Patents by Inventor Shinichiro Hiraoka

Shinichiro Hiraoka 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: 7793933
    Abstract: A drive transmission mechanism of a sheet transportation apparatus of the present invention comprises an upstream transportation roller gear and a planet gear for transmitting a first driving force from a driving source to the upstream transportation roller gear, and a release mechanism for preventing the upstream transportation roller gear and the planet gear from engaging with each other. The release mechanism prevents the engagement of the planet gear and the upstream transportation roller gear when the driven gear is driven to reversely rotate by a second driving force. The release mechanism prevents the engagement by moving a release member before the planet gear and the driven gear engage with each other. The release mechanism moves the release member by the driven gear being reversely rotated by the second driving force which is a driving force other than the driving source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasumasa Morimoto, Hirotoshi Iemura, Shinichiro Hiraoka, Sohichi Takata
  • Publication number: 20090184462
    Abstract: A drive transmission mechanism of a sheet transportation apparatus of the present invention comprises an upstream transportation roller gear and a planet gear for transmitting a first driving force from a driving source to the upstream transportation roller gear, and a release mechanism for preventing the upstream transportation roller gear and the planet gear from engaging with each other. The release mechanism prevents the engagement of the planet gear and the upstream transportation roller gear when the driven gear is driven to reversely rotate by a second driving force. The release mechanism prevents the engagement by moving a release member before the planet gear and the driven gear engage with each other. The release mechanism moves the release member by the driven gear being reversely rotated by the second driving force which is a driving force other than the driving source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2009
    Publication date: July 23, 2009
    Inventors: Yasumasa MORIMOTO, Hirotoshi Iemura, Shinichiro Hiraoka, Sohichi Takata
  • Patent number: 6381442
    Abstract: An image-forming apparatus is provided which includes a document reading section for reading image information from a document, and an image-forming section for forming an image on a sheet of paper based upon the image information of the document read by the document reading section. A space section is formed below the document reading section, which accommodates the image-forming section and serves as a discharge section to which the sheet of paper bearing the image formed in the image-forming section is discharged. The space section is surrounded by peripheral walls of an apparatus main body including the image-forming section. The image-forming apparatus further includes a paper post-treatment section that subjects the sheet of paper bearing the image to post-treatments, such as an adjustment process and a stapling process, in a virtually horizontal state, and that is placed between the document reading section and the space section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2002
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisa
    Inventors: Motoaki Okitsu, Atsushi Saito, Yasushi Matsutomo, Shinichiro Hiraoka, Tadaaki Kawano, Kimihide Tsukamoto, Susumu Murakami, Takashi Makiura, Haruyoshi Migita, Yoshiaki Ibuchi, Tomohiko Okada, Akira Kohno, Hideshi Izumi, Minoru Tomiyori, Kunihiko Sakaguchi, Kouji Aoki, Takateru Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6285852
    Abstract: A document is fed from a document tray to a reading station. When the document after being read is discharged by way of a discharge path, the document is halted by a control roller for discharging, instead of being discharged completely. That is, the document is discharged only when the read image is recorded on a sheet and the sheet after recording is discharged completely. When the sheet is not discharged and hence an anomaly is detected, the document set on standby at the discharge position is conveyed along an inverting path and conveyance path to a document registration roller in order to allow the document to be fed to the reading station with its image face presented on the reading position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2001
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kouichi Etoh, Michiaki Nishimura, Masakazu Suzuki, Shinichiro Hiraoka
  • Patent number: 6038412
    Abstract: An image fixing device is disclosed comprising a heating roll installed with a heater, a pressure roll rotatably pressing against the heating roll, and a thermistor for sensing the surface temperature of the heating roll, wherein a CPU is provided for controlling the surface temperature of the heating roll to an initial fixing control temperature of 1.1 times a normal fixing temperature, when the surface temperature of the heating roll sensed by the thermistor is below one-third of the normal fixing temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2000
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shinichiro Hiraoka