And Suction Means Patents (Class 271/98)
  • Patent number: 11873182
    Abstract: A feeder includes a mount board that moves vertically while allowing sheet-shaped media to be stacked thereon; a transport device allows an uppermost one of the sheet-shaped media stacked on the mount board to be sucked by a suction portion to transport the uppermost medium to a transporter and to feed the uppermost medium to a destination; left and right edge air blowers blow air to transportation left and right edge portions of upper ones of the sheet-shaped media stacked; and a tip-end air blower blows air to below the uppermost medium sucked by the suction portion from a position downstream from a transportation leading end of the uppermost medium in a transport direction. When the uppermost medium is sucked by the suction portion, the feeder performs a first operation of spacing an upwardly bent transportation leading-end portion of a second uppermost medium apart downward from the sucked uppermost medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventor: Shoichi Maeda
  • Patent number: 11629019
    Abstract: A medium feeding apparatus includes: a placement mount on which a plurality of media are placed; a transportation mechanism that transports an uppermost medium of the plurality of media placed on the placement mount; a floating-air blowout mechanism that blows out air to float at least the uppermost medium; a suction mechanism that sucks air to cause the uppermost medium floated by the floating-air blowout mechanism blowing out air to be attracted to the transportation mechanism; and a floating-air control unit that causes the floating-air blowout mechanism to start to blow out air while the uppermost medium is being attracted to the transportation mechanism after starting to be transported by the transportation mechanism, so as to float at least a second medium located below the uppermost medium, and causes the floating-air blowout mechanism to stop blowing out air before the second medium starts to be transported by the transportation mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: RISO KAGAKU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Morita, Yoshiyuki Okada
  • Patent number: 11479424
    Abstract: A sheet transport device includes a processor configured to change lifting control for lifting sheets on a tray, which are to be floated up and handed over, from normal state control to small-quantity state control in a case where it is detected that the remaining number of sheets on the tray is small.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventors: Yuichi Araki, Shoichi Maeda, Kiyoshi Watanabe, Yoshiyuki Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 11358818
    Abstract: The control apparatus includes an acquisition unit, an air volume setting unit, and an air blow control unit. The air volume setting unit sets a volume of air to be blown toward the plurality of sheets from a separation blower based on the information on the processing job acquired by the acquisition unit or by manipulation of a user. When the air volume is changed from a first air volume to a second air volume different from the first air volume by the user, the air volume setting unit maintains the air volume as the second air volume, irrespective of the information on the processing job acquired by the acquisition unit, until the air volume is changed from the second air volume to an air volume different from the second air volume by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: DUPLO SEIKO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Taichi Yamaguchi, Tadahira Ohkochi, Akane Tokutake
  • Patent number: 11339017
    Abstract: A recording-material-transporting device includes an attracting part to which a recording material is attracted from below, and a blowing device that blows air from a position higher than the attracting part to an edge of the recording material attracted to the attracting part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventor: Masahito Niwa
  • Patent number: 11220409
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for removing one item of media at a time from an item of media container. The apparatus includes a movable element locatable in an abutting relationship with an elected item of media in a media container and disposed to a vibrating against the elected item of media to permit the elected item of media to be subsequently be removed alone from the container by a pick arm lever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: NCR Corporation
    Inventor: Kevin Leeper
  • Patent number: 11131953
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a paper feeding device includes a containing unit, a conveyance unit, a heater, a wiring, a thermostat, and a switch. The containing unit contains a sheet bundle. The conveyance unit conveys sheets from the sheet bundle contained in the containing unit one sheet by one. The heater heats the sheet bundle contained in the containing unit. The wiring supplies electric power to the heater. The thermostat controls a driving state of the heater. The switch is inserted in a middle of wiring and switches an ON state and an OFF state of the wiring in response to an input control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shinji Miwa
  • Patent number: 10889007
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to an end effector arrangement having an end effector for a manipulator and having a control for the end effector, wherein the end effector has a tool arrangement having a plurality of gripper devices for holding a planar workpiece, wherein at least one gripper device has a Bernoulli gripper unit, which has a discharge unit for channeling a flow SB from the Bernoulli gripper unit between gripper device and workpiece in a manner such that, in a delimited region between gripper device and the workpiece, the flow SB generates a low pressure for holding the workpiece, and wherein at least one gripper device has a different gripper unit, which carries the workpiece according to a physical principle which differs from that of the Bernoulli gripper unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: Broetje-Automation GmbH
    Inventors: Raphael Reinhold, Sascha Quast
  • Patent number: 10625954
    Abstract: Disclosed are a two-dimensional code card grabbing and storage device and method. The two-dimensional code card grabbing and storage device includes a horizontal base plate. First side plates and second side plates are sequentially disposed on the front side and the rear side of the horizontal base plate separately in the horizontal direction and perpendicularly fixed to the upper surface of the horizontal base plate. First baffles extending inwards are oppositely and perpendicularly disposed on the outer sides of the two first side plates, and second baffles extending inwards are oppositely and perpendicularly disposed on the inner sides of the two second side plates. A first guide plate used for storing tested two-dimensional code cards is obliquely disposed upward between the two first side plates, and a second guide plate used for storing to-be-tested two-dimensional code cards is obliquely disposed upward between the two second side plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: FUJIAN LANDI COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT CO., LTD
    Inventors: Zonggeng Xu, Haishan Zhang, Qiang Zhang
  • Patent number: 10144601
    Abstract: An aspect of the present invention includes: a sheet storage unit configured to store sheets; an air blowing unit configured to blow air; a duct configured as a flow passage to an air blowing outlet for blowing air sent from the air blowing unit toward the front end of an upper part of a sheet bundle stored in the sheet storage unit; a suction transport unit configured to suck a sheet floating from the sheet bundle upward and transport the sheet; a shutter member configured to block the flow passage in the duct; and an openable/closeable member configured to open an opening part of the duct, such that air staying in the duct by blocking the flow passage by the shutter member is discharged from the opening part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventor: Yoshiyuki Masuda
  • Patent number: 9139314
    Abstract: A packaging bag feeder in a packaging machine includes a bag magazine capable of accommodating a number of packaging bags in a stacked state, a separating mechanism which is configured to separate one of the packaging bags stacked on the bag magazine and a bag placement section on which the separated bag is placed. Every time one bag is placed on the bag placement section, the bag is held and fed to a subsequent packaging step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: GENERAL PACKER CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinji Ishikawa, Masaaki Takahashi, Junya Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8955835
    Abstract: In the invention, after the last sheet is conveyed from a paper feed tray, the paper feed tray is lifted up so that the paper feed tray is brought into contact with a suction belt. An elastic cleaning member that removes paper particles, or the like, is installed at an area of the paper feed tray where the paper feed tray is in contact with the suction belt. The suction belt is driven while the cleaning member is in contact with the suction belt. The paper particles, or the like, removed from the suction belt by the cleaning member are collected in a paper-particle collecting device from a vacuum chamber via a vacuum duct.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hideyuki Satoh, Masaki Ishizaki, Yousuke Edo, Takaya Ochiai
  • Publication number: 20150035225
    Abstract: Printing apparatus comprise a printing table, a loader to load sheets of print media to the printing table, and a moveable tray on which at least one row of media sheets can be placed, the tray being moveable between a position in which it is accessible to an operator for placing media sheets thereon and another position in which at least part of the tray is accessible to the loader for picking the print media sheets but inaccessible to the operator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Inventor: Ehud Zondiner
  • Patent number: 8919762
    Abstract: A paper sheet pickup device including a valve device is disclosed. The valve device includes a first air hole configured to be formed in a main body block to extend through it, have one end communicating with an air chamber and the other end connected to the negative pressure side of an air drawing source, a second air hole configured to be formed in a main body block to extend through it, have one end communicating with the air chamber and the other end connected to the positive pressure side of the air drawing source, and a rod-shaped valve member configured to be arranged in the main body block to cross the first air hole and the second air hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Haruhiko Horiuchi
  • Patent number: 8870179
    Abstract: A paper feed device includes a paper stacking shelf, a paper trailing edge guide that regulates a position of a paper bundle, a contact member that is disposed on the paper trailing edge guide, and a position switch portion that moves the contact member to either a withdrawn away position or a contact position with respect to an upper face of the paper bundle. The position switch portion is provided with a rod that is moved in conjunction with an operation for causing the paper feed device to be pulled out from and pushed into the accommodation space, and a rotatable member that is rotated in conjunction with the movement of the rod. The position switch portion supports the contact member, and causes the contact member to be rotationally moved to either the withdrawn away position or the contact position in conjunction with the rotation of the rotatable member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Shiraishi, Yasuaki Fukada, Masaru Tsuji
  • Patent number: 8827260
    Abstract: An apparatus for detecting a foreign substance on an interleaving paper to be inserted between glass substrates, in which the process of detecting the foreign substance on the paper is automated to improve the detection efficiency. The apparatus includes a paper-loading unit and a paper-inspecting unit configured to be connected to the paper-loading unit. The paper-inspecting unit detects a foreign substance on a surface of the paper loaded by the paper-loading unit. The apparatus also includes a paper-unloading unit, which is configured to be connected to the paper-inspecting unit, and unloads the paper from the paper-inspecting unit and then stacks the paper. The apparatus also includes a controller, which controls the paper-loading unit, the paper-inspecting unit and the paper-unloading unit to transfer the paper, and controls the paper-inspecting unit to detect the foreign substance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Misun Kim, Hyun Woo Kim, Siho Seong, YoungJoong Kim, Taeho Keem
  • Patent number: 8800988
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus which includes a sheet loading tray for stacking sheets; a suction and conveyance section which is placed above stacked sheets on the sheet loading tray and sucks and conveys a sheet in the sheet conveying direction; an air blowing section which blows air at the stacked sheets on the sheet loading tray and causes the sheet to float up; and a skew correction section which corrects a skew of the sheet conveyed by the suction and conveyance section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tomoo Suzuki, Akira Kosugi, Daisuke Ueda
  • Patent number: 8797607
    Abstract: A recording media deciding apparatus has: a light radiating portion which radiates light having a uniform light amount on a range corresponding to an image capturing range of a first surface of a bundle of recording media; a light detecting portion which captures an image of light emitted from a second surface different from the first surface of the bundle of the recording media; and a controller which decides on a type of the recording media based on an output of the light detecting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiromichi Hayashihara, Masataka Shiratsuchi
  • Patent number: 8752822
    Abstract: A high productivity sheet feeding apparatus in which there is no occurrence of abnormalities related to sheet feeding irrespective of the size and type of sheet, and an image forming system having that sheet feeding apparatus are provided. This sheet feeding apparatus has the feature that it has, a stacking unit for stacking sheets, a conveying unit that is placed above and spaced from said stacking unit and that conveys the sheets, a flotation unit that makes the sheets in the upper part of the sheets stacked in said stacking unit float up towards said conveying unit, and a suction unit that sucks the air included in between the plurality of sheets that have been made to float up towards said conveying unit by said flotation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomoo Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8740214
    Abstract: A sheet guiding rib protrudes below a sheet suction surface of a plurality of suction conveyer belts, the sheet guiding rib being provided at a position on a downstream side in a sheet conveying direction of a sheet suction region, in which a sheet can be sucked, of the sheet suction surface of the plurality of suction conveyer belts, and between the plurality of suction conveyer belts. At a time of conveying a topmost sheet sucked and deflected downward at a part of pressing a sheet surface detecting flag, a deflection amount of the topmost sheet is reduced by bringing the deflected part of the topmost sheet into abutment against the sheet guiding rib.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinichi Onodera, Yuya Yokobori, Taro Ikeda
  • Patent number: 8708328
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet stacking unit, a suction conveyance unit configured to convey an uppermost sheet stacked on the sheet stacking unit, a suction unit configured to adsorb the sheets onto the suction conveyance unit, and an adsorption completion detection unit. In the sheet feeding apparatus, when the tab-attached sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit and fed such that their tab portions are on the downstream side in a sheet feeding direction, the suction unit starts to adsorb the sheet and the suction conveyance unit starts to convey the sheet immediately after the adsorption completion detection unit detects the completion of the adsorption. When the sheets other than the tab-attached sheets are fed, the suction unit previously adsorbs the sheet onto the suction conveyance unit, and the suction conveyance unit starts to convey the sheet in response to the sheet feeding signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Isao Kannari, Taro Ikeda, Takashi Uno, Yuji Yamanaka, Yuya Yokobori
  • Patent number: 8690148
    Abstract: A method for removing a sheet of paper from a substrate includes providing an air exhaust stream from an outlet of an air amplifier to the sheet of paper on the substrate to perturb the sheet of paper and lifting the perturbed sheet of paper from the substrate using a sub-atmospheric intake of the air amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Hanergy Holding Group Ltd.
    Inventors: Colin F. Smith, Bruce Krein, Michael Lofstrom
  • Patent number: 8690149
    Abstract: A receiving, holding and/or handling device for two-dimensional objects, with at least two controllable suction grippers. The suction grippers are arranged and connected to free ends of movable cantilever arms, which are elastically deformable at least in some sections. The cantilever arm are mounted and supported on a bridge. The cantilever arms each include at least one lower pull and one upper pull which meet at the free end of the cantilever arm and are connected there. An actuating device is assigned to the upper pull. The actuating device generates a pulling force with at least one horizontal direction component which is approximately parallel to the longitudinal extension direction of the cantilever arm. A method is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Krones AG
    Inventors: Richard Eschlbeck, Peter Kirschner, Kai Wegener, Dennis Fritsch
  • Patent number: 8662495
    Abstract: A medium feeding device includes a medium-accommodating container, a loading member supported within the container and loading a medium thereon, a holding member, and a blocking unit. The holding member has a holding member body, gas suction openings, a peripheral member, a chamber surrounded by the peripheral member, and a suction unit connected to the gas suction openings and performing gas suction. The holding member holds the medium by suction. The gas suction openings include a gas suction opening disposed inside an edge of the peripheral member and outside an edge of the medium. The blocking unit blocks the suction of gas through the aforementioned gas suction opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Kitazawa, Hajime Yoshii, Hiroaki Fujikura
  • Patent number: 8628076
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device, capable of reliably feeding sheets that have a curl, includes a sheet surface detection mechanism configured to detect an upper surface of a topmost sheet of sheets supported on a tray. The sheet surface detection mechanism includes a sensor unit arranged on a upstream side of a suction and conveyance mechanism in a sheet conveyance direction, a sensor lever configured to turn the sensor unit ON/OFF, and a detection unit having one end connected to the sensor lever and another end that extends toward a downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction. The detection unit includes, on a downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction, a protruding member that protrudes in a downward direction and that is capable of contacting the topmost sheet supported on the tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Taro Ikeda
  • Patent number: 8622380
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes drawing and conveying a sheet, applying negative pressure for sheet suction via a suction opening, moving a shutter member between a closing position where the suction opening in an upstream side in a sheet feeding direction is partially closed and an open position where the suction opening is opened, and controlling the shutter member to follow a preceding sheet that is drawn onto the suction conveyance member to move to the downstream side in the feeding direction to close the suction opening, and return to an open position at a predetermined timing to draw the sheets onto the suction conveyance member in a state where an upstream edge of the preceding sheet in the feeding direction and a downstream edge of the subsequent sheet in the feeding direction are overlaid by a predetermined amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Yamazaki, Yuzo Matsumoto, Tetsuro Fukusaka, Taishi Tomii
  • Patent number: 8613438
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes: a loading platen on which sheets are loaded, an air blowing section which blows air to sides of a loaded sheet bundle loaded on the loading platen, and an adsorption/conveyance mechanism which adsorbs and conveys a sheet, a driving section moving the loading platen up and down, wherein the air blowing section includes a plurality of air blowing openings facing both sides of the loaded sheet bundle and blowing air to the both sides, wherein each of the plurality of air blowing openings is formed so that a first air flow flows above the loading platen and a second air flow flows below the loading platen when the loading platen reaches a highest position by the driving section, and wherein the loading platen is provided with a penetration thorough which the second air flow flows from below to above the loading platen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomoo Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8553238
    Abstract: A media separator includes air nozzles and separation plates to form a row of members, and is configured to separate a sheet conveyed from a fixing nip formed of a fixing member and a pressure member. In such a media separator, the plurality of air nozzles and at least one separation plate are disposed along a longitudinal direction of the fixing device, and the plurality of air nozzles are disposed at both lateral ends of the row of members in the longitudinal direction of the fixing device, whereby waving of the edge of the sheet in the printing of frequently used sheet can be prevented and the occurrence of jam may be prevented, and a stable sheet separation and conveyance can be realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Fumihiro Hirose, Takeshi Yamamoto, Takashi Seto, Kenichi Hasegawa, Naoto Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8544838
    Abstract: A sheet feed device feeding paper including; a loading platen loaded with sheets; a ventilation section providing a first ventilation port for blowing air to float a first side of a sheet of one sheet of the sheets loaded on the loading platen, and a second ventilation port for blowing air to float a second side opposed to the first side; and a control section for controlling the ventilation section; wherein the first side is a side of a topmost of loaded envelopes, the side of which height is lower than other sides, and when envelopes are to be fed, the control section controls the ventilation section to change air volume of the first ventilation port and the second ventilation port so as to float the first side more greatly than in case when sheets other than envelopes are fed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Yuichi Omori
  • Patent number: 8523171
    Abstract: In a paper feeder, an air hole that allows air to pass through is formed on a paper transport belt, a fan for breathing and exhausting air and an exhaust duct having an opening for exhausting air. Air is exhausted from the fan through the exhaust duct, the fan and an air intake duct for breathing air are connected to each other, and air is breathed from the air hole through the air intake duct towards the fan. This paper feeder includes: an air state detection unit for detecting at least one of an air pressure and an air flow rate in the air intake duct; an opening and closing unit provided to the air intake duct for opening and closing the opening; and a control unit for opening and closing the opening based on a result of detection by the air state detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahiko Fujita, Masaharu Kimura, Yasuaki Fukada, Susumu Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 8500114
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus are provided. When sheets are adsorbed to an adsorption conveyance belt, a suction shutter is switched from a block position to block a negative pressure to an adsorption position to adsorb the sheets by the negative pressure. When the sheets conveyed in an overlapping manner reaches a predetermined number and the next sheet is adsorbed, the timing to switch the suction shutter to the adsorption position is delayed compared to the timing at which a preceding sheet adsorbed in advance and a subsequent sheet overlap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuzo Matsumoto, Tetsuro Fukusaka, Yoshitaka Yamazaki, Taishi Tomii
  • Patent number: 8490965
    Abstract: A sheet-supplying device has a sheet-accommodating tray, a raising/lowering unit, a first position sensor, a second position sensor, a controlling unit. The raising/lowering unit raises and lowers the sheet-accommodating tray substantially. The first position sensor detects a first position indicating a position in the stacked direction of one end portion of a topmost sheet stacked in the sheet-accommodating tray. The second position sensor detects a second position indicating a position in the stacked direction of another end portion of the topmost sheet. The controlling unit controls the raising/lowering unit to raise or lower the sheet-accommodating tray based on both the first position detected by the first position sensor and the second position detected by the second position sensor so that one end of the topmost sheet in the stacked status is positioned at a prescribed position in the stacked direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoshi Ueda, Shingo Takai, Tatsuo Matsuda, Kazuhiko Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 8480074
    Abstract: Provided is a sheet feeding device having a sheet surface detecting mechanism installed to be movable up and down between adjacent adsorption conveyance belts 21, and detects a position of the top surface of the sheet by a sheet surface detecting member 61 that moves upward higher than the adsorbing surface of an adsorption conveyance belt 21. The position of the lower surface of the sheet surface detecting member 61 being pushed up by the blown upward sheet is regulated such that the difference in height between the adsorbing surface of the adsorption conveyance belt 21 and the lower surface of the sheet surface detecting member 61 is smaller than the difference in a height direction between the adsorbing surface of the adsorption conveyance belt 21 and the upper surface of a separation nozzle by a sensor abutting portion 62 that regulates upward movement of the sheet surface detecting member 61.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinsuke Ubayashi, Shinichi Onodera, Hajime Sekiguchi, Yuya Yokobori, Isao Kannari, Taro Ikeda
  • Patent number: 8443863
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus provide for imparting a controlled supply of gas to at least one Bernoulli chuck to provide a balanced draw and repellant gas flow to a material sheet; and at least one of: elevating a temperature of the supply of gas to the at least one Bernoulli chuck such that the gas flow to the material sheet is provided at the elevated temperature providing a stream of gas to an insulator substrate to promote separation of an exfoliation layer from a donor semiconductor wafer, and providing a stream of gas to a junction of the insulator substrate and any support structure to promote separation of the insulator substrate and the supporting structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Michael Yoshiya Nishimoto, William Edward Lock
  • Patent number: 8444138
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus, having: a sheet stacking table to stack sheets; a sheet feeding device to feed the sheets one by one from an upper most section of the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking table; an assist air blower device to blow an assist air at a lateral side, a front side or a rear side of the sheet fed from the sheet stacking table so as to assist sheet feeding; a detecting device to detect a behavior of the sheet assisted by the assist air; and a control device to set an amount of the assist air used in image forming to be an optimum air amount based on a detected result which is obtained by detecting the behavior of the sheet when the assist air blower device is operated at a predetermined timing while image forming is not carried out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Kenji Taki
  • Patent number: 8444136
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which can prevent decrease in useful lives of components for air sheet feeding without bringing about throughput degradation when performing an image forming operation using a plurality of sheet supply units. When a sheet is fed from a first sheet supply unit having a fan that is driven so as to supply sheets, then a sheet is supplied from a second sheet supply unit, and then a sheet is supplied form the first sheet supply unit again, and in a case where a suspension time period over which no sheet is supplied from the first sheet supply unit is longer than a preparation time period from when driving of the fan is started to when the fan is brought into a driving state required to supply a sheet, driving of the fan is temporarily stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Manabu Yamauchi
  • Patent number: 8439349
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus are provided. Timing when a subsequent sheet is adsorbed by an adsorbing and conveying mechanism of a sheet feeding device which adsorbs and conveys sheets blown up by air blowing is controlled, and the subsequent sheet is conveyed while being overlapped partially at an overlapping amount with a preceding sheet Sa adsorbed by the adsorbing and conveying mechanism earlier regardless of the size, basis weight, and kind of sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuzo Matsumoto, Tetsuro Fukusaka, Yoshitaka Yamazaki, Taishi Tomii
  • Patent number: 8439348
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus which includes: a sheet loading tray for stacking sheets; a suction and conveyance section placed above stacked sheets on the sheet loading tray and sucks and conveys a sheet in the sheet conveying direction; an air blowing section which blows air at the stacked sheets on the sheet loading tray and causes the sheet to float up; a skew correction section which is provided with a pair of conveyance rollers, and corrects a skew of the sheet being conveyed by the suction and conveyance section; and a control section which controls a force of sucking the sheet, wherein the control section changes the force of sucking the sheet from a first level to a second level that is lower than the first level, before a leading edge of the sheet butts against a pair of conveyance rollers of the skew correction section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tomoo Suzuki, Akira Kosugi, Daisuke Ueda
  • Patent number: 8424866
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus may include a sheet storage unit, an air blowing unit, a suction conveyance unit, and a conveyance guide. A sheet in the sheet storage unit blown by the air blowing unit may be conveyed to the conveyance guide by the suction conveyance unit. The conveyance guide has a guide surface and inclined portions arranged upstream in the sheet conveyance direction, formed therein from a sheet conveyance center to ends in a sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction. The inclined portions are inclined from the upstream side towards the downstream in the sheet conveyance direction. As a distance in which an inclined portion resides away from the suction conveyance unit increases, the inclined portion becomes positioned more upstream in the sheet conveyance direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Taro Ikeda
  • Patent number: 8419008
    Abstract: Even if a sheet surface detection mechanism outputs a signal indicating that an uppermost sheet among blown-up sheets is within a conveyance range, if a trailing edge sheet surface sensor outputs a signal indicating that the uppermost sheet among the blown-up sheets is lower than the conveyance range when the conveyed uppermost sheet passes by the trailing edge sheet surface sensor, a lifting and lowering portion is controlled to lift the tray so that the uppermost sheet is positioned within the conveyance range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Taro Ikeda, Yuji Yamanaka, Kazuhiro Kosuga
  • Patent number: 8408533
    Abstract: A sheet feeder attracts a topmost sheet on a sheet conveyor belt as a conveying member and conveys the sheet toward an image forming unit in a subsequent step. The sheet feeder includes a vane rotation direction control unit that serves as a suction direction control unit controlling a direction in which a suction blower as an air suction unit sucks air to be reversed as a positive pressure generating unit that generates a positive pressure in a sheet suction unit. The vane rotation direction control unit controls the direction in which the suction blower sucks air to be reversed immediately after a feeding operation ends to generate the positive pressure in the sheet suction unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
    Inventor: Munehisa Fuda
  • Patent number: 8403319
    Abstract: A sheet-supplying device has a sheet-accommodating tray, a raising/lowering unit, a first position sensor, a second position sensor, a controlling unit. The raising/lowering unit raises and lowers the sheet-accommodating tray substantially. The first position sensor detects a first position indicating a position in the stacked direction of one end portion of a topmost sheet stacked in the sheet-accommodating tray. The second position sensor detects a second position indicating a position in the stacked direction of another end portion of the topmost sheet. The controlling unit controls the raising/lowering unit to raise or lower the sheet-accommodating tray based on both the first position detected by the first position sensor and the second position detected by the second position sensor so that one end of the topmost sheet in the stacked status is positioned at a prescribed position in the stacked direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoshi Ueda, Shingo Takai, Tatsuo Matsuda, Kazuhiko Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 8398071
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes: a leading edge contacting section having a leading edge contacting surface with which a leading edge side in a sheet conveyance direction of sheets stored in a sheet storage section, comes in contact; a blowing section having an air outlet which blows air to float the sheets from a side surface perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the sheets stored; a sucking and conveying section provided at an upward position over the sheet storing section, which sucks the sheet floated by the air from the blowing section, and conveys the sheet over an upper end of the leading edge contacting section; and a rise prevention member provided on a side of the sucking and conveying section, which comes in contact with the sheet floated by the air from the blowing section and prevents a contacting portion of the floated sheet from being risen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomoo Suzuki
  • Publication number: 20130001862
    Abstract: A medium feed device includes a suction member that sucks a medium on a stack member; a surrounding member supported movably in directions toward and away from the stack member together with the medium by suction; a stack-member moving mechanism; a suction-member moving mechanism; a transport member that transports the medium; a detected part associated with the surrounding member; a detecting part that is supported at the suction-member body and detects the detected part; a detector that detects a medium surface position based on a detection result of the detected part detected by the detecting part if the surrounding member moves toward the suction-member body from a state in which the medium contacts the surrounding member. The stack-member moving mechanism moves the stack member based on the medium surface position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2011
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroaki FUJIKURA, Hiroatsu KAZAMA
  • Patent number: 8336879
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus which includes a sheet loading tray for stacking sheets; a suction and conveyance section which is placed above stacked sheets on the sheet loading tray and sucks and conveys a sheet in the sheet conveying direction; an air blowing section which blows air at the stacked sheets on the sheet loading tray and causes the sheet to float up; and a skew correction section which corrects a skew of the sheet conveyed by the suction and conveyance section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tomoo Suzuki, Akira Kosugi, Daisuke Ueda
  • Patent number: 8336873
    Abstract: A media feeding apparatus that includes a media storage device, a blowing device, a media feeding member, and a media holding member, the media storage device storing media, the blowing device blowing toward side surface of the media, the media feeding device feeding the media sequentially, and the media holding member holding the media at a substantially same position as the media feeding device with respect to the media feeding direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventor: Hideaki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 8328181
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet stacking unit, a suction conveyance unit configured to convey an uppermost sheet stacked on the sheet stacking unit, a suction unit configured to adsorb the sheets onto the suction conveyance unit, and an adsorption completion detection unit. In the sheet feeding apparatus, when the tab-attached sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit and fed such that their tab portions are on the downstream side in a sheet feeding direction, the suction unit starts to adsorb the sheet in response to a sheet feeding signal, and the suction conveyance unit starts to convey the sheet immediately after the adsorption completion detection unit detects the completion of the adsorption. When the sheets other than the tab-attached sheets are fed, the suction unit previously adsorbs the sheet onto the suction conveyance unit, and the suction conveyance unit starts to convey the sheet in response to the sheet feeding signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Isao Kannari, Taro Ikeda, Takashi Uno, Yuji Yamanaka, Yuuya Yokobori
  • Patent number: 8317185
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for feeding media sheets in an image production device is disclosed. The method may include applying a downward airflow to a top of a leading edge of a media sheet located at a top of a media stack that is to be fed to an image production section of the image production device, and applying a vacuum airflow to the top of the leading edge of the media sheet located at the top of the media stack that is to be fed to the image production section of the image production device, the applied downward airflow and the applied vacuum airflow causing the top media sheet to separate from the media stack, and feeding the separated top media sheet to the image production section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Douglas K. Herrmann
  • Patent number: 8308288
    Abstract: The medium holding apparatus includes: a medium holding device having a plurality of suction grooves through which a sheet-shaped medium is held by suction; and a suction pressure generating device which is connected to the suction grooves and generates a suction pressure in each of the suction grooves, wherein the suction pressure in one of the suction grooves that holds a first end portion of the sheet-shaped medium is made stronger than the suction pressure in one of the suction grooves that holds a central portion of the sheet-shaped medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation
    Inventor: Takashi Fukui
  • Patent number: 8276905
    Abstract: A sheet feeding apparatus including: a sheet loading table; and an adsorption conveyance section having: multiple belts with through-holes; and an air suction section in an inside of the belts and absorbs air through the through-holes; wherein the conveyance section sucks air, allows the sheet to be adsorbed to the belt, and conveys it; the adsorption conveyance section further includes: a first roller provides driving force to the belts; a second roller rotated by the belts, and a third roller between the first roller and the second roller and rotated by the belts, and the belts are supported by those rollers; and an outer surface of the belts mostly protrudes towards the sheets on the table at a central part of the third roller in a cross section perpendicular to the conveyance direction containing a shaft of the third roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomoo Suzuki