Patents by Inventor Naohiro Kikkawa

Naohiro Kikkawa 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: 20120157285
    Abstract: A creasing device includes: a first member including a convex blade; a first receiving member including an attachment surface where the first member is to be attached; a second member arranged to face the first member and including a concave blade that allows the convex blade to be fitted thereinto; and a second receiving member including an attachment surface where the second member is to be attached; and a driving section that brings the first and second members into contact with each other and separates the first member and the second member from one another. When the first member is attached to the first receiving member and the second member is attached to the second receiving member to face each other, a blade edge of at least one of the concave blade and the convex blade has an arcuate shape convex toward one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Go Aiba, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Shuuya Nagasako, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa
  • Publication number: 20120147388
    Abstract: A creasing device, that forms a crease on a sheet, includes: a first member, extending in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction, on which a convex blade is formed; a second member on which a groove-like concave blade is formed such that the convex blade can be fitted into the concave blade by interposing the sheet therebetween; a drive unit that causes the first and the second members to interpose, therebetween, the sheet to form a crease on the sheet; a sheet-information acquiring unit that acquires first sheet information of the sheet to be creased; an adjusting unit that adjusts a pressing force exerted by the drive unit; and a control unit that sets the pressing force to an optimum pressing force for the sheet and that causes the drive unit to drive the first and the second members for creasing the sheet at the optimum pressing force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2011
    Publication date: June 14, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Shuuya Nagasako, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8191882
    Abstract: A spine formation device includes a sheet conveyer to transport a bundle of folded sheets, a pressing unit including a first pressing member movable according to a pressing load in a pressing direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction to press opposed sides of the front end portion of the folded sheets and a second pressing member attached to the first pressing member, to press the front end portion of the folded sheets, and a spine formation member disposed at a predetermined distance from the pressing unit. The second moves in the sheet conveyance direction in conjunction with the first pressing member moving in the pressing direction and presses the folded portion of the bundle of sheets with a predetermined spine-forming load against a contact surface of the spine formation member, thereby forming a spine of the bundle of sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naohiro Kikkawa, Shinji Asami, Nobuyoshi Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8191885
    Abstract: A processing unit performs a predetermined processing on a sheet in a process of carrying the sheet. A home-position detecting unit detects a home position of a moving member of the processing unit by detecting a part of the moving member using a detecting unit. The home-position detecting unit sets in advance a detection range for recognizing the home position, and when a part to detect the home position is detected in a state in which the moving member is stopped, sets a detection position as the home position by assuming that the detection position is in the detection range without moving the moving member once out of a detection range of the detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Hattori, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Hiroshi Maeda, Tomoichi Nomura, Ichiro Ichihashi, Akira Kunieda, Makoto Hidaka, Naohiro Kikkawa, Junichi Tokita
  • Patent number: 8186663
    Abstract: A spine formation device includes a sheet conveyer, a presser, and a spine formation member. The sheet conveyer conveys a bundle of folded sheets with a folded portion of the bundle of sheets forming a front end portion of the bundle of sheets. The presser is disposed downstream from the sheet conveyer in a sheet conveyance direction in which the sheet conveyer conveys the bundle of sheets. The presser is movable to press opposed sides of the front end portion of the bundle of sheets. The spine formation member is movably disposed downstream from the presser in the sheet conveyance direction. The spine formation member includes a groove portion that contacts and positions the bundle of sheets to define an amount by which the bundle of sheets protrudes from the presser and a spine formation face that forms a spine at the folded portion of the bundle of sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shinji Asami, Naohiro Kikkawa
  • Patent number: 8177226
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus and associated method are provided. The sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet conveying path, a sheet stack tray, a sheet discharging member, a sheet guide member, and a sheet contact portion. The sheet conveying path is configured to convey a sheet, the sheet discharging member discharges the sheet to the sheet stack tray, and the sheet stack tray receives the sheet. The sheet guide member is movable from a first position that guides the sheet discharged from the sheet discharging member to a second position that opens a sheet discharge path of the sheet discharging member. The sheet contact portion is arranged at an upstream side of the sheet discharging member with respect to the sheet conveying path, and responds to the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveying path in order to move the sheet guide member between the first and second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naohiro Kikkawa, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Hiroshi Maeda, Tomoichi Nomura, Makoto Hidaka, Hitoshi Hattori, Junichi Tokita, Akira Kunieda, Ichiro Ichihashi
  • Publication number: 20120115702
    Abstract: A creasing apparatus forming a crease on sheets one by one includes: a first member having a linear convex blade formed in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction; a second member having a concave blade being paired with the convex blade; and a drive unit that moves the first and second members so as to cause the convex blade and the concave blade to form a crease on a sheet stopped at a predetermined position. The first member forms the convex blade with first comb and second comb and the second member forms the concave blade with third comb and fourth comb that advance and retract relative to each other. The drive unit selects advanced and retracted positions of the first comb and second comb and advanced and retracted positions of the third comb and fourth comb so as to perform a creasing process or a perforating process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2011
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Naoyuki Ishikawa, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8162306
    Abstract: A sheet aligning apparatus includes an alignment surface formed in a planar shape and that presses an end of a sheet to move and align the sheet; and a holding unit that holds the end of the sheet at a position contacting the alignment surface in a state that a curled end of the sheet contacts the alignment surface and the sheet is thus pressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Masahiro Tamura, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Hitoshi Hattori, Junichi Tokita, Takashi Saito, Akira Kunieda, Ichiro Ichihashi, Atsushi Kuriyama, Hiroshi Maeda
  • Publication number: 20120086161
    Abstract: A creasing apparatus that performs a creasing process on a sheet, the creasing apparatus including a first conveying path on which a creasing unit is located, the creasing unit performing a creasing process on a sheet conveyed therein; a second conveying path that conveys a sheet conveyed therein to a downstream side without any process being performed on the sheet; and a control unit that, while the first conveying path conveys a sheet so that the creasing unit performs the creasing process on the sheet, causes a subsequent sheet to be conveyed to the downstream side from the second conveying path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2011
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Shuuya Nagasako, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Akihiro Musha, Go Aiba, Naoki Oikawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naohiro Kikkawa
  • Publication number: 20120083400
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: a correcting unit that corrects alignment of a sheet; a post-processing unit that performs post-processing on the sheet after the correcting unit corrects the alignment of the sheet; and a creasing unit that forms a crease on the sheet after the correcting unit corrects the alignment of the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Publication date: April 5, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Akihiro Musha, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8109495
    Abstract: An spine formation device includes a sheet conveyer, a contact member including a first row of grooves provided in a contact surface thereof to house a projection projecting from a folded portion of a bundle of folded sheets, a driving unit to move the contact member, first and second sandwiching units to squeeze the bundle, a discharge unit, and a controller. The first row of grooves extends in parallel to the folded portion of the bundle and includes at least a first pair of grooves inclined in different directions with an interval therebetween varying in size with location of the grooves in a first direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction. The contact member is moved to change the size of interval between the first pair of grooves at a position aligned with the projection projecting from the folded portion of the bundle of folded sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Naohiro Kikkawa, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shinji Asami, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Kiichiroh Gotoh
  • Publication number: 20110301011
    Abstract: A creasing device that creases sheets on a per-sheet basis and includes: a first member extending perpendicularly to a sheet conveying direction and including a convex blade; a second member extending perpendicularly to the sheet conveying direction and including a concave blade, into which the convex blade is to be fitted; a drive unit that brings the first and the second members into and out of contact with each other, thereby producing a crease in a sheet interposed between the first and the second members; a sheet retainer driven by the drive unit and brought into contact with the second member with the sheet therebetween to retain the sheet across its full width; and a holding unit that holds the sheet retainer in a retaining state during creasing where the contact between the first and the second members starts at one point and develops in one direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Naoyuki Ishikawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Naohiro Kikkawa, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Publication number: 20110301008
    Abstract: A creasing device for creasing sheets on a per-sheet basis, the creasing device includes: a first member extending perpendicularly to a sheet conveying direction and including a male blade, which has a convex cross section; a second member extending perpendicularly to the sheet conveying direction and including a grooved female blade, into which the male blade to be fitted with a sheet between the female blade and the male blade; and a drive unit that brings the first member and the second member relatively into and out of contact with each other to cause a sheet stopped at a predetermined position to be pinched between the first member and the second member and creased. An edge portion of any one of the first member and the second member has an arcuate shape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 17, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Yuusuke Shibasaki, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Publication number: 20110301005
    Abstract: An image forming system includes: a folding unit that folds a sheet of paper to form a fold in the sheet; a creasing unit that, before the sheet is folded, produces a crease in the sheet at a fold position where the fold is to be formed; a crease-position adjusting unit that adjusts a crease position where the crease is to be produced; a fold-position adjusting unit that adjusts the fold position; a first input unit that receives an input specifying an amount, by which the crease position is to be adjusted; and a second input unit that receives an input specifying an amount, by which the fold position is to be adjusted, wherein when the fold position is adjusted by the second input unit, the crease position is also adjusted in synchronization with the adjustment of the fold position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hitoshi Hattori, Naohiro Kikkawa, Shuuya Nagasako, Takashi Saito, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Publication number: 20110245055
    Abstract: A creasing device includes a creasing unit that creases sheets on a one-by-one basis, which is conveyed to a folding device of a subsequent stage, a sheet detection unit that detects a position of a sheet delivered to the creasing device and a control unit that obtains reference information of a fold-position for the folding device and performs control of a stop position of the sheet according to reference information of the fold position, thereby adjusting a crease position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2011
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Takashi Saito, Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Shuuya Nagasako, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba
  • Patent number: 8011281
    Abstract: A punching device includes a detecting unit, a punching unit, a moving unit, a storage unit, and a controlling unit. The detecting unit detects a lateral edge position of a recording medium to obtain edge position data. When the edge position data does not indicate an error value, the edge position data is stored in the storage unit as reference data. The controlling unit determines, when the edge position data indicates an error value, a movement amount of the punching unit based on reference data previously obtained and stored in the storage unit. The moving unit moves the punching unit by the movement amount in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Makoto Hidaka, Akira Kunieda, Junichi Tokita, Hitoshi Hattori, Ichiro Ichihashi, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Masahiro Tamura, Tomoichi Nomura, Hiroshi Maeda, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa
  • Patent number: 8002274
    Abstract: A sheet stacking unit that stacks sheets thereon is movable up and down. A lifting unit moves the sheet stacking unit up and down. A driving unit drives the lifting unit. A control unit controls a driving speed of the driving unit. A position detecting unit detects a position of the sheet stacking unit in an up-and-down direction. The control unit controls the driving speed according to the position of the sheet stacking unit detected by the position detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Takashi Saito, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Hitoshi Hattori, Junichi Tokita, Akira Kunieda, Ichiro Ichihashi, Hiroshi Maeda, Atsushi Kuriyama
  • Patent number: 7967284
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device in which at least a sheet is guided and conveyed by a guiding member includes a discharging roller that conveys the sheet, a first guiding member and a second guiding member that are arranged along an outer periphery of the discharging roller, and a supporting shaft that rotatably supports both the first guiding member and the second guiding member. When the first guiding member is located at a first position in which a path between the first guiding member and the discharging roller is closed, the sheet is guided to a shift conveying path, and when the first guiding member is located at a second position in which the path is opened, the sheet is guided to a folding processing tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Shuuya Nagasako, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Hiroshi Maeda, Tomoichi Nomura, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Makoto Hidaka, Hitoshi Hattori, Ichiro Ichihashi, Junichi Tokita, Akira Kunieda, Naohiro Kikkawa
  • Patent number: 7954800
    Abstract: A sheet processing device includes a sheet aligning unit that aligns a sheet recording medium. The sheet aligning unit is configured to be pulled out from a main body of the sheet processing device, and includes a sheet conveying member for conveying the sheet recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hiroshi Maeda, Masahiro Tamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Shuuya Nagasako, Naohiro Kikkawa, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Tomoichi Nomura, Makoto Hidaka, Hitoshi Hattori, Junichi Tokita, Akira Kunieda, Ichiro Ichihashi
  • Publication number: 20110130260
    Abstract: A creasing device includes: a first member on which a linear convex-edged blade is formed in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction; a second member on which a concave-edged blade pairing with the convex-edged blade is formed; and a drive unit that drives the first and second members to relatively come close to and away from each other, thereby making a crease on the sheet, wherein in a standby state, the drive unit keeps faces of the first member and second member not parallel; and in making a crease on the sheet, causes the convex-edged blade and the concave-edged blade to have point contact with each other via the sheet held therebetween so as to initiate a creasing movement by a rotation movement thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2010
    Publication date: June 2, 2011
    Inventors: Naohiro Kikkawa, Hitoshi Hattori, Takashi Saito, Shuuya Nagasako, Naoyuki Ishikawa, Yuusuke Shibasaki, Hidetoshi Kojima, Naoki Oikawa, Go Aiba