaction surfaces permitting free movement of the sheets in the transverse direction, and an elongate guide is arranged on one side of the conveying apparatus, to extend generally parallel to the conveying direction, the conveying apparatus being configured to urge conveyed sheets in the transverse direction into contact with the guide. A control system is provided to move the guide generally in the transverse direction in dependence upon sensed fiducials on the conveyed sheets, to ensure correct alignment of the sheets in the transverse direction with respect to the processing apparatus.

A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.

A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.

A center-alignment apparatus for use in an ATM has a transport mechanism to transport a document into the ATM. One or more plates operable in tandem to move the document toward a centerline of a path the document is to travel. Edge-detection sensor(s) on the plate sense an edge of the document when the plate(s) is moved toward the centerline. A translate/rotate mechanism translates and rotates the document while the translate/rotate mechanism transversely moves the document toward the center until another edge-detection sensor detects an edge of the document to create a parallel-aligned document. The control logic controls the plate(s) to centers the parallel-aligned document about the centerline to create a centered document.

A sheet stacking device is provided with a hopper unit configured to stack a sheet, a feeding unit configured to feed out the sheet to the hopper unit, a distance detection unit configured to detect an inter-sheet distance, in the vertical direction, between a rear end portion of the sheet that is preceding and a tip end portion of the sheet that is subsequent, and an output unit configured to output a behavior stabilization command for the sheet based on the inter-sheet distance.

An image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a skew correction device and a cleaning device. The skew correction device includes first conveying rollers. The first conveying rollers are rotatable about a predetermined rotation fulcrum. The first conveying rollers are, before a sheet, which is skewed, enters a device body, rotated from an initial position, and, when the sheet enters the device body, rotated back to the initial position while nipping and conveying the sheet. The cleaning device includes a toner conveying member that conveys residual toner on an image-carrying member to a predetermined container. Both the first conveying rollers and the toner conveying member operate by consecutively receiving a rotational driving force from a common electric motor.

An assembly (10) to engage seemingly closed bags (11) that contain a product. The assembly (10) includes a conveyor (14) that has a length (16) that is moved in a conveying direction (17). A compression device (24) is adjustable in respective distance from the length (17) by a “parallelogram” arrangement. The compression device (24) engages the bags (11) and compresses the bag (11) against the length (12), with sensors (33 and 34) providing a signal indicative of the depth of the bags (11), and therefore a signal indicative of bags (11).

An assembly (10) to engage seemingly closed bags (11) that contain a product. The assembly (10) includes a conveyor (14) that has a length (16) that is moved in a conveying direction (17). A compression device (24) is adjustable in respective distance from the length (17) by a “parallelogram” arrangement. The compression device (24) engages the bags (11) and compresses the bag (11) against the length (12), with sensors (33 and 34) providing a signal indicative of the depth of the bags (11), and therefore a signal indicative of bags (11).

A sheet feeding device includes a driving transmission member, a feeding unit, and a switching member. The feeding unit is detachable from the sheet feeding device and includes a driven transmission member that receives a driving force from the driving transmission member, a feeding member, and a holding member that holds the driven transmission member and the feeding member. The switching member abuts the holding member and moves the feeding member between a second position and a first position lowered from the second position. When the driving force is transmitted to the driven transmission member, the feeding unit is positioned to the sheet feeding device by receiving a positioning force in an attachment direction of the feeding unit. When the driving force is not transmitted to the driven transmission member, the feeding unit is regulated by the switching member in movement in a direction opposite to the attachment direction.