Patents Examined by Patrick Cicchino
  • Patent number: 11467525
    Abstract: A post-processing apparatus performs post-processing on a paper sheet conveyed from a previous stage side, and includes: a corrector that performs bend correction on the paper sheet, in accordance with one of a plurality of bend correction methods; a post-processor that performs the post-processing on the paper sheet subjected to the bend correction performed by the corrector; and a hardware processor that selects one of the plurality of bend correction methods, on the basis of a bend correction accuracy corresponding to a product to be created by the post-processing being performed by the post-processor, and a productivity of the product, wherein from the plurality of bend correction methods, the hardware processor selects a bend correction method that reduces a difference between a post-processing time required for the post-processor to perform the post-processing and a correction time required for the corrector to perform the bend correction on the paper sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Wakabayashi
  • Patent number: 11447354
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi, Motohiro Furusawa, Hiroki Yamaguchi, Shigeo Murayama
  • Patent number: 11447357
    Abstract: Provided is a recording device that includes a recording head that ejects a liquid, a discharge unit that discharges a recorded recording medium, a discharge tray that receives a discharged recording medium, a first blowing unit that is disposed above the discharge unit and blows air toward one surface of the recording medium to be discharged to the discharge tray, and a second blowing unit that is disposed between the discharge unit and the discharge tray and blows air toward the other surface of the recording medium to be discharged to the discharge tray, and a control unit that controls the first blowing unit and the second blowing unit, in which deformation of the recording medium to be discharged is suppressed by the wind of the first blowing unit and the second blowing unit and the recording medium is discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Shota Sakagami
  • Patent number: 11434098
    Abstract: A sheet sorting device includes three or more trays including a predetermined tray detachable from an apparatus main body and a tray different from the predetermined tray, a discharge unit to discharge a sheet to any one of the three or more trays, a control unit, and a tray detection unit to detect that the predetermined tray is detached from the apparatus main body. The control unit sets a sheet discharge destination such that a sheet conforming to a preset condition is discharged to the predetermined tray through the discharge unit. Where the tray detection unit detects that the predetermined tray is detached from the apparatus main body, the control unit sets a sheet discharge destination that has been set to the predetermined tray to the tray different from the predetermined tray based on a state of each of the trays other than the detached predetermined tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuta Hojo, Genki Takahashi, Kazuhisa Sato
  • Patent number: 11433969
    Abstract: A cycling pedal assembly consisting of a body configured to spin, slide, and pivot on a horizontal rotational axis formed by an axle, roller bearing, and spherical rolling joint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Inventor: William Ryan Hickernell
  • Patent number: 11414291
    Abstract: A diverting system is proposed for diverting boxes from normal production flow. One embodiment comprises a diverter with a diverter surface, a diverter cam in contact with the diverter, a diverter cam shaft connected to the top diverter cam such that rotation of the diverter cam shaft causes rotation of the diverter cam, and an electric motor connected to the diverter cam shaft and configured to rotate the diverter cam shaft. The diverter cam is configured to control position of the diverter as the diverter cam rotates such that rotation of the diverter cam causes the diverter surface to move from a position above normal production flow to a diverting position within the normal production flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Geo. M. Martin Company
    Inventors: Daniel J. Talken, Charles D. Rizzuti
  • Patent number: 11407605
    Abstract: Printing apparatuses include (among other components) a photoreceptor (that is adapted to contact and transfer marking material to a printing side of sheets of media), a transport belt adjacent the photoreceptor, a baffle, and an air outlet. The sheets of media are moved by the photoreceptor across a gap to the transport belt in a “processing direction.” The baffle is adjacent the back side of the sheets of media (the side that is opposite to the printing side of the sheets of media). The air outlet is also positioned adjacent the back side of the sheets of media, and the air outlet is adapted to direct a stream of air along the baffle and between the baffle and the back side of the sheets of media to lift the sheets of media off the photoreceptor without damaging the sheets of media or disturbing the unfused marking material thereon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Erwin Ruiz, Rachel L. Tanchak, Roberto A. Irizarry, Carlos M. Terrero, Glenn D. Batchelor
  • Patent number: 11390476
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes an apparatus body, a drawer portion including a first contact portion, a feeding portion, and a pivot member configured to pivot between a first position and a second position, the pivot member constituting a part of a conveyance path at the first position, wherein the pivot member does not overlap a moving path of the drawer portion in a case where the pivot member is located at the first position, and overlaps the moving path in a case where the pivot member is located at the second position. The pivot member includes a second contact portion that pivots the pivot member from the second position toward the first position while being in sliding contact with the first contact portion in a case where the pivot member is located at the second position and the drawer portion is being inserted into the apparatus body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masato Suzuki, Akira Matsushima
  • Patent number: 11383952
    Abstract: A sheet stacking apparatus includes a frame, a round member directly or indirectly connected to the frame, and an arm directly or indirectly connected to the frame. The arm is rotatable to rotate between a first position and a second position. The arm is positioned to bias sheets toward the round member when in the first position, and the arm is positioned to bias the sheets away from the round member when in the second position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Erwin Ruiz, Bruce A. Thompson, Derek A. Bryl, Arthur H. Kahn, Paul F. Brown, II
  • Patent number: 11383945
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a detection unit to detect recording material fed from a stacking unit, a determination unit, a count unit, and a control unit. The determination unit determines that a feeding failure has occurred when the detection unit does not detect the recording material until elapse of a predetermined period. The count unit counts a number of times the feeding operation is performed for a single sheet of the recording material. When the counted number of feeding operation performance times by when the feeding failure has occurred is smaller than a threshold, the control unit restarts the feeding operation that has been stopped without waiting for a user's operation. When the counted number of feeding operation performance times by when the feeding failure has occurred is at least equal to the threshold, the control unit waits for the user's operation while the feeding operation is stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoki Kanno
  • Patent number: 11370632
    Abstract: In order to properly suppress a discharge defect corresponding to an image ratio of a sheet, in the case where a coefficient of friction is different according to the image ratio of an image on the sheet, an air blowing section is arranged to blow air toward a downstream side in a transport direction from between a downstream-side end portion of a first stacking section and an upstream-side end portion of a second stacking section. When an image ratio of an image on a sheet by an image forming apparatus is a first value, the air blowing section sets an air quantity blown to the sheet at a first air quantity F1, while when the image ratio is a second value higher than the first value, setting the air quantity blown to the sheet at a second air quantity F2 larger than the first air quantity F1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventor: Mamoru Kubo
  • Patent number: 11352232
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus, in particular a roll cross cutter, for forming a shingled stream of underlapping or overlapping sheets, in particular paper or cardboard sheets, comprising a transport device for transporting sheets, a shingling device for underlapping or overlapping of the sheets at least in some regions, a braking device following the shingling device in the transport direction of the sheets for braking of shingled sheets, in particular by the formation of a brake gap for the passage of sheets brought together in a shingled manner, and a cross-cutting device upstream of the shingling device for cutting a material strip into individual sheets. According to the invention, an intake section is provided between the shingling device and the braking device for intake and further transport of a sheet, trailing in the shingled stream, into the braking device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: BW Papersystems Stuttgart GmbH
    Inventors: Andreas Schilling, Hansjörg Klein
  • Patent number: 11345558
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includable in an image forming apparatus that uses a method of conveying a conveyance target medium and a method of forming an image, includes a position detector, a position adjuster, and circuitry. The position detector is configured to detect a position of a conveyance target medium. Based on a detection of the position of the conveyance target medium by the position detector, the position adjuster moves in at least one of a width direction of the conveyance target medium and a rotation direction of the conveyance target medium within a plane of conveyance of the conveyance target medium and repeatedly adjusts the position of the conveyance target medium while conveying the conveyance target medium. The circuitry changes a conveying speed of the conveyance target medium, according to a change of the position of the conveyance target medium after adjusted by the position adjuster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomohiro Egawa, Yuichiro Maeyama, Motoharu Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11345559
    Abstract: There is provided a sheet conveyance device that includes a first conveyance roller and a second conveyance roller that are arranged at a position other than a center in a direction of sheet width in a sheet conveyance path, a roller selector that selects the first conveyance roller or the second conveyance roller as a roller to convey a sheet, and a controller that causes the roller selector to select the first conveyance roller or the second conveyance roller. The first conveyance roller is made of a material that causes a speed of the sheet conveyed by the first conveyance roller in contact with the first conveyance roller to be higher than a rotation speed of the first conveyance roller. The second conveyance roller is made of a material that causes a speed of the sheet conveyed by the second conveyance roller in contact with the second conveyance roller to be lower than a rotation speed of the second conveyance roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Makoto Fujii
  • Patent number: 11339018
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a feed roller, a brake roller, a motor to generate a driving force, a first transmission mechanism to transmit the driving force to the brake roller through a first torque limiter, to rotate the brake roller in a direction opposite to a medium feeding direction, a second transmission mechanism to transmit the driving force to the brake roller through a second torque limiter, bypassing the first torque limiter, to rotate the brake roller in the direction opposite to the medium feeding direction, and a processor to detect media multi-feed, and perform control in such a way as to transmit the driving force to the brake roller by the second transmission mechanism and also cause the feed roller to be driven to rotate in the direction opposite to the medium feeding direction by the brake roller, when the media multi-feed is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Shigeharu Okano, Takayuki Umi
  • Patent number: 11332332
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a first optical sensor located on an upper part of the housing and in a central part of the housing in a direction perpendicular to a medium conveying direction, a second optical sensor located on an upper part of the housing and on a side of the first optical sensor in the direction perpendicular to the medium conveying direction, and a processor to detect a folding of a medium based on the first signal or the second signal, and stop feeding of the medium by the feed roller in accordance with a detection result of the folding of the medium. The first light emitter emits first light toward a downstream side of the medium in the medium conveying direction, and the second light emitter emits second light toward an upstream side of the medium in the medium conveying direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Kiichiro Shimosaka, Masato Shimura
  • Patent number: 11319177
    Abstract: A sensor unit includes a first housing constituting a first conveying face of a sheet conveying passage, a second housing constituting a second conveying face arranged opposite the first conveying face with a predetermined gap, an edge detection sensor detecting a side edge along the sheet conveying direction, and a gap adjuster supporting the first housing movably in a direction in which the size of the gap increases. When, with the first housing arranged at the first position, a sheet with a thickness greater than a reference value passes through the sheet conveying passage, the first housing moves in the direction in which the size of the gap increases as the sheet enters the sheet conveying passage, to allow the passage of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Kei Maruyama
  • Patent number: 11300109
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates broadly to an energy apparatus comprising a flywheel assembly, drive means operatively coupled to the flywheel assembly, and an energy generator operatively coupled to the flywheel assembly via extraction means. The drive means includes biasing means connected to an actuator arranged to provide stored energy in the biasing means. The apparatus also comprises transmission means coupled between the flywheel assembly and the biasing means wherein release of stored energy from the biasing means provides a driving force which effects rotation of the flywheel assembly which gains momentum. The extraction means is arranged for rapid extraction of the momentum of the flywheel assembly. The energy generator generates electricity from the rapidly extracted momentum of the flywheel assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: CLEAN POWR PTY LTD
    Inventors: Anatole Kononewsky, Mark McCutcheon
  • Patent number: 11292681
    Abstract: A sheet feed device includes a pair of sheet feed rollers, a pair of separation pads, and a first contact portion. The pair of sheet feed rollers are provided in alignment with an interval between them in a width direction perpendicular to a feeding direction in which sheets placed on a sheet placing portion are fed, and feed a sheet from the sheet placing portion. When an overlapping sheet overlaps under a target sheet that is in contact with the pair of sheet feed rollers, the pair of separation pads separate the overlapping sheet from the target sheet. The first contact portion is provided on the holder at a position between the pair of separation pads and projecting more than contact surfaces of the pair of separation pads, and comes in contact with the lower surface of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Naozumi Ogawa
  • Patent number: 11286130
    Abstract: A device (110) for sampling sheet elements (20) in a sorting unit (100) comprises: transport means (111, 112) defining a plane (P0) and able to move (A) a sheet element (20) longitudinally upstream to downstream, an axis (R1) situated at the level of the transport means (111, 112) and extending transversely, a diversion part (113) rotatable about the axis (R1) and having at least one end (114) so that during the rotation of the diversion part (113) through a first angular sector (S1) the horizontal projection of the end (114) remains below the plane (P0) and during the rotation through a second angular sector (S2) complementary to the first angular sector the horizontal projection of the end (114) moves above the plane (P0) so as to divert a sheet element (20) in a direction different from the plane (P0) and thus to sample the sheet element (20).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: BOBST MEX SA
    Inventor: Pascal Marciano