Patents by Inventor Noboru Oomoto
Noboru Oomoto 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: 10635036Abstract: A fixing device for fixing a toner image on a paper sheet by conveying the paper sheet on which the toner image has been formed while holding the paper sheet at a fixing nip, the fixing device includes an endless belt that rotates, a pressing member that presses the belt from the inner side, a pressure member that forms the fixing nip between the pressure member and the belt by pressing, from the outer side of the belt, a portion of the belt pressed by the pressing member, and a hardware processor that controls glossiness of the toner image formed on the paper sheet by changing a shear force to be applied to the toner image formed on the paper sheet within a predetermined range from a nip inlet that is an end of the fixing nip, located upstream in a direction in which the paper sheet is conveyed.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 2019Date of Patent: April 28, 2020Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventor: Noboru Oomoto
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Publication number: 20200012219Abstract: A fixing device for fixing a toner image on a paper sheet by conveying the paper sheet on which the toner image has been formed while holding the paper sheet at a fixing nip, the fixing device includes an endless belt that rotates, a pressing member that presses the belt from the inner side, a pressure member that forms the fixing nip between the pressure member and the belt by pressing, from the outer side of the belt, a portion of the belt pressed by the pressing member, and a hardware processor that controls glossiness of the toner image formed on the paper sheet by changing a shear force to be applied to the toner image formed on the paper sheet within a predetermined range from a nip inlet that is an end of the fixing nip, located upstream in a direction in which the paper sheet is conveyed.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 29, 2019Publication date: January 9, 2020Inventor: Noboru OOMOTO
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Patent number: 10162291Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: a fixing belt wound on a plurality of support rollers including a first pressure applying roller; a second pressure applying roller applying a pressure to the first pressure applying roller and thus forming a nip portion N; a tension modifying mechanism adjusting a tension; a contact area adjustment mechanism adjusting a downstream contact area, which is a contact area of the fixing belt in contact with the first pressure applying roller that is located downstream of the nip portion N; a sheet information obtainer; and a controller controlling an operation of the tension modifying mechanism and an operation of the contact area adjustment mechanism. When sheet information indicates embossed paper, the controller adjusts the operation of the tension modifying mechanism and the operation of the contact area adjustment mechanism to reduce a tension exerted to the fixing belt and also reduce the downstream contact area.Type: GrantFiled: March 8, 2017Date of Patent: December 25, 2018Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Keita Saito, Sayaka Morita, Noboru Oomoto
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Patent number: 9927743Abstract: A fixing device is equipped with a lower pressure roller, an upper pressure roller and a fixing belt which fix a toner image onto a sheet, by holding and conveying the sheet by a nip portion, and a control unit which controls rotation of the lower pressure roller. The control unit periodically changes a velocity of rotational drive of the lower pressure roller, at a frequency of which a period is shorter than a time needed for the sheet to pass through the nip portion, when the sheet passes through the nip portion.Type: GrantFiled: December 16, 2016Date of Patent: March 27, 2018Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Noboru Oomoto, Tadayasu Sekioka, Sayaka Morita, Keita Saito
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Patent number: 9857738Abstract: In a fixing device for fixing a toner image to a recording medium by heating and pressing the recording medium with transferred toner image between a heat fixing member and a pressure member, a fixing-member housing is disposed on an outer peripheral side of the heat fixing member, while a reflection member is attached to an inner side of the fixing-member housing opposed to the heat fixing member. Air blown by an air blower is circulated through space between the fixing-member housing and the heat fixing member.Type: GrantFiled: May 19, 2016Date of Patent: January 2, 2018Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Keita Saito, Noboru Oomoto, Shinichi Yabuki, Tadayasu Sekioka
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Patent number: 9771228Abstract: A sheet feeding device has a mounting portion allowing a stack of sheets to be mounted in a top-bottom direction, a suction/transportation portion provided above the mounting portion for attracting a first sheet positioned on top of the stack, and a blowing portion for blowing air to a foremost edge of the first sheet in a transportation direction while the first sheet is being attracted by the suction/transportation portion, thereby separating the first sheet from a second sheet next to the first sheet. After the first sheet is separated from the second sheet, the suction/transportation portion transports the first sheet in the transportation direction. The suction/transportation portion sets a suction force applied to the foremost edge of the first sheet smaller when the blowing portion blows air to the first sheet than when the suction/transportation portion transports the first sheet.Type: GrantFiled: July 15, 2014Date of Patent: September 26, 2017Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Hiroshi Mizuno, Atsuhiko Shimoyama, Noboru Oomoto, Hiroaki Umemoto, Ryo Oshima
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Publication number: 20170261897Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: a fixing belt wound on a plurality of support rollers including a first pressure applying roller; a second pressure applying roller applying a pressure to the first pressure applying roller and thus forming a nip portion N; a tension modifying mechanism adjusting a tension; a contact area adjustment mechanism adjusting a downstream contact area, which is a contact area of the fixing belt in contact with the first pressure applying roller that is located downstream of the nip portion N; a sheet information obtainer; and a controller controlling an operation of the tension modifying mechanism and an operation of the contact area adjustment mechanism. When sheet information indicates embossed paper, the controller adjusts the operation of the tension modifying mechanism and the operation of the contact area adjustment mechanism to reduce a tension exerted to the fixing belt and also reduce the downstream contact area.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 8, 2017Publication date: September 14, 2017Inventors: Keita SAITO, Sayaka MORITA, Noboru OOMOTO
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Patent number: 9746803Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing unit receiving through an inlet a recording medium with a transferred toner image and heat fixing the toner image to the recording medium before discharging the recording medium from an outlet; a suction part for sucking the recording medium through a recording-medium suction opening, the recording medium conveyed on a recording medium conveyance path leading to the inlet; an exhaust passage for discharging to the outside a gas sucked by the suction part; and a filter disposed in the exhaust passage and serving to capture fine particles generated from the fixing unit and sucked in by the suction part.Type: GrantFiled: February 10, 2016Date of Patent: August 29, 2017Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Shinichi Yabuki, Tadayasu Sekioka, Noboru Oomoto, Keita Saito
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Publication number: 20170176903Abstract: A fixing device is equipped with a lower pressure roller, an upper pressure roller and a fixing belt which fix a toner image onto a sheet, by holding and conveying the sheet by a nip portion, and a control unit which controls rotation of the lower pressure roller. The control unit periodically changes a velocity of rotational drive of the lower pressure roller, at a frequency of which a period is shorter than a time needed for the sheet to pass through the nip portion, when the sheet passes through the nip portion.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 16, 2016Publication date: June 22, 2017Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Noboru OOMOTO, Tadayasu SEKIOKA, Sayaka MORITA, Keita SAITO
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Publication number: 20160357144Abstract: In a fixing device for fixing a toner image to a recording medium by heating and pressing the recording medium with transferred toner image between a heat fixing member and a pressure member, a fixing-member housing is disposed on an outer peripheral side of the heat fixing member, while a reflection member is attached to an inner side of the fixing-member housing opposed to the heat fixing member. Air blown by an air blower is circulated through space between the fixing-member housing and the heat fixing member.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 19, 2016Publication date: December 8, 2016Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Keita SAITO, Noboru OOMOTO, Shinichi YABUKI, Tadayasu SEKIOKA
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Publication number: 20160246223Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing unit receiving through an inlet a recording medium with a transferred toner image and heat fixing the toner image to the recording medium before discharging the recording medium from an outlet; a suction part for sucking the recording medium through a recording-medium suction opening, the recording medium conveyed on a recording medium conveyance path leading to the inlet; an exhaust passage for discharging to the outside a gas sucked by the suction part; and a filter disposed in the exhaust passage and serving to capture fine particles generated from the fixing unit and sucked in by the suction part.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 10, 2016Publication date: August 25, 2016Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Shinichi YABUKI, Tadayasu SEKIOKA, Noboru OOMOTO, Keita SAITO
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Patent number: 9348290Abstract: A sheet conveying device that passes a sheet to a nip portion formed between first and second rotating bodies, and conveys the sheet, the sheet conveying device includes a separation state determining unit configured to determine a separation state between the sheet having passed the nip portion and a surface of the first rotating body, a sheet separating unit configured to allow force to act on the sheet, and a control unit configured to control the force acting on the sheet by the sheet separating unit according to a result of the separation state determining unit, wherein the separation state determining unit includes an illumination unit, an imaging unit, and an acquisition unit, and the separation state between the sheet and the first rotating body is determined based on the acquired positional information of a tip of the sheet.Type: GrantFiled: July 16, 2015Date of Patent: May 24, 2016Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA INC.Inventors: Noboru Oomoto, Atsuhiko Shimoyama, Shinichi Yabuki, Ryo Oshima
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Patent number: 9340384Abstract: A sheet feeder having: a base portion configured to support thereon a stack of sheets piled on top of another; a blower configured to blow air to the stack of sheets supported on the base portion so as to float one or more sheets in an uppermost portion of the stack of sheets; a suction/feed system located above the base portion, the suction/feed system configured to suck the sheet floated by the blower and to feed the sheet in a predetermined feeding direction; a photographic device configured to take a picture of the one or more sheets floated by the blower; and an illuminating device configured to emit light to the one or more sheets floated by the blower a plurality of times during one exposure process carried out by the photographic device.Type: GrantFiled: August 21, 2015Date of Patent: May 17, 2016Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Shinichi Yabuki, Shoichi Yoshikawa, Atsuhiko Shimoyama, Noboru Oomoto, Ryo Oshima
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Patent number: 9335707Abstract: An image forming apparatus having: a rotating member adapted to support an image; a first drive source configured to generate a drive force; a transmission mechanism configured to transmit the generated drive force toward the rotating member, the mechanism including an upstream gear and a downstream gear configured to receive the drive force therefrom; a sensor configured to output a signal indicating a rotational status of the rotating member; a control circuit configured to generate a control signal appropriate for non-uniform rotation of the rotating member, on the basis of the signal outputted by the sensor; and an actuator configured to cause a rotation axis of the first drive source or the transmission mechanism to pivot, in accordance with the control signal, thereby changing a force with which the upstream gear pushes the downstream gear into rotation such that the non-uniform rotation is cancelled out.Type: GrantFiled: September 18, 2013Date of Patent: May 10, 2016Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Takashi Fujiwara, Shoichi Yoshikawa, Noboru Oomoto, Yoshiyuki Toso
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Publication number: 20160068358Abstract: A sheet feeder having; a base portion configured to support thereon a stack of sheets piled on top of another; a blower configured to blow air to the stack of sheets supported on the base portion so as to float one or more sheets in an uppermost portion of the stack of sheets; a suction/feed system located above the base portion, the suction/feed system configured to suck the sheet floated by the blower and to feed the sheet in a predetermined feeding direction; a photographic device configured to take a picture of the one or more sheets floated by the blower; and an illuminating device configured to emit light to the one or more sheets floated by the blower a plurality of times during one exposure process carried out by the photographic device.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 21, 2015Publication date: March 10, 2016Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Shinichi YABUKI, Shoichi YOSHIKAWA, Atsuhiko SHIMOYAMA, Noboru OOMOTO, Ryo OSHIMA
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Patent number: 9272863Abstract: A sheet feeding device having; a mounting portion capable of accommodating a stack of sheets; a blowing device that blows air onto the stack placed in the mounting portion, thereby floating at least a top sheet from the stack; a suction/transportation mechanism that includes a suction belt provided above the mounting portion and attracting the top sheet floated by the blowing device to transport the attracted sheet toward a transportation path; an image pickup device disposed so as to capture an image of the floated top sheet and the next sheet therebelow; and an illuminating device that emits light toward an area to be captured by the image pickup device. The light emitted by the illuminating device illuminates a plane in a direction approximately normal thereto, the plane including the closest end surface of the stack of sheets to the image pickup device.Type: GrantFiled: March 17, 2014Date of Patent: March 1, 2016Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Atsuhiko Shimoyama, Noboru Oomoto, Hiroaki Umemoto, Hiroshi Mizuno, Ryo Oshima
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Publication number: 20160026140Abstract: A sheet conveying device that passes a sheet to a nip portion formed between first and second rotating bodies, and conveys the sheet, the sheet conveying device includes a separation state determining unit configured to determine a separation state between the sheet having passed the nip portion and a surface of the first rotating body, a sheet separating unit configured to allow force to act on the sheet, and a control unit configured to control the force acting on the sheet by the sheet separating unit according to a result of the separation state determining unit, wherein the separation state determining unit includes an illumination unit, an imaging unit, and an acquisition unit, and the separation state between the sheet and the first rotating body is determined based on the acquired positional information of a tip of the sheet.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 16, 2015Publication date: January 28, 2016Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA INC.Inventors: Noboru OOMOTO, Atsuhiko SHIMOYAMA, Shinichi YABUKI, Ryo OSHIMA
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Patent number: 9208413Abstract: A color correcting system mountable in an image forming apparatus comprises an imaging unit configured to perform image formation and a control unit configured to acquire a control parameter for use in image formation by the imaging unit and a status parameter indicating a status at the time of image formation. If a value for a color in an image formed by the imaging unit does not exceed a first threshold, and at least one member selected from the group consisting of adhering toner amount, gloss, line width, and line position for the image formed by the imaging unit does not exceed a second threshold, the control unit is configured to determine a control parameter on the basis of the acquired control parameter and the acquired status parameter, such that at least a color difference decreases.Type: GrantFiled: July 25, 2013Date of Patent: December 8, 2015Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Yoshiyuki Toso, Tadayasu Sekioka, Naotoshi Kawai, So Yano, Noboru Oomoto, Takashi Fujiwara
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Patent number: 9199810Abstract: A sheet supply apparatus includes: a tray on which a stack of sheets can be placed, an air blowing section that blows air towards the stack of sheets to float at least a topmost sheet, a sucking and conveying section, above the tray, that sucks said floating sheet(s) and conveys said sheet(s) in a prescribed direction, and a first light source that emits a first stripshaped slit light having a vertically extending component such that the slit light crosses at least a first edge of a first floating sheet and a second edge of a second floating sheet. An image capture section captures an image of the first slit light, a calculating section calculates a vertical clearance between the first and second sheets, and an air amount adjusting section adjusts an amount of air to be blown by the air blowing section based on the calculated vertical clearance.Type: GrantFiled: July 22, 2014Date of Patent: December 1, 2015Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Atsuhiko Shimoyama, Noboru Oomoto, Hiroaki Umemoto, Hiroshi Mizuno, Ryo Oshima
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Patent number: 9116123Abstract: A gloss measuring device that measures a gloss of an image formed on a sheet which is being transported, the gloss measuring device includes a light emission portion that emits light toward the sheet, a light reception portion that receives the light reflected specularly off the image formed on the sheet, and a position adjustment unit that performs adjustment such that the sheet being transported is in a measurement reference position.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2013Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: So Yano, Naotoshi Kawai, Yoshiyuki Toso, Noboru Oomoto, Shoichi Yoshikawa, Takao Miyamoto