Abstract: An optical scanning device includes a light source, a deflector, an incident optical system and one scanning lens. The scanning lens includes a first face and a second face. In a main scanning direction cross section of the scanning lens, when a scanning range is separated, with on axis as a reference, into an image height region of a first direction and an image height region of a second direction that is opposite to the first direction, the incident optical system is disposed on a side of the image height region of the first direction. Curvature of the first face in a sub scanning direction cross section decreases from on axis toward off axis in the main scanning direction, and curvature of the second face in the sub scanning direction cross section increases from off axis of the first direction toward the second direction in the main scanning direction.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a power-state switching unit, a proxy-process executing unit, a proxy-generation-information transmission unit, and a printing-process take-over unit. The power-state switching unit switches among a plurality of power states including an ordinary state and a power-saving state. The proxy-process executing unit executes a proxy process, which is a proxy process to halfway through a printing process, to be executed by an external target unit. The proxy-generation-information transmission unit transmits proxy generation information to the target unit when the power of the target unit is in the ordinary state. The printing-process take-over unit takes over printing from halfway based on the received proxy generation information.

Abstract: An ink for ink-jet recording apparatuses, includes water, a pigment dispersion, and a super-penetrating agent and a high SP organic solvent respectively having a predetermined solubility parameter (SP value). All of differences (?SPs) between SP values of the neighboring organic solvents are from 0.5 to 5.0 in order of SP values thereof, and the difference of SPmax?SPmin is 12 or less in which SPmax is the highest SP value of an organic solvent among organic solvents in the high SP organic solvent and SPmin is the smallest SP value of an organic solvent among organic solvents in the super-penetrating agent.

Abstract: An image creating apparatus has a printing device configured to print a changed image on a recording medium; a difficult-to-recognize color arrangement storage unit configured to store a difficult-to-recognize color arrangement that is difficult to visually recognize; an object extracting unit configured to extract objects from an original image; a difficult-to-recognize object detecting unit configured to detect a difficult-to-recognize object; a representative color obtaining unit configured to obtain the representative color of the difficult-to-recognize object; a color arrangement changing unit configured to (i) change the color arrangement of the image so that the color arrangement of the periphery is changed from the difficult-to-recognize color arrangement in at least part of the difficult-to-recognize object and (ii) embed information about the representative color as dots; and a changed image printing unit configured to command the printing device to print the changed image with the changed color arr

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of optical scanning devices, a job receiver, a job executor, an image discriminator for discriminating whether a formation-target image included in an image forming job is a single-color image or a multi-color image, a first condition judger, a second condition judger and a temperature adjuster. In the case of forming a single-color image, the temperature adjuster drives motors of all the optical scanning devices if a predetermined first condition and a predetermined second condition are satisfied and drives the motor of one optical scanning device and does not drive the motors of the other optical scanning devices but the one optical scanning device if the first condition is satisfied, but the second condition is not satisfied.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an exposing section, a pulse generating section, a frequency storing section, an emission control section, a smoothing section, and a driving-current generating section. The pulse generating section generates a periodic pulse signal indicating light amount of light beam emitted by a light source of the exposing section. The frequency storing section stores in advance a plurality of frequencies of the pulse signal. The emission control section selects, in the rendering of each main scanning line, any one of the plurality of frequencies and instructs the pulse generating section to generate the pulse signal having the selected frequency. The smoothing section smoothes the pulse signal generated by the pulse generating section according to the instruction of the emission control section and generates analog signal. The driving-current generating section generates driving current for the light source of the exposing section on the basis of the analog signal.

Abstract: A fixing device includes a heating rotating member, a pressing rotating member, a motor, a fixing pressure adjustment mechanism, a control section, a motor drive section, a detecting member, and a stop control circuit. The heating rotating member heats a paper sheet. The pressing rotating member is pressed to the heating rotating member. The motor can rotate in both forward and backward directions. The fixing pressure adjustment mechanism moves a rotating member to be moved between first and second positions. The control section includes a control device, issues an instruction of voltage to be applied to the motor. The motor drive section controls the voltage to be applied to the motor. The detecting member detects that the rotating member to be moved reaches the first position. The stop control circuit stops the motor without software control when the rotating member to be moved reaches the first position.

Abstract: An optical scanning apparatus includes a reflecting mechanism, a light receiving element and a restricting mechanism. The reflecting mechanism reflects a light beam such that the irradiation point of the light beam moves in a predetermined scanning direction. The light receiving element is arranged in a movement plane defined by the light beam reflected by the reflecting mechanism, and the light receiving element outputs a light reception signal for adjusting the irradiation timing of the light beam in accordance with reception of the light beam reflected by the reflecting mechanism. The restricting mechanism positions the light receiving element relative to the movement plane.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a first IC chip; a second IC chip connected to the first IC chip via a serial bus; and a memory that is either connected to or included in the first IC chip. The first IC chip includes: a first internal bus; a memory controller of the memory; a first processing circuit which outputs an access request to the memory; plural buffers corresponding to plural arbitration priority degrees of the first internal bus, and a request classifying circuit which identifies an arbitration priority degree of a requester of the access request received from the second IC chip and causes a buffer corresponding to the identified arbitration priority degree to buffer the access request. The first internal bus performs arbitration of access requests from the first processing circuit and the plural buffers in accordance with the arbitration priority degrees.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive body, an exposure unit, a pulse generating unit, a smoothing unit, a drive current generating unit, and a second emitting control unit. The exposure unit includes a light source for emitting a light beam, and causes the light beam emitted from the light source to perform scanning in a main scanning direction, thereby drawing a main scanning line on the photosensitive body. The second emitting control unit causes the light source to emit the light beam, in an APC period of automatically controlling the light quantity of the light beam, by causing the pulse generating unit to generate a pulse signal having a duty ratio of 100 percent, causing the smoothing unit to smooth the pulse signal thereby generating an analog signal, and causing the drive current generating unit to generate a drive current based on the analog signal.

Abstract: A cushioning material of the present enclosure includes a base material and columnar support portions, and is arranged between a packed item and an outer box. The base material includes a main body portion which is brought into contact with a cushioned surface of the packed item and a bending part which is formed integrally with the main body portion. The columnar support portions are arranged in a plurality of places on a surface on the opposite side to a surface in contact with the cushioned surface of the base material. At least one of the columnar support portions is fixed to or formed integrally with the bending part such that, when the bending part is bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion, all the columnar support portions protrude from the surface of the main body portion by substantially the same height.

Abstract: An optical scanning device includes a light source which emits a light beam, a deflector, an incident optical system and one scanning lens. The deflector reflects and then deflects/scans the light beam emitted from the light source. The scanning lens includes a first face facing the deflector and a second face on an opposite side to the first face, and performs imaging of the deflected/scanned light beam on a surface to be scanned. When a curvature radius of the first face in a main scanning direction cross section is R1, a curvature radius of the second face in a main scanning direction cross section is R2, a lens thickness in an optical axis direction at a center of the scanning lens in the main scanning direction is d, and a refractive index of the scanning lens is n, following Formula (1) and Formula (2) are satisfied: 0<R2<R1??(1) 0>R2?R1>?(n?1)d/n??(2).

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of optical scanning devices, a job receiver, a job executor, an image discriminator, a temperature condition judger and a temperature adjuster. When a formation-target image is a single-color image and an image to be formed next is a multi-color image, the temperature adjuster drives a motor of one optical scanning device at a second rotating speed slower than a rotating speed during an image forming operation and drives motors of unused optical scanning devices at a third rotating speed faster than the second rotating speed if a temperature condition is satisfied upon the completion of an image forming operation of the single-color image.

Abstract: A software-developing structured-data-file creating apparatus of the present disclosure includes a storage unit configured to store a specification list comprising specific values associated with a plurality of individual items indicative of specifications of a device and a location-path list comprising location paths associated with individual portions of the plurality of individual items. The software-developing structured-data-file creating apparatus also includes an input unit, configured to associate common portions of the location paths. The software-developing structured-data-file creating apparatus additionally includes a structured-data-file creating unit configured to create a data file comprising the common portions of the location paths in the location-path. The corresponding values in the specification list are added to the individual location paths.

Abstract: A cleaning device includes a case, a rotating member, a sheet member, and a cover member. The rotating member includes a peripheral face which comes into contact with the cylindrical face of an image carrier, is rotatively driven in a same direction as the image carrier at a contact position, and recovers a toner which has attached on the image carrier. The sheet member extends toward a direction approaching a straight line that connects the rotating axis of the image carrier and the contact position of the rotating member, and includes a leading end which comes into contact with the cylindrical face. The cover member is provided in the case so as to cover an upside of the sheet member, extends toward the direction approaching the straight line, and reaches a position above the leading end of the sheet member.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of optical scanning devices, a mode receiver, a temperature condition judger and a temperature adjuster. In the case of forming an image using one optical scanning device, the temperature adjuster drives motors of unused optical scanning devices at a first rotation speed if a predetermined temperature condition is satisfied and drives the motors of the unused optical scanning devices at a second rotation speed slower than the first rotation speed if image formation is finished during the drive at the first rotation speed.

Abstract: An image reading device includes a light source, an image sensor, a transport unit, and a control unit. While, during reading of a target to be read by the image sensor, the control unit causes the transport unit to accelerate the read rate of the image sensor to a reference read rate or to decelerate the read rate thereof from the reference read rate, the control unit causes the light source to light up, within the read time, with timing brought close to a read section from a lighting start point to a lighting end point in the case of reading one line in the reference read time.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus has an image forming section, a casing, a wall section, a first unit, a second unit and a first regulating member. The casing has an internal space in which the image forming section is disposed. The first unit is mounted in a first position of the internal space. The first insertion path is a path through which the first unit passes in the internal space. The second unit is mounted in a second position of the internal space closer to the wall section than the first position is. The second insertion path is a path through which the second unit passes in the internal space. The first regulating member projects to the second insertion path when the first unit is not mounted in the first position and retracts from the second insertion path when the first unit is mounted in the first position.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided with a conveyance belt, image forming portion, belt moving mechanism, optical sensor, current generation portion, position detection portion, belt movement control unit, reference value storage portion, base current measurement portion, initial value storage portion, and correction value determination portion. The current value measurement portion monitors the decrease in the value of a light receiving signal while decreasing an electric current generated in the current generation portion, and, in the case where the value of the light receiving signal reaches a reference value stored in the reference value storage portion, measures the value of a base current that is generated by the current generation portion. The correction value determination portion determines a correction value of a light emitting current, so that the value of the light emitting current increases depending on the amount by which the base current increases relative to an initial value.

Abstract: A paper feed apparatus includes a paper housing unit configured to house paper at a first position, a bottom plate provided in the paper housing unit and configured to retain the paper, a moving unit configured to move the bottom plate between the first position and a second position, a paper feed roller configured to feed the paper retained by the bottom plate at the second position, and a paper feed control unit configured to cause the moving unit to move the bottom plate to the second position when a paper feed preparation request for requesting paper feed preparation has been input.