Patents by Inventor Hitoshi Hattori

Hitoshi Hattori 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).

  • Patent number: 8490957
    Abstract: A creasing apparatus that performs a creasing process on a sheet, the creasing apparatus including a first conveying path on which a creasing unit is located, the creasing unit performing a creasing process on a sheet conveyed therein; a second conveying path that conveys a sheet conveyed therein to a downstream side without any process being performed on the sheet; and a control unit that, while the first conveying path conveys a sheet so that the creasing unit performs the creasing process on the sheet, causes a subsequent sheet to be conveyed to the downstream side from the second conveying path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Shuuya Nagasako, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Go Aiba, Naoki Oikawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naohiro Kikkawa
  • Publication number: 20130175755
    Abstract: A sheet conveying system includes a sheet inserting apparatus that inserts a second recording medium between first recording media conveyed by a sheet conveying apparatus, and transmits a first time at which second recording media can be successively received hypothetically, and a second time indicating a difference between a conveying time from an accumulating unit of a second recording medium to a merging point at which a second recording medium is inserted and a conveying time from a sheet receiving surface of the sheet inserting apparatus to the merging point. The sheet conveying apparatus sets longer one of the received first time and second time as an insertion interval; and conveys first recording media such that an interval extended by an added value obtained by adding a conveying time corresponding to a length of second recording medium to the insertion interval is provided between the first recording media.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2013
    Publication date: July 11, 2013
    Inventors: Tatsushi MACHIDA, Hitoshi Hattori, Atsushi Kanaya, Yoshikatsu Tsuji, Ryo Kanno
  • Patent number: 8480069
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: a correcting unit that corrects alignment of a sheet; a post-processing unit that performs post-processing on the sheet after the correcting unit corrects the alignment of the sheet; and a creasing unit that forms a crease on the sheet after the correcting unit corrects the alignment of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Akihiro Musha, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8465012
    Abstract: A creasing device that creases sheets on a per-sheet basis and includes: a first member extending perpendicularly to a sheet conveying direction and including a convex blade; a second member extending perpendicularly to the sheet conveying direction and including a concave blade, into which the convex blade is to be fitted; a drive unit that brings the first and the second members into and out of contact with each other, thereby producing a crease in a sheet interposed between the first and the second members; a sheet retainer driven by the drive unit and brought into contact with the second member with the sheet therebetween to retain the sheet across its full width; and a holding unit that holds the sheet retainer in a retaining state during creasing where the contact between the first and the second members starts at one point and develops in one direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Naoyuki Ishikawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Naohiro Kikkawa, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8424859
    Abstract: A creasing apparatus forming a crease on sheets one by one includes: a first member having a linear convex blade formed in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction; a second member having a concave blade being paired with the convex blade; and a drive unit that moves the first and second members so as to cause the convex blade and the concave blade to form a crease on a sheet stopped at a predetermined position. The first member forms the convex blade with first comb and second comb and the second member forms the concave blade with third comb and fourth comb that advance and retract relative to each other. The drive unit selects advanced and retracted positions of the first comb and second comb and advanced and retracted positions of the third comb and fourth comb so as to perform a creasing process or a perforating process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoyuki Ishikawa, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8419003
    Abstract: A creasing device, that forms a crease on a sheet, includes: a first member, extending in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction, on which a convex blade is formed; a second member on which a groove-like concave blade is formed such that the convex blade can be fitted into the concave blade by interposing the sheet therebetween; a drive unit that causes the first and the second members to interpose, therebetween, the sheet to form a crease on the sheet; a sheet-information acquiring unit that acquires first sheet information of the sheet to be creased; an adjusting unit that adjusts a pressing force exerted by the drive unit; and a control unit that sets the pressing force to an optimum pressing force for the sheet and that causes the drive unit to drive the first and the second members for creasing the sheet at the optimum pressing force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Shuuya Nagasako, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8413976
    Abstract: An image forming system includes: a folding unit that folds a sheet of paper to form a fold in the sheet; a creasing unit that, before the sheet is folded, produces a crease in the sheet at a fold position where the fold is to be formed; a crease-position adjusting unit that adjusts a crease position where the crease is to be produced; a fold-position adjusting unit that adjusts the fold position; a first input unit that receives an input specifying an amount, by which the crease position is to be adjusted; and a second input unit that receives an input specifying an amount, by which the fold position is to be adjusted, wherein when the fold position is adjusted by the second input unit, the crease position is also adjusted in synchronization with the adjustment of the fold position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Hattori, Naohiro Kikkawa, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8413974
    Abstract: A creasing device for creasing sheets on a per-sheet basis, the creasing device includes: a first member extending perpendicularly to a sheet conveying direction and including a male blade, which has a convex cross section; a second member extending perpendicularly to the sheet conveying direction and including a grooved female blade, into which the male blade to be fitted with a sheet between the female blade and the male blade; and a drive unit that brings the first member and the second member relatively into and out of contact with each other to cause a sheet stopped at a predetermined position to be pinched between the first member and the second member and creased. An edge portion of any one of the first member and the second member has an arcuate shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
    Inventors: Yuusuke Shibasaki, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8387964
    Abstract: A creasing device includes a creasing unit that creases sheets on a one-by-one basis, which is conveyed to a folding device of a subsequent stage, a sheet detection unit that detects a position of a sheet delivered to the creasing device and a control unit that obtains reference information of a fold-position for the folding device and performs control of a stop position of the sheet according to reference information of the fold position, thereby adjusting a crease position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Takashi Saito, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Publication number: 20130032990
    Abstract: An n image forming system includes an image forming apparatus, a sheet processing apparatus including a post-processing unit to perform post-processing of sheets on a processing tray and a retaining channel disposed to accommodate at least a single sheet while the post-processing unit processes the sheets, and a controller that calculates a target interval time between an interval start sheet and an interval end sheet among the sheets output from the image forming apparatus to the sheet processing apparatus based on at least one of sheet data and post-processing data transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the sheet processing apparatus, and adjusts an interval between discharge of the interval start sheet and the interval end sheet from the image forming apparatus to the sheet processing apparatus in accordance with the target interval time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Publication date: February 7, 2013
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Hitoshi Hattori
  • Patent number: 8333371
    Abstract: A creasing device includes: a first member on which a linear convex-edged blade is formed in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction; a second member on which a concave-edged blade pairing with the convex-edged blade is formed; and a drive unit that drives the first and second members to relatively come close to and away from each other, thereby making a crease on the sheet, wherein in a standby state, the drive unit keeps faces of the first member and second member not parallel; and in making a crease on the sheet, causes the convex-edged blade and the concave-edged blade to have point contact with each other via the sheet held therebetween so as to initiate a creasing movement by a rotation movement thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Shuuya Nagasako, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8322701
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium; a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium on which the image is formed; a crease forming unit that performs a crease forming process on the conveyed recording medium; a determining unit that determines whether or not the recording medium is a predetermined recording medium; and a control unit that prohibits the crease forming process from being performed by the crease forming unit when the determining unit determines that the recording medium is the predetermined recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8313098
    Abstract: A paper transport device is configured to independently drive a paper ejecting roller when predetermined abnormal events occur. When paper-jamming occurs and if no paper is present downstream of a jammed paper or a preceding paper that is present most downstream is located upstream of a predetermined position, the paper ejecting roller is stopped to prevent ejection of papers outside of the paper transport device. When paper-jamming occurs and if a preceding paper that is present most downstream is located downstream of the predetermined position, the paper ejecting roller is independently driven to complete ejection of the preceding paper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Hattori, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Makoto Hidaka, Junichi Tokita, Akira Kunieda, Hiroshi Maeda, Tomoichi Nomura, Ichiro Ichihashi
  • Publication number: 20120157285
    Abstract: A creasing device includes: a first member including a convex blade; a first receiving member including an attachment surface where the first member is to be attached; a second member arranged to face the first member and including a concave blade that allows the convex blade to be fitted thereinto; and a second receiving member including an attachment surface where the second member is to be attached; and a driving section that brings the first and second members into contact with each other and separates the first member and the second member from one another. When the first member is attached to the first receiving member and the second member is attached to the second receiving member to face each other, a blade edge of at least one of the concave blade and the convex blade has an arcuate shape convex toward one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Go Aiba, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Shuuya Nagasako, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa
  • Publication number: 20120147388
    Abstract: A creasing device, that forms a crease on a sheet, includes: a first member, extending in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction, on which a convex blade is formed; a second member on which a groove-like concave blade is formed such that the convex blade can be fitted into the concave blade by interposing the sheet therebetween; a drive unit that causes the first and the second members to interpose, therebetween, the sheet to form a crease on the sheet; a sheet-information acquiring unit that acquires first sheet information of the sheet to be creased; an adjusting unit that adjusts a pressing force exerted by the drive unit; and a control unit that sets the pressing force to an optimum pressing force for the sheet and that causes the drive unit to drive the first and the second members for creasing the sheet at the optimum pressing force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2011
    Publication date: June 14, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Shuuya Nagasako, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8191885
    Abstract: A processing unit performs a predetermined processing on a sheet in a process of carrying the sheet. A home-position detecting unit detects a home position of a moving member of the processing unit by detecting a part of the moving member using a detecting unit. The home-position detecting unit sets in advance a detection range for recognizing the home position, and when a part to detect the home position is detected in a state in which the moving member is stopped, sets a detection position as the home position by assuming that the detection position is in the detection range without moving the moving member once out of a detection range of the detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Hattori, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Hiroshi Maeda, Tomoichi Nomura, Ichiro Ichihashi, Akira Kunieda, Makoto Hidaka, Naohiro Kikkawa, Junichi Tokita
  • Patent number: 8177226
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus and associated method are provided. The sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet conveying path, a sheet stack tray, a sheet discharging member, a sheet guide member, and a sheet contact portion. The sheet conveying path is configured to convey a sheet, the sheet discharging member discharges the sheet to the sheet stack tray, and the sheet stack tray receives the sheet. The sheet guide member is movable from a first position that guides the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging member to a second position that opens a sheet discharge path of the sheet discharging member. The sheet contact portion is arranged at an upstream side of the sheet discharging member with respect to the sheet conveying path, and responds to the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveying path in order to move the sheet guide member between the first and second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naohiro Kikkawa, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Hiroshi Maeda, Tomoichi Nomura, Makoto Hidaka, Hitoshi Hattori, Junichi Tokita, Akira Kunieda, Ichiro Ichihashi
  • Publication number: 20120115702
    Abstract: A creasing apparatus forming a crease on sheets one by one includes: a first member having a linear convex blade formed in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction; a second member having a concave blade being paired with the convex blade; and a drive unit that moves the first and second members so as to cause the convex blade and the concave blade to form a crease on a sheet stopped at a predetermined position. The first member forms the convex blade with first comb and second comb and the second member forms the concave blade with third comb and fourth comb that advance and retract relative to each other. The drive unit selects advanced and retracted positions of the first comb and second comb and advanced and retracted positions of the third comb and fourth comb so as to perform a creasing process or a perforating process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2011
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Naoyuki Ishikawa, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8162306
    Abstract: A sheet aligning apparatus includes an alignment surface formed in a planar shape and that presses an end of a sheet to move and align the sheet; and a holding unit that holds the end of the sheet at a position contacting the alignment surface in a state that a curled end of the sheet contacts the alignment surface and the sheet is thus pressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Masahiro Tamura, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Hitoshi Hattori, Junichi Tokita, Takashi Saito, Akira Kunieda, Ichiro Ichihashi, Atsushi Kuriyama, Hiroshi Maeda
  • Patent number: 8162305
    Abstract: A sheet processing system includes a sheet processing device that includes a post-processing unit that performs a predetermined post-processing on a sheet member and a sheet supplying device that supplies the sheet member to the sheet processing device. The post-processing unit has two waiting positions including a first position that is a normal waiting position and a second position that is a position filling items to be used in the post-processing in the post-processing unit. When the post-processing unit moves from the second position to a post-processing position to perform the post-processing in response to a post-processing request, the sheet supplying device sets a supply time for supplying the sheet member to the sheet processing device longer than a time that is required for the sheet processing device to move from the first position to the post-processing position by a predetermined time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Hattori, Masahiro Tamura, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Hiroshi Maeda, Atsushi Kuriyama, Akira Kunieda, Ichiro Ichihashi, Takashi Saito, Junichi Tokita, Naoyuki Ishikawa