Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Harumitsu Mashiko

Shigeru Suzuki

Takashi Seto

Yoshihiro Sakai

Seiichi Miyakawa

Koji Ozaki

Kiyoshi Ohshima

Kenichi Shimizu

Nobuhiko Umezawa

Masahiro Ishikawa

Tsuyoshi Yoshimura

Yoshihiro Ogata

Eishu Ohdake

Izumi Tagoku

Kazuaki Iizuka

Yoshiyumi Tamiya

Tadahiro Suzuki

Kazuhisa Takahashi

Hisashi Kuroda

Eisyu Ohdake

Syoji Hayashi

Fumihiko Hoshi

In an image forming apparatus, a cleaning device using a webbing is capable of surely removing stains firmly adhered to a desired surface to be cleaned. Even when the degree and the kind of contamination on the above surface is irregular due to the varying operating condition of the apparatus, the cleaning device is operable in a desirable manner. The cleaning device includes a webbing pressed against the surface to be cleaned and a pressing member having a plurality of projections with edge portions at the ends of the projections and wherein at least two of the projections are in the cleaning range at any one time. In a preferred embodiment, the cleaning device is provided in an image forming apparatus and cleans a conveyor belt for conveying a recording medium to which a toner image is to be transferred. Additionally, a controller in the image forming apparatus operates the cleaning device on the basis of the degree of contamination sensed by a sensor, to clean the surface a greater number of times at initial power up or controls the cleaning device to exert a greater force during recovery after an operational error.

Image forming apparatus and cleaning device for transfer material

An image forming apparatus for electrostatically transferring a latent image formed on a photoconductive drum or similar image carrier to a recording medium held by a clamp drum or similar medium conveying member. The clamp drum has a cylinder or base made of aluminum, a conductive rubber layer covering the cylinder, and an overcoat layer covering the rubber layer and higher in electric resistance than the rubber layer. A bias voltage for latent image transfer is applied while the rubber layer is connected to ground. The photoconductive drum and clamp drum are pressed against each other by a predetermined force, the former following the rotation of the latter. The photoconductive drum is provided with a photoconductor having a great electrostatic capacity, thereby preventing the effective transfer voltage at the time of image transfer from increasing.

Image forming apparatus having clamp for conveying a recording medium

A peel-apart type instant photographic apparatus using a negative film and a positive sheet. The apparatus has a dark box for developing and accommodating the negative film and positive sheet, or supply, joined together and having a developer spread therebetween. The dark box is removable from the apparatus body and, therefore, easy to clean and handle. When the dark box is not mounted on the apparatus body in predetermined conditions, a printing operation is inhibited to eliminate the waste of negative sheets and positive sheets. A printing operation is also inhibited when the supply is left in the dark box.

Instant photographic apparatus

A device for reproducing an image of an original by using photosensitive material and transfer material for receiving an image formed on the photosensitive material. The original is optionally scanned to produce an optical signal which represents an image of the original, and the photosensitive material is exposed in accordance with the optical signal from the scanner together with the movement of the photosensitive material in synchronization with the scanning. A developer device superposes the exposed photosensitive material on the transfer material and spreads a developer between the superposed photosensitive material and transfer material so as to reproduce the image on the transfer material.

Image reproducing device and transfer sheet used in the device

An image reproducing device in which a photosensitive film cartidge, a transfer sheet cassette and a developer pod receptacle are mounted separately, and a peel-apart type film is used. The kinds of photosensitive film, transfer film and pod are detected to prevent an incorrect combination and to inhibit the operation of the device. In other embodiments, some of the elements are mounted together. The elements are marked with a code which is sensed.

Image reproducing device

An image reader for digitally reading an image on an original document by causing at least two aligned CCDs to commonly read an overlapping portion of the image which corresponds to a joint portion of the CCDs and by cancelling pixel data read by one of the CCDs. A first CCD is mounted on a base plate. A second CCD is fixed in place on one or free end portion of a support plate the other end of which is rigidly connected to the base plate. The base plate and the support plate are different from each other in the coefficient of thermal expansion. In order to compensate for a change in the ratio of an overlapping portion of the image due to an expansion or a contraction of the base plate which is caused by a temperature variation, a predetermined relationship is set up between the positions of the first and second CCDs and that of the support plate relative to the base plate and the coefficients of thermal expansion of the base plate and support plate. Temperatures of the base plate are sensed so that an expansion or a contraction of the base plate is computed based on the sensed temperature, thereby determining a deviation of the overlapping portion. Data outputted by the CCDs are processed in response to the determined deviation.

Image reader using a plurality of CCDS

An information display medium includes as a main component a thermosensitive material layer which can reversibly repeat turbid and transparent conditions by being heated to different temperatures and can keep one of such conditions stably below a particular temperature, one of the turbid and transparent conditions being selectable by a print head. The information display medium further includes a substrate layer combined with the thermosensitive material layer, and another layer, at least one of the thermosensitive material layer, the substrate layer, the other layer, and a background panel for use with the information display medium having a regular pattern such as a stripe or a matrix in a plane thereof, and being colored in at least two colors in the pattern for color display.

Information display medium

Image reader using a plurality of CCDs

A portable image forming device which is moved on an original in a direction perpendicular to a primary scan direction for subscan, and divides original reflection light beams into picture pickup elements in the primary scan direction through an image forming optical system to imageform the pickup elements on a pickup device for reading. The pickup range of the pickup device in the primary scan direction is designed to be variable, and means for setting the pickup range is provided. With a portable copying machine which houses the pickup device and a printing section including a writing head in a single casing, paper is fed to the printer section as required by making use of the movement of the machine for original scan.

Portable image forming device

A composite copy of an image or images from a single or plural original sheets is formed by regulating the position or positions of the images from the original sheets on the copy sheet in a copy paper feeding direction and a direction orthogonal thereto. The setting of the image positions in the X and Y directions on the copy sheet is obtained by regulating the scanning of the original sheet, movement of the illumination system or optical system, or timing of movement of the photosensitive member or the copy sheet.

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Tokyo, Japan

Harumitsu Mashiko