Patents by Inventor Toshio Shida

Toshio Shida has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20080106029
    Abstract: A sheet storing device having a conveyance device that converts the conveyance direction while holding the sheet and a storing section that has the first support member supporting the surface of the sheet substantially vertically, the second support member supporting the edge of the sheet and a pressing member pressing the sheet against the first support member, a post-processing apparatus equipped with the sheet storing device and an image forming system equipped with the aforesaid items.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2007
    Publication date: May 8, 2008
    Applicant: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Toshio SHIDA, Masashi KOUGAMI
  • Publication number: 20080089728
    Abstract: A sheet moisturizing device, including: paired moisturizing rollers which form a nipping section to apply water onto a sheet when the sheet is conveyed through the nipping section; two water supplying rollers, each being in pressure contact to each of paired moisturizing rollers respectively; and two water supplying tanks, each arranged to face one of the water supplying rollers, wherein each of the two water supplying tanks is structured of a first tank which supplies water to the water supplying roller, and a second tank which is formed around the first tank and accommodates the water overflowed from the first tank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2007
    Publication date: April 17, 2008
    Applicant: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Masashi Kougami, Toshio Shida
  • Patent number: 7333767
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for punching a hole in a paper with a punching unit in a paper post-processing apparatus. The paper is nipped and transported with a transporting roller system arranged downstream of the punching unit in a paper transport direction to make at least a leading edge of the paper pass through an aligning unit. An actuator is activated to end the nipping of the paper by the transporting roller system, and the aligning unit aligns the paper in a width direction thereof that is perpendicular to the paper transport direction. The activation of the actuator is ended to resume the nipping of the paper, and a stopper member is inserted into a paper transport path upstream of a punch of the punching unit. A trailing edge of the paper is then caused to hit the stopper member, and the paper is punched by the punching unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2008
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: Masahiro Kaneko, Toshio Shida, Mikihiro Yamakawa
  • Patent number: 7328893
    Abstract: A finisher for finishing a booklet having a bundle of center-folded sheets, includes: a detector for detecting an end on a side of a folded portion of the booklet: a moving device for conveying the booklet by movement thereof; a controller for controlling the movement of the moving device; and a cutting device for cutting an edge on a side opposite to the end of the booklet, which has been conveyed by the moving device to a cutting position. The controller controls the movement of the moving device from a position where the detector has detected the end of the folded portion to the cutting position so that a size of a booklet after being cut is kept constant for each of sheet sizes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2008
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenji Kawatsu, Toshio Shida, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, Masaaki Uchiyama, Masato Hattori
  • Publication number: 20070280765
    Abstract: A decurl device includes: a curl detecting section having a plurality of toothed wheels each which detects a curling amount and a curling direction of a sheet having a curl; and a plurality of uncurling sections each arranged downstream of the curl detecting section in a conveyance direction of the sheet having the curl, which uncurls the sheet by bending and transforming the sheet in a direction reverse to a curling direction thereof. One of the uncurling sections, which reduces the curl, is selected on the basis of the curling amount and the curling direction that have been detected by the curl detecting section, thereby uncurling the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Inventors: Toshio Shida, Masashi Kougami
  • Publication number: 20070264067
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus which flattens a curled sheet includes: a water content control unit which controls a water content of a sheet to flatten the curled sheet; a decurling section which is provided downstream the water content control unit with respect to a conveyance direction of the sheet, and the decurling section bends the curled sheet to be flat by a bending force; and a conveyance route changing section which changes a conveyance route of the sheet to direct to the water content control unit or not.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Publication date: November 15, 2007
    Inventors: Toshio Shida, Hirofumi Kayahara, Masashi Kougami
  • Publication number: 20070240640
    Abstract: An image forming system, comprises an image forming section to form an image on a sheet; a fixing section to fix the image formed on the sheet; a sheet conveying passage to convey the fixed sheet; a humidifying roller arranged on the sheet passage and to humidify the sheet; a water supplying tank to feed water to the humidifying roller; an electric component; and a waterproofing member to protect the electric component from water.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Publication date: October 18, 2007
    Inventors: Toshio Shida, Hirofumi Kayahara, Masashi Kougami
  • Publication number: 20070242987
    Abstract: A sheet moisturizing apparatus, including a vertical conveyance route in which a sheet is guided upward or downward and paired moisuturizing units which are mounted symmetrically to sandwich the vertical conveyance route.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Publication date: October 18, 2007
    Inventors: Toshio Shida, Hirofumi Kayahara, Masashi Kougami
  • Patent number: 7255337
    Abstract: A post processing apparatus for processing image-recorded sheets, having: a transporting unit for transporting a booklet comprising a plurality of image-recorded sheets; a trimming section for trimming the booklet; and an oscillating mechanism for oscillating the transporting unit to change a transporting plane angle of the transporting unit; wherein, the oscillating mechanism oscillates the transporting unit to arrange a first transporting plane angle at the time when the transporting unit receives the booklet and a second transporting plane angle at the time when the transporting unit conveys the booklet to the trimming section different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2007
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, Toshio Shida, Masaaki Uchiyama, Masato Hattori, Kenji Kawatsu
  • Publication number: 20070102861
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus having therein an image forming apparatus body and at least one post-processing apparatus, wherein there is provided an intermediate conveyance unit which is connected with and located between the image forming apparatus body and the post-processing apparatus and which has a sheet feed-in section that feeds in sheets ejected from the image forming apparatus body one by one at the same speed as the sheet ejection linear speed of the image forming apparatus body, a sheet storing section that stores two or more sheets which are fed in by the sheet feed-in section and a sheet feed-out section that feeds out the two or more sheets stored in the sheet-storing section with the two or more sheets superposed on each other, at the same speed as the receiving linear speed of the post-processing apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2006
    Publication date: May 10, 2007
    Applicant: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Toshio Shida, Masaaki Uchiyama
  • Publication number: 20070098470
    Abstract: A sheet conveying mechanism, which conveys a sheet on which a toner image has been fixed at a heat-fixing process, includes conveying rollers each of which is a single roller having the same diameter throughout a width for passing the sheet and is disposed in a predetermined section for a cooling process after the heat-fixing process, and includes a sheet conveying guide provided on the predetermined section and having a sheet-passing surface made in the same shape throughout the width for passing the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2006
    Publication date: May 3, 2007
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Toshio Shida, Masaaki Uchiyama
  • Patent number: 7207557
    Abstract: An image forming system enabling a cost reduction by decreasing the number of components and having enough performance levels of individual postprocessing functions, comprising: an image forming apparatus body and at least one postprocessing unit, the postprocessing unit selectable from a plurality of types of postprocessing units, wherein a single-sheet processing machine is provided as one of the plurality of types of postprocessing units and wherein the single-sheet processing machine has a plurality of types of single-sheet processing functions for postprocessing in units of a sheet and a sheet attachment function of attaching a cover sheet or an insert sheet to an output sheet bulk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Masahiro Kaneko, Toshio Shida, Kazuhiro Hirota, Kazuo Sato
  • Patent number: 7178799
    Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to provide a post processing apparatus to load a center-folded sheet on a loading member and unload the paper sheets when a number of sheet reaches a predetermined number without damages with sheets. A Post-processing apparatus having a center folding member for making a center folded sheet by forming a folded line on a paper sheet, on which image is formed, a loading member for loading a member of center folded sheets by supporting a valley side of the center folded sheets, a supporting member for supporting a folded part or an adjacent folded part of a valley side of the center folded sheets loaded on the loading member, and a driving-means for moving the center folded sheets loaded on the loading member by moving the supporting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2007
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, Toshio Shida, Masaaki Uchiyama, Masato Hattori, Kenji Kawatsu
  • Patent number: 7077798
    Abstract: To avoid displacement of the fold formed on a sheet and misalignment between sheets when a fold is formed on a bundle of sheets stacked one on top of another, a sheet folding apparatus, for forming a plurality of folds on the sheet on which an image is formed, includes a first folding section and a second folding section. The first folding section has a first folding roller, a second folding roller in contact with the first roller, and a first folding plate member for inserting the first fold of the sheet between the first and second folding rollers. The second folding section has the second folding roller, a third folding roller in contact with the second folding roller provided downstream from the first folding roller in the sheet feeding direction, and a second folding plate member for inserting the second fold of the sheet between the second and third folding rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenji Kawatsu, Toshio Shida, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, Masaaki Uchiyama, Masato Hattori
  • Patent number: 7052005
    Abstract: This invention relates to a sheet postprocessing apparatus for executing postprocessing including a punching process, folding process, binding process, and the like, midway along a sheet convey path, for sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus, and a folding method. This sheet postprocessing apparatus includes a sheet folding section having the first and second folding sections which are arranged in series in a sheet convey direction to execute folding processes for sheets. The sheet folding section is configured such that the first folding section performs the first folding process in a Z-fold process, the first folding process in an internal three-fold process, and a center folding process with an image-transferred surface facing outside, and the second folding section performs the second folding process in the Z-fold process, the second folding process in the internal three-fold process, and a center folding process with an image-transferred surface facing inside.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Mikihiro Yamakawa, Toshio Shida, Masahiro Kaneko
  • Publication number: 20060086220
    Abstract: A sheet cutting apparatus includes: a cutting blade for cutting an edge of a sheet bundle conveyed to a cutting position of the sheet bundle; a cutting blade moving section for moving obliquely the cutting blade with respect to a sheet surface of the sheet bundle; a fixed supporting table for supporting the sheet bundle in a vicinity of the cutting position; a blade receiving member for pressing the sheet bundle and receiving the cutting blade in the vicinity of the cutting position; and a blade receiving member moving section for ascending or descending the blade receiving member. A center position of a load application action of the blade receiving member by the blade receiving member moving section, is set to a position upstream of the sheet cutting position in a conveying direction of the sheet bundle, and in the vicinity of the sheet cutting position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2005
    Publication date: April 27, 2006
    Inventors: Masahiro Kaneko, Toshio Shida, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi
  • Publication number: 20060086226
    Abstract: A sheet cutting device, including a cutter blade to cut a bundle of sheets by moving at a slant whose component is a compound of moving perpendicular to the surface of the bundle of sheets and simultaneously parallel to the surface of the bundle of sheets, a supporting member to support the bundle of sheets for cutting, wherein the supporting member includes a supporting surface to support the bundle of sheets and an edge section perpendicular to the supporting surface; and a pressing member to press the bundle of sheets on the supporting member, wherein the cutter blade moves along the edge section and protrudes beyond the supporting surface so that the cutter blade cuts through the whole bundle of sheets, and wherein the clearance between the edge section and the cutter blade is 0.0 to 0.5 mm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2005
    Publication date: April 27, 2006
    Inventors: Masahiro Kaneko, Toshio Shida, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi
  • Publication number: 20060086223
    Abstract: A sheet cutting device, including a cutting blade for cutting a bundle of sheets, while moving in a slanted direction compounded by a direction perpendicular to the surface of sheet and a direction parallel to the sheet surface; a supporting member for supporting the bundle of sheets in the vicinity of a cutting position; a pressing section to press the bundle of sheets against the supporting member in a direction reverse to a moving direction of the cutting blade and perpendicular to the sheet surface, and the pressing section to receive the cutting blade at the time when the cutting blade cuts the bundle of sheets; a cutting blade driving section to drive the cutting blade; a pressing section driving section to drive the pressing section; and a control section to release pressing of the bundle of sheets and retract the cutting blade, after the bundle of sheets is cut.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2005
    Publication date: April 27, 2006
    Inventors: Masahiro Kaneko, Toshio Shida, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi
  • Publication number: 20060072954
    Abstract: Replacement time for the cutting board used in the sheet cutting apparatus is detected. A sheet cutting apparatus has a cutting blade to cut a set of sheets by moving in an oblique direction which includes first component of a perpendicular direction to a face of the set of sheets and as second component of a parallel direction to the face, a cutting board to receive the cutting blade, a movable unit to move the cutting board to a face of the cutting blade, and an end detector to detect a moveble end of the cutting board.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 6, 2005
    Publication date: April 6, 2006
    Inventors: Masahiro Kaneko, Toshio Shida, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi
  • Publication number: 20060071414
    Abstract: There is described a paper conveying apparatus that deflects a conveying direction of a paper at substantially 90 degree relative to a conveyance direction of the paper. The apparatus includes: a first conveying section to convey the paper in a first conveyance direction; a second conveying section that includes a conveyance belt, including a conveying nail, to deflect the conveying direction of the paper and conveys the paper in a second conveyance direction, which is substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of a leading edge of the paper; a stopper member for stopping and releasing a side edge portion of the paper in a width direction of the paper; and a driving section to drive both the conveyance belt and the stopper member. The driving section moves the conveying nail and/or the stopper member from an outside of a paper conveying area, to achieve a width truing operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2005
    Publication date: April 6, 2006
    Inventors: Kenji Kawatsu, Toshio Shida, Hiroyuki Wakabayashi, Masaaki Uchiyama, Masato Hattori