Recording-material processing apparatus

Abstract

A recording-material processing apparatus includes a supporter, an advancing unit, and a contact member. The supporter supports at least one recording material from below. The advancing unit advances toward the recording material from a lateral side of the recording material supported by the supporter. The contact member is attached to the advancing unit and comes into contact with an edge of the recording material as the advancing unit advances toward the recording material. The contact member is movable in a direction opposite to an advancing direction of the advancing unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A recording-material processing apparatus comprising:
 a supporter that supports at least one recording material from below;   an advancing unit that advances toward the recording material from a lateral side of the recording material supported by the supporter; and   a contact member that is attached to the advancing unit and that comes into contact with an edge of the recording material as the advancing unit advances toward the recording material, the contact member being movable in a direction opposite to an advancing direction of the advancing unit.   
     
     
         2 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the contact member is provided at a recording material side of the advancing unit in a horizontal direction relative to a vertical direction of the recording material supported by the supporter, and   wherein at least one elastic member is provided between the contact member and the advancing unit.   
     
     
         3 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the at least one elastic member includes a plurality of elastic members, and   wherein the plurality of elastic members are disposed at different positions in an extending direction of the edge of the recording material supported by the supporter.   
     
     
         4 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the at least one elastic member is a coil spring, and   wherein a section of the contact member located lower than a central axis of the coil spring comes into contact with the recording material.   
     
     
         5 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the advancing unit is provided with at least two holes to which protrusions provided in the contact member are fitted,   wherein when the advancing unit advances toward the recording material, a predetermined contact section of the contact member comes into contact with the recording material, and   wherein, of the two holes, the hole located closer to the contact section has a cross-sectional area that is larger than a cross-sectional area of the hole located farther from the contact section.   
     
     
         6 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein the hole located closer to the contact section is a long hole, and the hole located farther from the contact section is a circular hole.   
     
     
         7 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the contact member is provided at a recording material side of the advancing unit,   wherein a plurality of coil springs are provided between the contact member and the advancing unit,   wherein the plurality of coil springs are disposed at different positions in an extending direction of the edge of the recording material supported by the supporter,   wherein the recording-material processing apparatus further comprises:   a receiver that receives the recording material moving as the advancing unit advances toward the recording material; and   a plurality of coil springs that support the receiver and that are disposed at different positions in the extending direction of the edge, and   wherein a line connecting central axes of the plurality of coil springs provided at the advancing unit and the edge form an angle that is larger than an angle formed by a line connecting central axes of the plurality of coil springs provided at the receiver and the edge.   
     
     
         8 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a receiver that has a contact member coming into contact with the recording material as the advancing unit advances toward the recording material and that receives the recording material,   wherein the at least one recording material includes an already-loaded recording material already loaded on the supporter and a new recording material to be loaded onto the already-loaded recording material,   wherein when the new recording material is to be loaded onto the already-loaded recording material in a state where the new recording material is positionally misaligned with the already-loaded recording material, the contact member provided in the receiver is disposed in contact with the already-loaded recording material, and the advancing unit advances toward the new recording material from an opposite side of the receiver with the new recording material interposed therebetween.   
     
     
         9 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the advancing unit is movable in an up-down direction.   
     
     
         10 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein a lower edge of the contact member is located lower than a lower edge of the advancing unit.   
     
     
         11 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an accumulating unit that accumulates a plurality of other recording materials moving toward the supporter during a period from when the advancing unit starts to advance toward the recording material supported by the supporter to when the advancing unit returns to an original position.   
     
     
         12 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein when a thickness, in the advancing direction, of a section of the advancing unit that faces the contact member and a thickness of the contact member in the advancing direction are compared, the thickness of the contact member is smaller than the thickness of the advancing unit.   
     
     
         13 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a processor configured to
 change a position of at least a part of the contact member in an up-down direction based on information about the recording material supported by the supporter or information about a position of the supporter in the up-down direction. 
   
     
     
         14 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the contact member is rotatable about a rotation axis extending in the advancing direction.   
     
     
         15 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a processor configured to
 set a rotational angle of the contact member about the rotation axis based on information about the recording material supported by the supporter or information about a position of the supporter in an up-down direction. 
   
     
     
         16 . A recording-material processing apparatus comprising:
 a supporter that supports a recording material from below;   a moving unit that moves the recording material supported by the supporter in a direction intersecting a vertical direction;   a disposed member disposed downstream, in a recording-material moving direction, of the recording material moved by the moving unit; and   a contact member that is disposed between the recording material moved by the moving unit and the disposed member and that is attached to the disposed member in a movable manner toward the disposed member, the contact member coming into contact with an edge of the recording material moved by the moving unit.   
     
     
         17 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 16 ,
 wherein at least one elastic member is provided between the disposed member and the contact member.   
     
     
         18 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 17 ,
 wherein the at least one elastic member includes a plurality of elastic members, and   wherein the plurality of elastic members are disposed at different positions in an extending direction of the edge into which the contact member comes into contact.   
     
     
         19 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 16 ,
 wherein the recording material includes an already-loaded recording material already loaded on the supporter, and   wherein when the contact member is placed on the already-loaded recording material, the contact member is disposed in contact with the already-loaded recording material, and the disposed member is disposed out of contact with the already-loaded recording material.   
     
     
         20 . The recording-material processing apparatus according to  claim 16 ,
 wherein the recording material includes an already-loaded recording material already loaded on the supporter, and   wherein when the contact member is placed on the already-loaded recording material, a lower edge of the contact member is in contact with the already-loaded recording material, and   wherein the lower edge of the contact member has a thickness smaller than a thickness of an upper edge of the contact member.