Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a coating portion configured to perform a coating process that forms a coating film on a recording sheet with an image formed thereon, a main transport path configured to transport the recording sheet with the image formed thereon and to have a branching portion formed thereon, and a sub transport path configured to be once branched from the main transport path at the branching portion and to be returned to the main transport path again. The coating portion is disposed on the sub transport path.

Abstract: A document feeder includes a document placing portion, a pick-up roller, a pair of feed rollers, a pair of registration rollers, a document sensor, a moving mechanism, and a control portion. The pick-up roller can move between a sheet feeding position where the pick-up roller contacts with the upper surface of the document placed on a placement surface and a standby position where the pick-up roller does not contact with the upper surface of the document placed on the placement surface. The document sensor detects a document between the feed rollers and the registration rollers in a document feed direction. The moving mechanism moves the pick-up roller up and down. The control portion moves the pick-up roller up to the standby position at a timing when the leading edge of the card document reaches the document sensor in a card document mode in which card documents are successively fed.

Abstract: A control device includes a diagnostic pulse signal generating section having an internal circuit that generates control data and generates diagnostic pulse data for diagnosing the operating terminal and diagnoses the function of the signal line and the operating terminal from the waveform of a feedback signal of the diagnostic pulse signal; a variable amplification circuit that multiplexes the diagnostic pulse signal on the control signal and sends the result to the operating terminal with a preset signal level; and a receiving circuit that receives the feedback signal and sends it to the internal circuit. The internal circuit comprises a correction pulse data generating section that corrects the diagnostic pulse data by correcting the rise time of the diagnostic pulse signal. Even if the length of the signal line is long, the diagnostic pulse signal reception can be achieved without expanding the pulse width of the diagnostic pulse signal.

Abstract: A processor includes a computation unit; a storage unit storing a program; and a data transmission circuit that transmits to an operation monitoring unit a signal corresponding to an instruction for reporting the execution stage of the program. The operation monitoring unit: includes a transition operation identification. circuit and a loop processing identification circuit. The transition operation identification circuit receives a start ID instruction with an attached ID that identifies a task; a termination ID instruction that identifies termination of task operation; and if the task is execution of loop processing, a loop instruction that reports the maximum value of the number of times of this loop processing. The transition operation identification circuit identifies success of the transition operations of the tasks of the program, based on the ID instructions. The loop processing identification circuit identifies abnormality of the number of times of loop processing.

Abstract: A first arithmetic operator (11) includes a first modular arithmetic coding encoder (11b) for encoding a numeric data transmitted by a command from a central controller (31) into a modular arithmetic code, a first arithmetic operation processor (11a) using the numeric data as modular arithmetic coded as an input operand, for executing an arithmetic operation based on a command from the central controller (13), to provide an output in the form of a modular arithmetic code, and a first modular arithmetic code decoder (11c) for determining presence or absence of a bit error in the numeric data output from the first arithmetic operation processor, correcting the bit error, if detected any, to output a decoded numeric data.

Abstract: In a fixing apparatus provided with a plurality of fixing heaters having heat distribution characteristics that are different from each other inside a fixing roller, and an image forming apparatus provided with the fixing apparatus, an auxiliary heater is provided, the auxiliary heater being provided inside the fixing roller and to which power is distributed only during the warm-up period until the fixing roller in a lower temperature state reaches a predetermined fixing temperature. The plurality of fixing heaters includes a first fixing heater having first heat distribution characteristics that mainly heats a center portion of the fixing roller, and a second fixing heater having second heat distribution characteristics that mainly heats both end portion regions of the fixing roller.

Abstract: A microprocessor operation monitoring system whose own tasks are constituted by associating beforehand the task number of the task that is next to be started up, for each of the tasks constituting the program, and abnormality of microprocessor operation is detected by comparing and determining whether or not the announced task and the task to be started up match.

Abstract: The toner of the present invention, comprising a colored resin particle and an external additive, wherein said external additive contains a silica fine particle (A) having a Dv50/Dv10 of 1.8 or more, in which Dv10 represents a particle diameter at which a volume cumulative total from small particle diameter side is 10% and Dv50 represents a particle diameter at which the mentioned volume cumulative total is 50%, a volume average particle diameter in the range from 0.1 to 1.0 ?, and a sphericity in the range from 1 to 1.3. The toner of the present invention cause less fog, and excellent resolution on the printed image, excellent in cleaning property, and cause less filming.

Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a fixing apparatus that causes a recording material to pass through a nip portion formed by a rotating heat roller and a rotating pressure roller being in contact so as to perform a fixing operation is configured including a pressing mechanism that can switch between a pressure applied state in which the pressure roller presses against the heat roller using a bias and a pressure cancelled state in which the pressure is cancelled, a pressure state detection unit, and a control unit that performs a pressure cancelation operation and a pressure application operation.

Abstract: A memory control unit controls writing and reading of data to the slave device according to an instruction from the master device. A bus diagnosis line is directly connected from the bus signal control circuit to a bus signal receiving terminal of the slave device without passing through the address bus and the control signal line. A bus signal abnormality processing unit compares an output bus signal output from the bus signal control circuit to the address bus and the control signal line with a feedback bus signal fed back through the bus diagnosis line to determine the presence/absence of a difference. The memory control unit elongates a bus cycle period of a bus cycle of operation being executed when it is determined in the bus signal abnormality processing unit that the difference is present.

Abstract: A method of transmitting computational data comprising: a step of generating first computational data and generating first generated data using a first generation algorithm for error detection on return; a step of generating second computational data and generating second generated data using a second generation algorithm for error detection; a step of mutually comparing the first/second computational data; a step of transmitting transmission data including coincident computational data and first/second generated data; in the receiving device, a step of generating computational data and third/fourth generated data from preset first/second generation algorithms; and a step of comparing the first/third generated data and the first/third generated data, and detecting error in the received computational data.

Abstract: The embodiments provide a failure diagnosis method for a main memory in an information processing device equipped with a write-back cache. According to the method, an application program stored in the main memory is divided by the storage size of write-back cache, and the regions are stored in advance. Then, a read signal from the main memory to the write-back cache is detected. It is determined whether the region corresponding to the read signal has yet to be diagnosed. If the region has yet to be diagnosed, a command to diagnose failure of the region is issued. If a write signal (write back) to a particular region is detected during the diagnosis of the particular region, the diagnosis of the particular region is stopped. Thus, the failure diagnosis of the main memory is executed in parallel with the execution of the application program.

Abstract: A transparent sheet is attached onto an inclined surface of an original guide plate of an image reading apparatus, and similarly, a transparent sheet is attached onto an inclined surface at an edge portion of a reading guide plate, thereby preventing an original from being chipped by the ground glass-like inclined surfaces and illumination light from being diffused by the ground glass-like inclined surfaces.

Abstract: A document feeder includes a document placing portion, a pick-up roller, a pair of feed rollers, a pair of registration rollers, a document sensor, a moving mechanism, and a control portion. The pick-up roller can move between a sheet feeding position where the pick-up roller contacts with the upper surface of the document placed on a placement surface and a standby position where the pick-up roller does not contact with the upper surface of the document placed on the placement surface. The document sensor detects a document between the feed rollers and the registration rollers in a document feed direction. The moving mechanism moves the pick-up roller up and down. The control portion moves the pick-up roller up to the standby position at a timing when the leading edge of the card document reaches the document sensor in a card document mode in which card documents are successively fed.

Abstract: First and second processing units execute the same control program to the same input data in parallel. An input/output unit generates the input data and receives one of two output data executed by the first and second processing units. A channel selection unit sends the input data to the first and second processing units and sends the one to the input/output unit by selecting the one from the two output data. In the first and second processing units, a control cycle synchronization unit generates a control cycle signal at a control cycle, a processor executes the control program, a data memory stores operation data including the input data, intermediate data being executed and output data executed by the processor. A diagnostics unit generates summary information by compressing the operation data and comparatively decides whether the summary information matches the other summary information of the other processing unit every control cycle.

Abstract: Provided is a swab 1 in which a fiber lump portion 2 is disposed at one end or both ends of a stick 4, and an adhesive layer is disposed partially or entirely on the surface of the fiber lump portion 2, and a flocked layer 3 covering the adhesive layer is disposed by flocking fiber thereon in a brush shape. The swab 1 has a soft texture and excellent elasticity, and also has superior fluid retention performance and fluid release performance. Therefore, the swab is suitable for taking biological specimens, applying chemical agents to the affected parts, cleaning human bodies or equipment (for example, ear cleaning), applying cosmetic materials, or the like.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a fixing apparatus is configured of a pressing portion for causing the pressure roller to enter a pressure applied state by applying bias, a switching portion for causing the pressing portion in the pressure applied state to enter a pressure released state by causing a cam to rotate forward, a pressure state detection portion for detecting the pressure released state, and a control portion for, when shifting from the pressure applied state to the pressure released state, turning forward the cam of the switching portion in the pressure applied state and stopping the cam after the pressure state detection portion detects the pressure released state. If the cam is turned forward with respect to the switching portion for a certain time period, but the pressure state detection portion does not detect the pressure released state, the control portion performs forward rotational direction retry control.

Abstract: A safety input device includes an input controller to control transmission of an input signal to an arithmetic device synchronously with a control cycle set by the arithmetic device, an output controller to instruct output of preset first self-diagnosis pattern data, a test pattern generating unit to encode the first self-diagnosis pattern data into a pulse train signal having a pulse width equal to or below a predetermined value and output the pulse train signal in accordance with a baseband transmission system, a combination input unit to combine the pulse train signal with the input signal, an input interface unit, a pattern reconfiguration unit to decode an output signal from the combination input unit into second self-diagnosis pattern data, and a comparator to compare the first and second self-diagnosis pattern data to judge the presence or absence of a difference between the first and second self-diagnosis pattern data.

Abstract: A first reading guide includes a first guide member, which can turn around a first shaft and is so positioned as to face a first side of a document. The second reading guide includes a second guide member, which can turn around a second shaft and is so positioned as to face a second side of a document. The distance between a first reading position and a reference position is equal to that between a second reading position and the reference position. The first shaft is positioned on the side of the reference position where the first reading position is set. The second shaft is positioned on the side of the reference position where the second reading position is set.

Abstract: A safety output includes an output controller to make an instruction to output normal output data and first self-diagnosis pattern data synchronously with a control cycle, a normal output unit to output the normal output data synchronously with the control cycle, a test pattern generating unit to encode the self-diagnosis pattern data into a pulse train signal having a pulse width not larger than a preset value and output the pulse train signal in accordance with a baseband transmission system, a combination output unit to combine the pulse train signal with the normal output signal and output the resultant signal, a reconfiguration unit to decode the inputted operation-terminal-portion output signal to reconfigure the operation-terminal-portion output signal as second self-diagnosis pattern data, and a comparator to compare the first self-diagnosis pattern data with the second self-diagnosis pattern data to judge the presence or absence of a difference.