Including Manual Supply Patents (Class 271/9.09)
  • Patent number: 11613134
    Abstract: A printer includes a printer body, a hopper, an open-and-close cover, a paper support, and a support holder. The hopper pushes paper up while supporting the paper. The open-and-close cover is able to be opened from and closed toward the printer body. The paper support is provided in such a way as to be able to be housed inside and drawn away from the open-and-close cover, and is configured to support the paper by being drawn out. The support holder supports the paper, together with the hopper and the paper support. The support holder switches between an upright orientation for being housed into the printer body and a tilted orientation for supporting the paper together with the hopper and the paper support by the opening and closing of the open-and-close cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toshio Miyake, Masaki Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 11530104
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes an apparatus body, an opening/closing member supported on the apparatus body, a sheet support supported on the opening/closing member, and a rotary feeding member provided on the apparatus body to feed the sheet supported on the sheet support in a feeding direction. A first engagement member is provided in the apparatus body, and a second engagement member is provided on a downstream end portion of the sheet support in the feeding direction and engages with the first engagement member in a vertical direction that intersects an axial direction of the rotary feeding member when the opening/closing member is positioned at the open position. The rotary feeding member is lowered toward the sheet supported on the sheet support in a case where the opening/closing member is positioned at the open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shunsuke Okazaki
  • Patent number: 10618757
    Abstract: In accordance with an embodiment, an image processing apparatus comprises a first opening and closing member, a second opening and closing member, a first tooth section, a second tooth section, and an intermediary tooth section. The first opening and closing member is opened and closed with respect to an apparatus main body with a first hinge as the center. The second opening and closing member is opened and closed with a second hinge arranged in the first opening and closing member as the center. The first tooth section comprises a plurality of teeth fixed coaxially with the first hinge. The second tooth section comprises a plurality of teeth supported coaxially with the second hinge. The intermediary tooth section is engaged with the first tooth section and the second tooth section between the first tooth section and the second tooth section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuichi Saito
  • Patent number: 10300718
    Abstract: A printer includes a media feeder to feeding media in a feed direction, a print head to eject droplets of ink onto the media, heaters to heat the media, and a controller to perform a printing operation corresponding to received print data by causing the media feeder to feed the media heated by the heaters and causing the print head to eject the droplets of ink onto the media based on the print data, the controller being configured or programmed to move the media and/or the heaters during the print idle time before performing the printing operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: ROLAND DG CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinya Yamamoto, Tetsuhiro Kunifuji, Toshikazu Sugita, Yudai Chida
  • Patent number: 10173851
    Abstract: A sheet feed device comprises a main body section, a support section, a first link, a second link, an engagement mechanism, an energization section and a correcting section. The correcting section is movable in an approaching position at which the support section approaches the main body section against energization force of the energization section while being contactable with the second link in a direction in which the first link moves to a downstream side in the conveyance direction, and is movable in a separation position at which the support section is separated from the main body section while being separable from the second link in a direction in which the first link moves to an upstream side in the conveyance direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiaki Oshiro, Shinichi Itoh
  • Patent number: 9944479
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes an apparatus body, and an opening/closing member openable/closable with respect to the apparatus body and including a support portion supporting a sheet in a condition in which the opening/closing member is opened. The sheet supported by the support portion is fed by a feed portion. The opening/closing member is provided with a detection portion configured to detect the sheet on the support portion. The detection portion is disposed at a position where a detection wave emitted from the detection portion is not detected in a condition in which the opening/closing member is closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 9714148
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including: a decision unit configured to decide a size of a recording material on a manual feed tray; a storage unit configured to store the size of the recording material decided by the decision unit when the image forming apparatus is shifted from a first mode in which power is supplied to the decision unit to a second mode in which the power is not supplied to the decision unit; a display unit configured to display information; and a control unit configured to cause the display unit to display a screen for confirming the size of the recording material on the manual feed tray in a case where the size of the recording material decided by the decision unit when the apparatus is shifted from the second mode to the first mode does not match the size of the recording material stored in the storage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keita Takahashi, Shinnosuke Iwadate, Teruhito Kai, Hiroto Nishihara, Kenzo Kumagai, Hiromi Shimura
  • Patent number: 9283783
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a body, an operation panel provided on a front surface of the body, a feeding cassette that accommodates sheets, removably mounted with respect to the body from the front surface of the body, and is configured such that a part thereof is protruded from body in a state of being mounted on the body, a recording section that is disposed inside the body and performs printing by ejecting ink onto a sheet transported from the feeding cassette, a discharging tray that is disposed on the feeding cassette and supports the sheet after printing is completed, and a body-side cover section that is provided in the body and covers both side surfaces of the feeding cassette.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Yoda, Masanori Nakata, Takeshi Aoki, Toshikazu Kotaka
  • Patent number: 9139389
    Abstract: A first guide member and a second guide member define therebetween a first path. The second guide member and a third guide member define therebetween a second path. The second guide member pivots between a first position in which a first contact surface of a contact portion thereof is in contact with the first guide member, and a second position in which the first contact surface is separated from the first guide member. The third guide member pivots between a third position in which a third contact surface thereof is in contact with the second contact surface of the second guide member in the first position, and a fourth position in which the third contact surface is separated from the second guide member. The first, second, and third contact surfaces are disposed outer than the first path and the second path in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuta Uchino
  • Patent number: 8994971
    Abstract: A printing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of sheet feed trays, stores sheet information including property information indicating a property of a sheet and sheet feed tray information indicating a sheet feed tray to which the sheet is allowed to be assigned, and selects a sheet feed tray from the plurality of sheet feed trays based on a designation made by a user. The printing apparatus further displays a sheet allowed to be assigned to the selected sheet feed tray based on the stored sheet information and assigns, to the selected sheet feed tray, a sheet designated by the user from among the displayed sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shin Fukuda
  • Patent number: 8991811
    Abstract: An image recording device having a first housing, a second housing, and a support tray adjacent to a first side of the second housing and a first side of the first housing. The support tray is pivotably connected to the first housing and is movable between a third state and a fourth state and a retainer portion connecting the support tray to the second housing in a first state and a second state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shota Iljima
  • Patent number: 8988717
    Abstract: A printing apparatus which makes it possible to reduce time and labor required by the operator for paper assignment and suppress occurrence of an operation error during execution of the paper assignment. The printing apparatus is provided with a plurality of paper feeders for containing papers. Information on types of papers to be contained in the respective paper feeders is set as a paper assignment configuration. The printing apparatus selects a specific paper assignment configuration, based on an instruction from the operator, from paper assignment configurations stored in a storage device. The selected specific paper assignment configuration is set as the current paper assignment configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shin Fukuda
  • Patent number: 8971732
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a storage unit to store sheets fed to an image forming unit, a sheet guide disposed above the storage unit and to form a sheet conveyance path, on which a sheet is conveyed, a detection unit disposed above the sheet guide and including a light emitting portion to emit light and a light receiving portion to receive light, a light passage portion disposed in the sheet guide, through which light emitted from the light emitting portion in the detection unit passes, a reflection portion disposed below the storage unit and to reflect towards the light receiving portion, light emitted from the light emitting portion and having passed through the light passage portion, and a control unit to determine, based on light received by the light receiving portion, whether there is a sheet in the sheet conveyance path and whether there is a sheet stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenji Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8939274
    Abstract: An envelope feeder for a printer having two aligned conveyors moving at different speeds is disclosed. An upstream conveyor moves a backwards slanted procession of envelopes having aligned upper edges onto an inline downstream conveyor that accelerates the envelopes along a curved upper edge so that by the time any single envelope arrives at the printer ingestion or feed slot, the envelope is almost completely flat yet supported upwards slightly so that the pickup roller of the printer can easily and reliably ingest the envelope for processing. Due to the speed of the downstream conveyor, envelopes are continually and reliably presented to the printer to avoid printer stalls. The configuration reduces the amount of skill and operating labor required to establish a high-speed envelope feed source for high-speed printing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: Xante Corporation
    Inventors: Robert C. Ross, Jr., Kenneth Orin Parker, Joseph Martin deVeer
  • Patent number: 8941849
    Abstract: A sheet positioning device includes a sheet setting plate, first and second regulating members disposed facing each other to move in an orthogonal direction to a sheet conveyance direction to regulate positions of two facing ends of the sheet on the plate by contacting these ends, a driving mechanism to move the first regulating member in the orthogonal direction, first and second contact detectors mounted on the first and second regulating members to detect contact of the two facing ends, and a controller to stop the driving mechanism based on detection results obtained by the first and second contact detectors. The first and second regulating members are used to adjust a position of the sheet to a predetermined position. Respective contact surfaces of the first and second contact detectors with the sheet extend over an entire maximum loadable range in a sheet setting direction on the plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Rie Ohtsuka, Satoshi Araaki, Jumpei Aoyama, Yosuke Eguchi
  • Patent number: 8929798
    Abstract: A printer including a printer housing further including a cavity and a print media tray arranged to fit within the cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jerrod H. Tyler, Kevin Lo, Raymond C. Sherman
  • Patent number: 8899574
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including: a sheet feeding section; an image forming section configured to form an image on the sheet fed from the sheet feeding section; and a control device configured to: cause the image forming section to form the image, cause the image forming section to perform a quality assurance operation, if a resource necessary for the image forming operation is not available for a predetermined time from an end of the image forming operation, and extend the predetermined time when determined that it is necessary for the user to set the sheet in the sheet feeding section prior to the image forming operation to be longer than the predetermined time when determined that it is not necessary for the user to set the sheet in the sheet feeding section prior to the image forming operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuya Okano, Takashi Suzuki, Fei Cheng
  • Patent number: 8864124
    Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus includes a casing, a first conveying path, a second conveying path, a joining conveyance path, and a guide member. The joining conveyance path is connected to a junction portion of the first conveying path and the second conveying path, and extends downward in a sheet conveying direction. The guide member is disposed in the junction portion of the first conveying path and the second conveying path, and shifted to a position between a first position to guide the first sheet from the first conveying path to the joining conveyance path and a second position to guide the second sheet from the second conveying path to the joining conveyance path. The guide member includes a supporting point portion disposed at a central part or around thereof in a lengthwise direction, so as to change in position by pivoting around the supporting point portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Koju Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8864123
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a manual feed portion provided on a side surface of a housing that accommodates an image forming portion and having an abutting portion against which a downstream end in a sheet feeding direction of a sheet inserted into a gap between the manual feed portion and the side surface abuts. The manual feed portion also includes a holding portion configured to hold the sheet such that a sheet surface is held along the side surface of the housing in the condition in which the downstream end of the sheet abuts against the abutting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuto Kamiyama, Keiko Fujita, Daijiro Kato, Kohei Koshida, Hiroshi Saito, Yuya Ootsuka
  • Patent number: 8857812
    Abstract: A sheet feeder includes: a housing; a sheet feeding mechanism and a manual feed tray and that is mounted pivotably to the housing. The manual feed tray can assume a first posture that is closed relative to the housing, and a second posture that is open relative to the housing. A link couples the housing with the manual feed tray and pivots with a pivoting movement of the manual feed tray to hold the second posture of the manual feed tray. A posture changing mechanism permits the manual feed tray to pivot farther in an opening direction from the second posture when a load acts on a sheet mounting surface and causes the manual feed tray to assume a third posture while being held by the link. A posture holding mechanism holds the third posture of the manual feed tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Kyocera Mita Corporation
    Inventor: Kiyonori Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8857808
    Abstract: A medium conveyance apparatus used in an image forming apparatus, includes a medium mounting unit held at a body or apparatus frame for mounting a medium, a conveying member supported rotationally around an axis to the body for conveying the medium, and a separating member being held at the body and contacting with the conveying member. The medium mounting unit includes an engaging portion for engaging the body, whereas the body or apparatus frame includes an engaged portion to be engaged with the engaging portion, and the engaging portion includes a contacting portion for regulating the body or apparatus frame in a conveyance direction of the medium. This medium conveyance apparatus maintains improved medium conveyance capability for a long period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Oki Data Corporation
    Inventor: Keigo Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 8833752
    Abstract: In a sheet feeding device, a main body includes a feeding unit configured to feed a sheet in a feeding direction to a conveying path. A cover is configured to pivot about a first axis relative to the main body between a closed position in which the cover closes the conveying path and an open position in which the cover exposes the conveying path. A plate is configured to pivot about a second axis which is parallel to the first axis and to contact and move away from the feeding unit. The second axis is closer to the cover than to the feeding unit in the feeding direction. In a state in which the cover is in the closed position, at least a part of the cover is positioned on an upper side of the plate so as to be contactable with the plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kyoko Tsutsui, Koyo Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8820733
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes a grounding member arranged to a housing and electrically grounded, a sheet loading part arranged to the housing and loading a sheet, a sheet conveying path extending from the sheet loading part and conveying the sheet in a conveying direction, a sheet feeding part and a swinging member. The sheet feeding part is arranged facing to the sheet loading part and conveys the sheet on the sheet loading part in the conveying direction. The electro-conductive swinging member is swingably supported to the housing and swung in a first direction by bring the sheet from the sheet loading part into contact with the swinging member. The swinging member includes a first contact part receiving the contact of the sheet and a second contact part coming into contact with the grounding member accompanying to the swing in the first direction of the swinging member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Shingo Arimura
  • Patent number: 8777501
    Abstract: A media loading device includes a detachable stiffener that is detachably connected to a leading portion of a soft media and supports the leading portion of the soft media during threading of the soft media through a media path of a printer. A method for loading soft media includes detachably connecting a leading edge of soft media onto a detachable stiffener and placing the detachable stiffener and soft media into a printer. The detachable stiffener and soft media are fed through the media path in the printer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Daniel Guiterrez Garcia, Ignacio Picatoste Olloqui, Laura Sanchez Domingo, Oriol Moliner Rafa, Ezequiel Jordi Rufes Bernad
  • Patent number: 8770572
    Abstract: In a conveying apparatus, a support member supports a second guide member such that the second guide member is pivotable between a first position and a second position, a downstream-side edge of the second guide member in a sheet conveying direction being closer to a first guide member than to a fourth guide member when the second guide member is in a first position, the downstream-side edge of the second guide member being closer to the fourth guide member than to the first guide member when the second guide member is in the second position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuta Uchino
  • Patent number: 8770573
    Abstract: To provide a recording device that can inhibit the occurrence of a recording media jam state in a shared passage part that is shared as a recording media shared path with a plurality of media supply paths, this is equipped with a plurality of conveyance paths for supplying paper, a shared passage part, a moving unit that moves the paper, a printing unit that performs printing on the paper, an insertion port that is able to insert paper in the conveyance path by paper being inserted, an opening and closing lid provided so that the insertion port can be opened and closed, a detection sensor for detecting an open lid state when the opening and closing lid opens the insertion port, and a movement control unit that, when the detection sensor detects the open lid state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Manabu Kondo, Yohei Nunokawa, Yasuhiko Yoshihisa
  • Patent number: 8764004
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes a sheet guide portion disposed upstream of a nip portion so as to guide a leading edge of a sheet sent from a sheet storing portion to the nip portion, and a manual bypass guide member which extends from a manual bypass sheet feeder and has a leading edge portion disposed between the sheet guide portion and the nip portion and can be elastically deformed in up and down direction so as to guide a manual bypass sheet to the nip portion. The manual bypass sheet is guided by the manual bypass guide member toward the nip portion and is sent out by the feed roller to a sheet transport path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Susumu Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 8740213
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus capable of printing a non-standard size image on a sheet of a size as desired by the user as possible, and preventing stoppage of printing the image even when there is no sheet of the size desired by the user in a sheet feeder. When image data is for a non-standard size, if there is a sheet feeder accommodating recording sheets of which vertical and lateral lengths corresponding to vertical and lateral lengths represented by the image data are designated, a control unit feeds the sheets from the sheet feeding cassette. If there is no such a sheet feeder, the control unit feeds recording sheets of a free size from a manual feed tray accommodating the recording sheets of the free size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Nobuaki Miyahara
  • Patent number: 8712312
    Abstract: A cover opening and closing unit includes a cover installed to be opened from and close a main body and a manual paper feed tray that is rotatably installed on the cover. The cover is connected to the main body by a link element and a connection link is connected to the link element and the manual paper feed tray so that, when the cover is opened from the main body when the manual paper feed tray is in an opened state with respect to the cover, an open angle of the manual paper feed tray with respect to a vertical direction is maintained within 90 degrees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jae-wuk Lee, Je-won Jung
  • Patent number: 8690147
    Abstract: A sheet stackable device includes a sheet stackable plane. The sheet stackable device includes a first tray and a second tray, each of which is formed in a shape of a flat plate. The first tray includes a first contact part. The second tray is slidable along a slidable direction between a first position, in which the second tray overlaps the first tray, and a second position, in which the second tray is dawn out of the first tray. The second tray includes a second contact part, which is slidable on the first contact part. At least one of the first contact part and the second contact part includes a rack with rack teeth, which are aligned along the slidable direction. An upper plane of the first tray and an upper plane of the second tray in the second position form at least a part of the stackable plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Okuchi, Hiroshi Nobe
  • Patent number: 8678371
    Abstract: An adjusting member is positioned in a sheet feeding opening. The adjusting member is adjusted according to the size of the paper sheet. The adjusting member does not jut out of an exterior surface of an apparatus body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Shigeo Nanno, Yasuhide Ohkubo, Ippei Kimura, Yoshihide Ohta, Tomoyoshi Yamazaki, Haruyuki Honda
  • Patent number: 8662770
    Abstract: Image recording apparatus including manual medium insertion tray manually loaded with recording medium, the tray being connected to rear end portion of housing such that the tray is pivotable in vertical direction about horizontal axis of first hinge portion located below first hinge portion provided for image reading device, between its operative position in which the second recording medium is fed to feeding path leading to image recording device, and its retracted position, the tray placed in the operative position having upwardly inclined posture extending outwardly from the rear end portion of the housing, while the tray placed in the retracted position having posture extending generally downwards into accommodating space formed within the housing and on rear side of U-turn sheet transfer path connecting the sheet supply cassette and the feeding path, the tray being pivotable between the operative and retracted positions through rear opening formed in the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuo Asada, Satoru Nakakita
  • Publication number: 20140035219
    Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus includes a casing, a first conveying path, a second conveying path, a joining conveyance path, and a guide member. The joining conveyance path is connected to a junction portion of the first conveying path and the second conveying path, and extends downward in a sheet conveying direction. The guide member is disposed in the junction portion of the first conveying path and the second conveying path, and shifted to a position between a first position to guide the first sheet from the first conveying path to the joining conveyance path and a second position to guide the second sheet from the second conveying path to the joining conveyance path. The guide member includes a supporting point portion disposed at a central part or around thereof in a lengthwise direction, so as to change in position by pivoting around the supporting point portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2013
    Publication date: February 6, 2014
    Applicant: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Koju Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8641041
    Abstract: A printing medium supplying apparatus for an image forming apparatus includes an apparatus main body, and a printing medium aligning unit which is disposed on the apparatus main body to move between an aligning position at which the printing medium aligning unit aligns a printing medium and a distanced position at which the printing medium aligning unit is distanced from the aligning position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Jin-soo Lee, Jae-yong Kim
  • Patent number: 8616543
    Abstract: A guide device includes a plate on which a first medium is to be placed, and provided above a space in which a container is to be inserted, a moving member that moves along a surface of the plate in a supply direction of the first medium or in an opposite direction, a substantially sheetlike guide member that guides the first medium in the supply direction, and a drawing member that draws the moving member toward the plate. When the container is taken out of the space, the moving member is drawn toward the plate in the opposite direction by the drawing member, and the guide member withdraws to a position superposed on the plate. When the container is inserted in the space, the moving member is pushed in the supply direction by the container, and the guide member protrudes from the position in the supply direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2013
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shun Ikeura, Kenichi Ishikura, Takayuki Yazawa
  • Patent number: 8585043
    Abstract: A sheet adjusting device applicable to a sheet holding receptacle, an image forming mechanism, and an image reading mechanism includes a sheet setting plate to place a sheet thereon; first and second regulating member to slidably move in a given direction, and a friction-reducing unit disposed on the sheet setting plate to reduce a frictional force on an underside of the sheet. Alternatively, a sheet adjusting device includes a sheet setting plate, a sheet contact face disposed downstream of the sheet setting plate to cause the leading edge of the sheet abuts against the sheet contact face, first and second regulating member, and a friction-reducing unit disposed on the sheet contact face to reduce a frictional force on the sheet contact face and the leading edge of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jumpei Aoyama, Yasuhiro Sagawa
  • Patent number: 8585038
    Abstract: In an image-forming device the first sensor detects a recording sheet manually inserted from a manual sheet insertion opening. The sheet-skew correction roller is provided downstream side of the first sensor in the conveying direction. The controller is configured to control the sheet-skew correction roller to begin rotating if a stopping time has elapsed from a moment when the first sensor detects the recording sheet. The stopping time is initially set to a first stopping time. The controller is configured to function as a determining unit and a changing unit. The determining unit is configured to determine whether the recording sheet is properly conveyed. The changing unit is configured to change the stopping time to a second stopping time from the first stopping time if the determining unit determines that the recording sheet is not properly conveyed, the second stopping time being longer than the first stopping time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Tetsuya Okano
  • Patent number: 8565663
    Abstract: A conveying apparatus has a conveying apparatus main body; and a feeding device including a placement portion that a conveyed material is placed on and a feeding portion that feeds the conveyed material into the conveying apparatus main body, the feeding device being movable between a feedable position and a stored position; and the placement portion and the feeding portion moving relatively to each other between the feedable position and the stored position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinichi Naito, Hiroyuki Tanaka, Hiroyuki Suzuki, Osamu Uto
  • Patent number: 8561979
    Abstract: An open/close mechanism can be used for paper trays of an image forming apparatus. The open/close mechanism includes a plate member provided on a side of a housing of the image forming apparatus and configured to pivot upon an axis between an open position and a close position, and a box member that is arranged in the housing beneath the plate member and that can be drawn out of the housing from the side. The open/close mechanism includes also includes a restricting unit that is coupled to the plate member and that abuts against the box member when the box member is set in the housing and when the plate member is in the open position thereby restricting detachment of the box member from the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshikane Nishii, Kazuhiro Wakamatsu, Yasuhide Ohkubo, Ippei Kimura, Mizuna Tanaka, Haruyuki Honda, Masafumi Takahira, Hiroshi Fujiwara
  • Publication number: 20130214477
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus has a plurality of trays to store an index sheet provided with a tab at a predetermined position of the index sheet, a setting section to set first information concerning the index sheet stored in the tray for each of the plurality of trays, a receiving section to receive second information concerning an insertion of the index sheet in a job, and a controller to control an execution of the job and an operation of feeding the index sheet. The controller automatically selects the tray in the execution of the job based on the first information and the second information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2013
    Publication date: August 22, 2013
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES INC.
    Inventor: Yoshihisa KAMATA
  • Patent number: 8490963
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus capable of printing a non-standard size image on a sheet of a size as desired by the user as possible, and preventing stoppage of printing the image even when there is no sheet of the size desired by the user in a sheet feeder. When image data is for a non-standard size, if there is a sheet feeder accommodating recording sheets of which vertical and lateral lengths corresponding to vertical and lateral lengths represented by the image data are designated, a control unit feeds the sheets from the sheet feeding cassette. If there is no such a sheet feeder, the control unit feeds recording sheets of a free size from a manual feed tray accommodating the recording sheets of the free size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Nobuaki Miyahara
  • Patent number: 8490964
    Abstract: A sheet feeder assembly (1) includes a bottom-feed sheet feeder (3) and a delivery table (5) positioned to receive sheets from the sheet feeder and deliver the sheets one at a time to a top-feed mechanism (205) designed to feed the top sheet of a stack of sheets in a manual feed tray of a printer (7) or the like. The top-feed mechanism includes a lifting support (204) for a stack of sheets. An exit end of the delivery table rests on and moves with the lifting support and delivers sheets one at a time to the top-feed mechanism. A balance mechanism (75) reduces the effective weight of the delivery table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Inventor: James C. Kaiping
  • Patent number: 8439344
    Abstract: An image recording device includes a housing, a tray unit mounted in the housing and configured to hold thereon sheets, a feeder configured to feed a sheet from the tray unit, a recording unit configured to record an image on the sheet fed by the feeder, and a discharging unit configured to discharge the sheet after the recording unit records the image on the sheet. The tray unit includes a first tray including a first holding surface for holding thereon a first sheet, a second tray includes a second holding surface for holding thereon a second sheet and configured to move above the first holding surface between a first position and a second position, and a third tray supported by the first tray and disposed above the second tray in the second position, and configured to receive the sheet discharged by the discharging unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuo Asada, Satoru Nakakita
  • Patent number: 8401456
    Abstract: A medium holding apparatus detachably is attached to a medium feeding section of an image forming apparatus. A supporting section supports the medium thereon. A side guide is mounted to the supporting section. The side guide extends in a direction parallel to a first direction in which the medium is advanced to the medium feeding section, and is movable in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. The side guide abuts the side edge of the medium to guide the medium toward the medium feeding section. A guide unit is mounted to the supporting section, and holds the medium in a gently curved position. When the medium is fed to the image forming apparatus, the guide unit guides the medium to the supporting section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: Oki Data Corporation
    Inventor: Hiromi Kano
  • Patent number: 8351088
    Abstract: An image reading apparatus with a structure capable of reliably discharging a document, and a multi-functional machine having the same are disclosed. The image reading apparatus includes a document feed path having a document outlet, a reading unit which reads an image of a document fed through the document feed path, and a guide member which is disposed at the document outlet downstream of the reading unit to form a curl on the trailing end portion of the document. The curl formed on the document may make it possible for a subsequent document being discharged to push the curled document out of the document outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jae Hoon Choi, Yong Sok Yang
  • Patent number: 8342504
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus (100) is equipped with a left-side cover (2), manual supply tray (10b), a carry guide (31) and a lift plate (33), and these are rotatably supported by a third shaft (35). The apparatus is reduced in size and a protrusion length L of the lift plate (33) is enlarged. The change in inclination angle of the lift plate (33) is reduced and a paper-sheet supply characteristic, even when the amount of paper sheets placed on the manual supply tray (10b) changes, is stabilized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2013
    Assignee: Kyocera Mita Corporation
    Inventor: Kiyonori Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8333373
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a housing including a sheet feed opening for feeding a recording sheet to the image forming unit, a tray which accommodates a recording sheet, and a feed member which rotates while pressing a recording sheet fed through the sheet feed opening to apply a transport force to the recording sheet. Also, the image forming apparatus may include a friction member provided to oppose the feed member, and contact the recording sheet from a side opposite to the feed member to apply a transport resistance to the recording sheet, a resin support frame which supports the friction member, and a metal transport chute which includes a guide part provided to contact the recording sheet fed from the tray to guide the recording sheet toward the image forming unit, the transport chute being formed integrally with the support frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Okuchi, Yoshikazu Shimizu
  • Patent number: 8320815
    Abstract: An image forming device includes a plurality of medium feed units configured to feed a recording medium on respective carrying routes, an image forming unit configured to form an image on the recording medium fed from one of the plurality of medium feed units, a first roller provided on a common route of the carrying routes, the first roller being configured to rotate at a first circumferential velocity and carry, to the image forming unit, the recording medium fed from one of the plurality of medium feed units, and a control unit configured to control the first circumferential velocity of the first roller depending on from which of the plurality of medium feed units the recording medium is fed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Yano, Sachiko Yano
  • 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: 8162310
    Abstract: A medium feeding device includes: a sheet holding unit, which holds a sheet and is pivotally attached to a device main unit so that the sheet holding unit is pivotal between open and closed positions; a sheet feeding roller that is located close to the sheet holding unit and that feeds the sheet to the inside of the device main unit; and a driving shaft that is located on an axis that is different from a rotation shaft for the sheet feeding roller and that drives the rotation shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Oki Data Corporation
    Inventor: Takahiro Sunohara