Patents Examined by Leslie A. Nicholson, III
  • Patent number: 11807482
    Abstract: A sheet alignment apparatus includes a supporting portion configured to support a sheet, a first alignment member configured to abut an end portion in a first direction of the sheet supported by the supporting portion and align a position of the sheet in the first direction, a first moving unit configured to move the first alignment member in the first direction, a second alignment member configured to abut an end portion in a second direction of the sheet supported by the supporting portion and align a position of the sheet in the second direction, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction, and a second moving unit configured to move the second alignment member in the second direction, wherein the first moving unit is disposed below the supporting portion, and wherein the second moving unit is disposed above the supporting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroharu Tsuji
  • Patent number: 11796044
    Abstract: A gear device drivingly coupling a drive shaft with first and second axles is provided with a case coupled via gearing with the drive shaft, and rotatable about an axis; a hub that is couplable with the first axle; a clutch member retained by the case and disengageably engaged with the hub; a biasing element retaining the clutch member at a position where the clutch member engages with the hub; and a differential gear set coupling the case via gearing with the first and second axles and locked by the clutch member to prevent differential motion between the first axle and the second axle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: GKN Automotive Limited
    Inventors: Isao Hirota, Noboru Higano, Manabu Endou, Kazuhiro Ohashi, Shungo Numabe
  • Patent number: 11795019
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a sheet conveying device includes a tray and a correcting member. On the tray, a sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets are overlapped is stacked in a thickness direction of the sheet bundle. The correcting member moves relative to the tray in the thickness direction. The correcting member abuts against an upper layer portion of an outer peripheral portion of the sheet bundle on the tray, and presses the upper layer portion from an outside after abutting. The correcting member corrects a position of the upper layer portion in a lateral direction intersecting the thickness direction toward an inside from the outside of the sheet bundle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Sakai
  • Patent number: 11795010
    Abstract: A container-transport machine that selectively ejects container includes a transporter that is movable relative to a base and grippers arranged at the transporter. Each gripper suspends a container that is to be transported. An actuator is arranged at the base so as to be stationary relative to the transporter. The actuator is disposed at an ejection position for participating in selectively ejecting an individual container. A selectively-actuatable air nozzle disposed on the base at the ejection position promotes ejection of a container when an opening lever of a gripper interacts with the actuator while the opening lever passes through an ejection position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: KHS GmbH
    Inventors: Nils Schug, Andreas Fahldieck, Uwe Wolf
  • Patent number: 11795024
    Abstract: A printing apparatus comprises a sheet eject tray; a movable guide arranged on an upstream side of the sheet eject tray with respect to a direction of conveyance of a sheet and being configured to be able to move to a protruding position and a retracted position; and a driving mechanism configured to cause the movable guide to move to the protruding position when a leading edge of a sheet is conveyed along the movable guide and cause the movable guide to move to the retracted position when a trailing edge of a sheet is conveyed along the movable guide, wherein the protruding position includes a first position at which the movable guide presses a sheet to the sheet eject tray and a second position between the first position and the retracted position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Fujikake, Tomohiro Suzuki, Waichiro Saiki, Ryo Kobayashi, Takeshi Koda, Toshiro Sugiyama, Tomoyuki Nagase
  • Patent number: 11795028
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a sheet processing apparatus includes a folding unit, a fold reinforcing unit, and a control unit. The folding unit folds a sheet and forms a fold line thereon. The fold reinforcing unit includes a fold reinforcing roller. The fold reinforcing roller sandwiches the fold line on the sheet formed by the folding unit and moves in a fold-line direction in which the fold line extends. The control unit moves the fold reinforcing roller from a first position close to a first end of the fold line on a first side in the fold-line direction to a second position close to a second end of the fold line on a second side opposite to the first side. The control unit can execute, at this time, a division movement mode including a reversal return operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Mikio Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 11787658
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a conveying unit configured to have a roller that conveys a sheet in a conveyance direction; a first detecting device disposed downstream of the conveying unit in the conveyance direction; a second detecting device disposed downstream of the first detecting device in the conveyance direction; a boring unit configured to have a punch that performs boring in the sheet; and a control unit is used. The first detecting device and the second detecting device each detect passage of a leading edge of the sheet being conveyed. The control unit calculates an actual conveyance speed of the sheet on the basis of detection results of the first detecting device and the second detecting device, and controls rotation of the roller, on the basis of the actual conveyance speed, so that the sheet is conveyed at a predetermined target speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Nakahara, Noriyuki Monden, Takahiro Endo
  • Patent number: 11780701
    Abstract: A sheet folding apparatus includes: a rotor having a first peripheral surface and a second peripheral surface with a radius smaller than that of the first peripheral surface and configured to convey a sheet; and a guide member configured to be movable between a first position where it guides a sheet being conveyed by the rotor and a second position retracting from the first position. The guide member is disposed so as to move from the second position to the first position while passing within the rotation locus of the first peripheral surface of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: CANON FINETECH NISCA INC.
    Inventors: Daichi Kobayashi, Takuya Katayama, Koji Kanda
  • Patent number: 11774897
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a paper discharging tray and a paper detection part disposed at an upstream end of the paper discharging tray in a paper discharge direction. The paper detection part includes a base end member provided rotatably around a first axis extending in a direction perpendicular to a paper discharge direction and a tip member pivoted to the base end member to rotate around a second axis parallel to the first axis, and extending downwardly to incline toward an upstream side of the paper discharge direction in a state where the base end member is not subjected to pressure from the paper being discharged. The base end member is disposed to face a discharge opening when being at the reference position, and the image forming apparatus stops discharging paper from the discharge opening when the base end member rotates by a predetermined threshold or more with respect to the reference position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Shibayama, Yuki Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 11772408
    Abstract: An image forming system includes an image forming apparatus, a pressure sealing processing apparatus, and a control unit. The control unit is configured to permit execution of the pressure sealing processing process by the pressure sealing processing apparatus on a recording material of which a grammage is smaller than a predetermined grammage, and is configured not to permit execution of the pressure sealing processing process by the pressure sealing processing apparatus on a recording material of which a grammage is equal to or more than the predetermined grammage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiro Tsukada, Shohei Okumura, Kota Mori, Kenichiro Kitajima, Tohru Nakaegawa
  • Patent number: 11772926
    Abstract: A sheet discharging apparatus includes a guide member configured to guide a lower surface of a sheet, a discharge roller pair, a stacking portion, and a first moving member and a second moving member each configured to move to a first position and a second position, the first position being a position where the first moving member and the second moving member protrude downstream of the discharge roller pair in the sheet discharge direction, the second position being a position located upstream of the first position in the sheet discharge direction. Support portions of the first moving member and the second moving member in the first position protrude upward in a height direction with respect to a tangent of a lower roller of the discharge roller pair when viewed in a sheet width direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Yamano, Shinya Noda
  • Patent number: 11772927
    Abstract: The cross-fold module for a folding machine comprises a cross-fold knife which is movable in a reciprocating manner in a folding-knife movement direction, and a pair of folding rollers which form a folding roller gap in which a sheet that previously was fed in the feeding direction is creased for folding by the cross-fold knife. A delivery transport device for the folded product receives the folded product in a receiving portion close to an outlet of the folding roller gap and transports the folded product to a delivery portion. At least the cross-fold knife and the pair of folding rollers are adjustable horizontally, perpendicular to the folding-knife movement direction and perpendicular to the feeding direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: H+H GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventors: Frank Bahmer, Eduard Melcher
  • Patent number: 11772405
    Abstract: A recording medium processing apparatus includes first teeth that are used for binding processing of a recording medium bundle; second teeth that move toward the first teeth and press the recording medium bundle located between the first teeth and the second teeth; and a control unit that moves the second teeth toward the first teeth to press the second teeth against the first teeth in a state in which there is no recording medium bundle between the first teeth and the second teeth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventors: Masashi Matsumoto, Mitsuhiro Nakamura, Takayuki Uchiyama, Satoko Monoe
  • Patent number: 11760598
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a stacking portion on which a print medium printed by a printing unit configured to perform printing is stacked, a discharge unit configured to discharge the print medium printed by the printing unit to the stacking portion, a passage forming portion arranged facing the stacking portion and configured to form a discharge passage of the print medium together with the stacking portion, and an outlet port located at a downstream end of the stacking portion and a downstream end of the passage forming portion in a conveying direction of the print medium. The passage forming portion includes an opening/closing portion which is displaceable between a closed position for forming the discharge passage and an open position for opening access to the stacking portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsutomu Obata, Yoshiaki Suzuki, Kenji Shimamura, Ryoya Shinjo, Ryosuke Araki
  • Patent number: 11759904
    Abstract: A feeding device includes a material rack configured to support a carrier board, a ratchet mechanism disposed outside the material rack, a locking mechanism disposed outside the material rack, and a triggering mechanism. The locking mechanism can engage with the ratchet mechanism. The triggering mechanism an drive the ratchet mechanism to move back and forth in a first direction, thereby controlling the locking mechanism to move back and forth in a second direction different from the first direction, so that the material rack alternates between a locked state and an unlocked state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: TRIPLE WIN TECHNOLOGY(SHENZHEN) CO.LTD.
    Inventor: Ming-Yang Jiang
  • Patent number: 11760591
    Abstract: A sheet stacking device include a guide unit and a blower. The guide unit receives a downstream end of a sheet in a sheet conveyance direction and guides the sheet downstream in the sheet conveyance direction. The blower blows air toward the sheet guided by the guide unit. A region of the blower from which the air is blown is changeable in response to a size of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Tomonori Tamura
  • Patent number: 11760586
    Abstract: A holder supports a separation member. When a sheet cassette is attached to a main body portion, as the sheet cassette is moved in its attachment direction, a moving mechanism causes the holder to move from an initial position to an operation position. When the holder is at the initial position, the separation member is spaced from a feeding member and is able to pass below the feed-out member. When at the operation position, the holder presses the separation member against the feeding member. When the sheet cassette is attached to the main body portion, the moving mechanism causes the holder to move to the operation position after the separation member passes below the feed-out member. When the sheet cassette is drawn from the main body portion, the moving mechanism causes the holder to move to the initial position before the separation member reaches below the feed-out member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Takeshi Yoshida
  • Patent number: 11753268
    Abstract: A finishing system includes a piercing unit, an image reader, and a controller. The piercing unit includes a piercing member that performs piercing processing on a sheet. The image reader reads the sheet on which the piercing processing is performed to acquire a read image. The controller determines abnormality of the piercing member based on the read image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Shohei Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 11753269
    Abstract: A post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on paper in which an image is formed, the apparatus including: a paper cutter that cuts the paper in which the image is formed; a reader that reads the paper cut by the paper cutter; and a hardware processor that determines whether a cutting position of the paper cut by the paper cutter is good or not based on a read result read by the reader, wherein the hardware processor determines whether the cutting position of the paper in which partial cutting is performed is good or not, the partial cutting being cutting a portion of the paper by the paper cutter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventor: Minoru Asakawa
  • Patent number: 11745572
    Abstract: A transmission mechanism is provided with an output gear drivingly coupled to at least one of a pair of output members and placed coaxially with the pair of output members. A direction in which a rotating electrical machine and an inverter device are arranged side by side in an axial view is defined as a first direction. A direction perpendicular to both an axial direction and the first direction is defined as a second direction. A first output member that is one of the pair of output members is placed between the rotating electrical machine and the inverter device in the first direction, at a position in the second direction where both the rotating electrical machine and the inverter device are placed. The output gear is placed in such a manner as to overlap each of the rotating electrical machine and the inverter device in the axial view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: AISIN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoya Jinnai, Nozomu Takahashi, Hiroaki Sanji