Curl Correction Patents (Class 399/406)
  • Patent number: 8385796
    Abstract: In a fixing device, at least one separator is provided downstream from a fixing nip formed between a fixing rotary member and a pressing rotary member in a recording medium conveyance direction to contact the fixing rotary member to separate a recording medium having passed through the fixing nip from the fixing rotary member. A feeler is provided upstream from the fixing nip in the recording medium conveyance direction and contacted by the recording medium conveyed toward the fixing nip to receive a pushing force from the recording medium. A transmission assembly is connected between the feeler and the separator to receive and transmit the pushing force to the separator to move the separator from a non-contact position at which the separator does not contact the fixing rotary member to a contact position at which the separator contacts the fixing rotary member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yutaka Naitoh
  • Patent number: 8379232
    Abstract: An image processing device includes a memory portion for storing an ejection amount conversion table showing a relationship between image data serving as reference and a fluid ejected from a fluid ejecting head for a predetermined number of pixels, and an ejection amount estimation unit which estimates an ejection amount of the fluid from input image data on the basis of the ejection amount conversion table stored in the memory portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Junko Hasegawa, Teruyuki Takata, Takashi Koase
  • Patent number: 8374538
    Abstract: A sheet humidifier which executes a humidifying process to a sheet, the sheet humidifier including: a pair of humidifying rollers each of which has a first surface layer formed of rubber containing plasticizer, the pair of humidifying rollers nipping and conveying the sheet; and two water supply rollers each of which has a second surface layer formed of rubber containing the same kind of plasticizer as the plasticizer of the first surface layer, the two water supply rollers contacting each of the pair of humidifying rollers and supplying water to the each of the pair of humidifying rollers, wherein a hardness of the first surface layer is higher than the second surface layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Masashi Kougami, Toshio Shida
  • Patent number: 8351814
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises a fixing part for fixing a toner image formed on a transfer material to the transfer material, a fan provided on the downstream side of the fixing part, for blowing air to the transfer material having passed through the fixing part, and an airflow control part for controlling the amount of air to be blown from the fan. When the basis weight of the transfer material is larger than a first threshold value, the airflow control part sets the amount of air to be blown to a value smaller than that in a case where the basis weight of the transfer material is smaller than the first threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Akio Kasuga
  • Patent number: 8351817
    Abstract: A cooling device includes a cooling roller having a dual tube structure including an inner tube disposed inside an outer tube, an outside flow passage and an inside flow passage in which a cooling medium flows, and an opening that allows the outside flow passage to communicate with the inside flow passage, a cooling medium transport unit, and a rotating tube joint unit mounted to one end side of the cooling roller. One end of the outer tube is coaxially rotatably fitted to a first fitting section of the rotating tube joint unit. One end of the inner tube is coaxially fitted into and rotatably or fixedly supported to a second fitting section of the rotating tube joint unit, and the other end is coaxially fitted into and rotatably or fixedly supported to a fitting section on the other end of the outer tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masanori Saitoh, Satoshi Okano, Tomoyasu Hirasawa, Shingo Suzuki, Kenichi Takehara, Yasuaki Iijima, Takayuki Nishimura, Hiromitsu Fujiya, Keisuke Yuasa
  • Patent number: 8346154
    Abstract: A conveyance control mechanism for a printer including an image forming unit forming an image on a sheet being conveyed on a conveyance route, includes a curl detector configured to detect a curl of the sheet conveyed on the conveyance route, in an upstream of the image forming unit on the conveyance route. The conveyance route controller may drive and stop the conveyance route differently depending on whether the curl detector detects a curl at either a front end or at a position other than the front end. When the curl detector detects a curl of the sheet, an image forming route where the image forming unit performs an image formation may be separated and retreated from the conveyance route and the sheet being conveyed may be discharged onto the retreated image forming route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2013
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventors: Masashi Hara, Yukihiro Maeda, Masatoshi Fujimoto, Masakazu Kawano
  • Patent number: 8326205
    Abstract: A medium cutting device for cutting a conveyed continuous medium in a predetermined length includes a cutting unit having a cut roller that is freely rotatable and is provided with a cut blade for cutting the continuous medium on an outer surface, and an anvil roller arranged to face the cut roller, and brush rollers that are arranged to face each other on a further downstream side than the cutting unit in a conveyance direction, and prevent a sheet-shaped recording medium cut by the cutting unit from being entangled with one of the rollers of the cutting unit. A linear speed of the outermost perimeter of each of the brush rollers is made faster than a conveyance speed of the continuous medium conveyed by the cutting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 8326207
    Abstract: A sheet transport device and an image forming apparatus that includes the sheet transport device. The sheet transport device includes a reverse-transport roller, at least one roller guide, and a shaft. The reverse-transport roller is provided to a diverging point of a sheet reversing portion from which a recording medium enters or exits and is configured to transport the recording medium to the sheet reversing portion. At least one roller guide is provided in a vicinity of an end face of at least one side of the reverse-transport roller and is configured to prevent the reverse-transport roller from contacting the recording medium when reversing the recording medium. The reverse-transport roller and the roller guide are disposed on the shaft. Friction of a peripheral surface of the roller guide is configured to be substantially less than that of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuharu Gaman, Nobuo Inoue
  • Patent number: 8301074
    Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus is provided with a decurling mechanism to correct a curl formed on a sheet; a pair of guides including a first guide member and a second guide member arranged to oppose to the first guide member, the pair of guides constituting a conveyance passage to guide a sheet discharged from the decurling mechanism toward the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction; and an auxiliary guide arranged to protrude obliquely in the sheet conveying direction from the side of the first guide member toward the second guide member to a predetermined position in the conveyance passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kunihiro Kawachi, Kyoichi Mizuno
  • Patent number: 8295758
    Abstract: In a first step, a sheet is conveyed in a direction, whereby a leading end portion of the sheet is fed to a position between a decurl roller and a decurl pinch roller, which are in positions spaced apart from each other. In a second step, the leading end portion of the sheet is curved and held by causing the decurl pinch roller to come close to or press against the decurl roller. In a third step, the leading end portion of the sheet is withdrawn from between the decurl roller and the decurl pinch roller by conveying the sheet in a direction opposed to the conveying direction. After executing the first to third steps, the sheet is conveyed in the conveying direction through the first step while the sheet is curved by the decurl roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahito Yoshida, Yasuhiko Ikeda, Kenji Shigeno, Koichiro Kawaguchi, Toshiki Takeuchi, Masato Izumi, Kengo Nieda, Ryosuke Sato
  • Patent number: 8265541
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus including: a humidifier that humidifies a sheet; a curl correcting section that corrects a curl by applying mechanical bending force on a sheet; and a control section that causes humidification by the humidifier and curl correction by the curl correcting section to be possible for a prescribed sheet, and causes either one of humidification by the humidifier and curl correction by the curl correcting section to be possible for sheets other than the prescribed sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Masashi Kougami
  • Patent number: 8234092
    Abstract: A system and method for measuring a lead edge and/or a trail edge media curl utilizing a dual cross beam sensor. The dual cross beam sensor includes one or more pairs of emitters (e.g., a pair to two pairs of emitters) and one or more detectors positioned sequentially in a media path so that a media passes via dual cross beams. Timing data with respect to the media can be measured as the media crosses via the dual cross beam sensor from a leading edge and/or trailing edge. A true instantaneous media speed and a curl height (i.e., media tip height or media curvature) can be simultaneously calculated from the timing data associated with the lead edge/trail edge with respect to each single cross beams of the dual cross beam sensor. An average curl height can be then calculated to enhance the accuracy of the media curl measurement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2012
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Ming Yang, Thomas Jay Wyble, Keith Andrew Buddendeck
  • Patent number: 8215855
    Abstract: Provided is a device for the alignment of sheets in a printing machine, said device comprising two pairs of rollers for the alignment of the sheets in their advance direction, for the alignment transverse to their advance direction and with respect to skewing, whereby each pair of rollers consists of a driving roller and of a counter-pressure roller. One drive unit is provided for each of the two driving rollers, whereby each of the drive units consists of a motor and a drive shaft linked therewith, whereby the driving rollers are non-torsionally accommodated on respective drive shafts. The driving rollers can be slid in linear direction on their drive shaft, or the respective drive shafts, and thus the driving rollers accommodated thereon, can be linearly shifted with respect to their drive motors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Thomas Jacobsen, Juergen Sahlmann, Bernhard A. Linke, Rolf Spilz, Christoph J. Ochmann, Joerg V. Malottki
  • Publication number: 20120148322
    Abstract: A method and system for accurately measuring a lead edge and a trail edge media curl utilizing an angled array sensor. One or more curled media sheets can be propelled in a process direction via a set of rollers/nips associated with a curler from a leading edge and/or trailing edge towards the angled array sensor. The angled array sensor having a rotation vector in the cross-process direction can be placed upstream or downstream of a media-propelling device and at an angle relative to the media sheet exiting the curler in order to calculate a function of sheet curl. The function of sheet curl can be obtained by measuring a point at which the propelled media sheet touches an array associated with the angled array sensor. Such a curl measurement approach enhances accuracy and robustness to environmental induced errors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2010
    Publication date: June 14, 2012
    Applicant: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Joannes N. M. de Jong
  • Patent number: 8200145
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a housing; a sheet discharging tray; a discharge unit, provided within the housing, the discharge unit configured to discharge a sheet into the sheet discharging tray; a pressing member, provided at a position downstream of the discharge unit in a conveying direction of the sheet, the pressing member configured to apply a pressing force to a surface of the sheet at a pressing position; and a pressing force changing unit which is configured to change the pressing force of the pressing member against the surface of the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hakudai Kondo
  • Patent number: 8200144
    Abstract: The image forming apparatus is provided with: a carrier that carries a toner image; a transporting unit that transports a sheet with using a transporting route; a transfer unit that transfers the toner image carried by the carrier to the sheet transported by the transporting unit; a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred by the transfer unit on the sheet; and an exit opening that is disposed so that a transfer position of the transfer unit is located between the exit opening and a fixation position of the fixing unit in a section including a transporting route over the entire length and that discharges the sheet on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing unit to an outside of the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Michio Yamazaki, Tomonari Sakurai, Tsutomu Mori, Yoshinori Nishizawa
  • Patent number: 8190047
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises a fixing part for fixing a toner image on a transfer material to the transfer material, a conveying part provided on the downstream side of the fixing part, a correcting member provided in a conveyance path leading from the fixing part to the conveying part, for correcting a curl of the transfer material, and a control part for controlling an upstream-side conveyance speed which is a conveyance speed at which the fixing part provided on the upstream side of the correcting member conveys the transfer material and a downstream-side conveyance speed which is a conveyance speed at which the conveying part provided on the downstream side of the correcting member conveys the transfer material. In printing of a first surface in a double-sided printing mode, the control part sets the downstream-side conveyance speed to be larger than the upstream-side conveyance speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Hideo Isohara, Toru Hiramatsu, Akio Kasuga
  • Publication number: 20120128397
    Abstract: A sheet de-curling mechanism includes a passageway, a first roller and a second roller. The first roller, disposed in the passageway, transports a sheet at a first speed in a transporting direction. The second roller, disposed downstream of the first roller, transports the sheet at a second speed greater than the first speed, to stretch and flatten the sheet. A printing apparatus using the sheet de-curling mechanism is also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2011
    Publication date: May 24, 2012
    Inventor: Yu-Lun CHANG
  • Patent number: 8185038
    Abstract: A curl correction device that corrects curl, including: a curl correction shaft that drives to carry a sheet; a first supporting member that supports the curl correction shaft; a curl correction roll that holds the sheet between the curl correction shaft and the curl correction roll and presses the sheet against the curl correction shaft; a second supporting member that supports the curl correction roll and rotates the curl correction roll around a first end in the longitudinal direction of the curl correction roll between closed state and open state; and a cam mechanism that provides, via a cam, the curl correction shaft with driving force for pressing the curl correction roll according to a position of the cam, the cam mechanism being provided with a cam shaft, a connecting member, a first cam receiving member, and a second cam receiving member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masakatsu Eda, Norio Ogawahara, Noriyuki Miyoshi, Nobuyoshi Komatsu, Tatsunori Izawa
  • Patent number: 8170459
    Abstract: An image forming system includes an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which forms an image on a sheet of paper, and a paper coloring apparatus which is connected to the electro-photographic image forming apparatus. The paper coloring apparatus includes a coating apparatus having two coating rollers which coat colored water on both faces of the paper sheet on which the image has been formed by the electro-photographic image forming apparatus. A supply section selectively supplies one of the colored water and a colorless water onto the two coating rollers of the coating apparatus. And a controller is provided for switching between a coloring process to color the paper sheet by supplying the colored water onto the two coating rollers, and a humidifying process to humidify the paper sheet by supplying the colorless water onto the two coating rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Toshio Shida
  • Publication number: 20120099911
    Abstract: Decurling a charged sheet and removing charge from the charged sheet prior to stacking, includes forming a nip between a roller and a compliant surface and applying pressure between the roller and compliant surface so that the nip has a decurling shape and when the nip engages the sheet it will perform a decurling function; and moving the charged sheet through the nip while the compliant surface has an AC voltage applied thereto so that a first side of the charged sheet is in contact with the compliant surface and has its charge substantially dissipated, whereby charge substantially remains on a second side of the charged sheet in contact with the roller and curling of the charged sheet is reduced. The method further includes using at least one non-contact charge removal device to remove charge from the second side of the charged sheet; and stacking the discharged sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2010
    Publication date: April 26, 2012
    Inventors: Mark Cameron Zaretsky, James Douglas Shifley
  • Publication number: 20120087706
    Abstract: A method of decurling media supplied by a media supply roll includes determining an amount of media remaining in a form of a media supply roll and forming a media decurling path having a wrap angle around a decurling roller corresponding to at least the amount of the media remaining in the form of the media supply roll.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2010
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Inventors: John A. Dangelewicz, JR., Robert Lockwood
  • Patent number: 8145118
    Abstract: There is provided a paper curl correction apparatus including: an input curl determining unit that determines, on the basis of curl characteristic information of a first apparatus which processes a sheet, input curl information corresponding to an amount of curl of a sheet input from the first apparatus; a target curl acquiring unit that acquires, from a post-processing apparatus which performs a post process on a sheet, target curl information suited for the post process; a correction determining unit that determines, on the basis of the input curl information and the target curl information, an amount of curl correction for correcting an amount of curl of the sheet input from the first apparatus to an amount of curl suited for the post process; and a curl correcting unit that corrects the curl of the sheet input from the first apparatus in accordance with the amount of curl correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Seto
  • Patent number: 8113507
    Abstract: A pair of conveyor rollers arranged in an image forming apparatus to convey a recording sheet which has been subjected to a fixing process toward outside of a body of the apparatus is configured to be shiftable relative to the body between a first position and a second position. A first holding member is configured to support one of the conveyor rollers in such a manner that a conveyor roller supported by the first holding member is swingable around a pivot located adjacent to a sheet conveyance path upstream of the supported conveyor roller to allow the pair of conveyor rollers to be shifted between the first position and the second position. The first holding member comprises a sheet guide portion which provides a variable-position guideway extending from a position located upstream along the sheet conveyance path toward a peripheral surface of the supported conveyor roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kei Ishida
  • Patent number: 8112025
    Abstract: In a cooling device for a printing substrate after passage through a fixing station, a transport path is provided for the printing substrate. A first cooling unit is provided along one side of the transport path. The first cooling unit has a first perforated plate facing towards the printing substrate, a coolant being conducted through the perforated plate. A second cooling unit is provided along an opposite side of the transport path. This second cooling unit has a perforated plate on a surface facing towards the printing substrate. A coolant is conducted through the perforated plate onto the opposite side of the printing substrate. A nip unit for the printing substrate has a nip roll integrated into the second cooling unit such that the nip roll is cooled by the second cooling unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2012
    Assignee: Oce Printing Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Goretzky, Stefan Mayr
  • Patent number: 8086158
    Abstract: An enhanced sheet stripping method and apparatus for stripping toner image carrying copy sheets from a surface of a moving heated fusing member forming a fusing nip. The apparatus includes (a) a moving assembly for moving a cut sheet towards the fusing nip; (b) a sheet curling device positioned upstream of the fusing nip relative to movement of the cut sheet for inducing a desired pre-curl in the cut sheet before the cut sheet enters the fusing nip; and (c) a sheet stripping device positioned downstream of the fusing nip for stripping the cut sheet from contact with the surface of the moving heated fusing member as the cut sheet exits the fusing nip. The method includes inducing a desired curl in the cut sheet before the cut sheet enters the fusing nip and enhanced stripping the cut sheet from contact with the surface of the fuser roll as the cut sheet exits the fusing nip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Gerald A Domoto, Elias Panides, Ruddy Castillo, Bryan J Roof, William A Burton, Steven M Russel, Donald M Bott
  • Patent number: 8073371
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which uses toner to form an image on a sheet may cause the sheet to experience curl after passing through a fixing device which uses heat and pressure to fix the toner image on the sheet. A pair of discharge rollers and/or a sheet separating board may be utilized to correct the curl on the sheet, for both thin and heavy paper weights. The angle of the sheet separating board relative to a line which is perpendicular to a sheet discharging direction is preferably set from 75° to 95°, and a nip depth of a pair of sheet discharging rollers is preferably set from 0 mm to 3 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Shin Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8045915
    Abstract: An apparatus for decurling an advancing sheet, which contains an endless carrying belt, and multiple rollers for guiding said carrying belt, said rollers including a decurling roller, wherein the mutual orientation between the carrying belt and the decurling roller is adjustable. A printing device is also provided to include such a decurling apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: OCE-Technologies B.V.
    Inventors: Pals G. Faber, Tom Nagel
  • Patent number: 8029126
    Abstract: A disclosed image forming apparatus has a recording head for ejecting droplets of recording liquid and forms an image on a recording medium. The image forming apparatus includes a decurling unit configured to perform decurling of the recording medium and adjusts the decurling of the recording medium based on a first information piece about the degree of curl of the recording medium and a second information piece about a subsequent recording medium on which an image is to be formed after the image is formed on the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Imoto
  • Publication number: 20110236102
    Abstract: The present invention includes a supporting member that supports a first roller and a second roller, a first actuator that rotates the supporting member, a first gear that is connected to an end of second roller on the first actuator side, a second gear that is threadably engaged with the first gear, a third gear that rotates coaxially with the second gear, an input gear that threadably engages with the third gear, and a second actuator that transmits a rotational force to the input gear. The third rotation shaft extends in parallel in a first plane that includes the leading edge and the trailing edge of the nip, the first actuator rotates the supporting member between a first position at which the sheet is received from the leading edge of the nip and a second position at which the sheet is received from the trailing edge of the nip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2011
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Applicant: KYOCERA MITA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuji Furushige, Keisuke Egawa, Noriaki Sumikura
  • Patent number: 8025290
    Abstract: An image forming device including a pair of fixing rollers, a sheet guide unit displaceable to one of first and second positions, a position detector detecting a position of the sheet guide unit, first and second sheet sensors respectively detecting the sheet at a first fixed position upstream of the fixing rollers and at a second fixed position downstream of the fixing rollers, and a control unit including a determination unit and a determination part. The determination unit includes a retrieving part that retrieves first and second threshold time periods when the position detector detects the first and second positions, respectively. The determination part determines whether a first or second time period starting from detecting by the first sheet sensor and ending when detecting by the second sheet sensor are within the first and second threshold time periods, respectively, when the position detector detects the first and second positions, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masahito Kajita
  • Publication number: 20110229169
    Abstract: An image forming system including: a fixing device for fixing a toner image on the recording sheet; a curl flattening section for flattening a curl formed on the recording sheet, and conveying the recording sheet in a downstream direction against the fixing device; a first conveying route for conveying the recording sheet having been processed by the fixing device to the curl flattening section; a second conveying route, being longer than the first conveying route, for conveying the processed recording sheet to the curl flattening section; a switching section for switching the conveying route, to guide to the first conveying route or the second conveying route; and a control section for controlling the switching section to guide the recording sheet to the first conveying route or the second conveying route, based on a type of the recording sheet, having been processed by the fixing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2011
    Publication date: September 22, 2011
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Masahiro ONODERA
  • Publication number: 20110229178
    Abstract: A fixing unit includes a fixing member to fuse a toner image on a recording medium on the recording medium; a pressure member to press against the fixing member to define a first nip between the fixing member and the pressure member through which the recording medium is transported; a shifting unit to move the pressure member relative to the fixing member to increase or decrease a pressure of the first nip; a curling correction unit disposed downstream from the first nip in a transport direction of the recording medium that imparts a second curling direction to the recording medium; and a variable setting unit operatively connected to the curling correction unit to variably set an amount of the second curling direction to the recording medium by the curling correction unit depending on the first nip pressure increased or decreased by the shifting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2011
    Publication date: September 22, 2011
    Inventors: Tadashi OGAWA, Masanao EHARA, Satoshi UENO, Hiroshi SEO, Takahiro IMADA, Takamasa HASE
  • Patent number: 8023837
    Abstract: The invention provides an image forming apparatus an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet, a stack portion for stacking a sheet, a discharge portion for discharging the sheet, on which an image is formed by the image forming portion, to the stack portion, a sheet detection portion for detecting a conveying condition of the sheet on which an image is formed, a fully stacked condition detection portion for detecting whether the sheets stacked in the stack portion are in a fully stacked condition, and a determining portion for determining an abnormal condition of the sheet in the stack portion, based, after the detection of a sheet passing by the sheet detection portion, on a result of detection by the fully stacked condition detection portion as to whether the sheets stacked in the stack portion are in a fully stacked condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shuji Nishitani, Takateru Okubo
  • Publication number: 20110211889
    Abstract: A decurling unit regulates a decurling force so as to be smaller when a sheet is returned from a printing unit to a sheet feeding unit than when the sheet is fed from the sheet feeding unit to the printing unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2010
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masato Izumi, Tetsuhiro Nitta, Ryosuke Sato, Kenji Shigeno
  • Publication number: 20110211890
    Abstract: With front face printing, the sheet fed from a sheet feeding unit is led into a nipped position between a first pinch roller and a decurling roller from a first direction, and is discharged by decurling force being applied thereto at the decurling roller. On the other hand, the sheet fed from a reverse unit is led into the nipped position from a second direction opposite to the first direction, and is discharged by decurling force being applied thereto at the decurling roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2010
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenji Shigeno, Tetsuhiro Nitta, Masato Izumi, Ryosuke Sato
  • Publication number: 20110182642
    Abstract: An image-forming apparatus having an image-forming unit, a fixation unit for fixing a toner image transferred to paper, a double-sided print conveyance path for conveying the paper imprinted on one side toward the image-forming unit, a decurling unit for passing the paper discharged from the fixation unit in a double-roller nip including a hard roller and a soft roller and decurling the paper, a rotation unit for rotating the decurling unit, and a calculation unit for calculating an amount of toner deposited on each of a first side, which is the side printed first, and a second side, which is the side on the reverse of the first side and is the side printed next. The rotation unit rotates the decurling unit on the basis of calculation results from the calculation unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2010
    Publication date: July 28, 2011
    Applicant: KYOCERA MITA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Daisuke NANAYAMA
  • Publication number: 20110176821
    Abstract: A fixing device, in which an unfixed image carried by a recording medium is passed through a fixing nip part being pressed by a fixing rotative body and a pressuring rotative body, and is fixed to the recording medium, is disclosed, including: a pressing part, and control part. The pressing part applies a pressure to the fixing nip part. The control part controls the pressure to be applied to the fixing nip part by the pressing part, to be lower than a case in which the recording medium passes through a curl correcting part for correcting a curl of the recording medium, when the recording medium does not pass through the curl correcting part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2011
    Publication date: July 21, 2011
    Inventor: Takamasa HASE
  • Patent number: 7979020
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which forms an image electrophotographically, comprises an image transfer unit which transfers a toner image to a recording medium, a fixing unit comprising a heat roller and a pressure roller, a conveying direction change unit which changes a conveying direction of the recording medium discharged from the fixing unit upwardly, a discharge roller which discharges the recording medium, of which conveying direction has been changed by the conveying direction change unit, to a discharge part, and a curl removing roller which is provided on a conveying extending between the conveying direction change unit and the discharge roller and bends the recording medium in an opposite direction from a bend direction imparted to the recording medium at the heat roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshiya Tomatsu
  • Publication number: 20110142518
    Abstract: A medium correcting device includes: a first holding body that holds a first rotating body having a surface moving circumferentially; a second holding body that holds a second rotating body having a surface that moves following the circumferential movement of the first rotating body and becoming a coupled body incorporating the first and second rotating bodies; a rotation shaft connected to a driving system when the coupled body is housed in a housing body and separated from the driving system when the coupled body is removed; an off-center cam eccentrically fixed to the rotation shaft, presses one rotating body against the other by an amount of pressing according to an angle of the off-center cam, the amount being larger in a downward eccentric direction; and a center-of-gravity correction section fixed to the rotation shaft, causing a larger torque than a torque produced by the off-center cam's own gravity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2010
    Publication date: June 16, 2011
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Haruhiko NISHIDA
  • Publication number: 20110142517
    Abstract: An image forming device includes: an image forming section forming an image on a surface of a recording medium; a conveyance section conveying the recording medium on which the image is formed on a first conveyance course; a return section that returns the recording medium on which the image is formed to the image forming section, by conveying the recording medium on a second conveyance course diverging from the first conveyance course and running to the image forming section; and a medium correction section disposed at a point on the first conveyance course before a diverging location of the second conveyance course, corrects a curl of a recording medium conveyed by the conveyance section after passing through the point, and gives a curl bulging in a predetermined direct ion to a recording medium conveyed by the return section after passing through the point, among recording media passing through the point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2010
    Publication date: June 16, 2011
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Kanai, Mizuki Sugino, Takashi Ohhashi, Yasuto Okabayashi
  • Patent number: 7954939
    Abstract: A decurling mechanism for performing a decurling process of correcting the curl of paper includes: a first roller; a second roller disposed travelably around the first roller; and a roller position changing mechanism for changing the second roller to a plurality of positions set on a traveling path of the second roller. The plurality of positions include a decurling position in which the decurling process to the paper is enabled and the paper is conveyed while being pinched between the first and second rollers, a conveyance position in which the decurling process to the paper is disabled and the paper is conveyed while being pinched between the first and second rollers and a pinch release position in which the paper is released from the pinch between the first and second rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: Noritsu Koki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihito Yamamoto, Yoshitsugu Tokai
  • Patent number: 7953333
    Abstract: In a xerographic printer, a transfer station is controlled to apply a constant current to the photoreceptor. A print sheet having a high moisture content will cause the control system to make a high voltage drain to maintain the constant current. A signal related to the voltage drain is used to control a decurler. The system enables the decurler to be controlled on a sheet-by-sheet basis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2011
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: David P. Vanbortel, Daniel H. Burnett
  • Publication number: 20110097127
    Abstract: In a first step, a sheet is conveyed in a direction, whereby a leading end portion of the sheet is fed to a position between a decurl roller and a decurl pinch roller, which are in positions spaced apart from each other. In a second step, the leading end portion of the sheet is curved and held by causing the decurl pinch roller to come close to or press against the decurl roller. In a third step, the leading end portion of the sheet is withdrawn from between the decurl roller and the decurl pinch roller by conveying the sheet in a direction opposed to the conveying direction. After executing the first to third steps, the sheet is conveyed in the conveying direction through the first step while the sheet is curved by the decurl roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2010
    Publication date: April 28, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masahito Yoshida, Yasuhiko Ikeda, Kenji Shigeno, Koichiro Kawaguchi, Toshiki Takeuchi, Masato Izumi, Kengo Nieda, Ryosuke Sato
  • Publication number: 20110091258
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet, a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed by the image forming unit on the sheet, a cooling unit configured to cool the sheet having the image fixed thereon by the fixing unit, a curl amount changing unit configured to change an amount of curl of the sheet by bending the sheet having the image fixed thereon, and a path configured to guide the sheet having the image fixed thereon to the image forming unit, after the sheet is conveyed through the curl amount changing unit and the curl amount changing unit. The curl amount changing unit changes an amount of bending the sheet according to whether the sheet is stopped at the cooling unit or not.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2010
    Publication date: April 21, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Jirou Makinodan, Hiroshige Inoue
  • Patent number: 7914215
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit which forms an image on a recording sheet, a casing which houses the image forming unit and holds the image forming units, a conveying roller which applies a conveying force to the recording sheet by contacting with the recording sheet, a first roller which is fixed to a position confronting the conveying roller, the first roller pushing the recording sheet toward the conveying roller and being rotatable, a second roller which is arranged at a position confront the conveying roller and downstream side of the first roller in a conveying direction, the second roller being displaceable, and a roller displacing mechanism which displaces the second roller in such a manner as to change a distance between the second roller and the conveying roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiya Tomatsu, Masaki Yasuda
  • Patent number: 7912418
    Abstract: An image-forming device includes: an image-forming unit; a sheet discharge unit; a sheet support unit; and a reading unit. The image-forming unit forms images on a recording sheet. The sheet discharge unit discharges, in a sheet discharging direction, a recording sheet formed with an image by the image-forming unit. The sheet support unit is disposed above the image-forming unit, and supports sheet discharged from the sheet discharge unit. The reading unit is disposed above the sheet support unit, with an underside surface of the reading unit opposing a top surface of the sheet support unit. The sheet discharge unit is configured to discharge the sheet diagonally upwardly so that sheet discharged by the sheet discharge unit contacts the underside surface of the reading unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Hattori, Sakae Ito
  • Publication number: 20110064502
    Abstract: A fixing system includes a fixing device that fixes a non-fixed image with heat onto a recording medium. The fixing device includes a fixing roller that generates heat and a pressing roller that presses against the fixing roller. A curl correction device is provided to correct curling of the recording medium passing through the fixing device. The curl correction device includes a heating roller unit that generates heat and an elastic roller that presses against the heating roller unit. A magnetic flux generating device is arranged in the vicinity of the fixing device and the curl correction device and generates magnetic flux.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Publication date: March 17, 2011
    Inventors: Takamasa HASE, Masanao EHARA, Kenji ISHI, Tadashi OGAWA, Satoshi UENO, Hiroshi SEO, Takahiro IMADA
  • Publication number: 20110064424
    Abstract: A method and system move a media sheet in a processing direction of a media path from a first nip to a second nip and move the media sheet in the processing direction of the media path from the second nip to a third nip. The method senses, using a sensor positioned between the second nip and the third nip, the position of the media sheet relative to the sensor. The method automatically calculates the amount of curl the media sheet contains based on the difference between the predetermined position and the position of the leading edge of the media sheet (relative to the sensor) as the leading edge of the media sheet passes between the second nip and the third nip, using the processor. Further, the method automatically calculates the thickness of the media sheet based on the difference between the predetermined position and the position of the media sheet (relative to the sensor) as the media sheet passes between the second nip and the third nip, using the processor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2009
    Publication date: March 17, 2011
    Applicant: XEROX CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Knausdorf, Ruddy Castillo
  • Publication number: 20110058873
    Abstract: A conveyer includes a first rotating body; a second rotating body pair; and an intermediate rotating body arranged between the first rotating body and the second rotating body pair. A curl of the recording medium is corrected by winding and bending the recording medium around and with the intermediate rotating body at a bent angle formed by a tangent line shared by the intermediate rotating body and the first rotating body, and a line on which such a tangent line of the intermediate rotating body is connected to a nip point of the second rotating body pair. The intermediate rotating body includes an escape mechanism that is capable of causing the intermediate rotating body to escape in a direction to increase the bent angle depending on the width of the recording medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2010
    Publication date: March 10, 2011
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Haruyuki Honda, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Kazuyoshi Kondo, Toshikane Nishii, Mizuna Tanaka, Tomoyoshi Yamazaki