Means To Bow Sheets During Delivery Patents (Class 271/188)
  • Patent number: 11366418
    Abstract: A decurling device is provided on a downstream side with respect to a fixing device in a medium transporting direction and straightens a curl formed in a medium transported to the decurling device. The decurling device includes a bending unit extending across the medium transporting direction and that bends the medium in a decurling direction by coming into contact with a leading end of the medium; and a position adjusting unit that adjusts, in a medium crosswise direction, tilt of a contact part of the bending unit, the contact part coming into contact with the leading end of the medium exited from the fixing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Momiyama
  • Patent number: 11198581
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a conveyance member to convey a sheet, a pair of alignment members to move relatively in a width direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the sheet by the conveyance member, so as to align a position of the sheet in the width direction, and a lower portion to support a lower surface of the sheet between the pair of alignment members in the width direction. In addition, a pair of upper portions are arranged on one side and the other side of the lower portion in the width direction and each hold an upper surface of the sheet, wherein the pair of upper portions is positioned lower than the lower portion in a plane vertical to the conveyance direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuichiro Okawa, Yasuhiro Nakahara, Masayoshi Fukatsu, Naoyuki Maeda
  • Patent number: 11174118
    Abstract: A paper stacking device includes: a stacker on which paper is stacked; a paper ejector that ejects the paper toward the stacker; an aligning plate that is provided on a side of the paper stacked on the stacker, and aligns a side end of the paper; and a paper floating member that is provided in the aligning plate, and supports, from below, the side end of the paper ejected from the paper ejector, wherein the paper floating member is switched, in conjunction with a movement in upward and downward directions of the aligning plate, between: a paper floating position that advances from a side of the side end of the paper to an ejection route of the paper, and causes the paper ejected from the paper ejector to float from uppermost paper stacked on the stacker; and a retreat position that retreats from the ejection route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 11091338
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a first roller, a second roller, and a controller. The first roller is configured to rotate in a forward direction for sheet conveyance along a sheet conveying direction. The second roller is disposed downstream with respect to the first roller in the sheet conveying direction and configured to rotate in a forward direction along the sheet conveying direction and in a reverse direction. The controller is configured to control the second roller to rotate in the reverse direction at a timing when a leading end of a sheet that is nipped and conveyed by the first roller reaches a nip of the second roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Michael W Lawrence, Gary L Noe, Mikio Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 10974523
    Abstract: A processing apparatus includes a processing section configured to perform processing to a medium, a discharge section configured to discharge the medium that has been transported from the processing section along a medium transport path, and a first contact section configured to come into contact with the medium that has passed through the processing section and being transported toward the discharge section in the medium transport path to press the medium from one side toward the other side. The first contact section is switched between a first position for pressing the medium and a second position that is closer to the one side than the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Masaki Miyazawa
  • Patent number: 10935910
    Abstract: Disclosed is an image forming apparatus, including: a first guide guiding one surface of a sheet downstream of a fixing unit fixing a toner image on the sheet and upstream of discharging rollers discharging the sheet to a stacking portion in a sheet conveying direction; a second guide facing the first guide, the second guide guiding the other surface of the sheet; protrusions with openings provided on the second guide in a sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction; recesses provided on the first guide in the sheet width direction, the recesses facing the protrusions; and a blower unit blowing air toward the sheet via the openings provided on the second guide, wherein a corrugated shape is formed in the width direction on the sheet to which air is blown by the protrusions provided on the second guide and the recesses provided on the first guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuki Akamatsu
  • Patent number: 10880445
    Abstract: A multi-function peripheral includes: a body; a scanner being disposed on the body and outside the body and performing sheet-fed image acquiring on a document; a discharge tray having a fulcrum about which the discharge tray is pivotally disposed on a lower section of the body lower than and away from the scanner, and can be rotated to a receiving state to receive the document scanned by the scanner; and a printer, which is disposed in the body and electrically connected to scanner, and performs a printing function according to a signal generated after the sheet-fed image acquiring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: AVISION INC.
    Inventors: Shao-Lan Sheng, Chin-Chu Chiu, Ming-Chih Shih
  • Patent number: 10865066
    Abstract: A sheet discharging device includes a housing, a drive roller, a first pinch roller, a second pinch roller, a holder, a guide member, and an urging member urging the first pinch roller toward the drive roller. The second pinch roller is positioned downstream of the first pinch roller in a discharging direction. The holder has a connecting portion supporting the first and second pinch rollers. The first pinch roller is movable between a contact position in contact with the drive roller and a separated position separated from the drive roller. Between the first and second pinch rollers in the discharging direction, the guide member is farther away from the drive roller than the connecting portion is when the first pinch roller is at the contact position, and is closer to the drive roller than the connecting portion is when the first pinch roller is at the separated position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kakeru Hayashi
  • Patent number: 10689222
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a rotatable pressing member, a guide, and a contact member. The rotatable pressing member includes a pressing portion that is disposed in a predetermined range in a rotation direction of the pressing member to press a folded portion of a sheet. The guide is disposed opposite the pressing member. The contact member contacts the guide and is rotatably disposed at at least one end of the pressing member in an axial direction of the pressing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Fumiharu Yoneyama, Shinji Asami, Akira Kunieda, Tomohiro Furuhashi, Michitaka Suzuki, Tomomichi Hoshino, Makoto Hidaka, Koki Sakano, Takuya Morinaga, Yohsuke Haraguchi
  • Patent number: 10647538
    Abstract: A sheet discharge device has a sheet discharge port, a conveying guide, discharge roller pairs, corrugation members, and first biasing members, and discharges sheets onto a discharge tray sequentially. The corrugation members are arranged between the discharge roller pairs to protrude beyond a nip portion in them and stiffens the sheet by pressing one side of the sheet. The first biasing members bias the corrugation members in the protruding direction. Each of the corrugation members has, in a region extending from the upstream side to a downstream-side end part of the discharge roller pairs in the sheet discharge direction and including the nip portion, a first pressing part making contact with one side of the sheet and, in a region further on the downstream side of the downstream-side end part of the discharge roller pairs, a second pressing part making contact with one side of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Satoshi Tsunemi
  • Patent number: 10384902
    Abstract: A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a reverse conveyance portion and a second conveyance direction, a supporting portion configured to support a lower surface of the sheet conveyed by the reverse conveyance portion, and an opposing portion provided along and above the supporting portion. Either one of the supporting portion and the opposing portion includes a first projected portion. The other of the supporting portion and the opposing portion includes a second projected portion and a third projected portion. The first projected portion is arranged between the second projected portion and the third projected portion in a width direction intersecting with the first conveyance direction. At least a part of the first projected portion is arranged to overlap with the second projected portion and the third projected portion in a sheet thickness direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Sachiyori Shiina
  • Patent number: 10358312
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a conveyance member configured to convey a sheet, and an alignment portion having a first alignment member and a second alignment member and configured to move relative positions of the first and second alignment members in a width direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the sheet by the conveyance member. Each alignment member includes a contact surface coming in contact with one end of the sheet in the width direction, a lower surface facing a lower surface of the sheet that is in contact with the contact surface, a lower portion supporting the lower surface of the sheet that is in contact with the contact surface, and an upper portion facing an upper surface of the sheet that is in contact with the contact surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuichiro Okawa, Yasuhiro Nakahara, Masayoshi Fukatsu, Naoyuki Maeda
  • Patent number: 10336564
    Abstract: A medium transporting apparatus includes an endless conveyor belt having an outer surface to which a sheet P adheres, at least two rollers, which are a first roller and a second roller, around which the conveyor belt extends. The second roller is located downstream of the first roller in a medium transporting direction. The medium transporting apparatus also includes a backing plate that supports an inner surface of the conveyor belt at a position between the first roller and the second roller. In the medium transporting apparatus, the backing plate includes a hollow-containing portion that is formed at an upstream end of the backing plate in the medium transporting direction. The hollow-containing portion has a plurality of hollows formed therein in a width direction that intersects the medium transporting direction. The plurality of hollows are formed in a support surface that supports the conveyor belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Maeda, Shota Sakagami
  • Patent number: 10183828
    Abstract: A sheet discharge device includes: a conveying portion which conveys the sheet in a conveying direction with the sheet interposed between a first roller and a second roller; a first conveying guide; a second conveying guide; a rotating portion which is disposed on a shaft of the first roller and has an outer diameter larger than that of the first roller; and a guide portion which is provided in the first conveying guide and in which an interval between the guide portion and the opposite second conveying guide becomes narrower toward a downstream side in the conveying direction, the guide portion being located at a position corresponding to the rotating portion in a sheet width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hisanori Iwasaki
  • Patent number: 10160236
    Abstract: A sheet conveyor is provided for transporting a sheet. The sheet conveyor includes a supplying conveyor, a receiving conveyor and a sheet guidance unit. The receiving conveyor includes a support surface arranged for supporting the sheet on a contact side of the sheet and an attraction unit arranged for attracting the sheet to the support surface. The supplying conveyor includes a transport belt being arranged for advancing the sheet in a transport direction along a transport path towards the support surface of the receiving conveyor; the sheet having two side edge portions relative to the transport path. The sheet guidance unit is arranged at a downstream end of the transport path for guiding the sheet towards the receiving conveyor, wherein said sheet guidance unit includes a lifting element arranged for lifting both side edge portions of the sheet away from the support surface while a middle portion of the sheet in between both side edge portions is guided towards the support surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: OCÉ-TECHNOLOGIES B.V.
    Inventor: Mark Rietbergen
  • Patent number: 10106357
    Abstract: A discharge device which discharges a sheet includes: a driving shaft which is driven to rotate by a driving source; a plurality of driving rotating members which is provided on the driving shaft; a rotating member which is provided on the driving shaft, has a larger outside diameter than an outside diameter of the driving rotating member, is formed by joining at least two divided components, and includes stepped portions that protrude, to a larger extent, in a radial direction in boundary portions of the at least two components on upstream sides of a rotation direction of the rotating member than on downstream sides thereof; and follower rotating members which are pressed against the driving rotating members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoki Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 10087031
    Abstract: A paper ejection tray assembly for ejecting paper in an ejecting direction in an image reading device includes a tray body including a stacking surface for stacking an ejected paper, and a pair of movable ribs which are arranged a predetermined distance apart from each other in a direction perpendicular to the ejection direction of the paper and which project out from the stacking surface of the tray body at least when paper is ejected from an ejection slot, the pair of ribs respectively have first inclined surfaces with heights from the stacking surface gradually becoming higher from the downstream side toward the upstream side of the ejection direction of the paper so as to guide the paper ejected from the ejection slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Shota Otsuka, Hideaki Shibata
  • Patent number: 10071571
    Abstract: There is provided an ink-jet recording apparatus including: a first transporting portion provided in a first transport path; a support member configured to support the sheet; a recording portion; a plurality of contact portions configured to come into contact with the sheet; a plurality of support ribs; a second transporting portion provided in a second transport path connected with the first transport path; and a third transporting portion configured to sandwich and transport the sheet in the first transporting direction or toward the second transport path. On the upstream side to the second transporting portion in the second transporting direction, a projecting portion is formed with the upper guide member to project toward the lower guide member below a virtual line linking a nip position of the sheet due to the third transporting portion with another nip position of the sheet due to the second transporting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Ito, Noriyuki Kawamata, Takashi Omura
  • Patent number: 10065824
    Abstract: A stacking apparatus includes a conveyance unit, a stacking unit, and a separation member supply unit. The conveyance unit conveys sheets for circuit board. The stacking unit stacks the sheets. The separation member supply unit supplies a separation member to separate the stacked sheets at any position. The separation member supply unit places the separation member on the sheet in being conveyed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yousuke Edo, Yasufumi Takahashi, Yasuo Niikura, Satoru Takano, Hidehiko Fujiwara, Takeshi Akai, Yasunori Hino, Tadashi Matsuoka, Atsunori Yoshida, Ryo Kanno, Hikaru Fukasawa, Hiroshi Komuro, Masaru Yamagishi, Toshihiro Shimada, Satoshi Aizawa, Kenji Ishii
  • Patent number: 10046575
    Abstract: A liquid spray device includes: a liquid spray head including a spray surface provided with a plurality of nozzles that spray liquid to a medium; a conveyance mechanism that includes an opposing surface opposite to the spray surface and conveys the medium in a first direction between the spray surface and the opposing surface; a plurality of protrusions protruding from the spray surface, and arranged in a second direction which is intersecting with the first direction; and a plurality of supports protruding from the opposing surface to support the medium being conveyed, and arranged in the second direction. The protrusions each have at least a part overlapping with a position other than a middle area between the supports adjacent to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Isamu Togashi, Shuji Sugawara, Yoichi Yamada
  • Patent number: 10029877
    Abstract: A conveying apparatus includes an upper conveyor and a lower conveyor, the top of the lower conveyor facing the bottom of the upper conveyor and defining with the bottom of the upper conveyor a sheet transport path. An air duct having an opening facing the top of the upper conveyor is mounted over the upper conveyor, and a fan is provided that is in fluid communication with the air duct. The fan draws air through the opening, into the air duct and out an exhaust vent. A housing substantially encloses the upper conveyor and the lower conveyor and is connected to the air duct, and the housing has a bottom opening located below the sheet transport path such that a majority of the air drawn through the opening by the fan passes through the upper conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: A.G. Stacker Inc.
    Inventors: Clarence C. Allen, Jr., Kevin G. Gorby, Micah C. Sundstrom
  • Patent number: 10023411
    Abstract: A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a conveyance roller, a first rotary member forming a first nip portion conveying a sheet in a first conveyance direction, a rotation axis of the first rotary member being inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the conveyance roller such that a center of one end of the first rotary member is positioned at a different position in the first conveyance direction with respect to a center of the other end, and a second rotary member forming a second nip portion conveying a sheet in a second conveyance direction, a rotation axis of the second rotary member being inclined with respect to the rotation axis of the conveyance roller such that a center of one end of the second rotary member is positioned at a different position in the second conveyance direction with respect to a center of the other end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroki Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 10017351
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a sheet post-processing apparatus includes: a standby unit configured to put a sheet on standby, the standby unit including a tray member on which the sheet is placed; a corrugation forming unit configured to form a corrugation in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction on the sheet in the standby unit, the corrugation forming unit integrally provided with the tray member; and a processing unit disposed below the standby unit and configured to process the sheet supplied from the standby unit, wherein the corrugation forming unit includes: a projecting roller projecting upward from a conveyance reference plane in the standby unit; and a housing unit configured as a part of the tray member to house the projecting roller below the conveyance reference plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shoichi Dobashi
  • Patent number: 9944485
    Abstract: A paper discharging apparatus comprises: a first conveying unit; a second conveying unit which includes a pinch roller and a feeding roller that are arranged closer to the downstream side; a movable mechanism which moves a surface part between a first position that the surface part is not contacted with the pinch roller and a second position that the surface part is contacted with the pinch roller through the paper so as to push the pinch roller; a control unit which moves the surface part to the second position, clamps the paper by the pinch roller and the surface part, and conveys the paper, thereby bending the paper, and which moves the surface part to the first position and clamps the paper by the pinch roller and the feeding roller, and rotates the feeding roller, thereby discharging the paper from the conveyance path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenji Eoka, Tsuyoshi Sanada
  • Patent number: 9676583
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a casing, first discharge rollers arranged in an axial direction, a roller shaft supporting the first discharge rollers and configured to rotate together with the first discharge rollers, second discharge rollers provided in correspondence with the first discharge rollers, a bearing member attached to the casing such that the bearing member is entirely located between adjacent two of the first discharge rollers, the bearing member supporting roller shaft. The bearing member includes a downstream guide located downstream of the roller shaft in a conveying direction in which the sheet is conveyed. The downstream guide of the bearing member protrudes toward the plurality of second discharge rollers beyond a tangential line at a contact point between one of the first discharge rollers and a corresponding one of the second discharge rollers, when viewed in the axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Raizo Kosaka
  • Patent number: 9676586
    Abstract: A method of converting a supply of sheet stock into a relatively less dense dunnage product, including the following steps of (i) providing a stack of fan-folded sheet material having fold lines parallel to a width dimension; and (ii) drawing sheet stock material from the stack in a direction parallel to the width dimension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: Ranpak Corp.
    Inventors: Robert C. Cheich, David V. Murphy, Richard L. Gwynne, Steven M. Toneff
  • Patent number: 9670018
    Abstract: A sheet transporting device in which a curved transport path is provided downstream in a sheet transport direction from a merging section where a plurality of transport paths, which are formed by transport guides for transporting sheets, merge, is provided. The sheet transporting device includes a sheet guide member that extends towards the curved transport path from the merging section, with an extending end portion of the sheet guide member being disposed so as not to contact the transport guides. The sheet guide member reduces jumping up of a trailing end portion of a sheet caused by flexing of the sheet passing through the merging section towards the curved transport path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hironori Ogasawara, Toshiki Ohgita
  • Patent number: 9663317
    Abstract: A sheet processing device includes a housing, a sheet stacking portion, a sheet discharge portion, a contact member, a conveyance unit, and an association mechanism. A sheet discharge portion is disposed in the housing and faces a space over the sheet stacking portion, the sheet discharge portion including a pair of discharge rollers. The contact member is disposed in the sheet discharge portion, and is movable to project into a sheet conveyance passage to come into contact with a surface of the sheet. The conveyance unit is selectively mounted in the space of the housing, and is configured to receive a sheet delivered by the pair of discharge rollers and convey the sheet. The association mechanism is operable to cause the contact member to recede from the sheet conveyance passage in association with the mounting of the conveyance unit in the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Hiroshi Wada
  • Patent number: 9625860
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises a first roller, a second roller and a control section. The first roller is arranged on a conveyance path of a sheet. The second roller is arranged downstream side of the first roller in the conveyance path. The control section calculates a deflection amount of the sheet nipped by the first roller and the second roller based on a conveyance speed of the sheet conveyed along the conveyance path, and controls a rotation speed of at least one of the first roller and the second roller based on the calculated deflection amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Eizo Kurita
  • Patent number: 9598251
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus main body, a post-processing device, a first magnetic body, and a second magnetic body. The apparatus main body includes an ejecting part configured to eject a sheet toward an ejecting space. The post-processing device is configured to be slidable between an attached position and a detached position. The post-processing device includes a post-processing part and a movable guide. The movable guide is movable between an ordinary position and an opening position. The first magnetic body magnetically attracts the second magnetic body so as to hold the movable guide at the opening position, in a state where the post-processing device is shifted to the detached position. The first magnetic body separates from the second magnetic body and releases magnetic attraction to the second magnetic body when the post-processing device slides from the detached position to the attached position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Masahiko Miyazaki, Yasunori Ueno
  • Patent number: 9540204
    Abstract: A sheet is discharged from between a discharge roller and a feeding roller as pinched between the rotating discharge roller and feeding roller. In this arrangement, a guide is arranged from an upstream side to a downstream side in a sheet discharge direction. The guide is arranged to contact the discharge roller at a downstream position in the discharge direction from a position where the discharge roller contacts the feeding roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Takumi Michibata, Takao Shibazaki, Hideyuki Nukumi
  • Patent number: 9542789
    Abstract: A banknote accommodating device includes a box body, a box door and a banknote inlet. A movable guide plate in the box body is arranged below the banknote inlet through a rotating shaft, and has a guide surface facing the banknote inlet, and an included angle between the guide surface and a vertical direction ranges from 0 degree to 20 degrees, an elastic element is provided on a back surface of the guide surface, and provides a thrust to rotate the movable guide plate counterclockwise. The box door is provided with a guide rib which forms an included angle with the vertical direction, and a stacking surface is provided at the bottom of the box body and forms an included angle with a horizontal direction, and a space for stacking banknotes vertically is formed between the guide surface, the guide rib and the stacking surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: GRG Banking Equipment Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Dengli Chen
  • Patent number: 9481538
    Abstract: A paper discharge device including discharge rollers that discharge a paper sheet and a paper discharge tray on which discharged paper sheets are stacked further includes a control unit that controls the discharge angle of a paper sheet according to at least the stacked amount of paper sheets that are stacked on the paper discharge tray so that the position at which the front end of a paper sheet to be discharged begins to come into contact with the stacked paper sheets on the paper discharge tray is within a specified range from the front end of the stacked paper sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: RISO KAGAKU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro Tsumura, Tetsunori Saito
  • Patent number: 9457979
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a banknote pressing device, including a banknote blocking mechanism (10), and a left banknote pressing plate (20) and a right banknote pressing plate (30), wherein the left banknote pressing plate (20) includes a movable A end (21) and a B end (22), the right banknote pressing plate (30) includes a movable C end (31) of the right banknote pressing plate and a D end (32) of the right banknote pressing plate, the movable A end (21) of the left banknote pressing plate (20) and the movable C end (31) of the right banknote pressing plate (30) can be synchronously opened, closed and swung with the B end (22) and the D end (32)-as rotating centers, respectively, and a spring (51) and a banknote stacking plate (41) are further arranged below the left banknote pressing plate (20) and the right banknote pressing plate (30).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: SHENZHEN BROADZONE INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Lanzhong Hou, Chengwu Gu
  • Patent number: 9454122
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a sheet post-processing apparatus includes a standby unit, a processing unit, and a discharge unit. The standby unit puts a sheet on standby. The processing unit is disposed below the standby unit. The processing unit includes a conveyance reference plane, a distance between which and a conveyance reference plane for the sheet in the standby unit changes to decrease from an upstream side toward a downstream side in a conveying direction of the sheet. The processing unit processes the sheet supplied from the standby unit. The discharge unit is disposed on the downstream side in the conveying direction of each of the standby unit and the processing unit. The discharge unit is provided with an opening section for causing the sheet discharged from the standby unit or the processing unit to pass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shoichi Dobashi
  • Patent number: 9434569
    Abstract: A receiving well for use with a thermal dye sublimation printing apparatus is disclosed. The receiving well is used to receive cut sheets printed using the thermal dye sublimation printing. The receiving well includes two angled surfaces, referred to herein as ramps. The ramps are spaced apart from one another, and a waste area is positioned between the two ramps. The waste area captures the scrap or waste paper that can result from cutting the receiver media after printing. In some embodiments, both ramps slope down to the bottom surface of the receiving well. In other embodiments, one of the ramps is raised off the bottom surface of the receiving well at its lowest point. The waste area may also be offset such that it is closer to one side of the receiving well than the other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Fredric Mindler, Alex David Horvath
  • Patent number: 9438757
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image reading unit, an image forming unit, a discharge unit, and a discharge tray. The image reading unit is configured to read a document placed on a document placement table by moving and scanning of a scanning body in a sub-scanning direction. The image forming unit is configured to form an image read by the image reading unit on a paper sheet. The discharge unit is configured to discharge the paper sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit to a direction perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction. The discharge tray is on which the paper sheet from the discharge unit is to be placed with a space portion at a lower side of the image reading unit. A bottom surface of a housing of the image reading unit facing the discharge tray is constituted of a first surface and a second surface. The first surface is a surface at a front side of the discharge unit in a discharging direction and high with respect to the discharge tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenji Nakanishi, Masahiro Imoto, Yasuhiro Suto, Shohichi Fukutome, Hisashi Yamanaka, Mitsuharu Yoshimoto
  • Patent number: 9382089
    Abstract: A paper transporting device includes a driving roller member, a driven roller member, a first guiding member and a second guiding member. The driving roller member is rotated. The driven roller member is rotated in contact with the driving roller member. The first guiding member is disposed on a driving roller member side, and guides a paper to a contact portion in which the driving roller member and the driven roller member are in contact with each other. The second guiding member is disposed on a driven roller member side, and guides the paper to the contact portion. The second guiding member partially protrudes inward in a radial direction of the driving roller member from an outer peripheral surface of the driving roller member at a downstream side in a paper transporting direction of the contact portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuki Tanaka, Yukihiro Ichiki, Motoyuki Yagi, Tahei Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9359160
    Abstract: A printing device executes processes (a)-(c). In the process (a), first and second rollers convey a sheet a first amount, and a print head executes a printing operation while the sheet is in a state where the sheet is supported by the first and second rollers and a supporting unit disposed between the first and second rollers. In the process (b), the second roller conveys the sheet a second amount that is no larger than the first amount, and the print head executes a printing operation while the sheet is in a state where the sheet is supported by the supporting unit and the second roller. In the process (c), the second roller conveys the sheet a third amount that is larger than the first amount, and the print head executes a printing operation while the sheet is in a state where the sheet is supported by the second roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasunari Yoshida, Tsuyoshi Ito
  • Patent number: 9284142
    Abstract: In order to correct a corrugation caused when a sheet widthwise edge portion elongates more than the vicinity of the center in a sheet feeding direction, a sheet processing apparatus includes: a fixing portion that fixes a toner image onto a sheet by heating, a plurality of pairs of rollers provided along a sheet feeding direction with an interval in the downstream of the fixing portion in the feeding direction to nip and convey a sheet; and a tensioning device that applies a tensile strength of the sheet feeding direction to a sheet in a center area of a width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koji Takematsu, Kazuhisa Okuda, Kenjiro Sugaya, Shutaro Saito
  • Patent number: 9096406
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device (30) includes a plurality of first conveyance rollers (31) and a plurality of second conveyance rollers (32). The sheet conveying device (30) includes stiffening rollers (34). The stiffening rollers (34) are disposed coaxially with at least one conveyance rollers (32) among the first and second conveyance rollers (31) and (32), and have diameters larger than diameters of the conveyance rollers (32). The stiffening rollers (34) includes first stiffening rollers (34a), which apply conveying forces to a sheet (P), and second stiffening rollers (34b), which apply smaller conveying forces to the sheet (P) than the conveying forces to the sheet (P) in the first stiffening rollers (34a).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaharu Kimura, Kohji Aoki, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Norichika Katsura
  • Patent number: 9075386
    Abstract: A representative configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the invention includes: an image forming portion; a transfer portion; a fixing portion; a curl correcting unit which is provided on a downstream of the fixing portion in a sheet conveyance direction and includes a first roller and a second roller; a holding portion which movably holds the second roller; a biasing member which applies a force to the holding portion; a door which rotatably holds the first roller, is supported to be opened and closed, and separates the first roller from the second roller by being opened; and a retracting portion which allows the holding portion to be retracted to a position where the second roller deviates from a movement path of the door against a biasing force of the biasing member according to a closing operation of the door.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Wataru Uchida, Ryo Iwasawa, Tomooku Koyama, Taro Ishifune, Mitsuhiro Ohta, Ken Murooka, Masayoshi Fukatsu
  • Patent number: 8998196
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a first roller to come into contact with a first side of a recording medium and a second roller and a third roller to come into contact with a second side of the recording medium opposite the first side. Each of the first roller, the second roller, and the third roller includes a plurality of increased diameter portions and a plurality of decreased diameter portions alternately arranged in an axial direction of each of the first roller, the second roller, and the third roller to produce an uneven outer circumferential surface thereof. The increased diameter portions of the first roller overlap the increased diameter portions of each of the second roller and the third roller, respectively, with a clearance therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Masaaki Tsuda
  • Patent number: 8991817
    Abstract: A paper conveyance apparatus includes a roller pair including a drive roller and a driven roller configured to discharge a paper from a main body of an image forming apparatus. The paper conveyance apparatus further includes a corrugation component configured to abut against the paper discharged by the roller pair to corrugate the paper as the paper is discharged, and an elastic component configured to push the corrugation component against the discharged paper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasunobu Terao, Shoichi Dobashi
  • Patent number: 8958740
    Abstract: An apparatus configured to discharge sheets may include pressing mechanism configured to downwardly press discharged sheets. For example, the pressing mechanism may include a first pressing member and a second pressing member. The first pressing member and the second pressing member may be located at least partially overlapping positions in the width-wise direction of the sheet. Additionally or alternatively, each of the first pressing member and the second pressing member may be configured to contact the sheet at different positions along a discharge direction. In one example, the different portions may be spaced apart from each other in the discharge direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasunori Watanabe, Tatsuya Koyama
  • Patent number: 8929801
    Abstract: An image forming device including a main frame, a fixing unit, and a sheet discharge guide. The main frame is formed with a sheet discharge opening. The fixing unit includes a heat member and a pressure member providing a nip portion in cooperation with the heat member to fix a developing agent image onto a sheet at the nip portion. The sheet discharge guide provides a generally U-shaped guide surface configured to turn around the sheet discharged from the fixing unit toward the sheet discharge opening. The sheet discharge guide is displaceable toward and away from the nip portion between a non displaced state and a displaced state. The sheet discharge guide is configured to guide the sheet toward the sheet discharge opening at the non displaced state and the displaced state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Atsushi Ozawa
  • Publication number: 20140312553
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device (30) includes a plurality of first conveyance rollers (31) and a plurality of second conveyance rollers (32). The sheet conveying device (30) includes stiffening rollers (34). The stiffening rollers (34) are disposed coaxially with at least one conveyance rollers (32) among the first and second conveyance rollers (31) and (32), and have diameters larger than diameters of the conveyance rollers (32). The stiffening rollers (34) includes first stiffening rollers (34a), which apply conveying forces to a sheet (P), and second stiffening rollers (34b), which apply smaller conveying forces to the sheet (P) than the conveying forces to the sheet (P) in the first stiffening rollers (34a).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2014
    Publication date: October 23, 2014
    Inventors: Masaharu KIMURA, Kohji AOKI, Yoshiyuki KOBAYASHI, Norichika KATSURA
  • Patent number: 8864133
    Abstract: Disclosed is a device for correcting an edge portion of a sheet material, including a first roller provided in a sheet material conveying path, a second roller including a center shaft and side rollers provided at both sides thereof, the center shaft having an outer diameter less than a minimum diameter of the side rollers, each of the side rollers having an outer diameter increasing from a center side to an outer side thereof, and a pressing unit configured to cause the second roller to bend toward the first roller to press the side rollers of the second roller against the first roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shingo Takai, Toshihiro Nakagaki
  • Patent number: 8862047
    Abstract: The present invention includes a supporting member that supports a first roller and a second roller, a first actuator that rotates the supporting member, a first gear that is connected to an end of second roller on the first actuator side, a second gear that is threadably engaged with the first gear, a third gear that rotates coaxially with the second gear, an input gear that threadably engages with the third gear, and a second actuator that transmits a rotational force to the input gear. The third rotation shaft extends in parallel in a first plane that includes the leading edge and the trailing edge of the nip, the first actuator rotates the supporting member between a first position at which the sheet is received from the leading edge of the nip and a second position at which the sheet is received from the trailing edge of the nip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Katsuji Furushige, Keisuke Egawa, Noriaki Sumikura
  • Patent number: 8820735
    Abstract: Provided is a sheet storing apparatus including a processing tray and a stack tray arranged respectively at the downstream side of a path sheet discharging port of a sheet discharging path and at the downstream side of the processing tray as forming a step respectively, and a reversing roller arranged at a tray sheet discharging port as being capable of rotating forwardly and reversely to convey a sheet conveyed from the path sheet discharging port selectively to the processing tray and the stack tray, so that a sheet to be conveyed to the processing tray from the path sheet discharging port is conveyed in a state of having corrugations formed thereon and a sheet to be conveyed to the stack tray from the sheet discharging port is stored at the stack tray in a flat shape as having the corrugations corrected after passing through the reversing roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignees: Riso Kagaku Corporation, Nisca Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsunori Ishikawa, Hideki Mimura