Patents by Inventor Kyoichi Mizuno

Kyoichi Mizuno 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: 10392212
    Abstract: An image formation device includes: a registration roller pair configured to shift sheet in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction of a sheet feeding direction while holding the sheet; a feeding section provided upstream of the registration roller pair in the first direction and including a feeding belt configured to convey the sheet to the registration roller pair; a first air adjustment section configured to perform air suction or blowing for the sheet conveyed by the feeding belt; and a control section configured to switch between a first operation of controlling, when the sheet is conveyed by the feeding belt, the first air adjustment section to suck the sheet with air and a second operation of controlling, when the sheet is swung by the registration roller pair, the first air adjustment section to blow air on the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventor: Kyoichi Mizuno
  • Patent number: 10114316
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image former that forms a toner image; an intermediate transfer belt that carries the toner image formed by the image former; a first winding corrector that corrects a winding of the intermediate transfer belt; and a second winding corrector that assists the first winding corrector in correcting the winding of the intermediate transfer belt, wherein the second winding corrector includes: an auxiliary roller that stretches the intermediate transfer belt and is supported to be axially movable; and an elastic member that is provided at each of axial ends of the auxiliary roller and urges the auxiliary roller toward an image center position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Kyoichi Mizuno
  • Publication number: 20180196376
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image former that forms a toner image; an intermediate transfer belt that carries the toner image formed by the image former; a first winding corrector that corrects a winding of the intermediate transfer belt; and a second winding corrector that assists the first winding corrector in correcting the winding of the intermediate transfer belt, wherein the second winding corrector includes: an auxiliary roller that stretches the intermediate transfer belt and is supported to be axially movable; and an elastic member that is provided at each of axial ends of the auxiliary roller and urges the auxiliary roller toward an image center position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Inventor: Kyoichi MIZUNO
  • Patent number: 9856101
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes: a skew detection section configured to detect a tilt of a sheet to be conveyed; two skew correction roller sections that are arranged side by side in a sheet width direction and are independently able to be driven; a downstream-side conveying roller section arranged at a downstream side of the skew correction roller sections in a sheet conveying direction; and a control section configured to control conveying operations of the skew correction roller sections based on a detection result of the skew detection section, wherein at least one of the skew correction roller sections is configured to be movable in the sheet width direction, and the control section moves at least one of the skew correction roller sections outward in the sheet width direction at predetermined timing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Kyoichi Mizuno
  • Publication number: 20170308022
    Abstract: An image formation device includes: a registration roller pair configured to shift sheet in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction of a sheet feeding direction while holding the sheet; a feeding section provided upstream of the registration roller pair in the first direction and including a feeding belt configured to convey the sheet to the registration roller pair; a first air adjustment section configured to perform air suction or blowing for the sheet conveyed by the feeding belt; and a control section configured to switch between a first operation of controlling, when the sheet is conveyed by the feeding belt, the first air adjustment section to suck the sheet with air and a second operation of controlling, when the sheet is swung by the registration roller pair, the first air adjustment section to blow air on the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2017
    Publication date: October 26, 2017
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Kyoichi MIZUNO
  • Publication number: 20160023858
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes: a skew detection section configured to detect a tilt of a sheet to be conveyed; two skew correction roller sections that are arranged side by side in a sheet width direction and are independently able to be driven; a downstream-side conveying roller section arranged at a downstream side of the skew correction roller sections in a sheet conveying direction; and a control section configured to control conveying operations of the skew correction roller sections based on a detection result of the skew detection section, wherein at least one of the skew correction roller sections is configured to be movable in the sheet width direction, and the control section moves at least one of the skew correction roller sections outward in the sheet width direction at predetermined timing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2015
    Publication date: January 28, 2016
    Inventor: Kyoichi MIZUNO
  • Patent number: 9042805
    Abstract: A control section controls the rotation of a registration roller that corrects the skew of a sheet and conveys the sheet, and the rotation of a loop forming roller which forms a loop of the sheet, as well as the nipping and releasing of the nip of the loop forming roller. This control section controls so that the sheet with a loop formed between the registration roller and loop forming roller is conveyed downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, and the sheet is released from the nipping of the loop forming roller during the conveyance. This control section further controls so that the total number of rotations of the registration roller from the start of sheet conveyance till releasing of the sheet from nipping of the loop forming roller is kept at a prescribed total number of rotations preset in conformance to the paper type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Kunihiro Kawachi, Tarou Miyamoto, Kyoichi Mizuno, Yusuke Kawanago
  • Patent number: 8687996
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including an upper section including an image forming section to form an image on a recording sheet, a lower section arranged below the upper section including a sheet supplying tray to stack a plurality of recording sheets, a partitioning body to separate the upper section and the lower section in a vertical direction, wherein the lower section includes a dehumidification device to heat the inside of the lower section and to dehumidify the recording sheets stacked on the sheet supplying tray, the partitioning body includes a first shielding member to shield a bottom portion of the upper section, a second shielding member separated from the first shielding member to shield a top portion of the lower section, a clearance formed between the first shielding member and the second shielding member, and an air blowing section to blow air into the clearance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kyoichi Mizuno, Tarou Miyamoto, Kunihiro Kawachi, Yusuke Kawanago
  • Patent number: 8532560
    Abstract: A sheet de-curling device: including a first de-curling roller, structured of a round axial shaft and a long bar-shaped member, wherein the long bar-shaped member is spiraled on the round axial shaft clockwise from a predetermined portion of a center of the round axial shaft toward a left end of the round axial shaft, and counterclockwise from the predetermined portion of the center of the round axial shaft toward a right end of the round axial shaft with the same spiraling pitch; a second de-curling roller, structured of a round axial shaft and a long bar-shaped member, wherein the long bar-shaped member is spiraled on the round axial shaft in opposite spiraling directions against the first de-curling roller; and a driving mechanism which rotates the paired first and second de-curling rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kyoichi Mizuno, Kunihiro Kawachi, Masahiro Matsuo
  • Patent number: 8505906
    Abstract: A sheet conveyance device to convey a sheet which is stored within a sheet storing section, including: a plurality of sheet conveyance rollers, mounted on a sheet storing section, to be parallel to each other with respect to rotating centers, wherein the plurality of the sheet conveyance rollers come into contact with the sheet to convey the sheet toward an exterior of the sheet conveyance device; and a coupling section to couple the plurality of the sheet conveyance rollers and to rotate the plurality of the sheet conveyance rollers, wherein at least one of the plurality of the sheet conveyance rollers represents an irregularly shaped roller, wherein the irregularly shaped roller is coupled to another sheet conveyance roller by the coupling section, and wherein a distance between a rotation center and a peripheral surface of the irregularly shaped roller is inconstant, in a rotational direction of the irregularly shaped roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kunihiro Kawachi, Kyoichi Mizuno, Masahiro Matsuo
  • Patent number: 8437684
    Abstract: In case of both sides printing, the sheet S having an image formed on the obverse surface is conveyed to the first reversal section of the reversal device 50 disposed in a reversal path R3. In the first reversal section, the sheet S is conveyed to a U-turn reversal path by the reversal roller 56 with the first side section of the sheet S as the leading edge section. In the U-turn reversal path, a position of the first side surface section and a position of the second side surface section of the sheet S are exchanged and the sheet S is conveyed to the second reversal section. In the second reversal section, the sheet having been turned over is fed again to the register rollers 16 with a leading edge section at image forming on the obverse surface as the leading edge side. Whereby the same edge of the sheet S contacts with the register rollers 16 when the image is formed on the obverse side and when the image is formed on the reverse side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kyoichi Mizuno, Kunihiro Kawachi, Takahiro Hara
  • Patent number: 8301074
    Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus is provided with a decurling mechanism to correct a curl formed on a sheet; a pair of guides including a first guide member and a second guide member arranged to oppose to the first guide member, the pair of guides constituting a conveyance passage to guide a sheet discharged from the decurling mechanism toward the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction; and an auxiliary guide arranged to protrude obliquely in the sheet conveying direction from the side of the first guide member toward the second guide member to a predetermined position in the conveyance passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kunihiro Kawachi, Kyoichi Mizuno
  • Publication number: 20120076510
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including: an image formation section for forming a toner image based on image data on a recording medium; a first fixing device for fixing the toner image formed by the image formation section; an accommodation section for storing the first fixing device or a second fixing device having different specifications than those of the first fixing device; and a peripheral member arranged on the periphery of the accommodation section to operate synchronously with the first fixing device or second fixing device; wherein, when the first fixing device accommodated in the accommodation section has been replaced by the second fixing device, a status of the peripheral member is switched in conformity to specifications of the second fixing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Publication date: March 29, 2012
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Kyoichi MIZUNO, Tarou MIYAMOTO, Kunihiro KAWACHI, Yusuke KAWANAGO
  • Publication number: 20120070179
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including an upper section including an image forming section to form an image on a recording sheet, a lower section arranged below the upper section including a sheet supplying tray to stack a plurality of recording sheets, a partitioning body to separate the upper section and the lower section in a vertical direction, wherein the lower section includes a dehumidification device to heat the inside of the lower section and to dehumidify the recording sheets stacked on the sheet supplying tray, the partitioning body includes a first shielding member to shield a bottom portion of the upper section, a second shielding member separated from the first shielding member to shield a top portion of the lower section, a clearance formed between the first shielding member and the second shielding member, and an air blowing section to blow air into the clearance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2011
    Publication date: March 22, 2012
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Kyoichi MIZUNO, Tarou MIYAMOTO, Kunihiro KAWACHI, Yusuke KAWANAGO
  • Publication number: 20120057913
    Abstract: A control section controls the rotation of a registration roller that corrects the skew of a sheet and conveys the sheet, and the rotation of a loop forming roller which forms a loop of the sheet, as well as the nipping and releasing of the nip of the loop forming roller: This control section controls so that the sheet with a loop formed between the registration roller and loop forming roller is conveyed downstream in the sheet conveyance direction, and the sheet is released from the nipping of the loop forming roller during the conveyance. This control section further controls so that the total number of rotations of the registration roller from the start of sheet conveyance till releasing of the sheet from nipping of the loop forming roller is kept at a prescribed total number of rotations preset in conformance to the paper type.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2011
    Publication date: March 8, 2012
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWACHI, Tarou MIYAMOTO, Kyoichi MIZUNO, Yusuke KAWANAGO
  • Publication number: 20120039644
    Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus is provided with a decurling mechanism to correct a curl formed on a sheet; a pair of guides including a first guide member and a second guide member arranged to oppose to the first guide member, the pair of guides constituting a conveyance passage to guide a sheet discharged from the decurling mechanism toward the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction; and an auxiliary guide arranged to protrude obliquely in the sheet conveying direction from the side of the first guide member toward the second guide member to a predetermined position in the conveyance passage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Publication date: February 16, 2012
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWACHI, Kyoichi Mizuno
  • Publication number: 20120034005
    Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus is provided with a decurling mechanism to correct a curl formed on a sheet; a pair of guides including a first guide member and a second guide member arranged to oppose to the first guide member, the pair of guides constituting a conveyance passage to guide a sheet discharged from the decurling mechanism toward the downstream aide in the sheet conveying direction; and an auxiliary guide arranged to protrude obliquely in the sheet conveying direction from the side of the first guide member toward the second guide member to a predetermined position in the conveyance passage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Publication date: February 9, 2012
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWACHI, Kyoichi MIZUNO
  • Publication number: 20100278575
    Abstract: In case of both sides printing, the sheet S having an image formed on the obverse surface is conveyed to the first reversal section of the reversal device 50 disposed in a reversal path R3. In the first reversal section, the sheet S is conveyed to a U-turn reversal path by the reversal roller 56 with the first side section of the sheet S as the leading edge section. In the U-turn reversal path, a position of the first side surface section and a position of the second side surface section of the sheet S are exchanged and the sheet S is conveyed to the second reversal section. In the second reversal section, the sheet having been turned over is fed again to the register rollers 16 with a leading edge section at image forming on the obverse surface as the leading edge side. Whereby the same edge of the sheet S contacts with the register rollers 16 when the image is formed on the obverse side and when the image is formed on the reverse side.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2010
    Publication date: November 4, 2010
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Kyoichi MIZUNO, Kunihiro KAWACHI, Takahiro HARA
  • Publication number: 20100232855
    Abstract: A double-surface image forming apparatus, including: an image carrier; a registration section; an image fixing device; a sheet recirculating supplying section; a sheet reversing section, arranged on a path of the sheet recirculating supplying section, to reverse the recording sheet from the front surface to a reverse surface by a switch-back conveyance; and a sheet rotating device, arranged on a path of the sheet recirculating supplying section, to stop the sheet at a predetermined position and to rotate the stopped sheet 180° in the sheet conveying direction, wherein the sheet rotating device includes; a positive rotation conveying section; a positive-negative rotation conveying section to rotate the sheet to the sheet conveying direction and to an opposite direction of the sheet conveying direction; and a rotation center nipping section, arranged to meet a position of the rotation center of the sheet, to support the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2010
    Publication date: September 16, 2010
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWACHI, Kyoichi MIZUNO, Masahiro MATSUO
  • Publication number: 20100221052
    Abstract: A sheet de-curling device: including a first de-curling roller, structured of a round axial shaft and a long bar-shaped member, wherein the long bar-shaped member is spiraled on the round axial shaft clockwise from a predetermined portion of a center of the round axial shaft toward a left end of the round axial shaft, and counterclockwise from the predetermined portion of the center of the round axial shaft toward a right end of the round axial shaft with the same spiraling pitch; a second de-curling roller, structured of a round axial shaft and a long bar-shaped member, wherein the long bar-shaped member is spiraled on the round axial shaft in opposite spiraling directions against the first de-curling roller; and a driving mechanism which rotates the paired first and second de-curling rollers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2010
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Kyoichi MIZUNO, Kunihiro KAWACHI, Masahiro MATSUO