Abstract: According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a nonvolatile memory configured to store setting data including a parameter and an address in which the parameter is to be set, and a register control circuit configured to read the setting data from the nonvolatile memory at the start time and set the parameter in the address. The semiconductor device includes a signal processing circuit operated according to the parameter stored in the register control circuit and a control signal supplied from a first interface after the setting data is set in the register control circuit.

Abstract: An optical scanning device includes a coupling optical system, a light source including a plurality of light emitting units for emitting light beams, and a deflector including a deflecting surface for deflecting the light beams. The coupling optical system is arranged on an optical path between the light source and the deflector so that the light beams enter the deflector at an angle with respect to a normal direction of the deflecting surface in a sub-scanning direction. The light emitting units are arranged two-dimensionally, and a distance between two light emitting units at opposite ends in a main scanning direction is smaller than a distance between two light emitting units at opposite ends in the sub-scanning direction.

Abstract: A sheet conveying system which is capable of preventing a jammed sheet from being mixed with processed sheets, reducing waste in sheets and toners, and further alleviating the user's operations, when jamming has occurred during passing of a sheet between respective sheet conveying devices of upstream and downstream apparatuses. A puncher control section of a puncher as an upstream apparatus of the system issues a passing completion notification as to the passing of a sheet to a staple stacker control section of a staple stacker as a downstream apparatus of the system. Upon reception of the notification, when the staple stacker control section determines that the parameter of auxiliary information of the notification indicates an abnormal discharge of the sheet from the puncher, the staple stacker stops the conveyance of the sheet.

Abstract: A control method for an image forming system capable of preventing reduction of the ability of the system even if a shift transportation function becomes an abnormal condition. An image forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet. A first sheet process apparatus has a first moving unit receiving the sheet on which the image is formed and moving the sheet in a width direction. In a determination step, it is determined whether a second sheet process apparatus having a second moving unit moving the sheet in the width direction is connected to an upstream side of the first sheet process apparatus. In a detection step, it is detected an abnormal condition of the first moving unit. In a sheet movement step, the second moving unit moves the sheet in the width direction if an abnormal condition is detected and the second sheet process apparatus is connected.

Abstract: An image forming system comprises a selection unit for selecting a post-processing apparatus that executes post-processing to a recording medium on which an image is formed from among a plurality of post-processing apparatuses, and a selection limitation unit for determining an insertion apparatus whose supply of the insertion medium to be limited for a selected post-processing apparatus and limiting selection of the insertion apparatus.

Abstract: An image forming system is provided that alleviates throughput reductions and enables reductions in power consumption and lower noise. The image forming system includes an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material and a plurality of sheet-conveying devices that convey the recording material. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus includes a storage unit configured to store connecting orders of the plurality of sheet-conveying devices and a determination unit configured to determine which of the sheet-conveying devices should be given notification by an operation start request or an operation end request according to designation information that designates the sheet-conveying device to which the recording material is conveyed and the connecting orders for the plurality of sheet-conveying devices.

Abstract: An optical scanner includes a plurality of scanning optical systems each of which scans a different surface to be scanned and includes a light source configured to emit a light beam, an optical deflector having a plurality of reflection surfaces, and a synchronization detector configured to receive the light beam deflected by the optical deflector and detect a timing to scan an effective area of the surface to be scanned with the deflected light beam before a scanning is started or after the scanning is completed. The synchronization detector of one of a pair of scanning optical systems is disposed on a scanning end side to determine the scanning timing, and the synchronization detector of the other one of the pair of scanning optical systems is disposed on a scanning start side to determine the scanning timing.

Abstract: Each scanning optical system includes a first scanning lens and a second scanning lens through which a light beam is incident onto the first scanning lens. The second scanning lens of each scanning optical system is disposed at the optically most downstream side in the scanning optical system and has an optical plane that has the strongest power in a sub-scanning corresponding direction. In addition, the optical plane of each second scanning lens, which has the strongest power in the sub-scanning corresponding direction, is located under the shaft bearings of neighboring polygon mirrors in the vertical direction.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a charging unit that uniformly charges a surface of a latent image carrier; a latent-image forming unit; a developing unit that performs development by causing toner to electrostatically adhere on the surface of the carrier; a transfer unit that transfers a toner image onto a recording medium; and an image-density adjusting unit that causes to form a multi-gradation patch pattern on the surface of the carrier, that causes to detect potentials of latent image patches in the multi-gradation patch pattern, that causes to detect a toner adhesion amount on each toner patch, and that performs control of an image density. One of part and all of the low-density latent image patches is a dot-dispersed latent image patch in which the arrangement of unit dot latent images in the basic dot matrix is determined so that a minimum center-to-center distance having a smallest value is maximized.

Abstract: A sheet skew-correcting device includes a sheet-conveying rotation body for conveying a sheet, a skew-correcting member that contacts an end of the sheet conveyed by the sheet-conveying rotation body for correcting skew of the sheet, and a driving unit for moving the skew-correcting member. The skew-correcting member moved in a sheet-conveying direction by the driving unit contacts the end of the sheet conveyed in the sheet-conveying direction by the sheet-conveying rotation body, so as to correct the skew of the sheet.

Abstract: A scanning unit in an image forming apparatus includes a light source, a coupling lens, an aperture, an image forming lens, and a polygon mirror. The light source includes a plurality of surface-emitting lasers. The coupling lens, the aperture, and the image forming lens are arranged on the optical path of light beams emitted by the light source. The polygon mirror deflects light beams of an image formed by the coupling lens towards a photosensitive drum for scanning. The focal length of the image forming lens in a sub-scanning direction is set to be equal to or smaller than an optical path length between the image forming lens and the aperture.

Abstract: An image forming system executes image forming with pages kept continuous by controlling supplying of sheets corresponding to pages for which sheets have not fed in consideration of pages for which sheets have already been fed, even if image forming processing is temporally suspended.

Abstract: A light source apparatus includes a circuit board on which a light source unit including a vertical-cavity surface-emitting light source and a package that houses the vertical-cavity surface-emitting light source is mounted, an optical element holder that holds a plurality of optical elements including at least a coupling lens, and an intermediate holder that is arranged between the circuit board and the optical element holder. The intermediate holder is joined to the circuit board to cover an area of the circuit board on which the light source unit is mounted to thereby make contact with the package such that the vertical-cavity surface-emitting light source is positioned and fixed and joined to the optical element holder to thereby position the optical elements to the vertical-cavity surface-emitting light source.

Abstract: An optical scanning device includes an optical housing in which a polygon mirror that is rotated by a motor is accommodated and an air inlet that includes a filter. An airflow guiding member is arranged at a position opposite to a surface of the polygon mirror on the air inlet side. An air inducing path is provided, which includes a first flowing path and a second flowing path. The first flowing path includes a first end linked to the air inlet and a second end arranged close to a mirror surface of the polygon mirror. The second flowing path is formed with a surface of the airflow guiding member on an opposite side of the air inlet and a top surface of the polygon mirror.

Abstract: The inserter including a storing unit, a sheet-feeding unit; a conveyance unit; and a controller that determines for every sheet a conveying speed of the sheet to be discharged to the downstream side device by the conveyance unit, in which the controller determines: the conveying speed of the sheet, which was discharged from the image forming apparatus, when the sheet is discharged to the downstream side device by the conveyance unit, based on the conveying speed when the inserter receives the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus; and a conveying speed of the insert-sheet, which was fed by the sheet-feeding unit, when the insert-sheet is discharged to the downstream side device by the conveyance unit, based on a conveying speed of one of a preceding sheet and a succeeding sheet, when one of the preceding sheet and the succeeding sheet is discharged to the downstream side device.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image carrying member, an image forming mechanism, an optical sensor, and a controller. The image forming mechanism performs an image forming operation for forming a reference toner image on the image carrying member under a specific setting associated with the image forming mechanism. The optical sensor is arranged in a vicinity to the image carrying member. The controller performs an optical toner test for checking, by using the optical sensor, optical characteristics of the reference toner image formed on the image carrying member and to adjust the specific setting based on a result of the optical toner test.

Abstract: A bookbinding system includes an image forming apparatus and a bookbinding apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus. The bookbinding system includes an image forming unit to form an image on a recording sheet; a loading unit to load, as a bookblock stack, plural recording sheets on which images are formed; a bonding unit to form a booklet by bonding a cover with the bookblock stack; a setting unit to set a bookblock size, a cover size, and a finishing size; a cutting unit to cut the booklet bonded together with the cover into the finishing size; a stack thickness detection unit to detect a thickness of the bookblock stack; and a bookbinding permission/inhibition determination unit to determine permission/inhibition of a bookbinding operation based on a stack thickness detection result as well as the bookblock size, the cover size, and the finishing size set by the setting unit.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus that enables to execute a bookbinding process for sheet bundles without decreasing productivity. The image forming apparatus is connected to a bookbinding apparatus having a bookbinding unit that binds a book by attaching a ring to a punch hole and a buffer unit that performs a buffering process to convey sheets in piles so that sheets for a next sheet bundle are not ejected onto a sheet bundle that is being processed by the bookbinding unit. A determination unit determines whether a sheet is a type that is prohibited from buffering. A control unit adjusts an ejection order so that the sheet of the type that is prohibited from buffering is not ejected within the predetermined number of sheets from the first sheet of sheets that constitute the sheet bundle, when the determination unit determines that the sheet is the type that is prohibited from buffering.

Abstract: An optical device includes: an irradiation unit that irradiates a part of laser beams output from a light source as a scan beam onto an irradiation target and outputs the remaining part of the laser beams as a monitor beam used to monitor a light amount of the laser beams; a measurement unit that measures a light amount of the monitor beam; a storage unit that stores a plurality of measurement results obtained by the measurement unit when the laser beams are output in a plurality of different light amounts, and the plurality of the different light amounts associated with each other; and a prediction unit that predicts the light amount of the monitor beam relative to a reference light amount of the laser beam using a plurality of the light amounts stored in the storage unit and the measurement results corresponding to the plurality of the light amounts.

Abstract: A finisher according to an aspect of the invention includes an intermediate tray that collects sheets to form a sheet bundle, a sheet gripping member that grips one end of the sheet bundle in a conveying direction and a positioning member that grips the other end of the sheet bundle in a conveying direction, a moving portion that moves the sheet gripping member and the positioning member to come close each other, a pair of folding rollers that folds the sheet bundle while conveying the sheet bundle, a projecting member that projects a part between the one end and the other end of the gripped sheet bundle toward the pair of folding rollers, a controller that controls the moving portion, such that the sheet gripping member and the positioning member come close each other in synchronization with an operation of projecting the projecting member toward the sheet bundle S.