Medium loading system and image forming system

Abstract

A medium loading system includes: a supplier that causes multiple loaded recording media to levitate and be separated from each other by supplying air to the recording media from an edge of the recording media; an image capturing unit that captures an image of the recording media from the edge of the multiple recording media supplied with the air from the supplier; an image capturing target other than the recording media, the image capturing target being a target to be image-captured by the image capturing unit; and a processor configured to detect an abnormality in the image capturing unit in accordance with a change between multiple captured images of the image capturing target captured by the image capturing unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A medium loading system comprising:
 a supplier that causes a plurality of loaded recording media to levitate and be separated from each other by supplying air to the recording media from an edge of the recording media;   an image capturing unit that captures an image of the recording media from the edge of the plurality of recording media supplied with the air from the supplier;   an image capturing target other than the recording media, the image capturing target being a target to be image-captured by the image capturing unit; and   a processor configured to:
 detect an abnormality in the image capturing unit in accordance with a change between a plurality of captured images of the image capturing target captured by the image capturing unit. 
   
     
     
         2 . The medium loading system according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor is configured to detect the abnormality in the image capturing unit in accordance with the change between the plurality of captured images captured in a state where the supplier has stopped supplying the air to the recording media.   
     
     
         3 . The medium loading system according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein when the processor does not detect the abnormality in the image capturing unit, the supplier starts supplying the air to the recording media, and the image capturing unit captures the image of the recording media from the edge of the plurality of recording media supplied with the air from the supplier.   
     
     
         4 . The medium loading system according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the image capturing target is disposed opposite the image capturing unit relative to a position where the recording media supplied with the air from the supplier are disposed.   
     
     
         5 . The medium loading system according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the supplier adjusts a supply amount of the air in accordance with a distance between the plurality of recording media image-captured by the image capturing unit, and   wherein the supplier does not execute an adjustment of the supply amount of the air if the processor detects the abnormality in the image capturing unit.   
     
     
         6 . The medium loading system according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the image capturing target is a component of the medium loading system.   
     
     
         7 . The medium loading system according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein the image capturing target is the component having a hole.   
     
     
         8 . The medium loading system according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the image capturing target is a target image provided on a component of the medium loading system.   
     
     
         9 . The medium loading system according to  claim 8 ,
 wherein the target image has a bright area and a dark area having a boundary with the bright area.   
     
     
         10 . The medium loading system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a moving mechanism that moves the image capturing target between an image capturing position and a retraction position, the image capturing position being where the image capturing unit captures an image of the image capturing target, the retraction position being where the image capturing target has retracted from the image capturing position.   
     
     
         11 . The medium loading system according to  claim 10 ,
 wherein the moving mechanism sets the image capturing target at the image capturing position where the image capturing unit is in focus when the image capturing unit is to capture the image of the image capturing target, and   wherein the moving mechanism sets the image capturing target at the retraction position when the image capturing unit is to capture the image of the recording media.   
     
     
         12 . The medium loading system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a notifier that notifies a user of information indicating that the processor has detected the abnormality when the processor detects the abnormality.   
     
     
         13 . The medium loading system according to  claim 12 ,
 wherein the information that the user is notified of by the notifier is information prompting the user to replace or clean the image capturing unit or a component of the image capturing unit.   
     
     
         14 . The medium loading system according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the processor has a dedicated mode for detecting the abnormality in the image capturing unit in accordance with a user command.   
     
     
         15 . An image forming system comprising:
 the medium loading system according to  claim 1 ; and   an image forming unit that forms an image onto each recording medium fed from the medium loading system.   
     
     
         16 . An image forming system comprising:
 the medium loading system according to  claim 2 ; and   an image forming unit that forms an image onto each recording medium fed from the medium loading system.   
     
     
         17 . An image forming system comprising:
 the medium loading system according to  claim 3 ; and   an image forming unit that forms an image onto each recording medium fed from the medium loading system.   
     
     
         18 . An image forming system comprising:
 the medium loading system according to  claim 4 ; and   an image forming unit that forms an image onto each recording medium fed from the medium loading system.   
     
     
         19 . An image forming system comprising:
 the medium loading system according to  claim 5 ; and   an image forming unit that forms an image onto each recording medium fed from the medium loading system.   
     
     
         20 . An image forming system comprising:
 the medium loading system according to  claim 6 ; and   an image forming unit that forms an image onto each recording medium fed from the medium loading system.