Patents Examined by Leslie A. Nicholson, III
  • Patent number: 11274011
    Abstract: A sheet post processing device includes a loading tray on which a sheet conveyed thereto is loaded, a side end edge binding stapler fixed at a position opposed to a side end edge, along a conveyance direction, of a sheet bundle of a plurality of sheets loaded on the loading tray, the side end edge binding stapler performing a first binding process on the side end edge, a conveyance unit that moves the sheet bundle on the loading tray in the conveyance direction, and a controller that controls the conveyance unit. The controller can cause the conveyance unit to move the sheet bundle in the conveyance direction so as to perform the first binding process on the sheet bundle with the side end edge binding stapler at a plurality of positions along the side end edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Rina Okada, Masahiko Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 11274012
    Abstract: A sheet binding device includes a first binding unit that performs a first binding process of binding a sheet bundle having a first thickness or less without using a staple, and a second binding unit that performs a second binding process of binding the sheet bundle having a second thickness or less exceeding the first thickness using a staple, the first binding process by the first binding device is preferentially executed when the thickness of the sheet bundle is the first thickness or less, and the second binding process by the second binding unit is executed when the thickness of the sheet bundle exceeds the first thickness and is equal to or less than the second thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventor: Keisuke Egawa
  • Patent number: 11274010
    Abstract: A sheet post-processing apparatus includes a first stapler and a second stapler having different thicknesses of sheets on which a binding process can be performed. A control unit can perform a manual staple mode. If the first stapler is selected as a stapler for performing the binding process in the manual staple mode, the control unit controls the alignment member moving mechanism to move alignment members to a position defining a first insertion position for guiding the sheets to a first placing position. If the second stapler is selected, the control unit controls the alignment member moving mechanism to move the alignment members to a position defining a second insertion position for guiding the sheets to a second placing position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Rina Okada
  • Patent number: 11274013
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a sheet-folding apparatus which includes transporting rollers, folding rollers, a pushing member provided between the transporting rollers and the folding-rollers, and a guide unit for guiding the sheet to the folding-roller pair by using the pushing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventors: Tomohisa Shimizu, Dai Tamura, Daichi Tojo
  • Patent number: 11267275
    Abstract: Provided is a book block aligning device that forms one processing line with paper processing devices on an upstream side and a downstream side, and is capable of stably performing alignment processing of a book block at a high speed. Provided is the book block aligning device comprising an air blowing control mechanism that controls start/stop of blowing of air from an air outlet, and an air volume of air, in accordance with timing when a book block passes through the air outlet opened in a conveying surface provided in a conveying path, and a vibration mechanism that vibrates a first conveying surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Horizon International, Inc.
    Inventors: Kohei Okamoto, Shigenobu Fukuda, Shigeru Wakimoto
  • Patent number: 11268224
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing trapezoid-shaped masks is disclosed. The apparatus may include, a first feeding unit, for providing three or more rolled fabrics; a second feeding unit, for providing one or more rolled materials, simultaneously to the provision of the three or more rolled fabrics; a first folding and joining unit, for folding and joining together edges of three or more fabrics provided by the first feeding unit to form a joint multilayered fabric; a second folding and joining unit, for folding and joining the edges of one or more materials provided by the second feeding unit to form folded material; and a joining unit configured to join together the joint multilayered fabric and the folded material, by forming the continuous joint thereby forming at least two masks in relatively alternating positions, such that the open side of one mask is pointing in an opposite direction from the open side of the other mask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: AVIRAM F INDUSTRIES LTD.
    Inventor: Aviram Frost
  • Patent number: 11254145
    Abstract: A post-processing device includes an intermediate tray on which a medium transported in a transport direction is placed, a discharge port through which the medium post-processed on the intermediate tray is discharged, a discharge tray which is disposed in a gravity direction with respect to the discharge port and on which the medium discharged from the discharge port is placed, and an elevating mechanism which elevates the discharge tray, in which the elevating mechanism can move the discharge tray to a first normal position and a first standby position positioned in a direction opposite to the gravity direction with respect to the first normal position, and moves the discharge tray to the first normal position or the first standby position according to an amount of ink before the medium comes in contact with the discharge tray or the medium previously placed on the discharge tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shota Sakagami, Yusaku Amano, Yu Tsumuraya, Isao Momose
  • Patent number: 11235661
    Abstract: A reduction drive assembly includes a housing and a flange. Outer surfaces of the spindle and the flange form at least one fillet corner. A motor output shaft extends through an aperture of the spindle. The reduction drive assembly includes a planetary gear assembly that includes a sun gear driven by the motor output shaft and gears. The reduction drive assembly includes a fixed ring gear that is meshed with a second stage gear of each of the planet gears, an output hub, a rotating ring gear coupled to the output hub and meshed with a first stage gear of each of the planet gears, a set of bearings positioned radially between the spindle and the output hub and axially between the fixed ring gear and the flange of the housing, and a spacer ring positioned between the set of bearings and adjacent the at least one fillet corner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Hydro-Gear Limited Partnership
    Inventors: Nathan W. Bonny, Thomas J. Langenfeld
  • Patent number: 11235572
    Abstract: A medium ejection apparatus includes a placement mount on which media are placed, a restriction part that moves between a restriction position at which the restriction part restricts media ejected toward the placement mount and a retracted position retracted from the restriction position, and a processor that controls the restriction part by adjusting a restriction frequency on the basis of at least either an amount of movement of the restriction part from the retracted position to the restriction position or ejection intervals at which the media are ejected toward the placement mount, the restriction frequency being a frequency with which the restriction part performs a restriction operation for the media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: RISO KAGAKU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hisayuki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11235942
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus arranged in a space between an image reading section for reading an image and an image formation section for forming an image on a sheet includes a carry-in path guiding a sheet from a carry-in entrance; a relay roller provided in the carry-in path to relay and transport the sheet; a first transport path positioned on a downstream side of the relay roller and having a carry-in roller to transport the sheet from the carry-in path to the first collection tray; and a second transport path branched from the carry-in path and having a branch roller to transport the transported sheet to the second collection tray. The relay roller shifts the sheet in a direction crossing the transport direction while a front end of the sheet enters the first transport path or the second transport path, and arrives at the carry-in roller or the branch roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventor: Takahiro Nakano
  • Patent number: 11225391
    Abstract: A sheet folding device includes a folding path, a positioning member, a first folding roller, a second folding roller, a folding blade, a guide path, and a conveying roller. The positioning member is to support a leading edge of a sheet fed along the folding path and align the sheet at an initial folding position. The first folding roller is to engage with the second folding roller to form a folding nip. The folding blade is to move to an insertion position to push the sheet on the folding path into the folding nip. The guide path is provided around the first folding roller to return the sheet that has passed through the folding nip to the folding path. The conveying roller is to partially rotate around the first folding roller, to engage with the first folding roller to form a conveying nip and to feed the sheet along the guide path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventors: Eiji Fukasawa, Jung-Kyu Park, Jae-Hyun Shin
  • Patent number: 11214916
    Abstract: A fabric folding device that is capable of performing multiple types of folding modes and prevents an occurrence of a waste space when the device is installed is provided. The fabric folding device does not require a pair of right and left French-folding gauges. There is provided a fabric folding device including a first folding unit capable of folding a fabric, which has a longitudinal direction aligned with a transportation direction and a width direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, at a position half or one-third a length of the fabric in the longitudinal direction; and rotation means for being capable of rotating the fabric such that the transportation direction is changed from the longitudinal direction to the width direction, by which the fabric folded by the first folding unit is to be transported from a front side to a rear side, and to be folded once more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: TOTOFOLDER MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yusuke Maeshima
  • Patent number: 11208292
    Abstract: The folding roller includes a rotation axis and at least a gripping member extending longitudinally along the folding roller, controlled by at least a piezoelectric actuator. The piezoelectric actuator causes a pivoting movement of the gripping member about its pivoting axis parallel to the rotation axis of the folding roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Fabio Perini S.p.A.
    Inventors: Graziano Mazzaccherini, Franco Montagnani, Alessandro Morelli
  • Patent number: 11208291
    Abstract: A post-processing apparatus includes a post-processing unit configured to receive sheets from an image forming apparatus, perform processing on the received sheets, and then discharge the processed sheets through a discharge port. A sensor is configured to detect a presence of an object at the discharge port. The sensor includes a first light emitter on a first side of the discharge port that is positioned to emit a light across a width of the discharge port, a reflector on a second side of the discharge port opposite the first side in a first direction, and a first light receiver positioned to receive light of the first light emitter from the reflector. A controller is configured to terminate the processing on the received sheets by the post-processing unit when the sensor detects the presence of the object at the discharge port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasunobu Terao, Yoshiaki Sugizaki
  • Patent number: 11208290
    Abstract: Provided are a post-processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a post-processing method capable of avoiding the occurrence of a malfunction due to a failure to discharge a sheet bundle after a binding process. A plurality of sheets is loaded on a stack tray. A staple unit binds the plurality of sheets. A discharge roller discharges the sheet bundle bound by the staple unit from the stack tray. Each time a sheet is conveyed to the stack tray, an aligning unit moves between a first position in contact with the sheet loaded on the stack tray and a second position separating from the sheet. A detection processing unit detects a failure of discharging the sheet bundle by the discharging roller. A stop processing unit can stop the operation of the aligning unit when the discharge failure is detected by the detection processing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Ryo Amai, Kazuhisa Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 11207881
    Abstract: A sheet processing machine has at least one shaping device and at least one sheet delivery unit, arranged downstream of the at least one shaping device along a transport path provided for a transport of sheets. The at least one shaping device has at least one shaping point which is formed by at least one forme cylinder, on one hand, and at least one impression cylinder, on the other hand. At least one separation device, for removing scrap pieces from sheets, is arranged downstream of the at least one shaping point along the transport path provided for the transport of sheets. The at least one separation device has at least one separation transport device. At least one transport device, configured as a selective transport device, is arranged following the at least one separation transport device along the transport path provided for the transport of sheets. The transport device is configured as at least one upper suction transport device for a hanging transport of sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: KOENIG & BAUER AG
    Inventors: Bastian Deppisch, Michael Donnert, Christoph Häcker
  • Patent number: 11211844
    Abstract: An electric brake assembly for a planetary reduction drive includes a first housing defining a brake housing compartment, first and second stators disposed within the brake housing compartment, and a rotor disposed within the brake housing compartment between the first and second stators. The rotor has a spline engaging an output shaft of a motor. The electric brake assembly also includes a brake end cap coupled to the first housing and defining a cylindrical volume, a plug movably disposed in the cylindrical volume of the brake end cap, a spring disposed within the cylindrical volume of the brake end cap and compressed by the plug to apply a spring biasing force for pressing the second stator against the rotor, and an electric brake coil positioned adjacent to the second stator to electromagnetically pull the second stator away from the rotor when energized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Hydro-Gear Limited Partnership
    Inventors: Nathan W. Bonny, Ryan S. Buescher, Ryan N. Wilson
  • Patent number: 11203506
    Abstract: In order to enable a sheet end portion to be properly guided to a nip portion in performing folding processing a plurality of times, provided are a transport path including a guide face to guide a transported sheet, a rotating body pair which nips the sheet transported to the transport path by a nip portion to rotate, a folding blade that pushes the sheet to the nip portion of the rotating body pair, and a blade guide member including a guide portion for pushing one end of the sheet to the nip portion when the folding blade pushes the sheet to the nip portion, and a shift section that shifts the folding blade and the blade guide member in a push direction for pushing to the nip portion and in a return direction opposite to the push direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventor: Takuya Katayama
  • Patent number: 11203507
    Abstract: A sheet post-processing apparatus includes a stacker, a pair of folding rollers having a nip portion therebetween, and a blade. A sheet is stacked on the stacker. The blade is configured to fold the sheet in half by pushing the sheet stacked on the stacker into the nip portion of the pair of folding rollers. The pair of folding rollers are configured to switch between a first posture and a second posture. In the first posture, the sheet is pushed into the nip portion by the blade. In the second posture, a feeding direction of the sheet is different from that in the first posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Taguchi
  • Patent number: 11203503
    Abstract: A sheet discharging device includes: a medium supporting portion configured to support a transported medium, the medium supporting portion being configured to swing; a stacking portion which is provided vertically below the medium supporting portion and on which the medium dropped from the medium supporting portion is stacked, the stacking portion being configured to move up and down; and a detecting portion that detects swinging of the medium supporting portion, in which the detecting portion detects the swinging of the medium supporting portion when the medium on the rising stacking portion comes into contact with a lower surface of the medium supporting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Chiaki Shimada