Patents by Inventor Kunihiko Kanou

Kunihiko Kanou 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).

  • Publication number: 20230202207
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided that is aimed to control adverse impacts on a printing quality caused by the meandering motion of a printing belt and changes of a feeding speed. The image forming apparatus includes: one or more printing portions that print a printing object on paper; a belt in a form of a loop, the belt serving to transport the paper to a printing position; a roller that feeds the belt; a phase detector that detects a phase of the belt; a behavior detector that detects a behavior of the belt; a controller that decides a paper setting position on the belt based on the behavior of the belt for each phase; and a paper feeder that transports the paper to the paper setting position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2022
    Publication date: June 29, 2023
    Inventor: Kunihiko KANOU
  • Patent number: 9643813
    Abstract: A paper folding apparatus includes: a pair of folding rollers driven in a rotational manner; a carrying roller configured to carry paper in such a manner that the paper passes near a nip part of the pair of folding rollers; a unit configured to form, near the nip part, deflection of the paper carried by the carrying roller toward the nip part; a pushing member which is configured to push the paper, which is carried by the carrying roller, toward the nip part of the folding rollers, the pushing member being provided in a manner movable from a position retracted from a carrying path of the paper toward the nip part; a drive unit configured to generate driving force to move the pushing member; and an elastic member configured to transmit the driving force from the drive unit to the pushing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Isamu Kugimiya, Masato Niizuma, Yusuke Hirano, Kunihiko Kanou
  • Publication number: 20150217964
    Abstract: A paper folding apparatus includes: a pair of folding rollers driven in a rotational manner; a carrying roller configured to carry paper in such a manner that the paper passes near a nip part of the pair of folding rollers; a unit configured to form, near the nip part, deflection of the paper carried by the carrying roller toward the nip part; a pushing member which is configured to push the paper, which is carried by the carrying roller, toward the nip part of the folding rollers, the pushing member being provided in a manner movable from a position retracted from a carrying path of the paper toward the nip part; a drive unit configured to generate driving force to move the pushing member; and an elastic member configured to transmit the driving force from the drive unit to the pushing member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2015
    Publication date: August 6, 2015
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Isamu KUGIMIYA, Masato NIIZUMA, Yusuke HIRANO, Kunihiko KANOU
  • Publication number: 20090041523
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which inhibits sheet curl without requesting a user to do tiresome work, such as resetting of sheets. On a touch panel, a user makes a setting whether to inhibit sheets of a printing medium from curling. When the setting indicates necessity of inhibiting sheet curl, a controller controls a reversing section and feed rollers to turn over and feed a sheet, and when the setting indicates unnecessity of inhibiting sheet curl, the controller controls the reversing section and the feed rollers to feed a sheet without turning over the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2008
    Publication date: February 12, 2009
    Applicant: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Kunihiko Kanou
  • Publication number: 20040022563
    Abstract: A binding member removing apparatus 300 comprises a tray 30 for mounting thereon a bundle D of document sheets bound with a staple S, a removing unit 410 for removing the staple S from the bundle D of document sheets mounted on the tray 30, and a moving unit for moving the staple S removed by the removing unit 410. The removing unit 410 is provided with an inserting member 411 to be passed between the bundle of document sheets and the binding member binding the bundle of document sheets and the inserting member 411 is provided with a plurality of elongated parts 412 formed in the shape of a comb having teeth extended in the direction of insertion thereof. The inserting member optionally comprises a first inserting member 811 to be passed between the obverse face of the bundle D of document sheets and the staple S and a second inserting member 812 to be passed between the reverse face of the bundle D of document sheets and the staple S as a binding member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2003
    Publication date: February 5, 2004
    Applicant: MINOLTA CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Noritoshi Maruchi, Keiko Toyoda, Tohru Murakami, Akiyoshi Johdai, Koji Higashikawa, Kunihiko Kanou
  • Patent number: 6213456
    Abstract: A finisher connected to a copying machine produces a bound booklet by inserting papers from the copying machine into a cover with an adhesive layer of a hot-melt adhesive which is coated on the inner surface of near a spine interconnecting a front board and a back board, and heating the cover and a sheaf of papers, and joining them by adhesion. Thus, the series of operations ranging from the preparation of documents through the bookbinding can be facilitated and expedited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Minolta Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryo Hirano, Kunihiko Kanou, Tadashi Kobayashi, Masahiro Nonoyama, Kazuhiko Nakatsuka, Shinji Wakamatsu, Kazuhito Ozawa
  • Patent number: 5769404
    Abstract: A finishing apparatus comprising a transport section for transporting sheets discharged from a copying machine, a tray for stacking sheets thereon, and a finishing section for transporting a set of collected sheets from the tray and for stapling the sheet set. Folding rollers for folding a sheet in two or centrally folding the sheet are provided in a sheet transport section. Sheets, in a two-folded condition or with a center fold line formed thereon, are discharged onto the tray. Sheets which have been centrally formed with the fold line are subjected to stapling on or along the fold line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 23, 1998
    Assignee: Minolta Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kunihiko Kanou, Yuusuke Morigami, Shinobu Seki, Kazuhito Ozawa, Shinji Wakamatsu, Masahiro Nonoyama