Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a sheet storage unit, a sheet feeding unit, a conveyance path for conveying a sheet to the image forming unit, a plurality of sheet detection sensors disposed along the conveyance path, a determination unit for determining whether predetermined time elapses from a detection of a front end of the sheet until a detection of a rear end of the sheet and a discharge unit. When the determination unit determines that the predetermined time has elapsed based on the detection by the sheet detection sensor disposed in the furthest upstream position among the plurality of sheet detection sensors, the sheet is discharged from the discharge unit, and when the determination unit determines that the predetermined time has elapsed based on the detection by the sheet detection sensors other than that disposed in the furthest upstream position, the sheet is stopped.

Abstract: A power source controlling IC controlling a current flown through the primary side winding of a transformer is provided with an external terminal to which a detected voltage from the secondary side is fed back through a photocoupler; a control circuit generating and outputting a control signal of a switching element controlling the current according to an input voltage; a voltage generating circuit generating an internal reference voltage based on the input voltage; a pull-up section connected to the terminal to pull up the potential of the terminal to the internal reference voltage to give a bias voltage to a light receiving element of the photocoupler; and a voltage comparing circuit comparing the voltage of the external terminal and a predetermined reference voltage, wherein the control circuit stops outputting the control signal based on the output of the first voltage comparing circuit when detecting an abnormality.

Abstract: Disclosed is a distance measuring device including an imaging lens configured to condense incident light from an object, a lens array configured in such a manner that light having passed through the imaging lens is incident thereon, an imaging element array configured to receive light having passed through the lens array to output image information, and a distance calculating part configured to calculate a distance to the object based on the image information, wherein the lens array includes plural lenses with different numeric apertures.

Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes: an imaging unit that captures an image by photoelectrically converting a subject image; a feature calculating unit that calculates, per region included in the image, a feature value related to suitability for motion detection; a region-motion detecting unit that detects a motion vector per the region; and a whole-motion calculating unit that calculates a motion quantity of a whole image from the feature value and the motion vector.

Abstract: A charge control circuit equipped with a function of controlling a charging current to be supplied to a secondary battery, comprises: a detecting unit for monitoring a temperature; and a charge control unit for controlling so as to break the charging current when the monitored temperature rises to a temperature equal to or more than a predetermined set temperature, decrease the charging current as the monitored temperature becomes higher when the monitored temperature is in a predetermined temperature range lower than the set temperature, flow the charging current having a predetermined current value in a state where the monitored temperature is lower than a lower limit temperature of the temperature range, or flow the charging current having a current value smaller than the current value when the monitored temperature is within a range of from an upper limit temperature of the temperature range to the set temperature.

Abstract: Even if a sheet surface detection mechanism outputs a signal indicating that an uppermost sheet among blown-up sheets is within a conveyance range, if a trailing edge sheet surface sensor outputs a signal indicating that the uppermost sheet among the blown-up sheets is lower than the conveyance range when the conveyed uppermost sheet passes by the trailing edge sheet surface sensor, a lifting and lowering portion is controlled to lift the tray so that the uppermost sheet is positioned within the conveyance range.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a size reducing unit that reduces sizes of a plurality of continuous images, which are still images obtained by continuously capturing images of a moving object, to thereby generate reduced continuous images; a mask generating unit that extracts moving object regions from the reduced continuous images, to thereby generate reduced moving object extraction mask images; a size restoring unit that enlarges the reduced moving object extraction mask images to the same size as original sizes of the continuous images that are not reduced by the size reducing unit, to thereby generate moving object extraction mask images; and a combining unit that extracts the moving object regions from the continuous images by using the moving object extraction mask images to thereby obtain moving object images, and combines the moving object images in a predetermined one of the continuous images.

Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet stacking unit, a suction conveyance unit configured to convey an uppermost sheet stacked on the sheet stacking unit, a suction unit configured to adsorb the sheets onto the suction conveyance unit, and an adsorption completion detection unit. In the sheet feeding apparatus, when the tab-attached sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit and fed such that their tab portions are on the downstream side in a sheet feeding direction, the suction unit starts to adsorb the sheet in response to a sheet feeding signal, and the suction conveyance unit starts to convey the sheet immediately after the adsorption completion detection unit detects the completion of the adsorption. When the sheets other than the tab-attached sheets are fed, the suction unit previously adsorbs the sheet onto the suction conveyance unit, and the suction conveyance unit starts to convey the sheet in response to the sheet feeding signal.

Abstract: Provided is a switched-mode power supply. The power supply includes: a DC voltage input terminal; a driver switching element connected to the input terminal; an inductor connected to the driver switching element; an output terminal connected to the inductor and outputting output voltage different from the input voltage; and an integrated circuit outputting control pulses used for on-off control of the driver switching element. The integrated circuit has: a ripple injection circuit adding a ripple component to a feedback voltage of the output voltage; a voltage comparator comparing the summed voltage with a predetermined voltage; and a control pulse generator generating the control pulse based on an output of the voltage comparator. The ripple injection circuit has an integrator outputting an integral of the voltage at the node between the driver switching element and the inductor, and a series RC circuit connected to the output end of the integrator.

Abstract: A lighting power supply device includes a control circuit controlling a transistor that controls a drive current flown through a lamp, receiving a pulsating flow converted from an alternating current by a rectifying circuit rectifying the alternating current subjected to phase control by a phase-controlled dimmer, and generating/outputting direct current voltage/current supplied to the lamp. The control circuit includes a time-voltage conversion circuit converting a time decided according to a phase of a voltage corresponding to the pulsating flow into a voltage; and a terminal to which a capacitor with an arbitrary capacitance value is connectable. The time-voltage conversion circuit allows the capacitor to generate a charging voltage corresponding to the phase of the pulsating flow. A sample-and-hold circuit takes in the charging voltage of the capacitor at predetermined timing corresponding to a change of an output of a voltage comparison circuit, and holds/outputs the taken-in voltage until next timing.

Abstract: An image input device is disclosed, including: a lens array in which a plurality of lenses are arrayed; a shielding member configured to prevent a crosstalk on an image surface of light rays passing each of lenses of the lens array; a flat board member configured to regulate a position of a living body in a lens optical axis direction of the lens array when contacting the living body; an image pickup part configured to include an image surface and pick up a compound eye image, which is a set of reduced images of an object inside the living body which position is regulated by the flat board member, the reduced images approximately formed on the image surface by the plurality of lenses of the lens array; and a process part configured to re-compose a single image from the compound eye image picked up by the image pickup part. The image input device inputs the single image re-composed by the process part as an object image.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes an imaging lens, an image pickup device, and a correcting circuit. The imaging lens is configured to focus light from an object to form an image. The image pickup device is configured to pick up the image formed by the imaging lens. The correcting circuit is configured to execute computations for correcting image degradation of the image caused by the imaging lens. The imaging lens is also a single lens having a finite gain of optical transfer function and exhibiting a minute difference in the gain between different angles of view of the imaging lens.

Abstract: Disclosed a switching power supply apparatus which includes a voltage converting transformer including an auxiliary winding on a primary side and a switching control circuit, wherein the switching control circuit includes a detection circuit to detect a falling edge of a terminal voltage of the auxiliary winding, and controls a switching transistor connected to a primary winding of the transformer based on the terminal voltage of the auxiliary winding at the time immediately before current flowing through a secondary rectifier diode of the switching power supply apparatus becomes zero, which terminal voltage is obtained based on a detection timing of the detection circuit.

Abstract: The present invention provides a sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus having the same, in which a jammed sheet can be easily viewed and easily removed. A sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention comprises a fixation guide portion fixed on an apparatus body; a first guide portion disposed to face the fixation guide portion; a second guide portion disposed to face the fixation guide portion, wherein the first guide portion and the second guide portion are arranged in a line along a sheet conveying direction and each of the first guide portion and the second guide portion is independently movable; a sheet conveying path formed by the fixation guide, the first guide portion and the second guide portion, and a movement mechanism that moves the second guide portion away from the fixation guide portion, when the first guide portion is moved to open the sheet conveying path.

Abstract: An image input apparatus that inputs an image of an object residing within a living body is disclosed. The image input apparatus includes a light source that irradiates near infrared light on the living body, a lens array arranged at a position facing the living body and including plural lenses each having a face with zero or negative power arranged at a side facing the living body and a face with positive power arranged at a side facing an image surface, an imaging unit arranged at the image surface side of the lens array that forms a compound-eye image corresponding to a collection of ommatidium images formed by the lenses of the lens array, and a reconstruction unit that reconstructs a single image from the compound-eye image using a parallax between the ommatidium images. The reconstructed single image is input as the image of the object.

Abstract: A power source controlling IC controlling a current flown through the primary side winding of a transformer is provided with an external terminal to which a detected voltage from the secondary side is fed back through a photocoupler; a control circuit generating and outputting a control signal of a switching element controlling the current according to an input voltage; a voltage generating circuit generating an internal reference voltage based on the input voltage; a pull-up section connected to the terminal to pull up the potential of the terminal to the internal reference voltage to give a bias voltage to a light receiving element of the photocoupler; and a voltage comparing circuit comparing the voltage of the external terminal and a predetermined reference voltage, wherein the control circuit stops outputting the control signal based on the output of the first voltage comparing circuit when detecting an abnormality.

Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes: an imaging unit that captures an image by photoelectrically converting a subject image; a feature calculating unit that calculates, per region included in the image, a feature value related to suitability for motion detection; a region-motion detecting unit that detects a motion vector per the region; and a whole-motion calculating unit that calculates a motion quantity of a whole image from the feature value and the motion vector.

Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a winding unit configured to wind a continuous sheet, a binding unit configured to bind the continuous sheet that is wound and stacked by the winding unit, and a first cutting unit configured to cut the continuous sheet that is bound by the binding unit in a state that the continuous sheet is wound by the winding unit.

Abstract: An image taking unit including a lens array, a light shielding member, and an image taking unit that acquires a compound eye image of a vein pattern of a living body held at a lens array. A shift estimation unit estimates an image shift amount between ommatidium images of the compound eye image. An image restructuring unit restructures a single image from the compound eye image by using the image shift amount. In at least one embodiment, a size correction unit corrects the size of the restructured single image with a magnification ratio determined by the estimated image shift amount and an image shift amount stored in a registration pattern storage unit so as to correspond to a registration pattern. As a result, it is possible to perform personal authentication while compensating influences due to fluctuations in a subject distance.

Abstract: Even if a sheet surface detection mechanism outputs a signal indicating that an uppermost sheet among blown-up sheets is within a conveyance range, if a trailing edge sheet surface sensor outputs a signal indicating that the uppermost sheet among the blown-up sheets is lower than the conveyance range when the conveyed uppermost sheet passes by the trailing edge sheet surface sensor, a lifting and lowering portion is controlled to lift the tray so that the uppermost sheet is positioned within the conveyance range.