Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080240818 | FEED TRAY EXTENSION FOR AN ELECTION BALLOT PRINTING SYSTEM - An election ballot printing system includes a printer support structure which carries a printer. The printer and printer support structure are coupled together so that movement between them is restricted. A printer feed tray extension is carried by the printer support structure, wherein the printer feed tray extension includes a ramp and opposed guide rails which extend along the ramp. The opposed guide rails are positioned to guide a ballot into an input port of the printer. | 10-02-2008 |
20080247793 | Image Forming Apparatus - An image forming apparatus includes a recording sheet storage unit for storing recording sheets substantially in an upright position, an image forming unit which forms an image on a recording sheet conveyed from the recording sheet storage unit, and a recording sheet receiving unit for storing the recording sheet conveyed from the image forming unit substantially in an upright position. In this image forming apparatus, a paper conveyance passage for conveying the recording sheet extends upward from a lower portion of the recording sheet storage unit toward the recording sheet receiving unit. The image forming unit positioned on the paper conveyance passage comprises a fixing device and a developer unit at least including a developer carrier, and the fixing device is arranged above the developer unit. | 10-09-2008 |
20080260444 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus capable of setting a plurality of image forming speeds includes a transfer unit configured to transfer an image formed on an image carrier onto a sheet, a paper feed unit configured to feed the sheet, and a control unit configured to control the conveyance speed of the sheet to accelerate and decelerate without stopping the sheet in a section between the paper feed unit and the transfer unit to synchronize the sheet with the image formed on the image carrier. The control unit changes paper feed timing from the paper feed unit according to the image forming speed if the image forming speed is predetermined. | 10-23-2008 |
20090067906 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD OF THE SAME - One paper sheet is extracted from a paper feeding cassette and fed to a process unit by plural rollers that are actuated by motors, respectively. In printing, the motors are actuated at low speed when first paper sheet is fed from the paper feeding cassette to the process unit and are actuated at high speed when second and subsequent paper sheets are fed to the process unit. | 03-12-2009 |
20090074491 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - An image forming apparatus includes a housing having a planar top surface and a plurality of legs projecting downward from end portions of the housing for supporting the housing on ground. A paper feed unit, an image forming unit, and an output unit are arranged in a substantially horizontal direction inside the housing. | 03-19-2009 |
20090074492 | Belt Rotating Device and Image Forming Apparatus - A belt rotating apparatus capable of improving a durability with respect to flexion fatigue of a belt and capable of reducing the occurrence of the breakage of the belt; and an image forming apparatus having the belt rotating device are supplied. The belt rotating device includes a belt that is wound on a roller driven by a predetermined driving means; and a meander prevention member that is slidably contacted with an end surface of the belt for preventing a meander of the belt. In the belt rotating device, a friction reduction agent for reducing slide friction with respect to the meander prevention member is used to coat at least an end surface of the belt. | 03-19-2009 |
20090154975 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a moving roller capable of axial movement; a medium end position detecting section for detection in the main scanning direction; and a control section for calculating the amount of misalignment of the medium from the detected end position; wherein the control section obtains the correction amount of the image forming position of the medium according to the amount of misalignment of the medium having been calculated, or the amount of misalignment of the medium and information of moving position of the roller, and provides control such that the medium or another medium coming later than the medium by a predetermined number of pages is moved by the moving roller by the difference between the correction amount of the image forming position and the amount of misalignment of the target medium, and the image forming position is corrected according to the correction amount. | 06-18-2009 |
20090180822 | Image Forming Device - An image forming device includes a plurality of medium feed units configured to feed a recording medium on respective carrying routes, an image forming unit configured to form an image on the recording medium fed from one of the plurality of medium feed units, a first roller provided on a common route of the carrying routes, the first roller being configured to rotate at a first circumferential velocity and carry, to the image forming unit, the recording medium fed from one of the plurality of medium feed units, and a control unit configured to control the first circumferential velocity of the first roller depending on from which of the plurality of medium feed units the recording medium is fed. | 07-16-2009 |
20090185846 | Sheet transfer apparatus and image forming apparatus - A disclosed apparatus includes a first unit upstream of a first path to transfer a sheet; a second unit upstream of a second path to transfer another sheet from opposite side of the first path; a third unit on a combined path of the first and second paths to transfer the sheets downstream; and a first member provided where the first and second paths meet to guide the sheets to the combined path. The third unit is a nip unit including elements forming a nip. One of the elements on the second path side is a belt unit. The first member has a downstream edge extending in a sheet width direction. The downstream edge has a first part facing the nip part and a second part not facing the nip part. The second part is located downstream of the first part in the sheet transfer direction. | 07-23-2009 |
20090238621 | Image Forming Apparatus - This invention provides an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes: a carrier, a power unit, a switch, and a controller. The carrier is configured to carry a recording medium. The power unit is configured to provide a drive power to the carrier. The switch is configured to switch an operation state of the carrier between an ON state and an Off state of a transmission of the drive power from the power unit to the carrier. The controller is configured to provide a control power to control the switch such that the control power is reduced after a switching from the Off state to the ON state. | 09-24-2009 |
20090245906 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - An image forming device includes a housing, a paper loading portion provided at an upper surface of the housing to load paper to be discharged and having a paper discharge hole, a fixing unit disposed in an upper region of the housing and used to fix a developer to the paper, and a cover to open or close an upper side of the fixing unit, the cover having one end protruding from the paper discharge hole. | 10-01-2009 |
20090297241 | STRUCTURE TO GUIDE PRINT MEDIUM AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS EMPLOYING THE SAME - A structure to guide a take-in direction of a print medium to be taken in a carrying part where the print medium is carried, the structure includes: a guide unit which changes a travel direction of the print medium from a feeding direction, in which the print medium is supplied from a medium feeding unit, to the take-in direction of the print medium; and a vibration damper which prevents a bottom part of the print medium from shaking and vibrating when the print medium is free from the guide unit. | 12-03-2009 |
20100021219 | Sheet transporting device - Fixed electrodes | 01-28-2010 |
20100034571 | SHEET CONVEYOR, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING SHEET CONVEYOR, AND SHEET CONVEYING METHOD - A sheet conveyor includes a first roller and a second roller pressurized to the first roller to hold and convey a sheet, wherein when the sheet is held between the first roller and the second roller, the first roller and second roller are separated at a space equivalent to a thickness of the sheet. The sheet conveyor has a pressurizing delay mechanism configured to bring slowly the first roller and the second roller into contact with each other after the sheet is conveyed from the first roller and the second roller. | 02-11-2010 |
20100061785 | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus including the same - A sheet feeding device including a sheet feed cassette. The sheet feed cassette includes a tray extendable and contractible in a direction of sheet feed; a guide member having a long groove provided on a bottom plate of the sheet feed cassette in the direction of sheet feed; a pressing member having a shaft in a lower portion thereof loosely inserted into the guide member, the pressing member movable along the guide member and contacting a rear edge of a sheet stored in the sheet feed cassette; a link cam plate having a long guide groove into which the shaft of the pressing member is movably inserted, the link cam plate being swingably provided on the bottom plate of the sheet feed cassette; and a sheet size detector including a convex portion and a size detector to detect a size of the sheet stored in the sheet feed cassette. | 03-11-2010 |
20100092226 | Controlled Velocity Decoupling Device For Improved Media Registration At Transfer - A controlled velocity decoupling device for improved media registration at transfer in a reprographic device includes a one-way clutch in a drive roll of a registration subsystem to decouple velocities between the registration subsystem and a charge retentive surface. The one-way clutched drive roll prevents the formation of a buckle in a sheet prior to the sheet engaging the charge retentive surface, and thus allowing for more controlled registration of the sheet to the charge retentive surface. The drive roll is set to a lower speed than the charge retentive surface in order to allow for variability in the velocity differences and ensure that no buckle is formed prior to transfer. | 04-15-2010 |
20100104337 | SHEET FEEDING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet feeding device includes a sheet storing unit in which sheets are stacked; a lifting unit that lifts and lowers the sheets; an air blowing unit that blows air to an end faces of the stacked sheets; a feeding roller that is pressed against an upper surface of an uppermost sheet of the sheets and feeds the uppermost sheet by rotating; and a supplying roller that supplies the uppermost sheet, wherein the lifting unit is driven so that height of the uppermost sheet, which is fed by the feeding roller while air is blown by the air blowing unit, is set to be lower than height of the uppermost sheet, which is fed by the feeding roller while air is not blown by the air blowing unit. | 04-29-2010 |
20100104338 | MEDIUM CONTAINING CASSETTE, MEDIUM FEEDING UNIT, OPTIONAL MEDIUM FEEDING UNIT AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A medium containing cassette includes: a container case for containing media; a stack plate movable in the container case and configured to stack the media thereon; a separator provided on the container case and configured to separate the media one by one; and a bias member configured to bias the stack plate toward the media stacked on the stack plate. The bias member is disposed to have a greater distance from the stack plate than the separator, in a direction from the stack plate to the separator, on a plane substantially perpendicular to a bias direction of the bias member. | 04-29-2010 |
20100104339 | SHEET PROCESSING APPARATUS, AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT FEEDER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - In a sheet processing apparatus that includes an acting portion to exert an action on a sheet, and at least one of first and second carrying devices, the first carrying device is arranged on a downstream side of the acting portion and a lead edge of the sheet enters the first carrying device during the action of the acting portion, the second carrying device is arranged on an upstream side of the acting portion, and the sheet exits from the second carrying device during the action of the acting portion, at least one of the first and second carrying devices has a driving roller and a driven roller, and the sheet is put between the driving roller and the driven roller and is carried, and a Shore hardness Hs of at least a surface portion of the driven roller based on ISO7619 is set in a range of 20 to 50 degree. | 04-29-2010 |
20100111583 | SHEET FEEDING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet feeding device includes a sheet supporting portion which supports sheets, a restricting member which is movably disposed in the sheet supporting portion and is moved to a position according to the sheet supported by the sheet supporting portion, to restrict the position of the sheet; and a lock mechanism including a lock projection which is disposed in the restricting member so as to be pivotable in a movement direction of the restricting member and a plurality of lock grooves which are formed on a side of the sheet supporting portion and disengageably engage with the lock projection, so as to restrict movement of the restricting member in a direction reverse to a sheet restricting direction. The pivotal center of the lock projection in the lock mechanism is located downward of the position of an engaging portion between the lock projection and the lock groove. | 05-06-2010 |
20100129127 | SHEET SUPPLY APPARATUS, SHEET SUPPLY UNIT AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An sheet supply apparatus is provided which controls vertical movement of a sheet support tray so that a position of an upper surface of stacked sheets on the support tray is adjusted to a height located below a separation air outlet, wherein adsorption is possible at the height and so that a fall region, in which a pressure difference with respect to a separation region is generated, is formed below the separation region in which the separation air blasted from the separation air outlet is blasted along the sheet adsorbed on the adsorbent surface. | 05-27-2010 |
20100183350 | SHEET FEEDING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet feeding device includes a sheet accommodating unit supported by an apparatus main body in an insertable and withdrawable manner in a direction orthogonal to a feeding direction of the sheets, a leading edge regulating unit provided fixedly to the sheet accommodating unit, a trailing edge regulating unit provided in the sheet accommodating unit, a side edge regulating unit provided in the sheet accommodating unit, and an insertion position limiting unit configured to contact a frame on a rear of the apparatus main body in an inserting direction of the sheet accommodating unit to limit an insertion position of the sheet accommodating unit, wherein the insertion position limiting unit is arranged on a rear of the sheet accommodating unit and on an upstream of a position of center of gravity of the sheet accommodating unit along a sheet feeding direction. | 07-22-2010 |
20100189484 | CARRIER DEVICE AND IMAGE-FORMING DEVICE - A carrier device includes: a circular belt made of a breathable nonwoven fabric; plural rolls on which the belt is hung so that the rolls contact a surface of an inner circumference of the belt, that causes the belt to rotate; and a decompression unit that reduces pressure in an area surrounded by the belt. | 07-29-2010 |
20100189485 | Image Forming Apparatus - An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, an inner guide, an outer guide opposing the inner guide. The inner guide and the outer guide define a curved transporting path where the recording sheet is transported. The image forming apparatus further includes a first feeder positioned upstream of the curved transporting path and a second feeder positioned downstream of the curved transporting path. The outer guide includes a rigid guide and a deformable resilient guide superimposed on the rigid guide. The rigid guide includes a first outer guide portion extending to a first downstream position and a second outer guide portion extending to a second downstream position positioned downstream of the first downstream position. A first resilient guide portion of the resilient guide, which corresponds to the first outer guide portion, extends to a third downstream position positioned downstream of the first downstream position and does not extend beyond the second downstream position. | 07-29-2010 |
20100215418 | RECORDING MEDIUM TRANSPORT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An aspect of the invention is a recording medium transport device including: a rotating body pair including a pair of rotating bodies disposed on a transport path of a recording medium; a pressing mechanism pressing the rotating bodies in a direction to approach each other; elastically deformable first-large-diameter-portions provided at both axial direction outer-sides of a region where the recording medium passes of at least one of the rotating bodies, the first-large-portions having a larger diameter than the outer diameter at the region; and second-large-diameter-portions provided at both axial direction outer-sides of the region of at least one of the rotating bodies, the second-large-diameter-portions having a larger diameter than the outer diameter at the region and having a smaller diameter than the first-large-diameter-portions, and the second-large-diameter-portions forming a gap between peripheral faces of the rotating bodies at the region in a state where the first-large-diameter-portions are elastically deformed. | 08-26-2010 |
20100215419 | Image Forming Device Capable of Reliably Transmitting Driving Force to Belt Unit - An image forming device includes a main body having a metal main frame, first and second resin frames attached to the main frame, a conveying section attached to the first resin frame and made of third resin, an input section provided to the conveying section, and an output section supported to the second resin frame and liked to the input section. The conveying section conveys a recording medium upon receiving driving force through the input section and the output section. Both the first and second resin frames have a higher liner expansion coefficient than the main frame, and a linear expansion coefficient of the third resin is higher than that of the main frame and lower than that of the first and second resin frames. | 08-26-2010 |
20100239343 | IMAGE FORMING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - An image forming device makes a sheet pass between first rotating member and separator in a pressed position, causes second rotating member pair to transport a sheet, transports the sheet from second rotating member pair with the sheet held between third rotating member and image carrier in a transfer position, transfers an image formed on image carrier onto the sheet, and suspends rotation of first rotating member when a portion of the sheet, which is distance L away from the sheet's rear end, passes the pressed position. Provided that length | 09-23-2010 |
20100247197 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming apparatus main body, an image forming unit that is provided in the image forming apparatus main body and forms an image on a recording medium, and a transport unit transporting the recording medium, wherein the image forming apparatus main body has a forward port for forwarding the recording medium having the image thereon by the image forming unit to outside of the image forming apparatus main body, and further has a guide unit by which the recording medium forwarded to the outside of the image forming apparatus main body is guided to be retrieved into the image forming apparatus main body, and to be led to the transport unit. | 09-30-2010 |
20100278573 | MOVEABLE TRAIL EDGE SENSOR FOR DUPLEX REGISTRATION - A print device for registering a printable medium during a duplex printing process. The print device includes a controller, at least one leading edge sensor operably connected to the controller, the at least one leading edge sensor configured to detect a leading edge of a printable medium having a first and a second side when the first side is facing away from the at least one leading edge sensor, a coarse registration sensor operably connected to the controller, the coarse registration sensor configured to detect a leading edge of the printable medium when the second side of the printable medium is facing away from the at least one leading edge sensor, and at least one trail edge sensor operably connected to the controller, the at least one trail edge sensor configured to detect a trailing edge of the printable medium. | 11-04-2010 |
20100296851 | Sheet feeding device and electrophotographic image forming apparatus - A sheet feeding device incorporable in an image forming apparatus includes a sheet holder to hold a stack of sheets including an uppermost sheet, an endless belt, a charging member, a belt supporting unit including a drive roller and a driven roller, a moving mechanism to move the sheet holder, and a controller. The controller alternately controls the moving mechanism to move the sheet holder to a proximal position, the endless belt to contact the uppermost sheet held on the sheet holder, and the driven roller to rotate about the drive roller, to attract the uppermost sheet, and controls the moving mechanism to move the sheet holder to a distal position, the driven roller to rotate about the drive roller, and the endless belt to incline at a predetermined angle of separation, to separate the uppermost sheet from the multiple sheets. | 11-25-2010 |
20100303529 | SHEET CONVEYING DEVICE OF IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A conveying device includes a first curved guide member, a second guide member which has a radius of curvature larger than the first guide member and guides a recording medium between the second guide member and the first guide member, a pinching and conveying section which is disposed on an entrance side of a conveyance path including the first guide member and the second guide member, pinches the recording medium and conveys the recording medium into the conveyance path, and a support member which is provided on the second guide member at.a position adjacent to the pinching and conveying section, and has a support point on an extended line of a normal line of a nip of the pinching and conveying section. | 12-02-2010 |
20100322689 | PAPER FEEDING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A remaining amount detector measures beforehand a distance H where there is one sheet. A motor displaces a lifting plate to a paper-feeding position upon storing paper in the feeding unit. The remaining amount detector measures a distance y | 12-23-2010 |
20100329758 | SHEET SUPPLYING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM USING THE SAME DEVICE - A sheet supplying device, including a sheet accommodating section which accommodates recording sheets, and is removable from a main body of the sheet supplying device, a locking section which locks the sheet accommodating section within the main body, not to draw out the sheet accommodating section from the main body, a suction conveying section which vacuums the recording sheet accommodated in the sheet accommodating section and conveys the recording sheet, and a suction detecting section which detects the recording sheet vacuumed by the suction conveying section, wherein when the suction conveying section has supplied the recording sheet, if the suction detecting sensor detects the recording sheet, the locking section locks the sheet accommodating section within the main body of the sheet supplying device, and if it does not detect the recording sheet, the locking section releases the sheet accommodating section from the main body. | 12-30-2010 |
20110052290 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND RECORDING MEDIUM - When executing the second image forming process for a sheet having undergone the first image forming process, feeding of the sheet for an image forming process different from the second image forming process needs to be prevented. To accomplish this, an image forming apparatus includes a control unit that executes the first image forming process to form an image on a sheet fed from one of feeding units, and a designation unit that designates, from the plurality of feeding units, a feeding unit used for the second image forming process to be executed for the sheet having an image formed in the first image forming process executed by the control unit. When the sheet is set in the feeding unit designated by the designation unit, the control unit restricts feeding of the set sheet for an image forming process different from the second image forming process. | 03-03-2011 |
20110052291 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - Provided is an image forming apparatus including: an image bearing member bearing a toner image formed by an image forming portion; a transfer part transferring the toner image formed on the image bearing member onto a sheet; a separation/feeding part separating sheets stacked on a sheet stacking member and feeding the sheet while nipping the sheet; and a transport part transporting the sheet fed by the separation/feeding part to the transfer part, in which a transporting operation of the transport part is changed according to a length of the sheet to be transported in a transport direction of the sheet. | 03-03-2011 |
20110064499 | CLOSED LOOP STALLED ROLL REGISTRATION - This invention uses a paper registration device with a paper transport and a stalled roll together with an upstream and downstream CIS to enable paper skew measurements. The upstream CIS is positioned on a paper sheet transport between a beginning pre-registration nip and a buckle control sensor. A second downstream CIS is aligned with the first upstream CIS to provide skew measurement on the same side of a paper sheet. An advantage of this registration device is that it simultaneously corrects registration in a process direction, a cross process direction and corrects skew angle. | 03-17-2011 |
20110085837 | CONVEYING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING DEVICE - A conveying device includes: a main body; a holding unit that holds media that is attached and detached to and from the main body; a third conveying member that conveys a single medium among the media held in the holding unit; a first conveying member that conveys the single media; a second conveying member that faces the first conveying member to pinch the media so as to conveys the single media with the first conveying member; a feed unit that feeds the single medium to the main body; an attaching part that is provided at the feed unit and enables the feed unit to attach to the holding unit; a positioning mechanism that positions the main body and the feed unit so that the second conveying member is located at a predetermined position relative to the first conveying member when the holding unit is loaded on the main body. | 04-14-2011 |
20110091256 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - An image forming apparatus includes a first rotator by which one surface of a paper is subjected to image transferring, image fixing, or other processings, a second rotator which presses the paper against the first rotator from the other surface of the paper, a space changing unit which changes a space between axial cores of the first rotator and the second rotator, a feeding unit which feeds the paper between the first rotator and the second rotator, and a control unit which adjusts a driving timing of the space changing unit in accordance with the driving of the feeding unit, wherein when the paper is thinner than a set value, the control unit makes the paper enter between both the rotators in a state where the second rotator is pressed against the first rotator, and when the paper is equal to or thicker than the set value, the control unit controls to press the second rotator against the first rotator at a timing where a distal end of the paper passes through between both the rotators. | 04-21-2011 |
20110103858 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND OPERATION METHOD OF IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - In an image transferring apparatus of the invention, a relay unit, which is provided in a main body frame and includes a conveyance switching mechanism to eject a sheet on which an image is fixed by a fixing section to a sheet ejection section or to switch back the sheet in the middle of ejection, can be pulled out, and a automatic duplex unit to guide the switched back sheet to an image forming section is mounted to the main body frame to be capable of being detached. An intermediate unit to guide the sheet switched back by the relay unit, together with the fixing section, is fixed and placed in the main body frame. The intermediate unit is provided with a guide member to be capable of being opened and closed between a guide position for the switched back sheet and an open position opposite to the guide position. The guide member always receives a spring force toward the open position, and when the automatic duplex unit is mounted to the main body frame, the guide member is moved to the guide position by contact with a pressing body of the automatic duplex unit side, and when the automatic duplex unit is detached from the main body frame, the guide member is opened to the open position by the spring force. | 05-05-2011 |
20110142514 | MEDIUM CLAMPING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING DEVICE - A medium clamping device includes: a first circularly-moving body having a circumferential surface harder than a recording medium, a longer length in a direction orthogonal to a circularly-moving direction than the recording medium in a first direction; a second circularly-moving body where the recording medium passes between the surfaces of the two circularly-moving bodies in a second direction crossing the first direction; a load applying section applying a load to at least one of the two circularly-moving bodies to clamp the recording medium; a belt member surrounding the surface of at least one of the two circularly-moving bodies, at a place outside an area touching the recording medium when the recording medium passes; and a belt-member-protecting member which is aligned with the belt member in a recording-medium-passing direction, includes a portion closer to a recording-medium-passing path than the belt member to protect the belt member from contacting the recording medium. | 06-16-2011 |
20110150548 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - The present invention provides an image forming apparatus including an upstream conveying portion, a downstream conveying portion, and a loop detector, wherein the image forming apparatus further includes a driving portion which moves the contact portion to a projecting position where the sheet conveying path is in contact with a conveyed sheet and to a retracted position where the sheet conveying path is not in contact with the conveyed sheet, and a controlling portion which controls the driving portion such that the contact portion is moved from the projecting position to the retracted position before a tip end of a sheet which enters the sheet conveying path from the upstream conveying portion reaches the contact portion. | 06-23-2011 |
20110150549 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - The present invention provides an image forming apparatus having an upstream conveying portion, a downstream conveying portion, and a contact loop detection portion to detect a loop of the sheet formed between the upstream conveying portion and the downstream conveying portion, wherein the loop detection portion, includes a sensor that outputs the detection signal, a contact portion that protrudes into a sheet conveyance path between the upstream conveying portion and the downstream conveying portion as if to come into contact with the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path and causes the sensor to output the detection signal by moving in contact with the sheet, and a contact force changing portion that changes a contact force with which the contact portion comes into contact with the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path according to a type of the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path. | 06-23-2011 |
20110170921 | DEVELOPING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes, in a recording medium contact region of a developing device housing, a first charging member charged to plus by friction. A transfer-roller-side conveyance guide opposed to the first charging member includes a second charging member and a third charging member in a recording medium contact region facing a recording medium conveying path. | 07-14-2011 |
20110188913 | Image Forming Apparatus - An image forming apparatus that can form images on both surfaces of a recording medium is provided. The apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium, a switchback roller that switches back the recording medium fed from the image forming unit, and first and second feed portions. The first feeding portion may include a feed roller assembly that feeds the recording medium in a switchback direction while moving the recording medium to a first side in a widthwise direction perpendicular to the switchback direction. The second feeding portion may feed the recording medium fed by the first feeding portion toward the image forming unit. | 08-04-2011 |
20110200373 | Image forming apparatus - An image forming apparatus includes a transfer material transportation device to transport a transfer material; a transfer device to transfer a toner image to the transfer material transported by the transfer material transportation device; a fusing device, disposed after the transfer device, to fuse a toner image on the transfer material transported by the transfer material transportation device; a registration device, disposed before the transfer device, to feed the transfer material, supplied from a sheet feeder, to the transfer device; and a biasing device, disposed for the registration device, to regulate movement of the registration device to decrease a speed difference between a transfer material transport speed generated by the transfer device and a transfer material transport speed generated by the registration device. | 08-18-2011 |
20110217104 | PARRYING STRUCTURE AROUND SHEET JUNCTION - According to one embodiment, a parrying structure around sheet junction including a first transporting guide that guides a sheet medium, a second transporting guide that guides the sheet medium toward the first transporting guide at a larger angle than a predetermined angle with respect to a direction where the sheet medium is guided by the first transporting guide, and a third transporting guide that guides a leading edge of the sheet medium, which is guided by the second transporting guide and moved to the first transporting guide, toward the first transporting guide. | 09-08-2011 |
20110222942 | CONVEYING ROLLER, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND CONVEYING METHOD OF IMAGE FORMED SHEET - According to one embodiment, a conveying roller includes a rotatable first cylindrical portion which is provided with a groove on the surface thereof, a second cylindrical portion which is provided with a groove on the surface thereof, the second cylindrical portion having external diameter the same as that of the first cylindrical portion, and provided on the axis the same as that of the first cylindrical portion outside diameter as the first cylindrical portion, and a third cylindrical portion which is provided with a flat and smooth surface, the third cylindrical portion having an external diameter the same as that of the first and second cylindrical portions, and provided on the axis the same as that of the first and second cylindrical portions between the first and second cylindrical portions. | 09-15-2011 |
20110236099 | IMAGE-FORMING DEVICE - An image-forming device includes a casing, a conveying path, a pair of registration rollers, and a process cartridge. The conveying path is disposed in the casing to convey a recording sheet. The pair of registration rollers is disposed on the conveying path to regulate a leading edge of the recording sheet conveyed along the conveying path. The process cartridge is detachably mounted on the casing, and includes a developer accommodating unit, a photosensitive member, and an upstream guide part. The photosensitive member is disposed on the conveying path. The upstream guide part is disposed upstream of the pair of registration rollers on the conveying path to guide the recording sheet toward the pair of registration rollers in cooperation with the conveying path. The upstream guide part is formed with a concaved part that is concaved in a direction away from the conveying path. | 09-29-2011 |
20110236100 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes: a conveying path that includes a first U shape portion; a registration roller; and a inverting path including a second U shape portion joining with an upstream position of the registration roller. The conveying path includes a downward slope portion that runs obliquely down from a topmost position of the first U shape portion toward a nipping position of the registration roller; and wherein the topmost position, a joining position in which the conveying path is connected to the inverting path and the nipping position get lower, in this order, in a vertical direction. | 09-29-2011 |
20110318079 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND SHEET FEEDING DEVICE - An image forming apparatus includes a recording-medium storing unit including a rotating member, the recording-medium storing unit being capable of being pulled out from an apparatus body; a support surface having an edge portion, the support surface supporting the rotating member when the recording-medium storing unit is pulled out from the apparatus body; and an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium fed from the recording-medium storing unit. The rotating member has a counter surface that faces the edge portion when the rotating member moves beyond the edge portion and drops off the support surface in a certain direction. In the state in which the counter surface faces the edge portion, the counter surface is inclined such that a point on the counter surface approaches the edge-portion side as the point moves in a direction opposite to the certain direction. | 12-29-2011 |
20120008997 | SHEET FEEDING DEVICE, AUTOMATIC SHEET TRANSFER DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING DEVICE - A sheet feeding device comprising a supply roller for feeding sheets mounted on a tray, a drive shaft for supporting the supply roller and rotationally driving the same, first and second supporting arms swingably supported on the drive shaft, a feed roller rotatably supported on the first and second supporting arms, a feed roller transmission mechanism for rotating the feed roller in conjunction with the rotation of the supply roller, first and second transmission mechanisms for swinging the first and second supporting arms, and first and second resilient retaining members which are capable of retaining the first and second supporting arms, the first and second transmission mechanisms shifting the timings that the respective first and second supporting arms are swung against the corresponding resilient retaining members. | 01-12-2012 |
20120020713 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a transporting mechanism that transports a sheet along a transport path; an image forming mechanism that forms an image on the sheet; a reading mechanism that is provided at one side of the transport path, and that reads the image; a rotary member that is provided at the other side of the transport path, and that is disposed opposite to the reading mechanism, a gap being formed between the rotary member and the reading mechanism, and having a shape allowing a size of the gap to change as the rotary member rotates; and a changing mechanism that, when the sheet passes through the gap without performing the image reading, changes the size of the gap on the basis of the rotary member shape. | 01-26-2012 |
20120070214 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR IMAGE FORMING - An image forming apparatus in one embodiment includes: a first paper feeding control unit; a transfer unit that transfers a toner image onto a front surface or a back surface of the sheet; a second paper feeding control unit that reverses the sheet whose front surface has been transferred; a first decision unit that decides a transfer order on each surface by interleaf control; an execution control unit that controls the transfer on the back surface; and a second decision unit that decides whether a second sheet is to be fed for being transferred. The execution control unit makes the second sheet be fed from the sheet staking unit. The first paper feeding control unit controls such that the first sheet is apart from the second sheet by a predetermined interval distance or more, without changing a transfer order. | 03-22-2012 |
20120155942 | STORAGE MEDIUM AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A computer readable storage medium stores a feeding and conveyance control program. The feeding and conveyance control program causes a computer to perform executing sequence control of a feeding sequence module with respect to a feeding mechanism that feeds the recording medium. The sequence control includes two kinds of sequence control executed in accordance with an identifier indicating whether the vertical conveyance mechanism exists. Sequence control of a vertical conveyance sequence module is executed with respect to a vertical conveyance mechanism that relays conveyance of the recording medium. Sequence control of a resist conveyance sequence module is executed with respect to a resist conveyance mechanism that conveys the recording medium to the transfer position at a predetermined timing. Overall management of the above-described modules is executed. The overall management includes determining, based on the identifier, whether to execute the sequence control of the vertical conveyance sequence module. | 06-21-2012 |
20120224900 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier; a developing section which develops the latent image on the image carrier with a toner to form an unfixed toner image; a transfer section which transfers the unfixed toner image to a transfer material; and a resilient roller member provided on a position downstream of the developing section and upstream of the transfer section in a rotational direction of the image carrier, which applies pressure to the image carrier and rotates in the same direction as the image carrier, wherein when a contact portion of the resilient roller member with the image carrier becomes a non-contact state as the rotation advances, the resilient roller member maintains a deformed state caused by the pressure, and the resilient roller member restores from the deformed state before the contact portion again comes into contact with the image carrier. | 09-06-2012 |
20120230745 | SHEET FEEDER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet feeder includes an attraction separation unit including an attraction belt facing the upper surface of a stacked sheet bundle to attract an uppermost sheet thereof, and rotatably supported by a support member at a position upstream of the attraction belt in a sheet feeding direction; and a swing device for swinging the attraction separation unit around the support member as a fulcrum to move the attraction belt between an attraction position and a feed position more distant from the sheet bundle than the attraction position is. The swing device includes a first drive transmitting portion attached to a downstream end portion of the attraction separation unit and a second drive transmitting portion attached to the body of the sheet feeder and connected with the first drive transmitting portion. The first drive transmitting portion and the rack connect to swing the attraction separation unit. | 09-13-2012 |
20120237279 | Sheet Conveyer Device and Image Forming Apparatus - A sheet conveyer device is provided. The sheet conveyer device includes a sheet tray, a feeder roller, a separator roller, a roller holder to rotatably support the feeder roller and to be coupled with the separator roller, spreading from a separator roller side toward a feeder roller side, to be movable between a first position and a second position, a manipulation arm configured to be coupled to the roller holder and to manipulate the roller holder to move between the first position and the second position, and a driving unit to drive the manipulation arm to move the roller holder. The manipulation arm is coupled to the roller holder at a coupled section, which is in a position between the feeder roller and the separator roller and in a position between two tangent planes which are common to the feed roller and the separator roller. | 09-20-2012 |
20120237280 | SHEET DETECTING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet detecting apparatus including: a sheet detecting member having a plurality of abutment surfaces in a peripheral direction thereof, the sheet detecting member being rotated by a conveyed sheet abutting against one of the plurality of abutment surfaces; a detection portion which operates in association with the sheet detecting member; a sensor which generates a signal based on a position of the detection portion; and an urging portion which generates an urging force for positioning the one of the plurality of abutment surfaces of the sheet detecting member in a waiting position in which the leading edge of a sheet conveyed by a conveying portion abuts against the one of the plurality of abutment surfaces, and thereafter the urging portion switching the urging force to an urging force for positioning, in the waiting position, another one of the plurality of abutment surfaces against which a succeeding sheet abuts. | 09-20-2012 |
20120257915 | BELT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A belt member is supported by a plurality of rollers and moves in a predetermined moving direction. A detecting unit detects a displacement of the belt member in its width direction. A correcting unit moves a second end of a first roller from among the rollers in either one of a forward direction and a backward direction while fixing its first end based on a result of detecting the displacement of the belt member such that a tilt of a rotating shaft of the first roller is changed to correct a meandering of the belt member. An adjusting unit adjusts a fixing position of the first end. | 10-11-2012 |
20130051883 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a photosensitive member configured to form a developer imaged thereon; a transfer member configured to transfer the developer image formed on the photosensitive member to a sheet; a conveyance roller configured to convey the sheet toward between the photosensitive member and the transfer roller, and a charge removal member configured to remove charges on the conveyance roller. The conveyance roller is arranged to face a surface of the sheet to which the transfer roller faces. The charge removal member is provided at a position at which the charge removal member is not in contact with the conveyance roller, within a range in which the charges on the conveyance rollers can be discharged toward the charge removal member. | 02-28-2013 |
20130094888 | RECORDING MATERIAL CONVEYANCE APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance unit configured to convey a recording material, a driving unit configured to drive the conveyance unit based on a manipulated variable corresponding to a deviation between a conveyance speed of the recording material and a target conveyance speed, and a control unit configured to change a control method for controlling the manipulated variable required to drive the driving unit according to a state in which the recording material is conveyed by the conveyance unit. | 04-18-2013 |
20130195531 | IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGE-FORMING APPARATUS - An image-forming apparatus includes an image formation unit, a resist unit, a paper feed unit, a detecting body, and a clocking unit. The resist unit stops paper conveyance before the next paper arrives. The paper feed unit includes a paper feed rotating body for rotating and thereby issuing the paper forth toward the resist unit, and for stopping before supplying the next paper. The detecting body detects the arrival of the paper. The clocking unit clocks a conveyance time from the start of paper feeding to when the detecting body detects the arrival. The resist unit starts conveying the paper when a deflection generation time has elapsed since the detection of the arrival. When the conveyance time is shorter than a predetermined reference time, the paper feed rotating body starts rotating in subsequent paper feeding at a timing that is delayed in comparison to the earlier paper feeding. | 08-01-2013 |
20130223907 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier that carries a developer image, a recording-medium transporting member that is movable between an opposing position at which the transporting member opposes the image carrier and a retracted position that is farther from the image carrier than the opposing position and includes a holding portion that holds a leading end of a recording medium, a retaining portion that is movable between a retaining position at which the retaining portion retains a trailing end of the recording medium and a separate position that is farther from the transporting member than the retaining position, a transfer unit that transfers the developer image onto the recording medium, and an allowing unit that allows the transporting member to be separated from the retaining portion when the transporting member is moved from the opposing position to the retracted position. | 08-29-2013 |
20130251434 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITH CONVEYANCE SUSPENSION UNIT - An image forming apparatus includes a drive roller configured to rotate, a driven roller configured to hold and convey a print medium at a gap between the drive and driven rollers, an image carrier configured to have a toner image formed on a surface thereof and to rotate, the image carrier being situated downstream relative to the drive roller and the driven roller in a travel direction of the print medium, a transfer roller configured to hold and convey, at another gap between the image carrier and the transfer roller, the print medium passed from the drive roller and the driven roller to transfer the toner image onto a surface of the print medium, and a conveyance suspension unit to stop the drive roller and the driven roller from applying a drive force to the print medium at a time at which the print medium reaches such another gap. | 09-26-2013 |
20130287463 | SHEET PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR DETECTING LATERAL POSITION DEVIATION AMOUNT OF SHEET, AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM - A sheet processing apparatus capable of detecting a lateral position deviation amount of a sheet with high precision and at a high speed. A sheet sensing unit includes two or more sensors, each of which sensing a side edge of the sheet, disposed in a widthwise direction of the sheet. A position deviation amount of the sheet in the widthwise direction is detected based on a moving distance of the sheet sensing unit until at least one of the sensors senses the side edge of the sheet. The position deviation amount of the sheet is determined using a sensing result of the side edge of sheet after the sheet sensing unit moves by a predetermined distance, while invalidating a sensing result of the side edge of sheet sensing unit in the widthwise direction from when a driving unit starts driving until the sheet sensing unit moves by the predetermined distance. | 10-31-2013 |
20130322944 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member and a transfer member, which form a transfer nip portion, and a guide member for guiding a sheet to the transfer nip portion. The guide member includes a rigid restricting member including a guide surface, a cut portion formed at a leading edge part of the guide surface, and a sheet-like elastic restricting member to cover the cut portion. The elastic restricting member includes an end edge portion extending straight in the sheet width direction on a downstream side in the sheet conveying direction. A ridge defining the leading edge part of the guide surface is a ridge extending straight in the sheet width direction, and the end edge portion of the elastic restricting member is arranged at a position shifted toward an upstream side in the sheet conveying direction from the ridge of the guide surface. | 12-05-2013 |
20130343795 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS REDUCING DRIVING NOISE - An image forming apparatus which includes a main body, an image forming unit to form an image on a printing medium, a plate to open and close a first side of the main body; a pickup unit which includes a driven gear to rotate in forward and backward directions, a pickup roller to receive a driving force from the driven gear to pick up the printing medium disposed on the plate, and a support frame to rotatably support the pickup roller and to interlock with the forward and backward rotations of the driven gear to move toward and away from the plate, a driving source to drive the image forming unit and the driven gear, and a blocking gear disposed between the driven gear and the driving source, to prevent the support frame, spaced apart from the plate, from moving toward the plate. | 12-26-2013 |
20140016979 | Image Forming Apparatus - An image forming apparatus includes a developing roller, a conveyance roller which conveys a sheet; a driving source which provides a driving force to the developing roller and the conveyance roller, a developing driving gear mechanism which transmits the driving force of the driving source to the developing roller, and a conveyance driving gear mechanism which transmits the driving force of the driving source to the conveyance roller. The developing driving gear mechanism includes a developing driving switching mechanism which causes a rotating direction of the developing roller when the first driving source rotates in a first direction to be same as the rotating direction of the developing roller when the first driving source rotates in a second direction reverse to the first direction. | 01-16-2014 |
20140029996 | SHEET CLAMPING AND CONVEYING UNIT AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS WITH SAME - A sheet clamping and conveying unit is installed in an image forming apparatus together with an image forming unit that prints a toner image onto a recording sheet and an fixing unit that heats and fixes the toner image printed by the image forming unit onto the recording sheet. The sheet clamping and conveying unit includes a first rotary member having a surface made of metallic material, a second rotary member pressing against the first rotary member, and a heating unit to heat one of the first and the second rotary members. The sheet clamping and conveying unit conveys the recording sheet toward the image forming unit by continuously rotating the first and second rotary members while clamping and pressing and pressing the recording sheet in a contact area caused between the first and second rotary members. | 01-30-2014 |
20140037350 | SHEET CONVEYER DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet conveyer, including a manual-feed conveyer path; a first sensor to detect presence of the sheet inserted in the manual-feed conveyer path; an upstream-side conveyer and a downstream-side conveyer to convey the sheet toward a downstream side; a second sensor to detect presence of the sheet in a downstream position with respect to the upstream-side conveyer, the second sensor being switchable between a presence-detectable state and an absence-detectable state; and a controller is provided. The controller measures presence-detecting duration of the sheet by the second sensor and controls the downstream-side conveyer to continue conveying the sheet if the first sensor is detecting presence of the sheet when the second sensor is switched to the absence-detectable state, and if a difference between a value calculated based on the measured presence-detecting duration and a reference value obtained based on a reference sheet length is smaller than a predetermined threshold. | 02-06-2014 |
20140064813 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An improved image forming apparatus is described in which, even when a conveyance unit is switched from a pressure engaged state to a disengaged state, misalignment of a sheet during conveyance can be inhibited. A control unit conveys a sheet between a transfer unit and paper stop rollers, while forming a loop of the sheet therebetween, by setting the speed of conveying the sheet passing between the paper stop rollers to be higher than the speed of conveying the sheet passing through the transfer unit. In addition to this, when the pair of rollers serving as the paper stop rollers are switched from a pressure engaged state to a disengaged state, the paper stop rollers are controlled to reduce the speed of conveying the sheet therethrough in advance of this switching operation. | 03-06-2014 |
20140064814 | Image Forming Apparatus - An image forming apparatus with a duplex printing function may include a closeable and openable portion. In one example, the portion may correspond to a cover of the image forming apparatus. The cover may include guiding portions configured to define a return path for duplex printing. In another example, the portion may correspond to a document reading unit including an outer casing. A portion of the outer casing may be configured to guide a recording sheet that is conveyed out of a housing of the image forming apparatus by a switchback roller. In one example, the switchback roller may convey a recording sheet to a position above an upper surface of the outer casing. | 03-06-2014 |
20140086657 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier onto which toner images formed by an image forming part are sequentially transferred so as to overlap one another and form a toner image thereupon, a transfer part transferring the toner image onto a transfer material conveyed thereto, a conveyance part conveying the transfer material toward the transfer part, the conveyance part having a roller to which the rotational driving force is transmitted by a spur gear, and a transfer material main-scanning direction position correction mechanism for correcting deviation in a transfer material position in a main-scanning direction, and a control part to perform correction of a transfer material position in the main-scanning direction and that in the sub-scanning direction by changing rotational velocity of the roller, in a time overlapping manner. | 03-27-2014 |
20140147183 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet conveyance apparatus includes an apparatus main body, an opening/closing door movably supported by the apparatus main body so as to be capable of opening a conveyance path through which a sheet is conveyed, a sensor lever configured to rotate when pushed by the sheet in the conveyance path, a holder rotatably holding the sensor lever and movably supported by the opening/closing door, a positioning portion provided in the apparatus main body and configured to perform positioning of the holder by coming into contact with the holder, and a sheet detection sensor provided in the apparatus main body and configured to generate a signal corresponding to the position of the sensor lever. | 05-29-2014 |
20140193186 | SHEET CONVEYANCE APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a sheet conveyance unit configured to convey a sheet, a transfer unit disposed downstream of the sheet conveyance unit and configured to transfer a toner image onto the sheet, a shifting unit configured to shift the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveyance unit in a width direction by shifting the sheet conveyance unit, a detection unit configured to detect a position of the sheet in the width direction while the sheet is being conveyed by the transfer unit, and a control unit configured to control the shifting unit. The control unit causes the sheet conveyed by the sheet conveyance unit to shift in the width direction based on a result detected by the detection unit while the sheet is being conveyed by the transfer unit. | 07-10-2014 |
20140199104 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transfer belt that transports a toner image, a second transfer member that performs second transfer that transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt to a recording medium, an opposed member that is opposed to the second transfer member, a recording medium guide member that guides one surface of the recording medium to a second transfer position, and a holding member that is rotatably arranged in contact with an inner peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt so as to satisfy the following relationship: L2/L1≦0.5 or about 0.5, where L1 is a distance between the second transfer position and a distal end of the recording medium guide member, and L2 is a distance between the second transfer position and a contact position of the holding member with the inner peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt. | 07-17-2014 |
20140212194 | SHEET FEEDING CASSETTE, SHEET FEEDING DEVICE, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A sheet feeding cassette according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a sheet feeding cassette that displaces a bottom plate loaded thereon with a sheet to a sheet feeding position by rotating a lift plate that abuts on a rear face of the bottom plate. The bottom plate is made of resin, and a wire is wired on the rear face of the bottom plate. | 07-31-2014 |
20140233999 | CONTROL SYSTEM FOR FORMING IMAGE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM STORING IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS CONTROL PROGRAM - A control apparatus for controlling an image forming apparatus that forms and outputs an image on paper, a method of controlling the image forming apparatus, and a program for controlling the image forming apparatus stored on a recording medium are described. The image forming apparatus includes a pair of rollers that sandwich the paper and the center of an axle of at least one of the rollers is displaceable. The control apparatus includes a roller position detection signal generator that generates a detection signal indicating a position of the roller, a roller position detection signal acquisition unit to acquire multiple detection signals in chronological order, a paper thickness calculator to calculate paper thickness based on the multiple detection signals acquired in chronological order, and a vibration detector to detect vibration of the image forming apparatus based on the multiple detection signals acquired in chronological order. | 08-21-2014 |
20140234000 | RECORDING MEDIUM STORAGE CASSETTE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING SAME - A recording medium storage cassette includes a recording medium loading plate and a rear end cursor. The rear end cursor aligns rear end positions of recording media. The rear end cursor includes a cursor main body portion, an abutting portion that abuts rear ends of the recording media, a lock portion having a protrusion for engaging with a rack, and a biasing member disposed between the abutting portion and the lock portion so as to bias the abutting portion and the lock portion in a direction away from each other. | 08-21-2014 |
20140241776 | MEDIUM CARRYING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A medium carrying device includes a first carrying part and a second carrying part that are configured to carry a medium, making a nip part therebetween. The guide member includes a medium regulation part having a surface to regulate the medium, an arm part that is at a side of the surface and extend in a direction away from the surface, and a rotation supporting point that is on a distal end of the arm part, and the guide member is formed rotatable around the rotation supporting point between the guide position and a retreat position, the retreat position being more distant to the nip part than the guide position. | 08-28-2014 |
20140241777 | RECORDING MEDIUM CONVEYING MECHANISM AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - A recording medium conveying mechanism includes a conveying guide, a guide member, and a rotating mechanism. The conveying guide conveys recording paper to a nip zone between a mountable/demountable intermediate transfer unit and a secondary transfer roller. The guide member acting as a part of the conveying guide is rotated by the rotating mechanism so that a tip thereof is disposed up to a position just adjacent to the nip zone when the intermediate transfer unit is mounted in the apparatus main body. When the intermediate transfer unit is mounted/demounted in/from the apparatus main body, the guide member is rotated up to a position at which the tip thereof does not exceed an arrangement position of the intermediate transfer belt portion in a conveying direction of the recording paper, in a movement direction of the intermediate transfer unit during the mounting/demounting. | 08-28-2014 |
20140241778 | Tandem Type Image Forming Apparatus - To facilitate replacing photosensitive drums and/or developing devices in an image forming apparatus, a photosensitive member unit including a plurality of photosensitive members is loaded in a main casing. A developing device unit including a plurality of developing devices is also loaded in the main casing. Both an intermediate transfer belt and the photosensitive member unit are configured to be movable toward and away from the developing device unit. Further, when the photosensitive member unit is separated from the developing device unit, the intermediate transfer belt and the plurality of photosensitive members are also separated from each other. | 08-28-2014 |
20150030365 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - Disclosed is an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a paper jam in an arc-shaped sheet passing path for turning around a sheet and transporting the sheet in a double-sided transporting path. In this apparatus, a double-sided sheet passing path is formed so as to include: an arc-shaped interval that causes the sheet to turn around and to be transported to a registration sensor on an upstream side in the transport direction of a sheet and that includes the registration sensor as one end point; and an interval that transports the sheet having passed between ADU transport rollers, obliquely downward. A single-sided sheet passing path is formed so as to include an interval that transports the sheet having passed over the registration sensor in a substantially horizontal direction. | 01-29-2015 |
20150050058 | TRANSLATING PRE-TRANSFER BAFFLE FOR OPTIMIZED PERFORMANCE - An apparatus adapted for presenting a sheet of media to an image transfer structure. The apparatus includes a registration baffle positioned in an offset relationship relative to the image transfer structure and a pre-transfer baffle assembly including a first baffle oppositely disposed to a second baffle, the pre-transfer assembly generally forms an “S” shape and is adapted for guiding the sheet of media from the registration baffle to the image transfer structure. The pre-transfer baffle assembly is arranged in a first position adapted for guiding the sheet of media toward the image transfer structure at an angle of less than ninety degrees, and the pre-transfer baffle automatically begins rotation to a second position as the sheet of media reaches a pre-determined position within a paper path. | 02-19-2015 |
20150098743 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a toner-image carrying member, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image on the toner-image carrying member onto a recording medium at a transfer portion, a transport roller disposed along a transport direction to transport the recording medium to the transfer portion while being in contact with the recording medium, and a release unit that releases the contact of the transport roller with the recording medium. The release unit does not release the contact of the transport roller when it is detected that the recording medium passing through the transport roller is a thick recording medium or a recording medium having a high bending strength, and releases the contact when the recording medium is different from the thick recording medium and the recording medium. The release unit releases the contact before a leading edge of the recording medium reaches the transfer portion. | 04-09-2015 |
20150110536 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING IMAGE BANDING OF THE IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus and a method of reducing image banding of the image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes: a photoconductor unit on which an electrostatic latent image is formed; and a conveying unit configured to convey printing medium at a first conveying velocity toward the photoconductor unit, and configured to convey the printing medium at a second conveying velocity that is lower than the first conveying velocity when the printing medium approaches the photoconductor unit. | 04-23-2015 |
20150132039 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, a sheet container, an image forming part to form an image, a sheet feeding rotary body to feed the recording medium, a sheet separating rotary body to contact the sheet feeding rotary body and rotate with the sheet feeding rotary body with a sheet separation nip region formed therebetween, a rotation adjusting unit to adjust rotation of the sheet separating rotary body, a sheet containing unit to contain the recording media therein, a sheet separating body storing unit disposed at one end of the sheet containing unit to store the sheet separating body therein, and a load resistance applying mechanism to apply a rotational load resistance different from a contact force generated by contacting of the sheet separating rotary body with the sheet feeding rotary body, to the sheet feeding rotary body with no rotation driving force applied thereto. | 05-14-2015 |
20150309449 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a pushing member pushing an image carrying belt from an inner circumferential side and a guide member guiding a recording medium toward a transfer nip portion formed with an inner-side roller and an outer-side roller. The guide member includes a first and second guides and the second guide is provided such that a tip end on the side of the transfer nip portion is positioned further away from the image carrying belt than a reference line that connects a point at which a line connecting the rotational center of the inner-side roller and the rotational center of the outer-side roller intersects with the image carrying belt, and a furthest downstream contact point of a contact area in which the pushing member contacts with the image carrying belt. | 10-29-2015 |
20150346669 | PRINTING MEDIUM SUPPLYING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - An image forming apparatus supplies a printing medium to a development apparatus upon single-sided printing or double-sided printing. The image forming apparatus may include a printing medium supplying apparatus provided such that various kinds of printing media are compatible. Accordingly, the single-sided printing and the double-sided printing can be easily performed regardless of the size of the printing medium. | 12-03-2015 |
20160103410 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM WITH CORRECTION MECHANISM - An image forming apparatus and an image forming system, the image forming apparatus including a memory to store first side position and second side position detected by a side end detector, a correction mechanism to movably support at least a registration roller of a first sheet conveyor and a second sheet conveyor in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction, and a controller to calculate a deviation between the first side position and the second side position, and to set the deviation as a correction amount of the correction mechanism. | 04-14-2016 |
20160109841 | SHEET FEEDER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCORPORATING THE SHEET FEEDER - A sheet feeder of a friction pad separation type, which can be included in an image forming apparatus, includes a feeder body, a rotary feed body, a separation body, a holder, and a leaf spring. The rotary feed body is disposed in the feeder body and feeds a recording medium along a sheet conveying direction. The separation body is fixed to the feeder body while facing the rotary feed body. The separation body separates the recording medium with the rotary feed body. The holder has a rotary shaft and holds the separation body while being rotatably supported by the rotary shaft. The leaf spring has a flexible deforming part that contacts an area adjacent to the rotary shaft and a line of action of a pressing force of the flexible deforming part passing close by the rotary shaft. | 04-21-2016 |
20160139553 | RECORDING MEDIUM CONVEYING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCORPORATING SAME - A recording medium conveying device includes an endless belt to convey a recording medium, a plurality of support rollers around which the belt is wound, to rotate the belt, and a cleaner in contact with the belt to clean the belt. One of the plurality of support rollers is a separation support roller, mounted on a tiltable rotary shaft, to separate the recording medium from the belt using a curvature of the separation support roller. The separation support roller includes a contact member to contact an edge of the belt when the belt laterally moves toward one side of the belt. | 05-19-2016 |