Patents by Inventor Soushi Kikuchi

Soushi Kikuchi 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: 8983360
    Abstract: A printing system including: a first printer that forms an image on continuous-form printing paper, and includes a pre-heating unit that preliminarily heats the continuous-form printing paper prior to fixation and a fixing unit that performs the fixation; and a second printer that forms an image on the continuous-form printing paper fed from the first printer. The second printer includes a jam detecting unit that detects, at a detection position upstream of a position where the second printer forms the image on the continuous-form printing paper, and a control unit that controls the jam detecting unit such that the jam detection is not performed for a period of time, over which a deformed portion of the continuous-form printing paper which has been at rest at the pre-heating unit of the first printer passes through the detection position of the jam detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Soushi Kikuchi, Yuuki Kikushima, Sho Sawahata, Hidenori Takayasu
  • Patent number: 8699906
    Abstract: A printing system includes a first printing apparatus, a second printing apparatus, and a control device. The second printing apparatus is provided at a rear stage of the first printing apparatus, and includes a second preheating unit that preheats a recording medium from one surface before thermally fixing a toner image to another surface, and a temperature control unit that increase the temperature of the second preheating unit from a normal temperature to a target temperature, in response to a printing preparation instruction received in a temporary printing stop state from the control device. The control device starts printing, when the temperature of the second preheating unit reaches the target temperature. The temperature control unit decreases the temperature of the second preheating unit from the target temperature to the normal temperature, when the recording medium is conveyed by a length from a deformed portion to the second preheating unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Atsushi Miyamoto, Soushi Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 8406667
    Abstract: A fixing device includes: a fixing member that fixes a toner image onto a recording medium; a pressing member that presses the recording medium against the fixing member; an oiling unit that applies release oil onto a surface of the fixing member to clean the surface; a removing member that is arranged between an downstream side of the oiling unit and an upstream side of the pressing member in a rotating direction of the fixing member and movable between an in-contact state where the removing member is in contact with the surface of the fixing member and an out-of-contact state where the removing member is out of contact with the surface; a drive unit that drives the removing member; and an oiling control unit that, when starting earliest fixing, controls the drive unit to gradually move the removing member from the in-contact state into the out-of-contact state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Makoto Yagawara, Tsukasa Onose, Souichi Nakazawa, Sho Sawahata, Ken Onodera, Masahiro Mizuno, Soushi Kikuchi, Takahiro Inoue
  • Publication number: 20110222908
    Abstract: A disclosed fixing device includes a first roller, a second roller, a lubricant application unit applying lubricant to a surface of the first roller, a lubricant control blade being in contact with and separated from the surface of the first roller, so that the recording medium on which the image is formed is sandwiched and fed between the first roller and the second roller so as to fix the image onto the recording medium, a contact angle ? of the lubricant control blade relative to the first roller is in a range between 35 degrees and 43 degrees, and a linear pressure F applied from the lubricant control blade to the first roller is in a range from 0.35 N/cm to 0.5 N/cm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2011
    Publication date: September 15, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Sho Sawahata, Genichiro Kawamichi, Ken Onodera, Yuuki Kikushima, Ryuichi Sukegawa, Ryuuji Sakamoto, Yutaka Nagasawa, Soushi Kikuchi
  • Publication number: 20110123203
    Abstract: A printing system including: a first printer that forms an image on continuous-form printing paper, and includes a pre-heating unit that preliminarily heats the continuous-form printing paper prior to fixation and a fixing unit that performs the fixation; and a second printer that forms an image on the continuous-form printing paper fed from the first printer. The second printer includes a jam detecting unit that detects, at a detection position upstream of a position where the second printer forms the image on the continuous-form printing paper, and a control unit that controls the jam detecting unit such that the jam detection is not performed for a period of time, over which a deformed portion of the continuous-form printing paper which has been at rest at the pre-heating unit of the first printer passes through the detection position of the jam detecting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2010
    Publication date: May 26, 2011
    Inventors: Soushi KIKUCHI, Yuuki Kikushima, Sho Sawahata, Hidenori Takayasu
  • Publication number: 20110076069
    Abstract: A fixing device includes: a fixing member that fixes a toner image onto a recording medium; a pressing member that presses the recording medium against the fixing member; an oiling unit that applies release oil onto a surface of the fixing member to clean the surface; a removing member that is arranged between an downstream side of the oiling unit and an upstream side of the pressing member in a rotating direction of the fixing member and movable between an in-contact state where the removing member is in contact with the surface of the fixing member and an out-of-contact state where the removing member is out of contact with the surface; a drive unit that drives the removing member; and an oiling control unit that, when starting earliest fixing, controls the drive unit to gradually move the removing member from the in-contact state into the out-of-contact state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2010
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Inventors: Makoto YAGAWARA, Tsukasa Onose, Souichi Nakazawa, Sho Sawahata, Ken Onodera, Masahiro Mizuno, Soushi Kikuchi, Takahiro Inoue
  • Publication number: 20110076042
    Abstract: A printing system includes a first printing apparatus, a second printing apparatus, and a control device. The second printing apparatus is provided at a rear stage of the first printing apparatus, and includes a second preheating unit that preheats a recording medium from one surface before thermally fixing a toner image to another surface, and a temperature control unit that increase the temperature of the second preheating unit from a normal temperature to a target temperature, in response to a printing preparation instruction received in a temporary printing stop state from the control device. The control device starts printing, when the temperature of the second preheating unit reaches the target temperature. The temperature control unit decreases the temperature of the second preheating unit from the target temperature to the normal temperature, when the recording medium is conveyed by a length from a deformed portion to the second preheating unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2010
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Inventors: Atsushi MIYAMOTO, Soushi Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 7079803
    Abstract: A controller outputs a PRE CPF-N signal and a CPF-N signal following the PRE CPF-N signal to an electrophotographic printer. The electrophotographic printer 1 starts a predetermined preparation process in response to the PRE CPF-N signal, and starts irradiation in response to the CPF-N signal. The preparation process completes by the time of when a toner image for a first page formed on a photosensitive drum reaches a transfer point where the toner image is transferred onto a recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignees: Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd., Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd.
    Inventors: Soushi Kikuchi, Souichi Nakazawa, Masahiro Mizuno
  • Patent number: 6650864
    Abstract: A printing system has a first printer apparatus for forming an image on a first plane of a web having no feed holes and a second printer apparatus provided at a post stage following the first printer apparatus for forming an image on a second plane of said web. The first printer apparatus (P1) is operable to form a position-alignment mark (Rm) at a predesignated position on each page of a web. This position-alignment mark is detected by mark detection means of the second printer apparatus (P2). Control means is provided for controlling the web transport speed so that both the generation timing of a web feed control signal (CPF-N signal) being generated with preset cyclic periods and the generation timing of a mark detection signal issued from the mark detection means through detection of the position-alignment mark are kept constant in phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2003
    Assignee: Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Miyamoto, Masahiro Mizuno, Soushi Kikuchi, Souichi Nakazawa, Toru Kikuchi, Satoshi Aita, Shuho Yokokawa
  • Publication number: 20030185609
    Abstract: A controller outputs a PRE CPF-N signal and a CPF-N signal following the PRE CPF-N signal to an electrophotographic printer. The electrophotographic printer 1 starts a predetermined preparation process in response to the PRE CPF-N signal, and starts irradiation in response to the CPF-N signal. The preparation process completes by the time of when a toner image for a first page formed on a photosensitive drum reaches a transfer point where the toner image is transferred onto a recording medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2003
    Publication date: October 2, 2003
    Inventors: Soushi Kikuchi, Souichi Nakazawa, Masahiro Mizuno
  • Publication number: 20020081132
    Abstract: A printing system having a first printer apparatus for forming an image on a first plane of a web having no feed holes and a second printer apparatus provided at a post stage of the first printer apparatus for forming an image on a second plane of said web. The first printer apparatus (P1) is operable to form a position-alignment mark (Rm) at a predesignated position on each page of a web (W). This position-alignment mark (Rm) is detected by mark detection means (16) of the second printer apparatus (P2). Control means (17) is provided for controlling an appropriate web transport speed so that both the generation timing of a web feed control signal (CPF-N signal) being generated with preset cyclic periods and the generation timing of a mark detection signal as issued from the mark detection means through detection of the position-alignment mark (Rm) are kept constant in phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2001
    Publication date: June 27, 2002
    Inventors: Atsushi Miyamoto, Masahiro Mizuno, Soushi Kikuchi, Souichi Nakazawa, Toru Kikuchi, Satoshi Aita, Shuho Yokokawa