Patents by Inventor Minoru Kawanishi
Minoru Kawanishi 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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Publication number: 20140077441Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 25, 2013Publication date: March 20, 2014Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi, Motohiro Furusawa, Hiroki Yamaguchi, Shigeo Murayama
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Patent number: 8616548Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.Type: GrantFiled: December 4, 2012Date of Patent: December 31, 2013Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi, Motohiro Furusawa, Hiroki Yamaguchi, Shigeo Murayama
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Patent number: 8439358Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus, including: a first conveying portion; a second conveying portion arranged downstream of the first conveying portion; a shutter member rotated by the pressure of the sheet and including a plurality of abutment surfaces against which a leading edge of the sheet conveyed by the first conveying portion abuts to correct a skew feed of the sheet; and an urging portion which provides the shutter member with an urging force for positioning one abutment surface at an abutment position at which the leading edge of the sheet abuts against the one abutment surface, the urging portion providing the shutter member with an urging force for rotating the shutter member to position another abutment surface at the abutment position after the leading edge of the sheet is nipped by the second conveying portion.Type: GrantFiled: March 2, 2012Date of Patent: May 14, 2013Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenji Watanabe, Yohei Suzuki, Motohiro Furusawa, Minoru Kawanishi
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Patent number: 8430393Abstract: When a retard roller is rotating in a sheet feeding direction, the rotation is transmitted to a pickup roller and the pickup roller rotates in a direction for conveying the sheet. When the retard roller is rotating in a direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction or is stationary, the pickup roller does not feed the sheet. Therefore, in a successive feeding operation, the sheet to be fed next is always conveyed such that the leading end thereof reaches a nip position between a feed roller and the retard roller. Therefore, the intervals between the sheets are uniform in the successive feeding operation.Type: GrantFiled: July 12, 2010Date of Patent: April 30, 2013Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Akira Matsushima, Yasuhiro Uchida, Shunsuke Okazaki, Minoru Kawanishi, Kenji Watanabe, Motohiro Furusawa
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Patent number: 8342519Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.Type: GrantFiled: October 13, 2010Date of Patent: January 1, 2013Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi, Motohiro Furusawa, Hiroki Yamaguchi, Shigeo Murayama
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Publication number: 20120235350Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus, including: a first conveying portion; a second conveying portion arranged downstream of the first conveying portion; a shutter member rotated by the pressure of the sheet and including a plurality of abutment surfaces against which a leading edge of the sheet conveyed by the first conveying portion abuts to correct a skew feed of the sheet; and an urging portion which provides the shutter member with an urging force for positioning one abutment surface at an abutment position at which the leading edge of the sheet abuts against the one abutment surface, the urging portion providing the shutter member with an urging force for rotating the shutter member to position another abutment surface at the abutment position after the leading edge of the sheet is nipped by the second conveying portion.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2012Publication date: September 20, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kenji Watanabe, Yohei Suzuki, Motohiro Furusawa, Minoru Kawanishi
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Publication number: 20120237280Abstract: A sheet detecting apparatus including: a sheet detecting member having a plurality of abutment surfaces in a peripheral direction thereof, the sheet detecting member being rotated by a conveyed sheet abutting against one of the plurality of abutment surfaces; a detection portion which operates in association with the sheet detecting member; a sensor which generates a signal based on a position of the detection portion; and an urging portion which generates an urging force for positioning the one of the plurality of abutment surfaces of the sheet detecting member in a waiting position in which the leading edge of a sheet conveyed by a conveying portion abuts against the one of the plurality of abutment surfaces, and thereafter the urging portion switching the urging force to an urging force for positioning, in the waiting position, another one of the plurality of abutment surfaces against which a succeeding sheet abuts.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 29, 2012Publication date: September 20, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Akira Yoshimura, Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi, Motohiro Furusawa, Yohei Suzuki
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Patent number: 8172227Abstract: A sheet detecting device includes a rotation unit having an abutment surface, a positioning unit configured to position the rotation unit in a standby position where the leading edge of the conveyed sheet abuts the abutment surface, and a detecting unit configured to detect the conveyed sheet on the basis of the rotation of the rotation unit pressed by the conveyed sheet, wherein the rotation unit rotates to a sheet passage posture where the sheet is allowed to pass after being pressed by the leading edge of the conveyed sheet and, when the trailing edge of the conveyed sheet passes the rotation unit, the rotation unit is rotated from the sheet passage posture in the same direction as a sheet conveying direction and is positioned in the standby position.Type: GrantFiled: October 13, 2010Date of Patent: May 8, 2012Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Motohiro Furusawa, Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi
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Publication number: 20120080838Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus including: a conveying roller pair conveying a sheet by a nip portion; a shutter portion which is rotatably supported on a rotary shaft of the first conveying roller; a same radius portion, provided in the shutter portion, which is formed to have substantially the same radius as a radius of the first conveying roller; an abutment portion, provided in the shutter portion, and against which the leading edge of the sheet is abutted; and a boundary portion, provided in a boundary of the abutment portion and the same radius portion, which guides the leading edge of the sheet to the nip portion when the shutter portion is rotated by abutting the leading edge of the sheet against the boundary portion.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 14, 2011Publication date: April 5, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Takehito Osada, Minoru Kawanishi, Kenji Watanabe, Motohiro Furusawa
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Patent number: 8123227Abstract: A sliding member is characterized in that a sliding surface of the sliding member is coated with an amorphous hard carbon film, and a surface of the amorphous hard carbon film has a ten-point mean roughness of equal to or less than 0.7 micrometers and an initial wear height in a range of 0.07 to 0.14 micrometers.Type: GrantFiled: August 27, 2008Date of Patent: February 28, 2012Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha RikenInventors: Minoru Kawanishi, Ryo Wakabayashi, Masaki Moronuki, Katsuhiro Tsuji, Takayuki Sato
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Patent number: 7971868Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a middle plate, a lifter mechanism, and a sheet-feed roller. The sheet-feed roller can move to a first position retracted from the sheet, a second position lower than the first position for feeding the sheet, and a third position lower than the second position. The sheet feeding apparatus has a position control mode in which when a sheet is fed, the sheet-feed roller is moved from the first position to the third position and stopped there, the middle plate is moved toward the sheet-feed roller by the lifter mechanism, the sheet stacked on the middle plate is brought into abutment against the sheet-feed roller, the middle plate is moved until a position detection sensor outputs the detection signal that the sheet-feed roller is in the second position, and a height of the sheet is controlled.Type: GrantFiled: September 2, 2008Date of Patent: July 5, 2011Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Akira Matsushima, Minoru Kawanishi, Yasuhiro Uchida, Eiji Wakiyama
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Publication number: 20110089628Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 13, 2010Publication date: April 21, 2011Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi, Motohiro Furusawa, Hiroki Yamaguchi, Shigeo Murayama
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Publication number: 20110089629Abstract: A sheet detecting device includes a rotation unit having an abutment surface, a positioning unit configured to position the rotation unit in a standby position where the leading edge of the conveyed sheet abuts the abutment surface, and a detecting unit configured to detect the conveyed sheet on the basis of the rotation of the rotation unit pressed by the conveyed sheet, wherein the rotation unit rotates to a sheet passage posture where the sheet is allowed to pass after being pressed by the leading edge of the conveyed sheet and, when the trailing edge of the conveyed sheet passes the rotation unit, the rotation unit is rotated from the sheet passage posture in the same direction as a sheet conveying direction and is positioned in the standby position.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 13, 2010Publication date: April 21, 2011Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Motohiro Furusawa, Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi
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Patent number: 7878466Abstract: An apparatus supporting mechanism comprises: a fixing member 111 fixed to the bottom of the apparatus; a connecting member 115 disposed in the fixing member 111 in such a manner as to freely project and be housed; a supporting member 112 disposed in the connecting member 115 and freely displaced between a first position, at which the supporting member is grounded or located proximate with respect to the installation plane of the apparatus, a second position, at which the supporting member is separate from the installation plane of the apparatus; and a displacing mechanism which displaces the supporting member 112 to the first position when the connecting member 115 projects while displaces the supporting member 112 to the second position when the connecting member 115 is housed.Type: GrantFiled: August 28, 2008Date of Patent: February 1, 2011Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Eiji Wakiyama, Yasuhiro Uchida, Minoru Kawanishi, Akira Matsushima
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Publication number: 20110006469Abstract: When a retard roller is rotating in a sheet feeding direction, the rotation is transmitted to a pickup roller and the pickup roller rotates in a direction for conveying the sheet. When the retard roller is rotating in a direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction or is stationary, the pickup roller does not feed the sheet. Therefore, in a successive feeding operation, the sheet to be fed next is always conveyed such that the leading end thereof reaches a nip position between a feed roller and the retard roller. Therefore, the intervals between the sheets are uniform in the successive feeding operation.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 12, 2010Publication date: January 13, 2011Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Akira Matsushima, Yasuhiro Uchida, Shunsuke Okazaki, Minoru Kawanishi, Kenji Watanabe, Motohiro Furusawa
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Publication number: 20100254721Abstract: A printer includes a fixing device that fixes a toner image formed on a sheet and a sheet delivery roller pair for delivering the sheet on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing device onto a sheet delivery tray placed outside of a printer main body. The printer includes a supporting member that supports an upstream edge portion of the sheet in a delivery direction delivered from the sheet delivery roller pair so that the upstream edge portion does not fall down on the sheet delivery tray. The printer includes a blower unit that blows air along a lower surface of the sheet supported by the supporting member from the upstream edge portion of the sheet in the delivery direction toward a downstream edge portion of the sheet in the delivery direction.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 8, 2010Publication date: October 7, 2010Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Taku Fukita, Minoru Kawanishi, Kenji Watanabe, Motohiro Furusawa
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Patent number: 7753366Abstract: The sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet stack tray on which sheets to be fed are stacked, a drive motor for moving up the sheet stack tray, a detection sensor for detecting the position of an uppermost sheet stacked on the sheet stack tray, and a control part for controlling the function of the drive motor, wherein, when the detection sensor detects that the uppermost sheet reaches a predetermined height while the drive motor executes a drive so as to move up the sheet stack tray, the control part tentatively stops or decelerates the drive motor and thereafter drives the drive motor so as to move up the sheet stacked on the sheet stack tray to a feed position.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 2006Date of Patent: July 13, 2010Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Minoru Kawanishi, Akira Matsushima, Masaki Iwase, Yasuhiro Uchida
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Patent number: 7533880Abstract: A sheet cassette, which can accommodate sheets of different sizes and can detachably attachable in a width direction orthogonal to a sheet conveyance direction, includes side guides for regulating the positions of the accommodated sheets in a width direction and a rear regulation guide for regulating an edge of a sheet in the width direction in the vicinity of the rear edge of the sheet on a back side of the sheet cassette in a mounting direction, and the rear regulation guide is swingably disposed and regulates a position of the sheet by swinging a plurality of regulating surfaces corresponding to the sheets of the different sizes and moving to regulating positions.Type: GrantFiled: September 14, 2006Date of Patent: May 19, 2009Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Minoru Kawanishi, Akira Matsushima
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Publication number: 20090066009Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a middle plate, a lifter mechanism, and a sheet-feed roller. The sheet-feed roller can move to a first position retracted from the sheet, a second position lower than the first position for feeding the sheet, and a third position lower than the second position. The sheet feeding apparatus has a position control mode in which when a sheet is fed, the sheet-feed roller is moved from the first position to the third position and stopped there, the middle plate is moved toward the sheet-feed roller by the lifter mechanism, the sheet stacked on the middle plate is brought into abutment against the sheet-feed roller, the middle plate is moved until a position detection sensor outputs the detection signal that the sheet-feed roller is in the second position, and a height of the sheet is controlled.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 2, 2008Publication date: March 12, 2009Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Akira Matsushima, Minoru Kawanishi, Yasuhiro Uchida, Eiji Wakiyama
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Publication number: 20090057529Abstract: An apparatus supporting mechanism comprises: a fixing member 111 fixed to the bottom of the apparatus; a connecting member 115 disposed in the fixing member 111 in such a manner as to freely project and be housed; a supporting member 112 disposed in the connecting member 115 and freely displaced between a first position, at which the supporting member is grounded or located proximate with respect to the installation plane of the apparatus, a second position, at which the supporting member is separate from the installation plane of the apparatus; and a displacing mechanism which displaces the supporting member 112 to the first position when the connecting member 115 projects while displaces the supporting member 112 to the second position when the connecting member 115 is housed.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 28, 2008Publication date: March 5, 2009Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Eiji Wakiyama, Yasuhiro Uchida, Minoru Kawanishi, Akira Matsushima