Patents by Inventor Norio Hontani

Norio Hontani 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).

  • Patent number: 6102393
    Abstract: A sheet conveyed into a sheet discharge processing device is conveyed through a straight convey path by first convey rollers and then is discharged onto a first discharge tray by second convey rollers and first discharge rollers. Second discharge rollers are arranged on a reverse convey path. A second discharge tray and a fan for applying an external force to the rear surface of a sheet are placed below the reverse convey path. When the trailing end of a sheet is detected by a second detection sensor, the fan is driven for a predetermined period of time to blow air against the rear surface of the discharged sheet. When sheets conveyed into the sheet discharge processing device are guided to a post-processing convey path by the first convey rollers so as to be subjected to post-processing, and are sequentially conveyed to a sheet stored section by convey rollers from the last or start page, the sheets are guided along one of guide plates constituting the sheet storing section to be aligned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kida, Norio Hontani, Masanori Kato, Masanori Takeda, Kiyohide Ochi
  • Patent number: 5971394
    Abstract: A sheet conveyed into a sheet discharge processing device is conveyed through a straight convey path by first convey rollers and then is discharged onto a first discharge tray by second convey rollers and first discharge rollers. Second discharge rollers are arranged on a reverse convey path. A second discharge tray and a fan for applying an external force to the rear surface of a sheet are placed below the reverse convey path. When the trailing end of a sheet is detected by a second detection sensor, the fan is driven for a predetermined period of time to blow air against the rear surface of the discharged sheet. When sheets conveyed into the sheet discharge processing device are guided to a post-processing convey path by the first convey rollers so as to be subjected to post-processing, and are sequentially conveyed to a sheet storing section by convey rollers from the last or start page, the sheets are guided along one of guide plates constituting the sheet storing section to be aligned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1999
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kida, Norio Hontani, Masanori Kato, Masanori Takeda, Kiyohide Ochi
  • Patent number: 5961111
    Abstract: The intermediate sheet feeding device for a duplex image forming apparatus includes: an intermediate tray; an sheet input conveyance path to the intermediate tray; a sheet output conveyance path from the intermediate tray; the sheet input conveyance path and the sheet output conveyance path being arranged to intersect each other at one end of the intermediate sheet tray; a conveying roller provided along the conveyance path from the image processing portion to the intermediate tray; and a conveyance controlling means which controls the conveying roller so as to convey the sheet at a speed lower than that when the sheet advances through the image processing portion and so that a short-sized sheet is conveyed slower than a long-sized sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Norimasa Kurata, Hideo Taniguchi, Masahiko Fujita, Norio Hontani, Daigo Nishioka, Keigo Hashimoto, Hitoshi Nishida, Nobuhiko Sakamoto, Tatsuya Seo, Kiyohide Ochi, Hideaki Sugata, Hideyuki Kamiura
  • Patent number: 5868387
    Abstract: First and second switchback convey paths are arranged to be symmetrical about the convey path between an inlet and a discharge path. First and second detection sensors are arranged on the first and second switchback convey paths, respectively, to detect sheets conveyed therein. A switching gate is rotatably placed between the respective convey paths. The switching gate is constituted by a first reverse guide path for causing the inlet to communicate with the first switchback convey path and also causing the discharge path to communicate with the first switchback convey path, and a second reverse guide path for causing the discharge path to communicate with the second switchback convey path and also causing the inlet to communicate with the second switchback convey path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1999
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kida, Norio Hontani, Masanori Kato, Masanori Takeda, Kiyohide Ochi