Patents by Inventor Akira Kunieda
Akira Kunieda 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).
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Publication number: 20190284009Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes conveyers to convey a sheet. The conveyers include a registration conveyer which a plurality of sheets is to sequentially contact and is configured to bend a preceding sheet contacting the registration conveyer toward a direction in which the preceding sheet does not obstruct an entry of a following sheet to the registration conveyer when the conveyers overlay and convey the plurality of sheets after the plurality of sheets sequentially contacts the registration conveyer.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 19, 2018Publication date: September 19, 2019Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Michitaka SUZUKI, Shinji ASAMI, Tomohiro FURUHASHI, Tomomichi HOSHINO, Fumiharu YONEYAMA, Makoto HIDAKA, Koki SAKANO, Akira KUNIEDA, Takuya MORINAGA, Yohsuke HARAGUCHI
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Publication number: 20190284008Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a folding device to fold a sheet and a fold-enhancing device to press a folded portion of the sheet folded by the folding device to perform enhanced folding processing on the sheet whose trailing edge has exited the folding device.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 6, 2019Publication date: September 19, 2019Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Koki SAKANO, Shinji ASAMI, Tomohiro FURUHASHI, Michitaka SUZUKI, Tomomichi HOSHINO, Fumiharu YONEYAMA, Makoto HIDAKA, Akira KUNIEDA, Takuya MORINAGA, Yohsuke HARAGUCHI
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Publication number: 20190284010Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a first conveyer to convey a sheet, a first folding device to fold the sheet and put a crease in the sheet, a second conveyer to convey the sheet folded by the first folding device, a second folding device to fold the sheet and put a crease in the sheet, and a guide. The first conveyer and the second conveyer are rotatable in reverse. The guide guides the sheet conveyed downstream from the first conveyer and the sheet conveyed downstream from the second conveyer.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2019Publication date: September 19, 2019Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Shinji Asami, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Michitaka Suzuki, Tomomichi Hoshino, Fumiharu Yoneyama, Makoto Hidaka, Koki Sakano, Akira Kunieda, Takuya Morinaga, Yohsuke Haraguchi
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Publication number: 20190284006Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a blade having a plurality of teeth aligned in a row, a mover to move in a direction in which the plurality of teeth is aligned and form a perforation in a sheet sandwiched by the blade and the mover, and a pressure device to press the mover toward the blade.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 24, 2019Publication date: September 19, 2019Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Tomomichi Hoshino, Shinji Asami, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Michitaka Suzuki, Fumiharu Yoneyama, Makoto Hidaka, Koki Sakano, Akira Kunieda, Takuya Morinaga, Yohsuke Haraguchi
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Publication number: 20190284011Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes an entry portion, a sheet conveyance path extending from the entry portion, a skew correction roller pair that contacts a leading edge of a sheet conveyed in a predetermined direction from the entry portion to correct skew of the sheet, and a receiving path. The skew correction roller pair conveys the skew-corrected sheet in a direction opposite the predetermined direction. The receiving path branches from the sheet conveyance path from the entry portion to the skew correction roller pair to receive the sheet conveyed in the direction opposite the predetermined direction.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 13, 2019Publication date: September 19, 2019Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Tomohiro Furuhashi, Shinji Asami, Michitaka Suzuki, Tomomichi Hoshino, Fumiharu Yoneyama, Makoto Hidaka, Koki Sakano, Akira Kunieda, Takuya Morinaga, Yohsuke Haraguchi
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Publication number: 20190276263Abstract: A folding apparatus includes a folding device to fold a sheet bundle, an additional folding device, a conveyer, and control circuitry. The additional folding device includes a pressure roller disposed downstream from the folding device in a sheet conveyance direction and configured to press the sheet bundle after the folding device folds the sheet bundle and a sheet support member disposed opposite the pressure roller via the sheet bundle. The conveyer conveys the sheet bundle to a position at which the additional folding device presses the sheet bundle and hold the sheet bundle at the position. The control circuitry causes the additional folding device to perform additional folding processing on a first position of the sheet bundle, the conveyer to move the sheet bundle to a second position different from the first position, and the additional folding device to perform the additional folding processing at the second position again.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 20, 2018Publication date: September 12, 2019Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Makoto Hidaka, Shinji Asami, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Takuya Morinaga, Tomomichi Hoshino, Yohsuke Haraguchi, Koki Sakano, Michitaka Suzuki, Akira Kunieda, Fumiharu Yoneyama
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Patent number: 10097711Abstract: A sheet processing device includes: a stacking unit configured to stack a plurality of sheets to obtain a sheet bundle; a stitched-sheet number acquiring unit configured to acquire a number of sheets in the sheet bundle, which is a target to be stitched; a permanent stitching unit configured to permanently stitch the sheet bundle; a temporary stitching unit configured to be capable of temporarily stitching a plurality of areas of the sheet bundle; a selecting unit configured to select any one of the permanent stitching unit and the temporary stitching unit to be used; and a stitching-process control unit configured to, when the temporary stitching unit is selected by the selecting unit, control the temporary stitching unit so as to change a number of areas that are stitched by the temporary stitching unit.Type: GrantFiled: May 25, 2016Date of Patent: October 9, 2018Assignee: RIOCH COMPANY, LIMITEDInventors: Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Hidehiko Fujiwara, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Wataru Takahashi, Katsuhiro Kosuge, Koki Sakano, Takuya Morinaga, Akira Kunieda, Makoto Hidaka, Shohichi Satoh, Yohsuke Haraguchi
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Publication number: 20180236744Abstract: A sheet processing device includes: a conveying module that conveys a folded sheet; and a pressing module that presses a folded part of the folded sheet by rotating about a direction orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction of the conveying module as a rotation axis. The pressing module includes a projecting part arranged in a certain range in a direction of the rotation axis along a circumferential surface about the rotation axis. The projecting part is formed to be symmetric with respect to a middle part of the rotation axis in the direction of the rotation axis, and the projecting part arranged on one side from the middle part along the direction of the rotation axis are formed such that a position of the projecting part in a rotational direction of the circumferential surface varies along the direction of the rotation axis.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 25, 2018Publication date: August 23, 2018Inventors: Michitaka SUZUKI, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Tomomichi Hoshino, Akira Kunieda, Takahiro Watanabe, Yuji Suzuki, Satoshi Saito, Koki Sakano, Takao Watanabe
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Patent number: 9993987Abstract: A sheet processing device includes: a conveying module that conveys a folded sheet; and a pressing module that presses a folded part of the folded sheet by rotating about a direction orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction of the conveying module as a rotation axis. The pressing module includes a projecting part arranged in a certain range in a direction of the rotation axis along a circumferential surface about the rotation axis. The projecting part is formed to be symmetric with respect to a middle part of the rotation axis in the direction of the rotation axis, and the projecting part arranged on one side from the middle part along the direction of the rotation axis are formed such that a position of the projecting part in a rotational direction of the circumferential surface varies along the direction of the rotation axis.Type: GrantFiled: October 14, 2015Date of Patent: June 12, 2018Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.Inventors: Michitaka Suzuki, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Tomomichi Hoshino, Akira Kunieda, Takahiro Watanabe, Yuji Suzuki, Satoshi Saito, Koki Sakano, Takao Watanabe
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Patent number: 9944488Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a first binding unit configured to bind a sheet bundle; a second binding unit with greater number of bindable sheets than number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit; and a number-of-sheets determining unit configured to determine whether number of to-be-bound sheets exceeds the number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit. The first binding unit moves to a binding position, and if the number-of-sheets determining unit determines that the number of to-be-bound sheets exceeds the number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit, the first binding unit moves away from the binding position. When the number-of-sheets determining unit determines that the number of to-be-bound sheets exceeds the number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit, the second binding unit moves to the binding position.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 2016Date of Patent: April 17, 2018Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Akira Kunieda, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Hidehiko Fujiwara, Katsuhiro Kosuge, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Wataru Takahashi, Makoto Hidaka, Shohichi Satoh, Koki Sakano, Takuya Morinaga, Yohsuke Haraguchi, Kota Nakashima, Shinji Tanoue, Takahiro Itou
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Patent number: 9604814Abstract: According to an embodiment, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus includes a stacking unit that stacks a sheet conveyed thereto; a first alignment unit that aligns the sheet or a bundle of sheets stacked in the stacking unit in a sheet conveying direction; a second alignment unit that aligns the sheet or the bundle of sheets stacked in the stacking unit in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction; a pressing unit that presses the bundle of sheets at an end portion thereof on a predetermined one side; and a control unit that causes at least one of the first and second alignment units to execute an alignment operation during a press operation of the sheet or the bundle of sheets performed by the pressing unit.Type: GrantFiled: January 12, 2015Date of Patent: March 28, 2017Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITEDInventors: Tomohiro Furuhashi, Masahiro Tamura, Shuuya Nagasako, Keisuke Sugiyama, Kazuya Yamamoto, Kyosuke Nakada, Tomomichi Hoshino, Akira Kunieda, Takahiro Watanabe, Takamasa Matsumoto, Junya Suzuki, Youhei Niitsuma, Kazunori Konno, Kiichiro Goto
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Patent number: 9561927Abstract: A sheet discharging device includes a shift tray 202 on which a sheet P1 is stacked, a discharging roller 6 that discharges a sheet P2 onto the shift tray 202, a blowing device 230 that sends air to a lower surface of the sheet P2 discharged by the discharging roller 6, a blocking member 231 that blocks air sent to the lower surface of the sheet P2 from a blowing port 230-2 of the blowing device 230, and a control unit that controls the blocking amount of the blocking member 231. The blocking amount is determined based upon sheet information including sheet-type information, sheet-size information, and sheet-thickness information, for example.Type: GrantFiled: November 25, 2015Date of Patent: February 7, 2017Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITEDInventors: Tomomichi Hoshino, Masahiro Tamura, Shuuya Nagasako, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Keisuke Sugiyama, Kyosuke Nakada, Kazuya Yamamoto, Akira Kunieda, Takahiro Watanabe, Junya Suzuki, Kazunori Konno, Youhei Niitsuma, Takamasa Matsumoto, Kiichiro Goto, Kazuhiko Kitano, Takashi Fukumoto, Yasuo Niikura, Satoru Takano, Hidetoshi Kojima, Kei Sasaki, Yasushi Tsuruoka, Shintaro Matsumoto, Ryo Takahashi, Yuuta Mori, Kohjiroh Haga
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Patent number: 9555998Abstract: A sheet processing device includes: a folder that forms a plurality of folds on a sheet such that a fold part and a part with no fold of the sheet overlap with each other; a conveyance unit that conveys the sheen on which the folds are formed by the folder; and a pressing part that presses the fold part of the conveyed sheet in which the fold part and the part with no fold overlap with each other, from a side on which the fold part is located.Type: GrantFiled: January 30, 2015Date of Patent: January 31, 2017Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITEDInventors: Takahiro Watanabe, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Michitaka Suzuki, Tomomichi Hoshino, Akira Kunieda, Yuji Suzuki, Satoshi Saito, Koki Sakano
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Patent number: 9533852Abstract: A sheet ejecting device includes: a sheet ejecting unit configured to eject a sheet; a stacking unit on which the sheet that is ejected by the ejecting unit is stacked; an aligning unit configured to align the sheet in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the sheet is ejected; and a blowing unit configured to be provided to the aligning unit and blow a wind toward the ejected sheet.Type: GrantFiled: June 15, 2015Date of Patent: January 3, 2017Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITEDInventors: Junya Suzuki, Kiichiro Goto, Masahiro Tamura, Shuuya Nagasako, Keisuke Sugiyama, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Kyosuke Nakada, Kazuya Yamamoto, Tomomichi Hoshino, Akira Kunieda, Takahiro Watanabe, Takamasa Matsumoto, Kazunori Konno, Youhei Niitsuma
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Publication number: 20160360053Abstract: A sheet processing device includes: a stacking unit configured to stack a plurality of sheets to obtain a sheet bundle; a stitched-sheet number acquiring unit configured to acquire a number of sheets in the sheet bundle, which is a target to be stitched; a permanent stitching unit configured to permanently stitch the sheet bundle; a temporary stitching unit configured to be capable of temporarily stitching a plurality of areas of the sheet bundle; a selecting unit configured to select any one of the permanent stitching unit and the temporary stitching unit to be used; and a stitching-process control unit configured to, when the temporary stitching unit is selected by the selecting unit, control the temporary stitching unit so as to change a number of areas that are stitched by the temporary stitching unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 25, 2016Publication date: December 8, 2016Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Nobuyoshi SUZUKI, Hidehiko FUJIWARA, Yuusuke SHIBASAKI, Wataru TAKAHASHI, Katsuhiro KOSUGE, Koki SAKANO, Takuya MORINAGA, Akira KUNIEDA, Makoto HIDAKA, Shohichi SATOH, Yohsuke HARAGUCHI
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Publication number: 20160340145Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a first binding unit configured to bind a sheet bundle; a second binding unit with greater number of bindable sheets than number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit; and a number-of-sheets determining unit configured to determine whether number of to-be-bound sheets exceeds the number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit. The first binding unit moves to a binding position, and if the number-of-sheets determining unit determines that the number of to-be-bound sheets exceeds the number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit, the first binding unit moves away from the binding position. When the number-of-sheets determining unit determines that the number of to-be-bound sheets exceeds the number of bindable sheets of the first binding unit, the second binding unit moves to the binding position.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 13, 2016Publication date: November 24, 2016Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Akira KUNIEDA, Nobuyoshi SUZUKI, Hidehiko FUJIWARA, Katsuhiro KOSUGE, Yuusuke SHIBASAKI, Wataru TAKAHASHI, Makoto HIDAKA, Shohichi SATOH, Koki SAKANO, Takuya MORINAGA, Yohsuke HARAGUCHI, Kota NAKASHIMA, Shinji TANOUE, Takahiro ITOU
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Publication number: 20160340144Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: a conveying unit configured to convey a sheet along a sheet conveyance path; a conveyance-path supporting unit configured to support both ends of the sheet conveyance path with respect to a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction; a first stitching unit configured to stitch the sheets conveyed; a second stitching unit configured to stitch the sheets conveyed; a first moving unit configured to move the first stitching unit in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction; and a second moving unit configured to move the second stitching unit in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, wherein any one of the first stitching unit and the second stitching unit is movable to outside of the conveyance-path supporting unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 10, 2016Publication date: November 24, 2016Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Koki SAKANO, Nobuyoshi SUZUKI, Hidehiko FUJIWARA, Yuusuke SHIBASAKI, Wataru TAKAHASHI, Katsuhiro KOSUGE, Makoto HIDAKA, Shohichi SATOH, Akira KUNIEDA, Takuya MORINAGA, Yohsuke HARAGUCHI
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Patent number: 9388015Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: a first conveying member pair that folds a sheet; a second conveying member pair that conveys downstream the sheet folded by the first conveying member pair; and a third conveying member pair that further folds the sheet folded by the first conveying member pair. The second conveying member pair is rotatable forward and reversely when driven to convey, and is locked in one rotational direction but is rotatable in the other rotational direction when not driven.Type: GrantFiled: May 6, 2014Date of Patent: July 12, 2016Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Michitaka Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Kyosuke Nakada, Akira Kunieda, Takahiro Watanabe, Yuji Suzuki
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Publication number: 20160185552Abstract: A sheet discharging device includes a shift tray 202 on which a sheet P1 is stacked, a discharging roller 6 that discharges a sheet P2 onto the shift tray 202, a blowing device 230 that sends air to a lower surface of the sheet P2 discharged by the discharging roller 6, a blocking member 231 that blocks air sent to the lower surface of the sheet P2 from a blowing port 230-2 of the blowing device 230, and a control unit that controls the blocking amount of the blocking member 231. The blocking amount is determined based upon sheet information including sheet-type information, sheet-size information, and sheet-thickness information, for example.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 25, 2015Publication date: June 30, 2016Applicant: Ricoh Company, LIMITEDInventors: Tomomichi HOSHINO, Masahiro TAMURA, Shuuya NAGASAKO, Tomohiro FURUHASHI, Keisuke SUGIYAMA, Kyosuke NAKADA, Kazuya YAMAMOTO, Akira KUNIEDA, Takahiro WATANABE, Junya SUZUKI, Kazunori KONNO, Youhei NIITSUMA, Takamasa MATSUMOTO, Kiichiro GOTO, Kazuhiko KITANO, Takashi FUKUMOTO, Yasuo NIIKURA, Satoru TAKANO, Hidetoshi KOJIMA, Kei SASAKI, Yasushi TSURUOKA, Shintaro MATSUMOTO, Ryo TAKAHASHI, Yuuta MORI, Kohjiroh HAGA
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Patent number: 9334140Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: first to third pairs of conveying members; and a bifurcating claw that moves to a first guiding position for guiding the sheet to the second pair of conveying members, a second guiding position for guiding a deflected portion of the sheet to the third pair of conveying members, and a third guiding position for guiding a leading end of the sheet to the third pair of conveying members. The second pair of conveying members is rotated backward in a state in which the sheet is held by the first pair of conveying members and the second pair of conveying members, to guide the deflected portion to the third pair of conveying members and cause the deflected portion to be folded by the third pair of conveying members.Type: GrantFiled: May 21, 2014Date of Patent: May 10, 2016Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.Inventors: Takahiro Watanabe, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Shuuya Nagasako, Michitaka Suzuki, Kyosuke Nakada, Akira Kunieda, Yuji Suzuki