Patents by Inventor Miho Yamano
Miho Yamano 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).
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Patent number: 10054886Abstract: A fixing device includes a fixing roller heated to a predetermined temperature by a heater; a pressure belt in pressure contact with the fixing roller; and a pressing part which presses the pressure belt toward the fixing roller. The fixing device adopts a belt-nip system and fixes a toner image formed on a recording medium to the recording medium by heat and pressure while the recording medium is nipped and conveyed through a nip part. The nip part is formed by the fixing roller and the pressure belt and includes an adhesion nip and a separation nip. The pressing part includes a pressing member, a sheet member which covers the pressing surface of the pressing member along a conveying direction of the recording medium, and a pressing fluid which is filled at the adhesion nip between the pressing member and the sheet member.Type: GrantFiled: May 25, 2017Date of Patent: August 21, 2018Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Hiroyuki Maeda, Miho Yamano, Dai Suwama, Midori Shimomura
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Patent number: 10031453Abstract: A fixing apparatus includes the following. A heating unit includes an outer surface driven to rotate and heats a sheet on which color material is transferred. A reflecting unit reflects heat emitted from the heating unit. The reflecting unit further includes, a covering unit which covers at least a portion of the outer surface of the heating unit so that there is a predetermined space; and a movable unit which is provided in the covering unit and which can be switched between a first position and a second position in which air in the space can flow more easily than the first position. The fixing apparatus also includes, a switching unit which switches the movable unit between the first position and the second position; and a controller which controls the switching unit.Type: GrantFiled: October 25, 2016Date of Patent: July 24, 2018Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Miho Yamano, Hiroyuki Maeda, Dai Suwama, Midori Shimomura, Tsuyoshi Tamaru
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Patent number: 9952549Abstract: A fixing apparatus includes: a heating member that has an outer circumferential surface to be driven in a circulative manner and heats a sheet; a heat radiation suppression member that covers a part of an outer circumferential surface of the heating member to have a predetermined gap and suppresses heat radiation, wherein the heat radiation suppression member has a movable part capable of moving to a first position and a second position more distant than the first position from a part covered by the heating member; a moving unit that moves the movable part to the first position or the second position; a jam detection unit that detects a jam of a sheet in the vicinity of the downstream side end portion of the nip part; and a control unit that controls the moving unit such that the movable part is moved from the first position to the second position.Type: GrantFiled: December 27, 2016Date of Patent: April 24, 2018Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA INC.Inventors: Midori Shimomura, Dai Suwama, Miho Yamano, Hiroyuki Maeda
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Publication number: 20170343941Abstract: A fixing device includes a fixing roller heated to a predetermined temperature by a heater; a pressure belt in pressure contact with the fixing roller; and a pressing part which presses the pressure belt toward the fixing roller. The fixing device adopts a belt-nip system and fixes a toner image formed on a recording medium to the recording medium by heat and pressure while the recording medium is nipped and conveyed through a nip part. The nip part is formed by the fixing roller and the pressure belt and includes an adhesion nip and a separation nip. The pressing part includes a pressing member, a sheet member which covers the pressing surface of the pressing member along a conveying direction of the recording medium, and a pressing fluid which is filled at the adhesion nip between the pressing member and the sheet member.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 25, 2017Publication date: November 30, 2017Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Hiroyuki MAEDA, Miho YAMANO, Dai SUWAMA, Midori SHIMOMURA
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Publication number: 20170199489Abstract: A fixing apparatus includes: a heating member that has an outer circumferential surface to be driven in a circulative manner and heats a sheet; a heat radiation suppression member that covers a part of an outer circumferential surface of the heating member to have a predetermined gap and suppresses heat radiation, wherein the heat radiation suppression member has a movable part capable of moving to a first position and a second position more distant than the first position from a part covered by the heating member; a moving unit that moves the movable part to the first position or the second position; a jam detection unit that detects a jam of a sheet in the vicinity of the downstream side end portion of the nip part; and a control unit that controls the moving unit such that the movable part is moved from the first position to the second position.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 27, 2016Publication date: July 13, 2017Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Midori SHIMOMURA, Dai SUWAMA, Miho YAMANO, Hiroyuki MAEDA
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Publication number: 20170123355Abstract: A fixing apparatus includes the following. A heating unit includes an outer surface driven to rotate and heats a sheet on which color material is transferred. A reflecting unit reflects heat emitted from the heating unit. The reflecting unit further includes, a covering unit which covers at least a portion of the outer surface of the heating unit so that there is a predetermined space; and a movable unit which is provided in the covering unit and which can be switched between a first position and a second position in which air in the space can flow more easily than the first position. The fixing apparatus also includes, a switching unit which switches the movable unit between the first position and the second position; and a controller which controls the switching unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 25, 2016Publication date: May 4, 2017Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Miho Yamano, Hiroyuki Maeda, Dai Suwama, Midori Shimomura, Tsuyoshi Tamaru
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Patent number: 9367014Abstract: An image forming apparatus has an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a fixing unit that performs fixing of the sheet on which the image is formed, a first conveyance route that has a reverse conveyance route and a second conveyance route that does not pass the reverse conveyance route, and a control unit that performs first control for conveying a previously printed sheet which is printed previously via the first conveyance route and second control for conveying a subsequently printed sheet which is printed subsequently via the second conveyance route, and exerts control to feed the previously printed sheet and the subsequently printed sheet in an overlapped manner after the first conveyance route and the second conveyance route merge together.Type: GrantFiled: September 29, 2014Date of Patent: June 14, 2016Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Miho Yamano, Hiroshi Matsumoto, Kazunori Nishinoue, Taizou Oonishi, Atsushi Nakamura, Makoto Fujii
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Patent number: 9274475Abstract: an image forming apparatus including; a non-inversion conveyance unit that conveys a sheet to a downstream without inverting through the image forming unit; an inversion conveyance unit that inverts the sheet with printing on one side and that conveys the sheet to an upstream; a first sheet inversion unit that is arranged on the inversion conveyance unit and inverts the front and back of the sheet conveyed by the inversion conveyance unit; a control unit that controls the image forming unit and the conveyance unit, wherein the control unit includes a single-sided print mode and a double-sided print mode, and at a breakpoint of jobs, the control unit discharges the sheet so as to provide charge polarity that does not electrostatically attract a sheet discharged just before the breakpoint and a sheet discharged just after the breakpoint at least in the double-sided print mode.Type: GrantFiled: October 7, 2014Date of Patent: March 1, 2016Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Hiroshi Matsumoto, Kazunori Nishinoue, Taizou Oonishi, Makoto Fujii, Miho Yamano, Atsushi Nakamura
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Patent number: 9223260Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a fixing side member disposed at a position on a fixing surface side of a sheet on which a toner image is formed; a back side supporting member that forms a fixing nip for conveying the sheet in a tightly sandwiching manner when the back side supporting member is in pressure contact with the fixing side member; and a voltage applying section that applies to both sides of the sheet passed through the fixing nip voltages opposite in polarity to surface potentials of the both sides.Type: GrantFiled: November 14, 2014Date of Patent: December 29, 2015Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Kazunori Nishinoue, Miho Yamano, Makoto Fujii, Hiroshi Matsumoto, Taizou Oonishi, Atsushi Nakamura
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Patent number: 9116474Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing unit that heats and presses a recording sheet having a toner image formed thereon, by means of a fixing nip portion to thereby fix the toner image to the recording sheet; a translation section that translates the fixing unit in a direction that is orthogonal to a conveying direction of the recording sheet; and a controlling section that controls the translation section so that the fixing unit is translated by a translation amount that is one-half of a value obtained by subtracting an image width of the toner image from a sheet width of the recording sheet.Type: GrantFiled: November 22, 2013Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Kazunori Nishinoue, Hiroshi Matsumoto, Makoto Fujii, Miho Yamano, Taizou Oonishi
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Publication number: 20150185669Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a fixing side member disposed at a position on a fixing surface side of a sheet on which a toner image is formed; a back side supporting member that forms a fixing nip for conveying the sheet in a tightly sandwiching manner when the back side supporting member is in pressure contact with the fixing side member; and a voltage applying section that applies to both sides of the sheet passed through the fixing nip voltages opposite in polarity to surface potentials of the both sides.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 14, 2014Publication date: July 2, 2015Inventors: Kazunori NISHINOUE, Miho YAMANO, Makoto FUJII, Hiroshi MATSUMOTO, Taizou OONISHI, Atsushi NAKAMURA
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Patent number: 9037027Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing member; a moving section that moves the fixing member in a sheet width direction; a temperature detection section disposed at a position corresponding to an end portion of the fixing member, the temperature detection section moving together with the fixing member to detect a temperature of the end portion; and a control section that performs a first movement control and a second movement control on the basis of a result of a detection by the temperature detection section, the first movement control being intended to move the fixing member in the sheet width direction in a reciprocating manner with a predetermined cycle, the second movement control being intended to move the fixing member in the sheet width direction so that the temperature of the fixing member falls within a predetermined temperature range.Type: GrantFiled: November 25, 2013Date of Patent: May 19, 2015Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Taizou Oonishi, Makoto Fujii, Miho Yamano, Kazunori Nishinoue, Hiroshi Matsumoto
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Publication number: 20150125173Abstract: An image forming apparatus including; a non-inversion conveyance unit that conveys a sheet to a downstream without inverting through the image forming unit; an inversion conveyance unit that inverts the sheet with printing on one side and that conveys the sheet to an upstream; a first sheet inversion unit that is arranged on the inversion conveyance unit and inverts the front and back of the sheet conveyed by the inversion conveyance unit; a control unit that controls the image forming unit and the conveyance unit, wherein the control unit includes a single-sided print mode and a double-sided print mode, and at a breakpoint of jobs, the control unit discharges the sheet so as to provide charge polarity that does not electrostatically attract a sheet discharged just before the breakpoint and a sheet discharged just after the breakpoint at least in the double-sided print mode.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 7, 2014Publication date: May 7, 2015Inventors: Hiroshi MATSUMOTO, Kazunori NISHINOUE, Taizou OONISHI, Makoto FUJII, Miho YAMANO, Atsushi NAKAMURA
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Publication number: 20150093171Abstract: An image forming apparatus has an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a fixing unit that performs fixing of the sheet on which the image is formed, a first conveyance route that has a reverse conveyance route and a second conveyance route that does not pass the reverse conveyance route, and a control unit that performs first control for conveying a previously printed sheet which is printed previously via the first conveyance route and second control for conveying a subsequently printed sheet which is printed subsequently via the second conveyance route, and exerts control to feed the previously printed sheet and the subsequently printed sheet in an overlapped manner after the first conveyance route and the second conveyance route merge together.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 29, 2014Publication date: April 2, 2015Inventors: Miho YAMANO, Hiroshi MATSUMOTO, Kazunori NISHINOUE, Taizou OONISHI, Atsushi NAKAMURA, Makoto FUJII
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Publication number: 20140147169Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing unit that heats and presses a recording sheet having a toner image formed thereon, by means of a fixing nip portion to thereby fix the toner image to the recording sheet; a translation section that translates the fixing unit in a direction that is orthogonal to a conveying direction of the recording sheet; and a controlling section that controls the translation section so that the fixing unit is translated by a translation amount that is one-half of a value obtained by subtracting an image width of the toner image from a sheet width of the recording sheet.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 22, 2013Publication date: May 29, 2014Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Kazunori NISHINOUE, Hiroshi MATSUMOTO, Makoto FUJII, Miho YAMANO, Taizou OONISHI
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Publication number: 20140147151Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing member; a moving section that moves the fixing member in a sheet width direction; a temperature detection section disposed at a position corresponding to an end portion of the fixing member, the temperature detection section moving together with the fixing member to detect a temperature of the end portion; and a control section that performs a first movement control and a second movement control on the basis of a result of a detection by the temperature detection section, the first movement control being intended to move the fixing member in the sheet width direction in a reciprocating manner with a predetermined cycle, the second movement control being intended to move the fixing member in the sheet width direction so that the temperature of the fixing member falls within a predetermined temperature range.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 25, 2013Publication date: May 29, 2014Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Taizou OONISHI, Makoto FUJII, Miho YAMANO, Kazunori NISHINOUE, Hiroshi MATSUMOTO
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Publication number: 20120051812Abstract: A glossing apparatus including: a first roller comprising a heating member; a second roller disposed downstream of the first roller with respect to the recording medium feeding direction; a belt member extended by the first roller and the second roller; and a third roller which presses the first roller via the belt member, wherein the recording medium is conveyed in such a manner that the image forming surface of the recording member is adhered to the belt member after the recording member is heated and pressed between the belt member and the first roller, wherein a plurality of through-holes is provided to the belt member, and a releasing agent is applied to inner surfaces of the through-holes.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 9, 2011Publication date: March 1, 2012Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Miho YAMANO, Hiroshi FUNABIKI
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Publication number: 20110164907Abstract: A surface treatment apparatus for recording material, includes: a resin film to be adhered to a toner image surface of a toner image carried on the recording material after a whole region of the toner image has been heat treated; a heating section including a plurality of heating elements provided on an opposite side of the recording material relative to the resin film; and a control section which controls the heating section, wherein the control section performs a current control of a predetermined part of the plurality of heating elements selectively in a state where the recording material and resin film contacts each other and recording material moves relatively to the heating section.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 4, 2011Publication date: July 7, 2011Inventors: Miho YAMANO, Junichi Hamada
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Patent number: 7974561Abstract: A belt fixing apparatus for fixing a toner image on a recording material in a nip portion having: an endless fixing belt and a pressing device to press the fixing belt to a fixing member so as to form the nip portion between the fixing belt and the fixing member, wherein the pressing device is structured from an aggregate of a plurality of metal members arranged in a conveyance direction of the recording material.Type: GrantFiled: May 27, 2008Date of Patent: July 5, 2011Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Miho Yamano
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Publication number: 20090067900Abstract: A belt fixing apparatus for fixing a toner image on a recording material in a nip portion having: an endless fixing belt and a pressing device to press the fixing belt to a fixing member so as to form the nip portion between the fixing belt and the fixing member, wherein the pressing device is structured from an aggregate of a plurality of metal members arranged in a conveyance direction of the recording material.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 27, 2008Publication date: March 12, 2009Applicant: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Miho YAMANO