Patent ID: 7845631

Claim:
A transporting device for moving an object, comprising: a loading surface configured to hold and transport the object, the object including at least one sheet; an elevator plate mounted on the loading surface, the elevator plate being configured to be liftable and lowerable on the loading surface; a drive part configured to lift the elevator plate via gears in a first direction and to lower the elevator plate via the gears in a second direction opposite the first direction; a controller configured to execute a preparatory operation to operate the drive part to correspond to a gear backlash in the first direction opposite the second direction, the preparatory operation being operating the drive part during a time after completion of an elevator plate drive operation in the second direction until a start of a continuation of an elevator plate drive operation in the first direction; and an appropriate position detector having an upper limit detector configured to detect the object abutting a pick-up roller signaling an appropriate transport position at which to dispose the elevator plate when starting to transport the object according to the number of sheets of the object loaded on the elevator plate, and a lower limit detector configured to detect that the elevator plate has reached a lower limit, the preparatory operation being executed while the upper limit detector detects the object abutting the pick-up roller.