Responsive To Sheet Sensor Patents (Class 271/258.01)
  • Patent number: 8267401
    Abstract: Provided is a recording apparatus for performing recording on a medium, including: a transporting unit which transports the medium; a recording unit which performs the recording on the transported medium; a control unit which controls the transporting unit and the recording unit; and a detection unit which detects presence or absence of the medium at a predetermined position in a transporting path, wherein, during or after the transporting of the medium, after the detection unit detects medium absence if the detection unit detects medium presence during an interval until the transporting for a regulated distance, which is set as a value of a diameter or more of a hole provided to the medium, is finished, the control unit determines erroneous operation and performs a predetermined process so as to remove the erroneous operation state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Norihiko Nakajima
  • Patent number: 8266965
    Abstract: A method and a device for the contactless detection of laminated, flat objects, particularly sheet-like recording media. There is a galvanic separation and mechanical decoupling between the transmitter and receiver to improve detection. These measures can be further improved with correction characteristic methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Pepperl + Fuchs GmbH
    Inventor: Dierk Schoen
  • Patent number: 8253995
    Abstract: An image reading device is provided. The image reading device includes: a conveying section which includes a first tray for placing a document before reading and a second tray for placing a document after reading, and which conveys a document from the first tray to the second tray via a reading region; a reading section which reads the document passing through the reading region; a stopping section which stops a trailing end of the document conveyed by the conveying section within the reading region; and a determining section which determines whether the document remains within the reading region based on a signal from the reading section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Satoshi Mizutani
  • Patent number: 8251365
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device and a method for monitoring the separation of a sheet product, particularly of banknotes. The invention is based on a device and a method for monitoring the separation of a sheet product, particularly of banknotes, by means of a separator (1, 2, 3) having a drive (4, 7) and a controller (8) for monitoring and controlling the angular speed (w) of the separator, and is based on monitoring of the angular speed of the separator by the controller for changes and the determination of faulty separation, if the change of the angular speed is greater than a permitted deviation, or if the angular speed falls below a threshold value (S).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Giesecke & Devrient GmbH
    Inventor: Franz Reuter
  • Patent number: 8246046
    Abstract: [Problem] The present invention has as an object to reduce the occurrence of jamming of sheet within a sheet handling device. [Solution] The sheet handling device comprises an input/output section having the function of stacking sheets and configured to accept and dispense sheets from the sheet handling device; a storing unit configured to store sheets; a transport path allocated between the storing unit and the input/output section and configured to transport sheets; a determination section allocated on the transport path and configured to determine transport condition of sheets being transported; and a controller that, in the event that the determination section determines improper transport condition of a sheet being transported from the storing unit to the input/output section by the transport path, controls the transport path so as to store the sheet in the storing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions, Corp.
    Inventors: Yukie Taniyama, Hiroki Matsuse, Riichi Kato
  • Patent number: 8238766
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit; a transport roller transporting the sheet to the image forming unit; a stacking unit stacking a sheet; a manual feed path extending from a manual feed slot to the transport roller; a feed path extending from the stacking unit to the transport roller; a feed unit transporting the sheet of the stacking unit to the transport roller through the feed path; a first detection unit detecting a sheet inserted into the manual feed path from the manual feed slot; and a control unit, when the first detection unit detects the sheet inserted from the manual feed slot while an operation to feed the sheet of the stacking unit to the image forming unit by the feed unit and the transport roller, and an image forming operation by the image forming unit are executed, aborting the image forming operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tetsuya Okano
  • Patent number: 8235612
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a multifeed sensor to detect whether printing paper sheets are multifed, a measuring unit to measure an interval between the multifed paper sheets, if the multifeed sensor detects that the printing paper sheets are multifed, and a control unit to delay printing using the measured interval so that a lastly fed printing paper sheet is printed. As a result, a printing error due to multifeed of two or more printing paper sheets can be avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2012
    Assignee: SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Gyeong-hun Jo, Geun-chul Lee
  • Patent number: 8219020
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus having a sheet support is described. Using one or more configurations, the number of parts for the sheet support may be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshiyuki Ito
  • Patent number: 8201823
    Abstract: A rotatable pick roller and a rotatable separating roller are formed integrally with a roller case. A retard roller opposes the separating roller and rotates in a direction opposite to that of the separating roller. A lift detecting sensor is mounted on the roller case. When a first sheet and second sheet that are stapled together are accidentally placed on a sheet table, the pick roller picks-up the first sheet and feed it in the gap between the retard roller and the separating roller, the second sheet abuts with the retard roller so that a portion of the first sheet and the second sheet gets lifted. The lift detecting sensor detects the lifted portion and stops rotations of the rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: PFU Limited
    Inventors: Shyuichi Morikawa, Minoru Masuda
  • Publication number: 20120146281
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes a feeding device and a detector. The feeding device is configured to feed a sheet to a destination. The detector is configured to detect the sheet at the destination. If the detector does not detect the sheet within a predetermined time after the start of preparation for a feeding operation by the feeding device, it is determined that the sheet is misfed. Further, the start of the feeding operation of a sheet is changed in accordance with the result of detection by the detector of the presence or absence of a sheet standing by at the destination.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2011
    Publication date: June 14, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshikane Nishii, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tomoyoshi Yamazaki, Haruyuki Honda, Mizuna Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20120139180
    Abstract: A sheet measuring apparatus includes a first rotating member that includes a first peripheral surface portion that contacts a transported sheet; a second rotating member that includes a second peripheral surface portion made of a material different from that of the first peripheral surface portion, the second peripheral surface contacting the first peripheral surface portion and not contacting the sheet; a first rotation amount detecting unit that detects a first rotation amount that is a rotation amount of the first rotating member; a second rotation amount detecting unit that detects a second rotation amount that is a rotation amount of the second rotating member, the second rotation amount being used for a calculation related to the transported sheet; and a fault detecting unit that detects a fault that has occurred in the first rotating member on the basis of the first rotation amount and the second rotation amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Minoru OHSHIMA, Michio TANIWAKI
  • Patent number: 8191888
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a plurality of paper supplying trays; an image forming unit; and a cover. The image forming apparatus further includes a cover opening/closing detecting unit that detects an operation for opening/closing the cover; a paper supplying tray opening/closing detecting unit that detects an operation for opening/closing the paper supplying tray; a paper jam detecting unit that detects a paper jam in at least one place in a paper transporting path; a paper jam release deciding unit that decides whether the paper jam in the detecting place is released or not after the confirmation of a detection; and a completion control unit that controls to complete a paper jam processing based on the decision that the paper jam in all of the places in the paper transporting path is released through the paper jam release deciding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shigeyuki Matsumoto, Takafumi Yamamoto, Mitsunori Shioi, Hiroki Orihara, Yohei Ito, Hiroshi Hayashi, Tatsuya Arakawa
  • Patent number: 8186674
    Abstract: If a jam detecting portion detects a sheet jam, a rear end position of the jammed sheet is computed based on information, when a rear end of the jammed sheet is located within an area A1 and a length Ls of the jammed sheet in a conveying direction of the sheet is equal to or shorter than a distance L between the area A1 and an area A2, driving operations of a pre-registration roller and a registration roller are controlled so that the jammed sheet is conveyed to a downstream until a rear end of the sheet passes through a downstream end of the area A1. When Ls is longer than L, the pre-registration roller and the registration roller are controlled so that the jammed sheet is conveyed toward the upstream until the rear end of the sheet passes through an upstream end of the area A1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Keiko Fujita
  • Patent number: 8172227
    Abstract: A sheet detecting device includes a rotation unit having an abutment surface, a positioning unit configured to position the rotation unit in a standby position where the leading edge of the conveyed sheet abuts the abutment surface, and a detecting unit configured to detect the conveyed sheet on the basis of the rotation of the rotation unit pressed by the conveyed sheet, wherein the rotation unit rotates to a sheet passage posture where the sheet is allowed to pass after being pressed by the leading edge of the conveyed sheet and, when the trailing edge of the conveyed sheet passes the rotation unit, the rotation unit is rotated from the sheet passage posture in the same direction as a sheet conveying direction and is positioned in the standby position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Motohiro Furusawa, Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi
  • Publication number: 20120104690
    Abstract: A sheet feeder incorporatable in an image forming apparatus includes a sheet container to accommodate a sheet, a sheet feeding unit, a sheet conveyance member, a sheet conveying unit disposed downstream from the sheet feeding member in a sheet conveyance direction, and a controller to stop the sheet feeding unit before the sheet abuts against the sheet conveying unit and to resume the driving, and to drive the sheet conveying unit to start while rotating the sheet feeding unit. The controller adjusts a temporary stop period for the driving of the sheet feeding unit before the sheet abuts against the sheet conveying unit, according to a period in which the sheet passes first and second points determined optionally between a standby position determined prior to feeding of the sheet and a temporary stop position located before the sheet abuts against the sheet conveying unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Mizuna Tanaka, Tatsuo Fukushima
  • Patent number: 8152164
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including first and second pairs of rollers for feeding a print medium; the second pair of rollers being disposed downstream from the first pair of rollers; a first detector for detecting the print medium slack in a specified degree by contact with the print medium, the first detector being disposed between the first pair of rollers and the second pair of rollers; a second detector for detecting either the first pair of rollers or the second pair of rollers need a specified value of driving torque; and a controller for controlling either a feeding speed at which the print medium is fed by the first pair of rollers or a feeding speed at which the print medium is fed by the second pair of rollers based on either outputs from the first detector or outputs from the second detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Ryoichi Yamamoto, Hiroyuki Maeda, Naoki Nonoyama, Kuniaki Ohbayashi, Ryo Hirano
  • Patent number: 8148704
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining the alignment of printing plate (14) mounted on an imaging drum (12), and applying an image to a printing plate while maintaining registration and alignment between the image and a reference edge (15) of the printing plate include mounting the printing plate on a plate-making machine (10) and then determining the locations of at least two points on the reference edge. The locations of two or more points are used to determine a transformation that is applied to image data to yield transformed image data (27). The transformed image data is used to image the printing plate. A method and apparatus for determining the locations of the points using backlighting avoids errors encountered in illuminating from the top.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Calvin D. Cummings, Allan Warnes, Peter Hawes
  • Patent number: 8141871
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit; a conveyance unit; a motor; a stop order unit that orders stoppage of the motor; a detection unit, which detects a rotated number of the motor or a conveyance distance during a post-order period, and the post-order period being a period from when the stop order unit ordered stoppage of the motor until when the motor stops; a storage unit; a sensor, which detects passage of the recording medium; a timing determination unit, which determines a pre-order period as a appropriate order timing, wherein the pre-order period is calculated from dividing a difference between a first distance and a second distance by a conveyance speed, wherein the first distance is the conveyance distance stored in the storage, and the second distance is a distance between a position where the sensor detects passage of the recording medium and the target stoppage position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Nakazawa
  • Publication number: 20120025450
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, comprising: a feed roller; a separation unit; a position detection part includes: a detection member that can move to a retracted position, and a detector which detects that a image formation target material is disposed at the feed position or the feed setup position in a case of having detected that the detection member is at the retracted position; and a restricting member that is disposed at a restricting position that restricts the detection member from moving from the initial position to the retracted position by abutting the detection member, in a detached state in which the separation unit is detached from the mounting part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2011
    Publication date: February 2, 2012
    Applicant: KYOCERA MITA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kiyonori YAMAMOTO
  • Publication number: 20120026531
    Abstract: When the presence or absence of a malfunction is respectively determined in a decoloring section or a separation device, and it is determined that either the decoloring section or the separation device is malfunctioning, only the other is executable.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2011
    Publication date: February 2, 2012
    Applicants: Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Ken IGUCHI, Takahiro Kawaguchi, Isao Yahata, Hiroyuki Taguchi, Hiroyuki Tsuchihashi, Hiroyuki Taki
  • Patent number: 8070152
    Abstract: A sheet supplying unit that supplies sheets includes a sheet accommodation tray that accommodates the sheets in a stacked state, the sheets including a first sheet which is an uppermost sheet in the stack of the sheets and a second sheet which is immediately below the first sheet; a pick-up roller that conveys the sheets in a sheet conveying direction; a detection sensor that detects passage of the sheets and is disposed downstream of the pick-up roller in the sheet conveying direction; and a control unit that controls operations of the pick-up roller in accordance with outputs from the detection sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Miwa, Makoto Hattori
  • Patent number: 8070250
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, a transport belt, a pressure device, a sheet detection device, an ejection/transport device, and a control device. The control device controls generating a first stop timing of the sheet transportation by the transport belt, at which first stop timing the transfer belt stops transporting the sheet, and that controls a predetermined delay time after which a second stop timing is generated, at which second stop timing the ejection/transport device stops transporting the sheet, and that shortens the delay time after the sheet detection device detects a trailing edge of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yohzoh Dohki
  • Publication number: 20110291353
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus for which a control method is performed includes a recording unit, a conveying device conveying a recording medium to the recording unit, a feeding device supplying the recording medium to the conveying device, a recording medium conveying pathway along which the recording medium travels, and a control device controlling the conveying device and the feeding device. A first partial length of the recording medium conveying pathway extending from the feeding device to the recording unit is shorter than a conveyance direction length of a maximum usable size recording medium. When the leading end of the recording medium is located between the conveying device and the recording unit after the conveying device is driven to convey the recording medium, the control device switches the feeding device from a driven state to a non-driven state to move the feeding device by the recording medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2011
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tomoyoshi Yamazaki, Haruyuki Honda, Toshikane Nishii, Mizuna Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8066280
    Abstract: A document processing device capable of detecting a multifeed condition is configured to determine criteria of the multifeed or condition. If a detected multifeed meets the criteria, a detection of the multifeed or condition may be ignored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Roland Simonis, Paul Ridl
  • Patent number: 8047539
    Abstract: If a jam detecting portion detects a sheet jam, a rear end position of the jammed sheet is computed based on information, when a rear end of the jammed sheet is located within an area A1 and a length Ls of the jammed sheet in a conveying direction of the sheet is equal to or shorter than a distance L between the area A1 and an area A2, driving operations of a pre-registration roller and a registration roller are controlled so that the jammed sheet is conveyed to a downstream until a rear end of the sheet passes through a downstream end of the area A1. When Ls is longer than L, the pre-registration roller and the registration roller are controlled so that the jammed sheet is conveyed toward the upstream until the rear end of the sheet passes through an upstream end of the area A1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Keiko Fujita
  • Publication number: 20110254219
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing documents are provided. The apparatus includes a feeder for receiving a packet of a plurality of documents and separating the documents to serially feed the documents to a scanner. A retard adjacent the feeder is operable in first and second positions. In the first position the retard forms a nip with the feeder so that the retard is operable to impede the progress of one or more documents in the packet while the feeder feeds one of the documents in the packet. In the second position, the retard is spaced apart from the feeder to form a gap between the feeder and the retard. The system further includes a sensor for detecting a characteristic of the documents in a packet indicative of whether the number of documents in the packet exceeds a predetermined threshold. A drive mechanism automatically drives the retard pad between the first and second positions in response to the detected characteristic.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Publication date: October 20, 2011
    Inventors: David Helmlinger, Gary Miller, Peter M. Chezik, Robert R. DeWitt
  • Patent number: 8038287
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a conveying roller which extends in an axial direction, and a guide member which extends in the axial direction and is configured to guide a recording medium toward the conveying roller. The guide member includes a first end portion, a second end portion, and a middle portion positioned between the first end portion and the second end portion in the axial direction. The device also includes a supporting member which extends in the axial direction and is separated from the conveying roller by a predetermined distance. Moreover, the first end portion and the second end portion are in a fixed position with respect to the conveying roller, and the middle portion is in a fixed position with respect to the supporting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yukio Shiohara
  • Patent number: 8033545
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to improve the process sequence in a printing machine. Another object of the present invention is to increase the operational life of the printing machine. A method has been provided for transporting printing material (9) through a printing machine in which, in case of an occurrence of paper jam in the transport path (2), a flap (5) in the transport path (2) is actuated and a sheet of printing material (9) is transported along the flap (5) out of the transport path (2). Furthermore, a transport arrangement (1) for transporting printing material (9) along a transport path (2) in a printing machine is provided, comprising at least one transport path flap (5) actuated by a control arrangement (20) for opening and closing, and comprising an associated container (8) for receiving waste printing material when said flap (5) is open.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventor: Matthias Prinz
  • Patent number: 8020861
    Abstract: A sheet conveyance device according to an aspect of the invention includes a conveyance roller pair which is rotated to convey a sheet by receiving a driving force from a motor conveying a sheet; a conveyance guide which guides the sheet conveyed by the conveyance roller pair; and sheet detection unit for detecting the sheet guided by the conveyance guide. In the sheet conveyance device, a sheet conveyance speed of the conveyance roller pair is controlled based on information from the sheet detection unit. The sheet detection unit is a sheet scanner having an optical sensor layer in which photoelectric conversion devices formed by combinations of organic transistors and organic photodiodes are continuously arranged in a matrix shape, and the sheet scanner is provided in an area of the conveyance guide in order to continuously detect the sheet conveyed by the conveyance roller pair in a predetermined area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshifumi Itabashi, Yusuke Imai, Kiyoshi Oyama, Takuma Koizumi, Ayumu Murakami, Yuichi Yamamoto, Haruhisa Oshida
  • Patent number: 8018604
    Abstract: The present application is directed to methods and devices for determining the presence of a module and presence of a media sheet in a media path using output signals from a single sensor in an image forming device. One embodiment includes a sensor which may be oriented in a variety of positions through interaction with the module and the media sheet. An algorithm may be used to determine the presence of the module in a module insertion path and presence of the media sheet in the media path based on the position of the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Niko Jay Murrell, Brian Allen Blair, Jason Lee Rowe, William Paul Cook
  • Patent number: 8014692
    Abstract: When an instruction reception section receives an image forming instruction from an operator, a detector detects an toner image forming unit which performs an image forming operation in connection with the operator's instruction. A mode determining section determines which one of an image formation preceding mode or a sheet conveyance preceding mode is set for the toner image forming unit detected by the detector, and a drive controller controls drivings of the sheet conveying section and the image forming section according to the determined mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: Kyocera Mita Corporation
    Inventor: Katsuji Furushige
  • Publication number: 20110210498
    Abstract: A recording device which carries out the recording process with respect to a recording medium using a recording unit mounted on a moving member that reciprocates along a scan direction intersecting a feeding direction of the recording medium, including a reception unit that receives a recording instruction; an end portion detection unit that detects a position of an end portion in the width direction of the recording medium, based on a detection signal that is output from a signal output portion provided in the moving member; a memory unit that stores end portion positional information; and a control unit that controls the movement of the moving member so that, when the end portion positional information is stored in the memory unit and an edge recording is instructed by the recording instruction, the position of the end portion in the width direction of the recording medium is not detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2011
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kosuke Higashitani
  • Publication number: 20110210502
    Abstract: If a jam detecting portion detects a sheet jam, a rear end position of the jammed sheet is computed based on information, when a rear end of the jammed sheet is located within an area A1 and a length Ls of the jammed sheet in a conveying direction of the sheet is equal to or shorter than a distance L between the area A1 and an area A2, driving operations of a pre-registration roller and a registration roller are controlled so that the jammed sheet is conveyed to a downstream until a rear end of the sheet passes through a downstream end of the area A1. When Ls is longer than L, the pre-registration roller and the registration roller are controlled so that the jammed sheet is conveyed toward the upstream until the rear end of the sheet passes through an upstream end of the area A1.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2011
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Keiko Fujita
  • Patent number: 8002277
    Abstract: An original reading apparatus includes an original transport mechanism that has a pickup roller (R1) and the like and an original reading mechanism that has a light source unit (6) and the like, and captures an image of an original transported by the original transport mechanism. When multi-feeding has occurred, in which when a read original (P1) is transported, another original (P2) is also transported, and the other multi-fed original (P2) is not positioned between the read original (P1) and the light source unit (6) (that is, when a read face (P1a) of the read original (P1) is not obstructed), the reading operation of the read face (P1a) of the read original (P1) is continued by the original reading mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Kyuken, Yoshinobu Umetani, Yukihiko Sugimoto
  • Publication number: 20110194861
    Abstract: A medium carrying device includes: first and second carrying part that carry a medium to a second position via a first position; a slack detection unit positioned between the first and second carrying part and detecting slack in the medium; a medium carrying detection part that detects a carrying state of the medium; an input part that receives a recovery instruction when an abnormality is detected in the carrying state of the medium by the medium carrying detection part; a controller that stops the carrying of the medium by the first and second carrying parts when the abnormality is detected in the carrying state of the medium by the medium carrying detection part and that resumes the carrying of the medium by the first and second carrying parts according to a detection result by the slack detection part when the input part receives the recovery instruction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2011
    Publication date: August 11, 2011
    Applicant: Oki Data Corporation
    Inventor: Toyokazu SHIRAISHI
  • Patent number: 7984904
    Abstract: A document processing system includes a document track composed of a pair of opposing rigid track walls. The documents are moved along the document track in a series to allow operations to be performed on the documents. An apparatus for detecting a document with an attachment includes a strike plate formed by a separate section of a wall of the document track. A magnet is arranged to attract material toward the strike plate. An accelerometer is mounted to the strike plate. The accelerometer detects an impact of an attachment to the strike plate when a document with an attachment passes the strike plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2011
    Inventors: Johan P. Bakker, J. Michael Spall, Thomas J. Shelton
  • Publication number: 20110175282
    Abstract: A sheet adjusting device, applicable to a sheet holding receptacle and an image forming apparatus, includes a sheet setting plate to place a sheet thereon, first and second regulating member to slidably move in a given direction, a drive transmission mechanism to transmit a driving power generated by a driving power source to at least one of the first and second regulating members and move the first regulating member in the given direction, and a stopping unit to stop the first regulating member moving toward the sheet on the setting, plate either when a load exceeding a given threshold is given to either the driving power source or the drive transmission mechanism or when a pressure exceeding a given threshold is given to at least one of the first and second regulating members.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2011
    Publication date: July 21, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Sagawa, Jumpei Aoyama
  • Patent number: 7980557
    Abstract: A document handler is provided with a casement 1 which comprises a lower case 6 which has a lower cover 7 for providing a bottom surface of a passageway 5 and a lower tray 8 attached to a bottom of lower cover 7 to form therebetween a lower cavity 3d in which lower optical sensing element 3a of optical sensor 3 is disposed. Even if liquid spilled on a main surface of the table may often enter passageway 5 to the rear from the bill inlet, there is incurred no damage to electric instruments in lower cavity 3d by extraneous substance which is discharged through a drainage 15.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Japan Cash Machine Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Seki, Nobuo Takashima
  • Publication number: 20110169211
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a back end detecting sensor which detects a back end side in a conveying direction of the topmost sheet stacked on the sheet tray, a front end detecting sensor which detects a front end side in the conveying direction of the topmost sheet, and a CPU. The CPU disables start of a sheet feeding operation of a feeding unit in a case where the back end detecting sensor and the front end detecting sensor do not detect the sheet when the sheet tray is lifted toward the feeding unit and then stopped in a predetermined position. Accordingly, a state that a feeding failure is possibly caused is detected before feeding the sheets so as to eliminate the wasteful feeding operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2011
    Publication date: July 14, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuzo Matsumoto, Tetsuro Fukusaka, Yoshitaka Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 7959151
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus conveying a recording medium through a sheet conveying path may include a recording medium conveying device, and includes an edge position detector to detect a position of a side edge of a recording medium along a width direction perpendicular to a sheet travel direction of the recording medium in the sheet conveying path, and an edge position recognizer to recognize, based on detection results obtained by the edge position detector, the position of the side edge at multiple detection positions of the recording medium in the sheet travel direction of the recording medium. The multiple detection positions includes a detection position located within a dog ear region in the vicinity of either a leading edge or a trailing edge of the recording medium in the sheet travel direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Noriaki Fukube
  • Patent number: 7957687
    Abstract: Preventing a paper jam as much as possible when actual paper size differs from designated paper size with increasing throughput by starting conveyance of a second sheet before detecting the length of a first sheet. Unless a register sensor has detected the rear edge (step S303), start of feeding the next sheet is checked (step S304). If started, a prescribed value 1 is applied (step S305). If not started, a prescribed value 2 is applied (step S306). Unless the rear edge is detected before a timer measures “estimated time+prescribed value” (step S307), a paper jam decision is made (step S308). If the rear edge is detected before the timer measures the “estimated time+prescribed value” (step S303), the processing is completed without making a paper jam decision. Making the prescribed value 1 less than the prescribed value 2 enables reducing the paper jam caused by incorrect setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Mitsuhiro Ito
  • Publication number: 20110127712
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus capable of obtaining a sufficient conveying force for pulling back double-fed overlapping sheets to a stacking tray side. A sheet feeding member feeds sheets incoming from a stacking tray which stacks the sheets into a conveying pass. A separating member separates the sheets fed to the conveying pass by the sheet feeding member one by one. A double feed detection sensor generates an output for detecting double feed of sheets fed to the conveying pass. A rotatable member contacts the fed sheet. A driving unit rotationally drives at least the rotatable member in a rotational direction for reverse feeding of sheets. A control unit controls the driving unit when the double feed of sheets is detected based on the output of the double feed detection sensor, such that the rotatable member is rotationally driven in the rotational direction for reverse feeding of sheets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2011
    Publication date: June 2, 2011
    Applicant: CANON DENSHI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: HIROSHI KOMURO
  • Patent number: 7950660
    Abstract: A sheet feeder includes a feed roller that includes a feed roller shaft, the feed roller being capable of feeding a sheet, a frame that supports the feed roller shaft, a helical gear attached to the feed roller shaft, a motor that drives the feed roller shaft via the helical gear, a disc attached to the feed roller shaft, a sensor body that detects a rotation of the disc, and a pressing member that presses the feed roller shaft from a side of the feed roller shaft in a thrust direction toward another side of the feed roller shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masaru Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 7946571
    Abstract: A method for controlling the feed of sheets to a sheet-fed printing press is provided for a sheet feeder unit comprising an individual drive assigned to each of a plurality of components provided for supplying the sheets in a stack, separating the sheets from a stack and supplying the sheets to the press. The method includes stopping at least two of the individual drives in a predefined position in a targeted manner when shutting down the feeder unit. The individual drives are operated in synchronization with one another during printing operation. The synchronization between the at least two individual drives is canceled when the sheet feeder unit is shut down. These drives are shut down individually and synchronized with one another when the sheet feeder unit is started up again such that in shutdown, each individual drive assumes a predefinable position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Koenig & Bauer AG
    Inventor: Hans-Peter Weiss
  • Patent number: 7938393
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a facsimile receiving function and one of a copy function and a printer function. On a shared sheet conveying path, sheets fed from a manual feed port and a cassette feed port are conveyed, and conveying rollers hold the sheet from the manual feed port in a removable state and is capable of conveying the sheet from the cassette feed port when no sheet from the manual feed port is being held. A memory is operable when image formation is not possible for an image received by the facsimile receiving function, to store the received image. It is detected that a sheet from the manual feed port is being held on the sheet conveying path when image formation for the received image is to be carried out on a sheet in the cassette feed port, a warning is given to have the held sheet removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Yako
  • Patent number: 7934722
    Abstract: An image scanning apparatus includes a paper thickness detection unit arranged to detect a paper thickness of an original document based on a reception signal, and a multiple-feeding detection unit arranged to detect, based on the reception signal, whether or not the original document that is being transported has been multiply fed. Based on a detection result obtained by the paper thickness detection unit and the multiple-feeding detection unit, the transportation speed is adjusted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2011
    Assignee: Murata Machinery, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hirofumi Namikawa
  • Publication number: 20110089628
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a blocking member having a blocking surface with which a leading end of a sheet that is being conveyed comes into contact for obliquity correction. The blocking member is rotated by being pushed by the sheet against an urging force of a positioning unit that positions the blocking member to be in the standby position. The blocking member is rotatable to be in a sheet-passage-allowing orientation in which the sheet is allowed to pass. When a trailing end of the sheet that is being conveyed has passed the blocking member, the blocking member that is in the sheet-passage-allowing orientation rotates in a same direction as a sheet conveyance direction and is positioned to be in a standby position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Publication date: April 21, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenji Watanabe, Minoru Kawanishi, Motohiro Furusawa, Hiroki Yamaguchi, Shigeo Murayama
  • Publication number: 20110084442
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes an intermediate stacking portion which temporarily stacks, thereon, a sheet conveyed thereto; a discharge portion which discharges sheet stacked on the intermediate stacking portion; an aligning member which is provided downstream of the discharge portion in a sheet conveying direction and has a sheet holding surface capable of holding the lower surfaces of the sheet and a sheet aligning surface capable of abutting against end portions of the sheet in the widthwise direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction, the aligning member being movable in the widthwise direction; a first stacking portion which is provided below the aligning member and stacks, thereon, a sheet discharged from the discharge portion; and a second stacking portion which is provided above the aligning member and stacks, thereon, a sheet conveyed thereto; wherein a standby position of the aligning member is at a position more inward than the outermost position in the widthwise direction, within
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2010
    Publication date: April 14, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Atsushi Ogata, Masayoshi Fukatsu, Junichi Sekiyama, Hiroharu Tsuji, Akihiro Nakamura
  • Patent number: 7909324
    Abstract: A sheet conveying system which is capable of preventing a jammed sheet from being mixed with processed sheets, reducing waste in sheets and toners, and further alleviating the user's operations, when jamming has occurred during passing of a sheet between respective sheet conveying devices of upstream and downstream apparatuses. A puncher control section of a puncher as an upstream apparatus of the system issues a passing completion notification as to the passing of a sheet to a staple stacker control section of a staple stacker as a downstream apparatus of the system. Upon reception of the notification, when the staple stacker control section determines that the parameter of auxiliary information of the notification indicates an abnormal discharge of the sheet from the puncher, the staple stacker stops the conveyance of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Miyake, Mitsuhiko Sato, Ichiro Sasaki, Manabu Yamauchi, Naoto Watanabe, Akinobu Nishikata, Takayuki Fujii, Hidenori Sunada, Shunsuke Nishimura, Takashi Yokoya
  • Publication number: 20110031682
    Abstract: A method for controlling a variable speed transport system for moving a plurality of documentary items at a predetermined speed, acceleration and deceleration the method comprising: determining a mass of each pack of documents; using the determined mass to determine a maximum speed, acceleration and deceleration; and adjusting the predetermined speed acceleration and deceleration in dependence upon the determined maximum speed, acceleration and deceleration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2010
    Publication date: February 10, 2011
    Applicant: NEOPOST TECHNOLOGIES
    Inventors: John BROWN, Damon SMITH, Harinder BAHRA, David DRONSFIELD