Patents by Inventor Yoshiteru Kawakami

Yoshiteru Kawakami 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: 11144002
    Abstract: The image forming apparatus includes a transfer section that transfers an image to a sheet; a sheet conveying member that is provided on an upstream side of the transfer section in a conveying direction of the sheet and that conveys the sheet; and a hardware processor that controls displacement of the sheet conveying member such that the sheet is displaced in a width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor causes a detector that detects an edge of the sheet in the width direction to detect the edge of the sheet after displacement of the sheet conveying member has been started, and causes the displacement to be terminated on the basis of the detected result such that the edge of the sheet reaches a target position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 11092913
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer unit, a fixing unit, a sway roller pair constituted of a pair of rollers, a first detector and a hardware processor. The transfer unit transfers an image onto paper. The fixing unit fixes, to the paper, the image transferred onto the paper by the transfer unit. The sway roller pair conveys the paper to the transfer unit, the paper being conveyed to the sway roller pair. The first detector is provided on a downstream side of the transfer unit but on an upstream side of the fixing unit and detects a position of a side edge of the paper. The hardware processor performs sway control of the sway roller pair based on a detection result of the detection by the first detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 10737894
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer section including a transfer body that transfers an image onto a sheet in a transfer nip; a belt position correction section that performs operation of correcting misalignment of a position in an axial direction of a transfer belt in the transfer nip; a sheet conveyance member that is provided on the upstream side of the transfer nip in a sheet conveyance direction and conveys the sheet; and a hardware processor that controls the sheet conveyance member so as to displace the sheet along a width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor controls displacement of the sheet conveyance member so as to follow the position in the axial direction of the transfer belt at the transfer nip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 10705473
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a transferer that forms a transfer nip for transferring an image to a sheet; a conveyance roller pair disposed on an upstream side relative to the transfer nip in a conveyance direction of the sheet; and a hardware processor that controls the conveyance roller pair such that the sheet conveyed to a conveyance nip formed by the conveyance roller pair is conveyed with a predetermined nip pressure so as to cause slack in the sheet between the transfer nip and the conveyance nip in which the hardware processor controls the conveyance roller pair so as to reduce the nip pressure at the conveyance nip in accordance with an increase in a conveyance amount of the sheet at the conveyance nip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Kawakami, Yasuo Shiokawa, Takahiro Okubo
  • Publication number: 20200186654
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a transfer section that transfers an image onto a sheet, a sheet conveying member that is provided upstream of the transfer section in a sheet conveyance direction and conveys the sheet, and a hardware processor that controls displacement of the sheet conveying member in such a way that the sheet is displaced along the width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor performs first displacement control in which the sheet conveying member is displaced in a direction which is specified in advance with respect to the sheet and in which an edge of the sheet in the width direction is directed toward a target position and second displacement control in which the sheet conveying member is displaced in the direction opposite the direction of the first displacement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2020
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yasuo SHIOKAWA, Yoshiteru KAWAKAMI, Takahiro OKUBO
  • Patent number: 10609235
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image former forming a toner image on a long sheet; a main conveyance path conveying the long sheet to the image former; and a double-side conveyance path which branches off from a first side, in the main conveyance path, downstream of the image former in a conveyance direction of the long sheet, and which conveys the long sheet to a second side upstream of the image former by reversing the conveyance direction at a point of switching back to invert the long sheet. The double-side conveyance path includes, in a downstream side in the conveyance direction before the switching back, a merging pathway connected to the second side upstream of the image former in the main conveyance path, and a first introducer introducing into the merging pathway a head of the long sheet in the conveyance direction before the switching back.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 10582075
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer section that transfers an image to a sheet; a sheet conveyance member that is provided on an upstream of the transfer section in a sheet conveyance direction and that conveys the sheet; and a hardware processor that controls the sheet conveyance member to displace the sheet, wherein a preset value defining a displacement condition of the sheet conveyance member for providing a correct position of the image on the sheet is set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 10577206
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer section that transfers an image onto a sheet; a sheet conveying member that conveys the sheet, the sheet conveying member being provided upstream of the transfer section in a sheet conveyance direction; and a hardware processor that controls displacement of the sheet conveying member so that the sheet is displaced along a width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor sets a displacement speed of the sheet conveying member for the sheet during transfer of the image by the transfer section to be lower than the displacement speed of the sheet conveying member for the sheet before the transfer of the image by the transfer section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Takahiro Okubo, Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami
  • Patent number: 10574845
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a transfer section that transfers an image onto a sheet, a sheet conveying member that is provided upstream of the transfer section in a sheet conveyance direction and conveys the sheet, and a hardware processor that controls displacement of the sheet conveying member in such a way that the sheet is displaced along the width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor performs first displacement control in which the sheet conveying member is displaced in a direction which is specified in advance with respect to the sheet and in which an edge of the sheet in the width direction is directed toward a target position and second displacement control in which the sheet conveying member is displaced in the direction opposite the direction of the first displacement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 10514653
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a lubricant supply section that supplies a lubricant of a lubricant rod extending along an axial direction of an image bearing member onto the image bearing member; and a hardware processor that controls displacement of a sheet conveyance member so as to displace a sheet along a width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor performs control of changing a position in the axial direction of the toner image formed on the image bearing member on the basis of a distribution status of a toner in the axial direction in a toner image formed on the image bearing member, and controls displacement of the sheet conveyance member after a tip end of the sheet in the conveyance direction enters the transfer section so that a sheet position in a width direction of an image transferred onto the sheet is correct in the transfer section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Kawakami, Yasuo Shiokawa, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 10511735
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image former, a conveyance path, a flipping conveyance path, a conveying mechanism and a hardware processor. The flipping conveyance path includes a side path connecting a first branch point in a downstream of the conveyance path to a junction in an upstream of the conveyance path and a re-feeding path connecting a second branch point in the side path to a re-feeding point in an upstream of the conveyance path. The hardware processor controls the conveying mechanism to perform (i) a conveyance operation to convey the sheet along the conveyance path, (ii) a draw-in operation to draw the sheet with the image into the side path, and (iii) a re-feeding operation to convey the sheet in a reverse direction to re-feed the flipped sheet from the re-feeding point to the conveyance path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Kawakami, Yasuo Shiokawa, Takahiro Okubo
  • Publication number: 20190317440
    Abstract: Disclosed is an image forming apparatus, which may include: an image forming part that may form an image on a sheet; a sheet conveying part that may convey the sheet to the image forming part; a sheet length measuring part that may measure a length of the sheet on the basis of a passing timing of a tip end and a rear end of the sheet conveyed to a sheet conveying path; and a hardware processor that may perform control of aligning a formation position in a sheet conveying direction of the image between a first surface and a second surface of the sheet on the basis of a measurement result by the sheet length measuring part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2019
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Yasuo SHIOKAWA, Yoshiteru KAWAKAMI, Takahiro OKUBO
  • Publication number: 20190276257
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer section including a transfer body that transfers an image onto a sheet in a transfer nip; a belt position correction section that performs operation of correcting misalignment of a position in an axial direction of a transfer belt in the transfer nip; a sheet conveyance member that is provided on the upstream side of the transfer nip in a sheet conveyance direction and conveys the sheet; and a hardware processor that controls the sheet conveyance member so as to displace the sheet along a width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor controls displacement of the sheet conveyance member so as to follow the position in the axial direction of the transfer belt at the transfer nip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Publication date: September 12, 2019
    Inventors: Yasuo SHIOKAWA, Yoshiteru KAWAKAMI, Takahiro OKUBO
  • Publication number: 20190278213
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a lubricant supply section that supplies a lubricant of a lubricant rod extending along an axial direction of an image bearing member onto the image bearing member; and a hardware processor that controls displacement of a sheet conveyance member so as to displace a sheet along a width direction of the sheet. The hardware processor performs control of changing a position in the axial direction of the toner image formed on the image bearing member on the basis of a distribution status of a toner in the axial direction in a toner image formed on the image bearing member, and controls displacement of the sheet conveyance member after a tip end of the sheet in the conveyance direction enters the transfer section so that a sheet position in a width direction of an image transferred onto the sheet is correct in the transfer section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Publication date: September 12, 2019
    Inventors: Yoshiteru KAWAKAMI, Yasuo SHIOKAWA, Takahiro OKUBO
  • Patent number: 10401776
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus that highly precisely suppresses misregistration of an image relative to a sheet due to sub-scanning skew and a control method are provided. The image forming apparatus includes: displacement rollers including at least a pair of rollers conveying a sheet that is being conveyed, toward a transfer section; a detection section that detects a position of a side end part of the sheet; and a hardware processor that performs processing for displacing the displacement rollers based on displacement control information and correcting the displacement control information for next and subsequent sheets based on a detection result of detection by the detection section after the displacement of the displacement rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Takahiro Okubo, Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami
  • Patent number: 10379465
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image former, a fixing device, an image forming path, a circulation path and a hardware processor. Along the image forming path, paper is conveyed to the image former and the fixing device. The circulation path (i) diverges from the image forming path on a downstream side of the fixing device in a paper conveying direction and (ii) meets the image forming path on an upstream side of the image former in the paper conveying direction so as to circulate the paper such that an image forming side of the paper is unchanged. The hardware processor performs paper heating control to (i) make the paper pass through the fixing device without image forming on the paper, thereby heating the paper, and (ii) re-convey the paper via the circulation path to the image former.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yasuo Shiokawa, Yoshiteru Kawakami, Takahiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 10336107
    Abstract: An electrophotographic image formation apparatus capable of forming an image on a recording medium, comprising: a first swinging roller and a first deviation sensor disposed between a secondary transfer roller and a first bent portion; a second bent portion disposed upstream of the first bent portion and changing the direction in which the recording medium is transported; a second swinging roller and a second deviation sensor disposed between the first bent portion and the second bent portion; and a control unit which controls an amount of movement of the first swinging roller based on a first detected positional value of the recording medium sensed by the first deviation sensor and controls an amount of movement of the second swinging roller based on a second detected positional value of the recording medium sensed by the second deviation sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Kawakami, Yasuo Shiokawa
  • Publication number: 20190129346
    Abstract: An image former includes: a transferer that transfers an image onto a sheet; a registration roller provided on an upstream side of the transferer in a sheet conveyance direction; and a hardware processor that controls operation of the registration roller, wherein the hardware processor controls operation of the registration roller so as to execute either one of first operation of abutting a leading edge of the sheet in the conveyance direction against the registration roller and second operation of not abutting the leading edge of the sheet against the registration roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2018
    Publication date: May 2, 2019
    Inventors: Takahiro OKUBO, Yasuo SHIOKAWA, Yoshiteru KAWAKAMI
  • Publication number: 20190129345
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a transferrer that transfers an image onto a sheet; a registration roller provided upstream of the transferrer in a sheet conveyance direction; and a hardware processor that controls an operation of the registration roller. The hardware processor executes a registration-less operation of not bringing a front end of the sheet in the conveyance direction into contact with the registration roller, and subsequently controls displacement of the registration roller so that a position of an image to be transferred onto the sheet by the transferrer can become correct according to sheet shape information representing a shape of the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2018
    Publication date: May 2, 2019
    Inventors: Takahiro OKUBO, Yasuo SHIOKAWA, Yoshiteru KAWAKAMI
  • Publication number: 20190101858
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus conveys a sheet in a transfer position of an image by a transferer and transfers the image to the sheet, and the image forming apparatus includes: a detector that detects positions of side ends of the sheet; and a hardware processor that: determines presence or absence of a one side loop on the basis of the positions of the side ends detected by the detector; and performs predetermined control related to solving of the one side loop when the hardware processor determines that there is the one side loop.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: YOSHITERU KAWAKAMI, YASUO SHIOKAWA, TAKAHIRO OKUBO