Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.

Hajime Takei

Naoyuki Matsuda

Yukiyoshi Yamakoshi

Hiroshi Tomita

Fuminori Moro

Homare Sano

Sadanobu Murasaki

Richard R Lemberger

Stuart J Wyman

Paul C Schubert

Terrence H Joyce

Junichi Nishiyama

Naoya Misawa

Katsuhito Yokoyama

A printing system capable of reducing workload of an operator by automatically separating finishing specifics of a printed product into tasks to be performed by an on-line printer and tasks to be performed by an off-line finishing device. The printing system comprises an on-line client, print server and printer as well as an off-line finishing device, and the print server receives the job ticket from the client, separates the finishing specifics included in the received job ticket into those to be performed by the printer and those to be performed by the finishing device based on information regarding specifications and installed options of the printer and finishing device, sets in the printer parameters for the finishing specifics separated and assigned to the printer, and creates data for a finishing device job ticket that includes the finishing specifics separated and assigned to the finishing device.

Printing system, print server and computer program that differentiate between on-line and off-line finishing devices in said printing system

In cluster printing, the pages of a print job are divided and output to a plurality of image forming apparatuses. When this is done, a table that records the image size (data size) for each page included in the print job and the speed of data transmission to an image forming apparatus for that page is created. A determination is made whether there are pages with a data transmission speed lower than a threshold value (i.e., whether unprintable pages exist), and if there are, the job is re-divided such that the number of image forming apparatuses to be used is reduced. Consequently, the data transmission speed for each page is prevented from becoming slower than the printing speed.

Print server, printing system, printing method, printing program and computer-readable recording medium containing the printing program

A composite communication apparatus of the present invention is provided with a facsimile transmission unit and an electronic mail transmission unit, when the size of an image data attached to an electronic mail is larger than a predetermined reference value, the image data is transmitted by use of the facsimile transmission unit instead of the electronic mail transmission unit. As the result, the data amount fed on a network is reduced and the efficiency reduction of the network system is prevented.

Composite communication apparatus having facsimile transmission unit and electronic mail transmission unit

A sheet supply device supplying sheets from a magazine thereof to an image forming apparatus and a mechanism for setting the magazine to a body of the image forming apparatus. The magazine storing stacked sheets is provided with reinforcing members which are disposed at side walls of the magazine to form convex portions relative thereto so as to reinforce the side walls and regulate the position of the stacked sheets in a sheet width direction. A projecting portion having an inclined surface is provided in either the magazine or a receiving portion in the image forming apparatus body to which the magazine is set. When the magazine is slid on an upper surface of the receiving portion for being set to the image forming apparatus body, a leading end of the magazine in a magazine setting direction is lifted by use of the inclined surface of the projecting portion so as to be accurately and smoothly set to the body.

Sheet supplying device

A resealable cartridge for sheets of photographic film includes a one-piece, photo-inert and optically opaque polymer tray. The tray has a generally planar bottom wall and front, back and side walls with upper edges and outwardly extending lips. The lip extending from the front wall includes a series of spaced cut-outs. A flexible, photo-inert and optically opaque foil laminate cover for the tray has front, back and side edges. The front edge of the cover includes spaced opening/closing mechanism-engaging apertures which overlie the cutouts in the front lip of the tray. Photo-inert and optically opaque adhesive segments on the lips of the tray provide a resealable opaque seal between the edges of the cover and lips of the tray.

Resealable film cartridge for a laser imager

An image forming apparatus that can be charged with a sheet cassette with a resealable flexible cover includes a roller member engageable with and translatable across the cover to wind the cover on the roller member. The size of the sheet material accommodated in the sheet cassette can be determined from a bar code and the movement of the roller member can be adjusted in accordance with the size of the sheet material. Timers can be set to provide predetermined time periods relative to the translating opening and closing movement of the roller member and, if these time periods expire, an indicator can be provided to the operator.

Information forming apparatus with mechanism for unsealing and sealing a

Disclosed is a disposable sheet cassette and an image forming apparatus in which such a sheet cassette is preferably employed. The sheet cassette is comprised of a cassette box capable of accommodating a plurality of sheet materials and having a flange portion extending outwards from the cassette box, an adhesive layer formed on the flange portion, and a sheet cover bonded on the adhesive layer for covering an opening of the sheet cassette. A portion of the sheet cover can be repeatedly separated from or applied to the adhesive layer to open or close the opening. The image forming apparatus is provided with a take-up roller movable above the sheet cover for winding the sheet cover, a pair of roller supports for rotatably supporting the take-up roller, a driving mechanism for moving the roller supports and for rotating the take-up roller, and a control system for operating the driving mechanism so that the take-up roller can wind the sheet cover after the sheet cassette has been charged in the apparatus.

Disposable sheet cassette and image forming apparatus designed to employ

An sheet handling apparatus includes suckers for sucking up a sheet from a sheet storing unit and two sensors which are disposed on the suckers. One of the sensors detects whether the suckers come into contact with the topmost sheet of a sheet stack in the sheet storing unit, and the other sensor detects whether there is a sheet in the sheet storing unit. After the suckers were operated to suck up a sheet, these sensors detect whether the suckers catch the sheet.

Sheet handling apparatus provided with a sheet sucking unit

Disclosed is a magazine for photosensitive sheets, comprising a box-type casing in which photosensitive sheets are stored, the casing having an opening, and a cover member removably stuck on the casing to cover the opening. When the magazine is used, the cover member is removed from the casing to uncover the opening. The end portion of the cover member with which the cover member starts to be removed from the casing has less elasticity than the other part of the cover member.

Magazine for photosensitive sheets

A recording sheet storing apparatus includes a magazine having a removable cover that is adhered to the surface of the magazine. The magazine can be placed into a recording apparatus and the cover can be engaged with a winding device that can reciprocate to remove the cover member and subsequently to reseal it. A transmission system can apply a driving force to the winding means and a driving force to a carriage which supports the winding device as it moves along the magazine.

Recording sheet storing apparatus for an image forming system

An image forming apparatus includes a regulating member for regulating a sheet fed from the magazine in the widthwise direction, the regulating member being movable between a regulating position and a retreating position. The image forming apparatus further includes a cover member for opening and closing the magazine. When the cover member closes the magazine, the regulating member is in the retreating position, and when the cover member opens the magazine, the regulating member is in the regulating position.

Image forming apparatus provided with a sheet magazine

Disclosed is a sheet feeder comprising a magazine in which sheets are stacked, a sucker for sucking a sheet stacked in the magazine, a stepping motor for raising the sucker, and a sheet separation click which is so disposed that an edge of the sheet sucked by the sucker comes into contact with the click when the sucker is raised to a specified position. The sucker is raised at a small pitch when the edge of the sucked sheet comes into contact with the sheet separation click, whereby sheets which have been adhering to the sucked topmost sheet separate therefrom and fall.

Sheet feeder for an image forming apparatus

A sheet feed arrangement is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or the like and is comprised of a sheet cassette for accommodating a plurality of sheet materials, a feed roller assembly disposed above the sheet cassette for feeding the sheet materials sheet by sheet by contacting with an upper surface of a topmost sheet of the sheet materials accommodated in the sheet cassette, and a tiltable guide plate disposed downstream from the feed roller assembly in a direction of feed of the sheet materials for guiding the sheet materials. The guide member can tilt together with the feed roller assembly so that an end portion of the guide member may be introduced in or removed from an inner end portion of the sheet cassette. The sheet feed arrangement is further comprised of a sheet lifting mechanism disposed below the sheet cassette for listing end portions of the sheet materials when the sheet materials are fed from the sheet cassette. The end portions of the sheet materials are lowered by the sheet lifting mechanism when the sheet cassette is removed from the image forming apparatus.

Sheet feed arrangement

An image forming apparatus provided with a magazine in which sheets are stacked, the image forming apparatus comprising a flexible cover member for the magazine, which cover member is capable of adhering to and separating from a flange of the magazine, a cover removing unit which removes the cover member from the flange of the magazine while moving in one direction along the flange of the magazine, and a cover sticking unit which sticks the cover member on the flange of the magazine while moving in a direction reverse to the direction in which the cover removing unit moves.

Image forming apparatus provided with a device for covering and

An image forming apparatus provided with a sensor for detecting a sheet transport problem. When a sheet transport problem occurs before a sheet reaches an image forming section, the sheet is returned to a sheet feeding section, and when a transport problem occurs at or after the image forming section, the sheet is forwarded to a sheet receiving section. When the problem sheet is either returned to the feeding section or forwarded to the receiving section, the apparatus is set to an operational condition. When the problem sheet can be neither returned to the feeding section nor forwarded to the receiving section, further operation of the apparatus is inhibited.

Growing community of inventors

Machida, Japan

Hajime Takei