| 18th week of 2011 patent applcation highlights part 42 |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20110103777 | Mouse capable of generating steam - The present invention is to provide a mouse capable of generating steam, which comprises a housing having a first liquid inlet and an opening; a chamber inside the housing; a heating element mounted in the chamber and electrically connected to a printed circuit board; and a rotatable guiding pipe; wherein the chamber includes a steam guiding hole and a second liquid inlet communicated with the first liquid inlet, and the rotatable guiding pipe is pivotally connected to the steam guiding hole and the opening. Thereby, when receiving electrical current from the printed circuit board, the heating element can continuously heat liquid in the chamber to generate steam and then guide the steam to the outside of the housing through the rotatable guiding pipe for effectively adding moist in the environment of the mouse and providing moisture for user's face. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103778 | DEVICE FOR GENERATING LARGE VOLUMES OF SMOKE - The present invention relates to a hand held device for producing large volumes of smoke from a smoke producing solution. The design allows for repeated, fast, and lengthy heating of the heating chamber, and thus is an improvement over prior devices which can only be utilized in short bursts. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103779 | PORTABLE HOT BEVERAGE MAKER - A hot beverage making container having a main body that includes a water tank and a heating chamber separated by a first valve. A removable brewing cup is connected to the main body and is separated from the heating chamber by a second valve. A tube extends from the brewing cup, through the main body, and out of the main body. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103780 | FLUID-HEATING DEVICE COMPRISING A THERMAL FUSE - The invention relates to a fluid-heating device ( | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103781 | SHAKE CORRECTION APPARATUS IN DIGITAL CAMERA - A shake correction apparatus for correcting shake of a camera includes: a lens support plate including a correction lens and driven in a perpendicular direction with respect to an optical axis; and a position fixing member that decouplably couples with the lens support plate and fixes a position of the lens support plate according to a rotation of the lens support plate. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103782 | OPTICAL UNIT WITH SHAKE CORRECTING FUNCTION AND PHOTOGRAPHIC OPTICAL DEVICE - Provided is a photographing optical device, which is able to reliably correct an unintentional movement by hand of a user by improving the constitution of a camera unit driving mechanism for correcting the deflection of a camera unit. In order that a camera unit is made to be rocked to correct the unintentional movement, a photographing optical device includes a first camera unit drive mechanism and a second camera unit drive mechanism, which are so disposed at two side portions sandwiching a pivot portion therebetween as to make a pair. In these camera unit drive mechanisms, camera unit driving magnets are held on the side of the camera unit as a movable body side, and camera unit driving coils are held on the side of a stationary body. The camera unit is pushed toward the pivot portion by a gimbal spring, which is provided with a plurality of arm portions extending mutually in the same circumferential direction. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103783 | IMAGE BLUR CORRECTON DEVICE, LENS BARREL AND IMAGING APPARATUS - There is provided an image blur correction device including: a correction optical element; a first movable frame; a second movable frame; a fixed frame; a first main guide shaft and a first auxiliary guide shaft; a second main guide shaft and a second auxiliary guide shaft; a first driving part; and a second driving part. The first auxiliary guide shaft is shorter than the first main guide shaft and the second driving part is placed between the first auxiliary guide shaft and the correction optical element. The second auxiliary guide shaft is shorter than the second main guide shaft and the first driving part is placed between the second auxiliary guide shaft and the correction optical element. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103784 | IMAGING DEVICE - A metal pin is inserted into a hole cylindrically formed in a camera casing so as to be in contact with a shape-memory actuator. The metal pin and the shape-memory actuator are fixed by pressurization. The metal pin is further bonded to a printed circuit board via a solder to electrically and thermally contact the shape-memory actuator and the printed circuit board so as to form the camera module by reducing the wiring size and improving the cooling efficiency. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103785 | Apparatus, medium, and method for photographing based on face detection - A photographing method, medium, and apparatus based on face detection in a portable camera. The portable photographing apparatus may include an image input unit that receives an image, a face detection unit that detects a face from the received image, a storage unit that stores the image detected by the face detection unit as a moving image in a first mode, and a quality evaluation unit that evaluates the quality of the image detected by the face detection unit and stores the same as a still image in a second mode upon satisfaction of predetermined conditions evaluated based on the quality evaluation of the still image. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103786 | PRIVACY ENSURING CAMERA ENCLOSURE - A privacy ensuring camera enclosure with a camera enclosing configuration and a surveillance configuration wherein the camera enclosing configuration entirely surrounds a surveillance camera such that it is visibly removed from a privacy sensitive area, thereby preserving the expected level of privacy in the privacy sensitive area; the enclosure is configured to dynamically change from the camera enclosing configuration to the surveillance configuration in response to a heightened threat level. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103787 | FOCAL-PLANE SHUTTER APPARATUS AND IMAGE-PICKUP APPARATUS - The focal-plane shutter apparatus includes a cam member and being rotated by a motor in one direction such that leading and trailing blade cams respectively make contact with leading and trailing blade driving members to drive them in a charging direction in which urging members are charged, and then to allow each of the leading and trailing blade driving members to move from a charge completion position to a blade drive standby position. Leading and trailing blade inclination portions of the cam member respectively allow each of the leading and trailing blade driving members to move from the charge completion position to the blade drive standby position. In a rotation direction of the cam member, a first angular area where the leading blade inclination portion is formed on the cam member is smaller than a second angular area where the trailing blade inclination portion is formed thereon. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103788 | METHOD OF CONTROLLING IMAGING APPARATUS AND IMAGING APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A method of controlling an imaging apparatus and an imaging apparatus using the same are provided, wherein the method controls the imaging apparatus including an image sensor that performs an electronic shutter function by calculating a moving characteristic of a mechanical shutter based on an amount of electric charge accumulated in a first area and an amount of electric charge accumulated in a second area, and controlling the electronic shutter function of the image sensor based on the calculated moving characteristic of the mechanical shutter. Accordingly, the performance of the imaging apparatus using a focal plane shutter can be improved. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103789 | CAMERA BODY, ADAPTER, IMAGING DEVICE - A camera body includes a housing, an imaging element and a body mount. The body mount is fixed to the housing, and has a portion to which an adapter can be mounted. The body mount is disposed at a position away from the light receiving face of the imaging element by the amount of a flange back. A lens back of an interchangeable lens unit is longer than the flange back. The flange back is shorter than the length obtained by subtracting the adapter length, which is the length of the adapter in the optical axis direction, from the lens back. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103790 | Method and System for Compensating for Optical Impairment in an Optical Signal - Methods and systems are provided for compensating impairment of a signal in an optical network. A method may include: (i) recording, for each node of a plurality nodes of the network, traffic management information specific to such node; (ii) communicating, by each node, its associated traffic management information to one or more other nodes; (iii) receiving, at a particular node of the plurality of nodes, the traffic management information communicated from the one or more nodes; (iv) determining, by the particular node, digital signal processor tap coefficients for a digital coherent receiver integral to the particular node based on at least a portion of the traffic management information; and (v) compensating, by the digital coherent receiver, optical impairment of the optical signal based on at least the determined digital signal processor tap coefficients and processing of the optical signal by a digital signal processor integral to the digital coherent receiver. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103791 | Method and System for Monitoring Optical Dispersion in an Optical Signal - A method is provided for dispersion compensation of an optical signal communicated in an optical network. The method may include receiving an optical signal comprising a plurality of channels. The method may further include filtering at least one channel from the plurality of channels. The method may also include analyzing the at least one channel of the plurality of channels to measure optical dispersion in the at least one channel. The method may additionally include compensating for optical dispersion based on the measured dispersion. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103792 | PASSIVE OPTICAL NETWORK SYSTEM AND OPTICAL LINE TERMINAL - A transmission speed of a protection (backup) line using 1G-OLT unit and 1G-ONU unit is set to be lower than a transmission speed of a working (primary) line using 10G-OLT unit and 10G-ONU unit. A priority and band of each communication service in ONU are preset individually and separately every LLID for a working (primary) line and a protection (backup) line. When bands are allocated to the protection (backup) line, the band allocation is performed so as to secure a minimum number of bands of each communication service. A monitoring controller refers to a predetermined band information table according to an operation state of the working (primary) line or the protection (backup) line with respect to a downstream signal packet. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103793 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO STABILIZE AN OPTICAL NETWORK AGAINST NODAL GAIN CHANGES - The present invention provides methods and systems to stabilize an optical network against nodal gain changes through two nested control loops for controlling node gain and node output power. The present invention includes two nested control-loops running at different update speeds including: an inner, faster, control-loop which sets the gains and losses within a node to achieve a node-gain target, and a node-gain target for the inner loop is set by an outer, slower, control loop that whose target is the node output power. Advantageously, the present invention reduces the problem of concatenated overshoot by minimizing the control-loop response to events that occur at other nodes. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103794 | SUBCARRIER MULTIPLEX SYSTEM - A subcarrier system generates a phase comparison signal in a transmitter and transmits the phase comparison signal together with an optical subcarrier multiplex signal in the same transmission channel of an optical network. A receiver measures a phase distortion between a phase reference signal and the received phase comparison signal for each modulation section of the received subcarrier symbols, calculating at least one correction value and correcting time jitters or phase impairments of all parallel received or regained subcarrier symbols as a function of the phase distortion of the received phase comparison signal. Time jitter/phase jitter can be compensated without high hardware expenses. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103795 | SOFT DECODING OF DATA IN A COHERENT OPTICAL RECEIVER - In a coherent optical receiver receiving a polarization multiplexed optical signal through an optical communications network, a method of compensating noise due to polarization dependent loss (PDL). A Least Mean Squares (LMS) compensation block processes sample streams of the received optical signal to generate symbol estimates of symbols modulated onto each transmitted polarization of the optical signal. A decorrelation block de-correlates noise in the respective symbol estimates of each transmitted polarization and generating a set of decorrelated coordinate signals. A maximum likelihood estimator soft decodes the de-correlated coordinate signals generated by the decorrelation block. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103796 | BIDIRECTIONAL MULTI-MODE FIBER INTERFACE - A bidirectional interface for multimode optical fiber includes a receive/transmit optical fiber port operable to connect to a multimode optical fiber, a wavelength separating module in communication with the receive/transmit optical fiber port, an optical receiver module in communication with the wavelength separating module and configured to receive optical signals at a first wavelength via the wavelength separating module and the receive/transmit optical fiber port, and an optical transmit module in communication with the wavelength separating module and configured to transmit at a second wavelength via the wavelength separating module and the receive/transmit optical fiber port. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103797 | PLUGGABLE OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME - A pluggable optical transceiver is disclosed. The transceiver comprises a plurality of OSAs, an optical member and a plurality of inner fibers to couple the optical member with OSAs. The inner fibers each provides an inner connector to couple with one of OSAs. The housing, which installs the OSAs, the optical member and the inner fiber, is made of metal and has a grooves into which the inner fibers is set so as to arrange them orderly. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103798 | ADD-DROP BENES NETWORKS - Benes networks include an input stage having a plurality of input ports, an input connection stage configured to connect output signals of the input stage, an add connection stage configured to connect outputs of the input connection stage and to connect inputs of add ports corresponding in number to the number of the plurality of input ports, a drop connection stage configured to connect outputs of the add connection stage, to output some outputs to a next stage, and to output some outputs to drop ports, an output connection stage configured to connect the some outputs of the drop connection stage to an output side, and an output stage configured to output the outputs of the output connection stage to output ports. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103799 | Systems And Methods For On-Chip Data Communication - An on-chip data communications infrastructure includes a hybrid, photonic/electronic network. The network includes a plurality of interconnected optical switches, each under the control of an electronic router. The electronic routers are connected in a fashion similar to the optical switches, forming a parallel, photonic/electronic network. Electronic path setup messages are routed through the electronic network. At each hop, a photonic switching element in a parallel, photonic network is reserved. When the electronic path setup message reaches its destination, a chain of reserved optical switches is ready to channel the optical data through the photonic network. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103800 | RADIO-ON-FIBER UNIT AND RADIO-ON-FIBER SYSTEM - An object of the present invention is to provide a radio-on-fiber unit and a radio-on-fiber system which can transmit/receive signals at adequate rates especially, to/from a mobile device. A first aspect of the present invention relates to a radio-on-fiber unit ( | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103801 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING TERAHERTZ ELECTROMAGNETIC CARRIER WAVES - A method for producing an electromagnetic carrier wave in the frequency range between 0.1 and 10 terahertz that is suitable for the wireless transmission of data includes generating, by an electromagnetic pump wave, at least two mixing waves with a defined frequency difference, the pump wave being configured to constitute one of the mixing waves; and producing an electromagnetic carrier wave by frequency mixing the mixing waves. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103802 | Transceiver for Plastic Optical Fiber Networks - An apparatus comprises an optical transmitter; an optical detector configured to receive optical signals from an optical fiber; an optical splitter having a first port, a second port coupled to the optical detector by the optical fiber, and a third port coupled to the optical transmitter; and a two stage amplifier system connected to an output of the optical detector. An input surface of the optical detector may have a diameter that is substantially equal to a diameter of a core in the optical fiber. The diameter of the input surface of the optical detector reduces capacitance and reduces signal distortion. The optical splitter may be configured to receive a first optical signal at the first port. The optical splitter may be configured to send the first optical signal to the second port and send a second optical signal received at the third port to the first port. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103803 | Optical Fiber Array Connectivity System for Multiple Transceivers and/or Multiple Trunk Cables - A transition device for an optical fiber connection system adapted to interconnect a trunk cable with a plurality of transceivers includes: a first set of at least four optical fibers, each of the optical fibers having a trunk end and a transceiver end; a single trunk end terminal having a plurality of trunk ports arranged in a first row, each port connected with a respective one of the set of optical fibers at its trunk end, wherein a first axis of symmetry divides the ports; and a plurality of transceiver end terminals, each of the transceiver end terminals having even numbers of transceiver ports, each of the transceiver ports receiving a respective one of the set of optical fibers at their transceiver ends. The arrangement of fibers received by each transceiver end terminal meet either of the following two conditions: (a) a first fiber originates from a first port in the trunk end terminal, and a second fiber originates from a second port in the trunk end terminal that is positioned at the mirror image location of the first port about the first axis of symmetry; or (b) each fiber is received in a first transceiver end terminal that has a corresponding second transceiver end terminal with the same number and arrangement of transceiver ports, and each fiber received in the first transceiver end terminal originates from a port in the trunk end terminal that has a mirror image port about the first axis of symmetry from which a fiber that is received in the second transceiver end terminal originates. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103804 | OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM - An optical transmission system is provided with an optical transmission apparatus, an optical reception apparatus, an optical transmission line redundantly configured with an active system optical transmission line and an standby system optical transmission line, an optical switch that switches an optical transmission line between the active system optical transmission line and the standby system optical transmission line, a variable dispersion compensator placed between the optical switch and the optical reception apparatus, a dispersion amount measuring unit that measures the dispersion amount of the standby system optical transmission line when the active system optical transmission line is being selected by the optical switch, a dispersion compensation amount setting unit that sets the amount of dispersion compensation to be applied to the standby system optical transmission line based on the measured dispersion amount of the standby system optical transmission line, and a control unit that controls, when the optical transmission line is switched from the active system optical transmission line to the standby system optical transmission line by the optical switch, the variable dispersion compensator so that the amount of dispersion compensation becomes the set amount of dispersion compensation. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103805 | Methods for Accessing a Process Chamber Using a Dual Zone Gas Injector with Improved Optical Access - Methods for processing events occurring in a process chamber are provided. In one method, an operation includes carrying gas and receiving an optical signal from the process chamber to an analysis tool that operates in response to the optical signal having a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for process analysis. And, dividing the carried gas and optical signal into a plurality of separate gas and optical signals between the process chamber and the analysis tool. The dividing is configured through separate apertures so that the apertures collectively maintain the SNR of the optical signal received at the tool. Methods provide a septum in a second bore dividing the second bore into apertures configured to reduce etching of and deposition on the optical access window and to maintain the desired SNR at the diagnostic end point. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103806 | REPEATER AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SUCH A REPEATER - A repeater ( | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103807 | REPLACEMENT SMART CARD WITH A MICROCONTROLLER - The invention is a replacement smart card that allows a printer to utilize a replacement printer cartridge. The replacement smart card has an integrated circuit and a microcontroller, wherein the microcontroller is programmed to intercept the request from the printer for the unique lot number data and to provide the appropriate unique lot number data to the printer in response to the request. The integrated circuit is programmed just like the original equipment manufacturer integrated circuit, and, with the exception of providing the unique lot number data to the printer, communicates with the printer just as the original equipment manufacturer integrated circuit would. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103808 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a sheet feed unit that feeds a sheet to an image forming unit forming a toner image on the sheet; a fixing unit that fixes the toner image formed in the image forming unit to the sheet; and a control unit that controls the sheet feed unit, when starting duplex image formation for forming both sides of the sheet after an one-side image formation, the control unit retards a timing to cause the sheet feed unit to start the sheet feed operation as the number of sheet with an image formed on one side thereof in the one-side image formation is greater. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103809 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a sheet feed unit which feeds a sheet to an image forming unit forming an image on the sheet; a re-transport roller which reverses the sheet with a toner image fixed on the sheet and re-transports the sheet to the image forming unit; and a control unit which controls a sheet feed operation of the sheet feed unit for feeding the sheet, wherein, as the temperature of the re-transport roller sensed by the temperature sensing unit is lower, the control unit retards a timing to cause the sheet feed unit to start the sheet feed operation when a duplex image formation in which the image is formed on both sides of the sheet is performed after a one-side image formation is completed. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103810 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS CAPABLE OF FORMING HIGH QUALITY TONER IMAGE ON UNEVEN SURFACE SHEET - An image forming apparatus for forming a visual image on a recording medium includes a toner replacing device that replaces toner stored in a developing device with fresh toner, and a determiner that determines if a recording medium selected by a user necessitates replacement of the toner. The toner replacing device replaces the toner with fresh toner when the determiner determines that the recording medium necessitates replacement of the toner before the latent image is formed on a photoconductive member. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103811 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member; an exposure device for exposing to light the photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image by using exposure image data for an output image to which an information image to be formed so as to be made difficult to be visually recognized with respect to background color has been added; developing portion for developing the electrostatic latent image with color toner into a color toner image; a transparent toner image forming portion for forming a transparent toner image located on the color image on a recording material; and an image processing portion for generating the exposure image data so that a toner amount of the information image on which the transparent toner image is superposed is less than that of the information image on which the transparent toner image is not superposed. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103812 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a development device including a development roller and a driving force receiving member, a movable member configured to move the development device between a development position and a retracting position, a first driving force transmission member configured to transmit a driving force to the movable member, a second driving force transmission member configured to engage with the driving force receiving member and transmit the driving force to the driving force receiving member, and a controller configured to perform drive control for the first driving force transmission member based on a temperature detected by a sensor. If α | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103813 | Correction Method, Apparatus, Data Carrier or System for Correcting for Unintended Spatial Variation in Lightness Across a Physical Image Produced by a Xerographic Process - A correction method for correcting unintended spatial variation in lightness across a physical image produced by a xerographic process, the method comprising producing a test image using the xerographic process, measuring a difference between actual lightness and intended lightness across at least part of the test image, and varying the light source level used subsequently in the xerographic process to correct for the measured unintended difference. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103814 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - The image forming apparatus includes a first latent image carrier; a first developing member develops the latent image by a first liquid developer; a second latent image carrier; a second developing member develops the latent image by a second liquid developer; a transfer medium that forms first and second nip portion; a detecting unit; and a control unit, that, when the first image is a first image density, detect the first image passed through the second nip portion formed by the transfer medium and the second latent image carrier while the second developing member contacts with the second latent image carrier, and when the first image is a second image density higher than the first image density, detect the first image passed through the second nip portion formed by the transfer medium and the second latent image carrier while the second developing member separates form the second latent image carrier. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103815 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a belt; a plurality of rollers for stretching the belt; a mechanism for generating a force, at an end portion of the belt, in a direction in which lateral deviation of the belt is corrected; a forming device for forming a toner image on the belt; a first sensor capable of detecting a density of the toner image formed on the belt on one end side of the belt; a second sensor capable of detecting the density of the toner image formed on the belt on the other end side of the belt; and a control device for selecting one of the first and second sensors which provides smaller variation in a result of detection when the belt is free from the toner image, and for controlling an image forming condition of the forming device on the basis of a detection result of the density of the toner image by the selected sensor. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103816 | LASER FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A fixing device includes: a plurality of laser irradiation sections each of which emits a laser beam whose wavelength exhibits an absorbance of 80% or more with respect to a corresponding toner; and a control device for controlling the plurality of irradiation sections so that in order to fuse a black toner, (i) a laser irradiation section corresponding to the black toner among the plurality of laser irradiation sections irradiates the black toner with a laser beam thereof, and (ii) the other laser irradiation sections irradiate the black toner with laser beams thereof, where the other laser irradiation sections do not correspond to the black toner among the plurality of laser irradiation sections. Therefore, it is possible to provide a laser fixing device which can fix a color toner while preventing an increase in size of the fixing device as much as possible. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103817 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLEANING A LATENT IMAGE CARRIER - An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier, a conveyer system including nipping rollers to convey a sheet to vicinity of the latent image carrier, a switching system to switch operation modes between an image forming mode and a cleaning mode, and a cleaning controller to control a cleaning operation in the cleaning mode. The cleaning operation includes activating the conveyer system to convey a cleaner sheet at least until a front end reaches a position opposite from the latent image carrier and inactivating the conveyer system to stop the cleaner sheet thereat, a cleaning behavior, in which the latent image carrier is activated whilst the cleaner sheet is maintained nipped between nipping rollers in the conveyer system, a forwarding behavior to forward the cleaner sheet for a predetermined forwarding length, and repeating the cleaning behavior. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103818 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS PROVIDED WITH MECHANISM FOR CLEANING IMAGE CARRIER - A control unit temporarily stops an image carrier when transfer of an image formed using a developer to a recording medium ends. Thereafter, the control unit controls a drive source to intermittently drive the image carrier N times. A measuring unit measures an amount of rotation of the image carrier when the image carrier is intermittently driven. A determination unit determines an amount of rotation for stop instruction issuance that will be applied to a next drive. The amount of rotation for stop instruction issuance is based on an amount of inertial rotation measured from when a stop instruction is issued until when the image carrier stops rotating, and a target amount of rotation for each time the image carrier is driven. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103819 | Image forming apparatus and function display method thereof - An MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) transmits, when a user selects a mode, information representing the selected mode to a server. Receiving the information representing the mode from the MFP, the server reads extended functions corresponding to the received mode, forms display data for displaying the read extended function on the MFP, and transmits the formed display data to the MFP. Receiving the display data from the server, the MFP displays standard functions and displays the extended functions using the received display data, in an initial setting image for the mode selected by the user. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103820 | Image Forming Apparatus - An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording medium, wherein a first gas is generated during image formation, and a fixing unit configured to fix the image onto the recording medium by heat, wherein a second gas is generated during image fixing by heat. A body includes a chamber and an opening through which the first gas and the second gas are guided into the chamber to be mixed into a gas mixture. A fan discharges the gas mixture from the chamber. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103821 | Image Forming Apparatus Having a Detachable Toner Particle Collecting Unit - An image forming apparatus including, a first air flow duct for guiding air including flying toner particles created in the image forming apparatus, a second air flow duct having a fan for exhausting cleaned air to an exterior of the image forming apparatus, and a toner particle collecting unit arranged between the first air flow duct and the second air flow duct, the toner particle collecting unit includes a cyclone separator including a cyclone main body, an air flow inlet, and an outlet tube,
| 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103822 | BELT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCORPORATING SAME - A belt device incorporatable in an image forming apparatus includes an endless belt, multiple belt tension rollers disposed in contact with an inner surface of the endless belt, a rotary cleaning member to contact a belt wound area of the endless belt facing an opposing roller to form a cleaning nip between the rotary cleaning member and the endless belt and rotate the rotary cleaning member in a direction opposite the belt moving direction within the cleaning nip, and a voltage applier. The cleaning nip is formed by offsetting a center of the cleaning nip upstream from a center of the belt wound area of the endless belt in the belt moving direction and by at least contacting the rotary cleaning member in a range from the belt wound area to a tensioned belt area located upstream from the belt wound area in the belt moving direction. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103823 | DEVELOPING CARTRIDGE AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE - A developing cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus by passing through a mounting guide provided in the main assembly. The developing cartridge includes a frame; a developer carrying member for carrying a developer for developing an electrostatic latent image; a portion to be guided for being guided by the mounting guide when the developing cartridge passes through the mounting guide; an accommodating portion for accommodating the developer; a seal member for unsealably sealing an opening for permitting supply of the developer from the accommodating portion to the developer carrying member; and a grip member, provided at a longitudinal end portion of the seal member, including a fixed portion dismountably fixed on the frame and a grip portion to be gripped when the seal member is removed. The grip portion is disposed in a state in which the grip portion is bent relative to the fixed portion in a direction crossing a mounting direction of the developing cartridge. The grip portion prevents mounting of the developing cartridge by contacting a part of the image forming apparatus when the developing cartridge is mounted in the main assembly of the image forming apparatus. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103824 | RECLAIMED MATERIAL CONTAINER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A reclaimed material container includes a container body that is removably mounted to a mounting portion of an image forming apparatus, and that accommodates a reclaimed material existing after forming an image, a receiving portion that is provided at a bottom portion of the container body, and that is supported by a support of the mounting portion from therebelow, and a mounting member that mounts the container body to the mounting portion as a result of rotation of the container body with the receiving portion as a fulcrum while the receiving portion is supported by the support from therebelow. In the container, the container body has a first recess that provides a field of view for the support when the receiving portion is supported by the support from therebelow. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103825 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, includes a drum cartridge including an image bearing drum and charger for charging a surface of the drum, the drum cartridge being demountably mounted to a main assembly of the apparatus; a rotary supporting a plurality of developing devices each having a developer carrying member for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the drum, the rotary being swingably mounted to the main assembly through a supporting member and being rotatable, relative to the supporting member, to bring the developing device to a developing position for developing the latent image; an urging member for urging the drum cartridge to the main assembly to position it in place; and a locking member for spacing between the developing device positioned in the developing position and the image bearing member, the locking member being demountably mounted between the drum cartridge and the rotary, and the locking member being is effective to prevent the urging member from moving from a position urging the drum cartridge to the main assembly. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103826 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, includes (i) a drum cartridge including an image bearing member and charging device for charging a surface of the image bearing member, the drum cartridge being demountably mounted to a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; a rotary supporting a plurality of developing device each having a developer carrying member for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member, the rotary being swingably mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus through a supporting member and being rotatable, relative to the supporting member, to bring the developing device to a developing position for developing the electrostatic latent image; (iii) a spacer member for spacing between the charging device and the surface of the image bearing member, the spacer member being mounted between the image bearing member and the charging device; and (iv) a locking member for spacing between the developing device positioned in the developing position and the image bearing member, the locking member being demountably mounted between the drum cartridge and the rotary, and the locking member being is provided with a guide portion for guiding the spacer member between the image bearing member and the charging device. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103827 | DEVELOPING DEVICE, DEVELOPING CARTRIDGE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A developing device is provided that includes a developing container, a developing roller, a developer supplying roller, a sheet member, a communication hole, and a filter member. The communication hole is provided so as to be connected to an enclosed space defined by an inner wall of the developing container defining a smaller one of spaces provided by dividing the developing container by a plane including a rotation axis of the developer supplying roller and a rotational axis of the developing roller, a phantom plane which is included in the plane and extends from a surface of the developer supplying roller to the inner wall of the developer container, the sheet member, a surface of the developing roller, and a surface of the developer supplying roller. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103828 | Process cartridge and image forming apparatus - A process cartridge incorporates a developing device including a rotatable developer carrier for supplying a developer to an electrostatic latent image formed on a latent image carrier. The process cartridge includes: a bearing that supports a rotating shaft of the developer carrier; and a pressing unit that presses the bearing toward the latent image carrier. A notch having an opening, which extends over a part of a circumference of the rotating shaft, is formed on the bearing, and the notch portion is used as an attachment and removal portion of the rotating shaft. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103829 | PROCESS CARTRIDGE AND ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A process cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum unit supporting the drum, a developing unit supporting a developing roller and swingably coupled with the drum unit, drum and developing roller rotating force receiving portions first and second positionable portions positioned at first and second main assembly side positioning portion by contacting to the first main assembly side positioning portions by contacting by the urging force of first and second main assembly side urging members, a developing device spacing force receiving portion, first and second cartridge side rotation regulating portions for limiting rotation of the drum unit by abutting first and second main assembly side rotation regulating portions, when the drum and developing roller rotating force receiving portions receive the rotating forces or when the developing device spacing force receiving portion receives the urging force from the main assembly. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103830 | COVER AND CARTRIDGE - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus detachably mountable to a main assembly of the apparatus, includes a rotatable image bearing member on which a latent image is to be formed; charging means for contacting said image bearing member to charge a surface of said image bearing member; a frame supporting said image bearing member and said charging means; a covering member, demountably mounted to said frame, for protecting the surface of said image bearing member; and a spacer member including a spacing portion, movably provided on said covering member, for entering between said image bearing member and said charging means to space them therebetween, and a retaining portion, contacting said covering member when said spacing portion is not between said image bearing member and said charging means, for preventing said spacer member from disengaging from said covering member. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103831 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus to which a cartridge including an image bearing drum and a frame supporting the image bearing member, the apparatus includes a belt member for transferring a developed image formed on the drum onto a recording material; an opening provided to permit the cartridge to enter an inside of a main assembly; a first guide portion for guiding the cartridge through the opening from a position where a bottom end portion of the drum is below a transfer position where the drum and the belt member contact with each other when the cartridge is mounted; a second guide portion provided downstream of the first guide portion with respect to a mounting direction in which the cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, the second guide portion guiding the cartridge from a position where the bottom end portion of the drum is below the transfer position to a position where the bottom end portion of the drum is above the transfer position; and a third guide portion provided downstream of the second guide portion with respect to the mounting direction, the third guide portion guiding the cartridge from the position where the bottom end portion is above the transfer position to the transfer position. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103832 | DEVELOPING CARTRIDGE - A developing cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus includes: a frame; a developer carrying member for carrying a developer; a regulating member for regulating a layer thickness of the developer carried on the developer carrying member; a supporting member provided on the frame in a state in which the supporting member supports an end of the regulating member at a first end portion thereof; a grip portion, provided with a spacing from a second end portion of the supporting member opposite from the first end portion of the supporting member, for gripping the developing cartridge; and a sheet member, provided on the supporting member so as to extend from the second end portion toward the grip portion, for covering the second end portion by being bent by an operation for gripping the grip portion. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103833 | DEVELOPMENT CARTRIDGE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a plurality of development cartridges each having a developer bearing member bearing a developer for developing an electrostatic image and a developer container accommodating the developer, a rotary configured to rotate and move the attached development cartridges toward a development position, an opening defined in an apparatus main body and allowing the development cartridge to pass through for attachment and detachment to and from the rotary, and an indicator provided on a second development cartridge arranged adjacent to a first development cartridge passing through the opening and detached from the rotary being stopped, wherein the indicator indicates an attachment method usable to attach the first development cartridge to the rotary, and wherein the indicator is located at such a position on the second development cartridge as to be visible from outside of the apparatus main body via the opening. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103834 | DEVELOPMENT CARTRIDGE - A cartridge attachable to and detachable from an image forming apparatus main body includes a rotating member, a supporting member configured to rotatably support the rotating member, a regulating portion configured to abut against an end surface of the rotating member in a rotational axis direction to regulate movement in the rotational axis direction, a hole portion configured to expose a portion of the end surface so as to enable a contact portion provided on the image forming apparatus main body to contact the end surface, a concave portion configured to retain grease, and a wall surface in the concave portion located at a downstream side in a rotation direction and provided such that an area of the wall surface that is farther from the hole portion than an area thereof that is closer to the hole portion is located at the downstream side of the rotation direction. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103835 | DEVELOPING CARTRIDGE - A developing cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus includes a frame; a developer carrying member, provided on the frame, for carrying a developer for developing an electrostatic image; a first portion to be engaged provided on one side of the frame with respect to a direction crossing an axial direction of the developer carrying member; a second portion to be engaged provided on the other side of the frame with respect to the direction crossing the axial direction of the developer carrying member; and a cover member, including a first engaging portion engaging with the first portion to be engaged and including a second engaging portion engaging with the second portion to be engaged, for covering an exposed portion of the developer carrying member by being detachably mounted to the frame. The cover member is detachably mountable to the frame by engaging the first engaging portion with second portion to be engaged and by engaging the second engaging portion with the first portion to be engaged. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103836 | CHARGING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS COMPRISING CHARGING DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR FORMING DISCHARGE ELECTRODE - A charging device capable of improvement in charging uniformity on an object to be charged, an image forming apparatus having the charging device, and a discharge electrode forming method are provided. The charging device has a discharge electrode which is disposed in an interior space of a shield case, has a plurality of projections aligned in one direction from which a stream of ions is generated, the projections each being so constituted that a widthwise direction thereof makes a predetermined angle with respect to a first imaginary plane including an arrangement direction C of the projections on a second imaginary plane which includes the arrangement direction C and is perpendicular to the first imaginary plane in order that streams of ions generated from the projections that are arranged adjacent to each other in a lengthwise direction of the shield case can overlap each other when viewed in a widthwise direction of the shield case. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103837 | Mechanism for electrifying, method of electrifying, and conductive member - A mechanism for electrifying a rotator that is used in an image forming apparatus includes a cloth-like or sheet-like conductive member, wherein part of the conductive member comes into contact with an object to be electrified and the other part of the conductive member comes into surface contact with any one contact member of the rotator, a rotating shaft that rotates together with the rotator, and a shaft where the rotator is rotatably supported, so that the object to be electrified and the contact member are electrically connected to each other through the conductive member. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103838 | DIGITAL MANUFACTURE OF A MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE - In view of the above, this invention is directed to printing methods including electrographic printing wherein toner and/or laminates form one or more multi-channeled layers, with a particular pattern. The multi-channeled layers are printed, such as by electrographic techniques, using the steps of forming a desired image on a receiver member and incorporating channels of toner that form a microfluidic item. In the microfluidic items the channels act as interconnects to transfer fluids between incorporated micro-devices such as pumps, devices, and sensors. The channels can also be designed to act as splitters ports, reservoirs, filters, and separators to allow a variety of specialty micro-devices to be developed with the printer. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103839 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a developing device; and a movable member for rotationally moving the developing device. The movable member includes a rotation shaft member, a first member which is engaged with the rotation shaft member at one end portion, a second member which is engaged with the rotation shaft member at the other end portion, a first guide portion, and a second guide portion. The apparatus further includes a first swingable supporting member for rotatably supporting the movable member at the one end portion; a second swingable supporting member for rotatably supporting the movable member at the other end portion; an urging portion for urging the movable member toward the image bearing member; a first preventing member for preventing movement of the first member; and a second preventing member for preventing movement of the second member. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103840 | EXTRACTOR AND IMAGING FORMING APPARATUS EMPLOYING THIS EXTRACTOR - An extractor separates a dispersoid (toner) and a dispersion medium (carrier liquid) from a liquid sample (liquid developer) containing the dispersoid and the dispersion medium and extracts these. The extractor has a first roller that carries a thin layer of the liquid sample containing the dispersoid and the dispersion medium on a circumferential surface thereof and rotates about a shaft. A separating member is in contact with the first roller and separates the dispersion medium from the thin layer carried on the first roller. A charger charges the dispersoid in the thin layer carried on the first roller at a position upstream of a contact position of the separating member with the first roller with respect to a rotating direction of the first roller. An electric field generator generates an electric field for causing the charged dispersoid to be attracted to the circumferential surface of the first roller. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103841 | Developer, developer cartridge, developing unit, and image forming apparatus - A developer contains a resin, a coloring agent, and an external additive in an amount of 2.5 to 4.5 weight parts added to the resin in an amount of 100 weight parts resin. The developer has an average volume mean particle diameter in the range of 4.5 to 6.5 μm and a BET specific surface in the range of 2.45 to 3.74 m | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103842 | DEVELOPING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A developing device includes a developing tank for containing a powder developer, an agitating member disposed in the developing tank to agitate the powder developer; and a cooling tank attached to the developing tank. The cooling tank contains an endothermic material to absorb heat from the powder developer. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103843 | DEVELOPING UNIT - A developing unit comprises a developing portion, a first developer storage portion and a partitioning wall. The developing portion includes a rotatable developer carrier, a rotatable supply member configured to supply the developer to the developer carrier, a regulating member contacting with the developer carrier to regulate the thickness of the developer on the developer carrier, and a developer feeding member arranged below the regulating member and configured to feed the developer. The partitioning wall is configured to partition between the developing portion and the first developer storage portion. The partitioning wall has a supply port for supplying the developer from the first developer storage portion to the developing portion. The regulating member is contacting with the developer carrier at a contact position located above an upper level of the developer in the developing portion. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103844 | Developer Unit For An Image Forming Apparatus - A developer unit for an image forming apparatus is provided. The developer unit includes a developer device with a developer agent carrier and a developer agent supplier, and a developer agent container, which contains the developer agent and is arranged in a lower position with respect to the developer device. The developer agent container is formed to have a fitting wall, which is curved inward at a position to be adjacent to the developer device. The fitting wall is formed to have a feeding opening and a collecting opening. The developer unit is further provided with a first conveyer, which is rotated about a rotation axis to sweep an inner surface of the developer agent container and convey the developer agent toward the feeding opening, and a second conveyer, which is arranged along the developer agent supplier and conveys the developer agent toward the collecting opening. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103845 | DEVELOPER UNIT FOR AN IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A developer unit for an image forming apparatus is provided. The developer unit includes a developer device with a developer agent carrier, a developer agent container arranged in an upper position with respect to the developer device. The developer agent container is formed to have a fitting wall, which is curved inward at a position to be adjacent to the developer device. The developer agent container includes an agitator, which is rotated to sweep an inner surface of the fitting wall and stir developer agent in the developer agent container. The fitting wall is formed to have a first feeding hole and a first collecting hole. A first angle between a direction, in which the first collecting hole is oriented, and a vertical direction is larger than a second angle between a direction, in which the first feeding hole is oriented, and the vertical direction. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103846 | Developer storage container, developing device and image forming apparatus - A developer storage container includes a developer storage portion that stores a developer and has an opening for supplying the developer. An agitating-and-supplying member is rotatably provided in the developer storage portion. The agitating-and-supplying member has a shaft portion and an agitating portion. The agitating portion has a fixed end and a distal end opposite to each other. The fixed end of the agitating portion is fixed to the shaft portion. The agitating portion has an area corresponding to the opening. In the area, a distance between a center axis of the shaft portion and the distal end of the agitating portion is longer than a distance between the center axis of the shaft portion and an outer wall of the developer storage portion. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103847 | Image Forming Apparatus - A toner supply apparatus | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103848 | DEVELOPMENT AGENT SUPPLY DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - A development agent supply device is provided, which includes a development agent holding member configured to rotate around an axis parallel to a first direction such that a development agent holding surface, which faces an intended device to be supplied with development agent in a first position, moves in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, a transfer board configured to charge and transfer development agent thereon to a second position to face the development agent holding surface, and a facing member disposed to face the development agent holding surface in a position between the first position and the second position in the second direction, the facing member being configured to charge development agent held on the development agent holding surface under an alternating electric field generated between the facing member and the development agent holding member. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103849 | DEVELOPMENT AGENT SUPPLY DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - A development agent supply device has a transfer board including a supply section disposed upstream relative to a proximity position in a development agent transfer direction, and a retrieving section disposed downstream relative to the proximity position in the development agent transfer direction. The supply section includes first transfer electrodes arranged along the development agent transfer direction to transfer development agent toward the proximity position with an electric field generated with a supply bias applied to the first transfer electrodes and supply the development agent to the development agent holding surface near the proximity position. The retrieving section includes second transfer electrodes arranged along the development agent transfer direction to retrieve development agent from the development agent holding surface near the proximity position and transfer the development agent downstream in the development agent transfer direction with an electric field generated with a retrieving bias applied to the second transfer electrodes. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103850 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus including: an image bearing member configured to bear the toner image; a transfer element configured to transfer the toner image to the sheet; a first application element configured to apply a transfer voltage to the transfer element; a separator configured to separate the sheet from the image bearing member, the separator including a separation electrode configured to discharge an electrical current and the separation electrode including first and second separation electrodes aligned along the transfer element; and a partition configured to project between the transfer element and the separator so as to allow a current to flow from the transfer element to the first separation electrode while the partition suppresses a current flowing from the transfer element to the second separation electrode. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103851 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AN ASYMMETRICAL PRINTER FUSER NIP - An apparatus ( | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103852 | FUSING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - A fusing device to prevent overheating of a heating member includes a heating member having a heat emitting part disposed to transfer heat to recording media, an induction coil to create a magnetic field acting upon the heat emitting part, at least one magnetic body disposed around the induction coil, and an inductor cover disposed between the heating member and the magnetic body. The heating member includes a first region corresponding to a size of the recording media passing through the heating member and a second region outside the first region. The inductor cover includes at least one opening formed to correspond to the second region of the heating member such that heat generated from the heating member is directly radiated to the magnetic body. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103853 | Flat Heater for Electrophotographic Belt Fusing Systems, and Methods of Making Same - An image-forming device includes a belt based fuser for fixing an image to a media substrate. The fuser includes a heater having a base component with at least one heating element disposed thereon. The heater further includes a covering layer covering the at least one heating element providing a substantially even surface to abut a belt. Unevenness, which may be present on the substantially even surface, has a height, defined by a base and a peak, of less than about 10 μm. A process for producing the heater is also disclosed. The process includes disposing one or more heating elements on a base component of the heater, covering the heating elements of the fuser heater with a covering layer and providing a substantially even outer surface to abut a fuser belt. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103854 | HYPER NANOCOMPOSITES (HNC) FOR FUSER MATERIALS - Provided are fuser members and printing apparatuses including fuser members. The fuser member can include a substrate and a top coat layer including a hyper nanocomposite disposed over the substrate, wherein the hyper nanocomposite can include a plurality of nanoparticles substantially uniformly dispersed in one or more cross-linked hyperbranched polymers selected from the group consisting of polycarbosilane, polycarbosilixane, polycarbosilazene, and polyfluorocarbon. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103855 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a sheet feeding unit configured to feed a recording sheet, a transfer unit configured to transfer a toner image to the recording sheet fed by the sheet feeding unit, a fixing unit configured to heat the toner image transferred to the recording sheet by the transfer unit, a gloss imparting unit configured to impart gloss to an arbitrary region of the recording sheet heated by the fixing unit, a calculation unit configured to calculate a shrinkage ratio of the recording sheet shrunk through heating by the fixing unit, and a correction unit configured to correct the region to which gloss is imparted by the gloss imparting unit according to the shrinkage ratio calculated by the calculation unit. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103856 | POWDER RECOVERY CONTAINER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A powder recovery container includes a reservoir chamber that stores a recovered powder; a recovery port that faces the reservoir chamber, a powder conveying unit that conveys and recovers the powder through the recovery port being removably inserted into the recovery port; a pair of door panels having rotating shafts arranged at two positions with the recovery port arranged therebetween, the door panels being rotated toward the reservoir chamber around the rotating shafts to open and close the recovery port; sealing members attached to the door panels, the sealing members overlapping one another between distal ends of the door panels to seal a gap between the distal ends of the door panels when the door panels are located at positions, at which the recovery port is closed; and urging members that urge the door panels in a direction, in which the recovery port is closed. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103857 | Developer storage apparatus, developer cartridge, developing device and image forming apparatus - A developer storage apparatus includes a developer receiving opening for receiving a developer, a developer conveying unit disposed below the developer receiving opening and having a first conveying member that conveys the developer in a conveying direction, a developer detection unit for detecting the developer, and a wall surface portion provided on a downstream side of the developer detection unit in the conveying direction. | 2011-05-05 |
| 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. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103859 | Method of sheet alignment and method of post-processing comprising the same and method of image formation - A method of a sheet alignment includes carrying a sheet from a sheet discharging port; transferring the sheet on a tray device toward a sheet end regulating device; moving the sheet on the tray device in a width direction orthogonal to the sheet discharging direction for widthwise alignment; and abutting again the sheet on the tray device against the sheet end regulating device while the sheet is in the widthwise alignment. When the sheet on the tray device is transferred toward the sheet end regulating device, the sheet is transferred at a predetermined speed. Before the sheet abuts against the sheet end regulating device, the speed is reduced to provide a conveying force to the sheet without stopping. While the conveying force is continuously applied to the sheet, the sheet is aligned in the width direction to thereby prevent skewing of the sheet relative to the sheet end regulating device. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103860 | ELECTROSTATOGRAPHIC APPARATUS HAVING IMPROVED TRANSPORT MEMBER - The present invention is an electrostatographic reproduction apparatus which includes a primary imaging member for producing an electrostatic latent image, a development station for applying toner particles to said latent image which forms a developed toner image, and a transfer station for transferring said developed toner image from the primary imaging member to a receiver. A fuser assembly is included for fixing the developed toner image to the receiver, to form a fused toner image on the receiver. An endless transport member is provided for transporting the receiver to or from the fuser assembly, the transport member having a substrate bearing an oil-absorbing porous layer that would tribocharge positively upon contact with negatively charged toner particles, and a porous overcoat outermost layer that does not tribocharge positively upon contact with negatively charged toner particles. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103861 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - In an image forming apparatus that separates a thin recording material by pushing up a transfer belt, if a position where a thick recording material separates from the transfer belt is far from a leading end of a recording-material guide, conveyability of the separated thick recording material after separation becomes stable. A stretching member is provided downstream of a push-up means and upstream of the recording-material guide in a recording-material conveying direction, and the stretching member separates a thick recording material from the transfer belt. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103862 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND GUIDE THEREFOR CAPABLE OF REDUCING TONER SCATTERED ON RECORDING MEDIUM - An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a transferor, a fixing unit, and a guide. The image carrier carries a toner image. The transferor opposes the image carrier to form a transfer nip and transfers the toner image on the image carrier onto a recording medium at the transfer nip. The fixing unit fixes the toner image on the recording medium. The guide guides the recording medium bearing the toner image from the transferor toward the fixing unit and includes a surface portion directly contacting the recording medium. The surface portion includes a material for charging the recording medium to have a polarity opposite to the polarity of a toner forming the toner image. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103863 | Conveying device, spine forming device, and image forming system - A conveying device that conveys a sheet bundle with a flattened back-face portion includes a first conveying unit, a driving unit, and a second conveying unit. The first conveying unit retracts to a position where no driving force is exerted on the sheet bundle before a leading end of the sheet bundle formed in a flat spine shape enters, and abuts on the sheet bundle to exert conveying force after the leading end of the sheet bundle passes a conveying position. The driving unit moves the first conveying unit to retract to the position and to abut on the sheet bundle. The second conveying unit is positioned on an upstream side of the first conveying unit in a sheet bundle conveying direction and conveys the sheet bundle towards the first conveying unit. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103864 | BRAILLE PRINTING DEVICE - A braille printing device is disclosed. The device comprises a paper picking-up mechanism, a paper feeding mechanism, a printing mechanism, a curing light source ( | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103865 | MEDIUM TRANSPORT DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - In a state where a second power transmission path of transmitting power from the second planetary gear to the cam driving gear through the intermediate gear is selected, when the intermediate gear is opposed to the non-tooth portion for the release position of the cam driving gear, the rotation direction of the driving motor is changed to select a first power transmission path of directly transmitting power from the first planetary gear to the cam driving gear, the non-tooth portion for the release position deviates from the opposed position of the intermediate gear, and the rotation direction of the driving motor is changed again to select the second power transmission path. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103866 | Sheet folding apparatus and image formation system provided with the apparatus - To provide a folding mechanism for folding a sheet with a simplified structure having no fear of causing a deviation from the fold position, wrinkle and the like, provided are a transport path | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103867 | IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS - An image recording device, including: a first sheet conveying path; a recording portion to record an image on a sheet; a first roller pair to convey the sheet in a first direction; a second sheet conveying path; a path changing portion; a second roller pair to convey the sheet in a second direction; a third roller pair to convey, to the first path, the sheet that has been conveyed to the second conveying path; and a control portion to control a sheet conveyance rate by the second roller pair to be higher than that by the third roller pair, whereby a part of the sheet between the second and third roller pairs is slacked for separating, from the second roller pair, a trailing end of the sheet before a leading end thereof reaches a position where the leading end is opposed to the recording portion in the first conveying path. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103868 | MEDIUM SUPPLYING UNIT AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - Disclosed is a printing media supply unit and an image forming apparatus employing the same for forming an image on the printing medium. A loading plate capable of supporting thereon a supply of the printing media is movably coupled to a detachable loading cassette so as to move in ascending and descending manner depending on the amount of printing media loaded on the loading plate. One of more interfering members are provided on the loading plate so as to move with the loading plate, and may be capable of being sensed by one or more sensing units. A control unit determines the amount of printing media based on the sensing results, which may be different from one sensing unit to another, or based on the combination of such sensing results. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103869 | PRINTER WITH PAPER CUTTER AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME - A printer has an automatic cutter and a recording paper guide member. The automatic cutter includes a fixed knife attached to the printer case and a movable knife attached to an access cover. The movable knife is attached to the open side of the access cover relative to the fixed knife. The recording paper guide member is disposed to the printer case at a position closer to the open side of the access cover than the movable knife. The movable knife protruding to the fixed knife side and the recording paper guide member interfere if the access cover is opened when the movable knife has moved to the cutting start position. As a result, because movement of the access cover is limited and the access cover will not open, the movable knife protruding to the fixed knife side is not exposed outside the printer case. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103870 | PRINTER APPARATUS - A printer apparatus includes a first device and a second device. The first device includes a first carriage movable in a scanning direction along a guide rail and a first working device to perform a first predetermined work on an object medium. The second device includes a second carriage movable in the scanning direction along the guide rail and a second working device to perform a second predetermined work on the object medium. A first device holding mechanism is capable of holding the first device. A second device holding mechanism is capable of holding the second device. A vertically retreat mechanism is configured to move the second device holding mechanism and the second device along a vertical direction to be located below a medium supporter to support the object medium when the first working device is moved in the scanning direction to perform the first predetermined work. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103871 | LABEL PRINTER - A label printing apparatus, comprising a cassette-receiving bay adapted to receive a cassette, said cassette-receiving bay having a base, an opening opposite the base, and side walls extending between the base and the opening; a cassette locking mechanism comprising at least one locking element having a locking position for engagement with a cassette inserted into said cassette-receiving bay; and cassette detection means operable to determine whether said at least one locking element is engaged with a cassette inserted into the cassette-receiving bay. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103872 | MULTIPLE CONTAINER FOR NAIL COSMETICS - The multiple container for nail cosmetics includes at least two cosmetic containers to receive nail cosmetic liquids, and the at least two cosmetic containers are detachably installed at both sides of the multiple container via a connection member, respectively. The at least two cosmetic containers include a first container and a second container. The lower portion of the first container is installed at the upper portion of the connection member, and the upper portion of the second container is installed at the lower portion of the connection member. Thereby, the multiple container for nail cosmetics is easy to carry, and is capable of containing several kinds of cosmetics in one product. Further, when one cosmetic container is desired to be used, the cosmetic container is separated from the connection member and thus is light and conveniently used. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103873 | Makeup assembly with light-emitting means - A makeup assembly includes a holder block holding a battery set, LEDs and two metal conducting strips, a rotary operating member rotatable to move the metal conducting strips between an on position where the LEDs are electrically connected to the battery set to emit light and an off position where the LEDs are electrically disconnected from the battery set, a housing surrounding the rotary operating member and the holder block, and a light guide holder mounted in the front opening of the housing to hold a cosmetic product such as lipstick or brow brush and carrying a light guide substance for guiding emitted light from the LEDs toward a predetermined direction around the cosmetic product. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103874 | UNIVERSAL PENCIL MECHANISM - A pencil mechanism replaces a ballpoint pen refill and has an actuator for containing lead. A point of the mechanism is slidably mounted to the actuator and has a shoulder to engage a step in the pen when an end of the point projects from a writing end of the pen. The point has an open end for projecting the writing tip of the lead and a bushing for frictionally engaging the lead in the point to allow for, but resist axial movement of the lead. A point spring between actuator and point biases them apart and a clutch is slidably mounted to the actuator and point. The clutch has fingers for receiving lead and the actuator engages the clutch to close the fingers and fix the lead. Further forward movement of the actuator projects a writing tip of the lead from the pen as the shoulder engages the step to fix the writing tip in a writing position. The actuator is movable rearwardly for releasing the clutch and the lead and allowing the clutch to move rearwardly in the pen for a repeat of the lead feeding cycle. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103875 | RETRACTABLE PUSH BUTTON PEN - A retractable push button pen includes a barrel, a pen refill, which has a refill body with hooks at the front side and a writing tip extended out of the front side of the refill body, an extending and retracting mechanism formed of a slide, a limiter and a spring member and received inside the barrel around the writing tip received in the barrel, and a press-control mechanism formed of an absorption rod, which is connected to the writing tip to supply an ink, a cylindrical cap holding the absorption rod and extending out of the rear side of the barrel for pressing by a user to move the writing tip out of the barrel for writing and a pen clip, which has a positioning protrusion engageable into the barrel to lock the pen refill in the extended position and a press portion for pressing by a user to unlock the positioning protrusion from the pen refill. | 2011-05-05 |
| 20110103876 | Toothbrush with integral toothpaste dispenser and timed music play interval - A toothbrush with an integral toothpaste dispenser has a handle portion and a toothbrush portion. A commercially available toothpaste tube is opened at one end and contained within a central aperture of the handle of the integral toothbrush. Toothpaste from the toothbrush tube is discharged into a channel contained within the toothbrush portion and exits between the toothbrush bristles through a non-return valve positioned close to a bristle exit aperture. Toothpaste is squeezed by upward movement of a pedestal supporting the toothpaste tube when the user turns a knob on the bottom of the handle. The toothpaste tube is supported by a vertical support tube within the central aperture of the handle, producing an accordion-like, uniform, progressive toothpaste tube collapse. The non-return valve is only open during toothpaste delivery and thereby prevents toothpaste spills. The close proximity between the toothpaste exit aperture and the non-return valve enables the toothpaste to remain moist between brushings. Toothpaste residue between the non-return valve and the bristle exit aperture is readily rinsed away during cleaning to provide a hygienically clean toothbrush. | 2011-05-05 |
