Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Hideo Yoshihara

Tsutomu Suzuki

Kenji Sakakibara

Michitoshi Akao

Takashi Nakata

Takayuki Hayashi

Takeshi Izaki

Akihiro Sawada

Hiroaki Kimura

Hiroshi Igarashi

Takemi Yamamoto

Tatsuya Shindo

Fumio Morita

Susumu Kuzuya

Kazumasa Makino

Yoshiteru Hattori

Toshio Sugiura

Hiroshi Morisaki

Shusaku Tsusaka

Kazuo Sangyoji

Naoyuki Hatta

Tokunori Katoh

Kazunori Tanabe

Toshiaki Sugiura

Masanari Kobayashi

Mitsuyoshi Uehara

Morikazu Iwase

Shin Asai

A photosensitive drum 25 is rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined angle upon completion of printing. A release belt 44 is caused to rotate in the same direction by surface friction between a nip release belt 49 and a surface of the photosensitive drum 25. At this time, a pitch roller 47 provided at both ends of a developing roller 27 is rotated clockwise while guided along a roller guide hole 61 of the release belt 44, runs onto an upper plane of the nip release belt 49, and releases the developing roller 27 from the photosensitive drum 25 with a clearance which is substantially equal to the thickness of the nip release belt 49.

Image forming apparatus including switching structure for separating a

An image forming unit includes structure to prevent leakage of initial developer containing magnetic carrier and magnetic toner from a case. The image forming unit includes a photoconductive drum, a developing sleeve, and a trimming blade. Auxiliary sealing members are attached to the opposite ends of the trimming blade to stop up gaps between side sealing members in sliding contact with the opposite ends of the developing sleeve, and a protective sheet is removably inserted in the gap between the developing sleeve and the trimming blade. Ferromagnetic strips capable of being magnetized by the magnet roller are attached to the reverse side of the protective sheet at the opposite sides of one end of the protective sheet. The ferromagnetic strips magnetically attract the developer that is about to leak through the gaps to completely prevent leakage of the developer.

Mechanism to prevent toner leakage from an image forming unit

An image recording apparatus having a sheet cartridge which stores therein an elongated photosensitive recording medium. A locking mechanism is provided selectively engageable with the sheet cartridge or a light shielding member which is positioned to prevent the cartridge from being exposed to light. A control means is provided to provide locking state of sheet cartridge or the light shielding member by controlling the locking mechanism to its locking position. This control is made in response to a signal indicative of the installation of the sheet cartridge at its predetermined position. The control means is also adapted to provide unlocking state of the sheet cartridge or the light shielding member by controlling the locking mechanism to its unlocking position. This control is made in response to a signal indicative of the complete discharge of the elongated photosensitive recording medium out of the sheet cartridge. The locking state is also provided in response to the signal indicative of the installation of the sheet cartridge plus a signal indicative of a complete closure of the light shielding member. The locking state is also provided upon complete sheet loading along a sheet path in the image recording apparatus.

Image recording apparatus having means for preventing sheet cartridge

A sheet supplying device for supplying an uppermost sheet of a stack of sheets in a sheet cassette used in an image forming apparatus includes suction cups movable into and out of contact with the uppermost sheet in the sheet cassette, an evacuator for developing a vacuum in the suction cups to enable the suction cups to attract the uppermost sheet, a moving member for upwardly and downwardly moving the suction cups to pick up the sheet from the sheet cassette, a sheet feeding member for feeding the sheet from the moving member along a sheet feed path, and a control system for judging on the basis of a detection signal from each sensor for detecting an image forming error provided in the image forming apparatus whether the error occurs during the sheet supplying operation, and when judging that the image forming error occurs during a sheet supplying operation, the control unit ceasing the sheet supplying operation and controlling the driving of at least one of the suction cups, the evacuator, moving member and the sheet feeding member so that at least one of those members carries out a predetermined operation selected from the series of operations to be performed by at least one of the members.

Sheet supplying device having control unit for sheet supplying operation

An image recording apparatus having a sheet slack absorbing means pivotally movable between first and second positions. In the first position, a dancer roller of the sheet slack absorbing means is in contact with a microcapsule layer of the microcapsule sheet for absorbing sheet slack during exposure operation. In the second position, the dancer roller is out of contact with the microcapsule sheet. The second position is provided at a non-operative state of the apparatus, or at the standby state thereof. The second position is also provided for directing a leader portion of the microcapsule sheet toward a takeup shaft. In this case, the dancer roller serves as a guide means for guiding travel of the leader portion. The second position is further provided when unexposed zone of the microcapsule sheet is reversely fed to the upstream side of an exposure stand for a next exposure operation.

Image recording apparatus having sheet slack absorbing means

A sheet feed device for feeding a sheet in a copying machine includes a sheet cassette storing a stack of sheets therein and removably positioned in a housing of the copying machine, and a plurality of suction cups for attracting one of the sheets at a time from the sheet cassette. The suction cups are movable toward and away from the sheet cassette. Locking fingers lock the sheet cassette against removal when the suction cups are moved toward the sheet cassette and are ready for or are feeding sheets from the sheet cassette. The locking fingers are angularly movably supported in the housing and lockingly fittable in recesses defined in side walls of the sheet cassette.

Sheet feed device having a sheet cassette locking mechanism

In a color image copying apparatus, a light-path change-over reflector is movable into and out of a light path extending from a light source to an exposing station where a color latent image is to be formed on a photosensitive recording medium according to color image information of an original image. When the change-over reflector is disposed in the light path, the light from the light source is oriented or shifted so as to display the color image information of the original on a monitoring screen. Filters are used for color correction. When monitoring the original image on the screen, the filters are moved away from the light path. Further, the filters can be superposed together for minute color control with respect to the photosensitive sheet.

Color image copying apparatus

An imaging device for forming a visible image by pressurizing and feeding an exposed recording sheet with a developing sheet detects that the recording sheet and the developing sheet are accurately overlapped with each other before the pressurizing operation is begun. The position of the sheets is monitored and the pressurizing rollers are controlled in accordance with the detected positions.

Imaging device having means to accurately superpose sheets in the

A sheet feed mechanism has an array of suction cups into and out of contact with an uppermost one of stacked sheets in a sheet cassette. After the suction cups are held against the uppermost sheet, a vacuum is developed in the suction cups to enable the suction cups to attract the uppermost sheet. Then, the suction cups are lifted with the uppermost sheet attracted thereto, and a leading end of the attracted and lifted uppermost sheet is nipped, and the sheet is delivered into a sheet feed path. When the suction cups are lifted, they are angularly moved about an axis to cause the leading end of the attracted uppermost sheet to be obliquely separated from other stacked sheets.

Sheet feed mechanism and method of feeding sheet

An image forming apparatus, including a first holding device for positioning and holding a photosensitive recording medium at an exposing position, a light source for generating a radiation for exposing the recording medium, a second holding device for positioning and holding a contact-exposure original bearing a first image thereon, substantially in contact with the recording medium, a third holding device for positioning and holding a focus-exposure original bearing a second image thereon, at a position in an optical path between the exposing position and the light source, and a projector lens disposed in a portion of the optical path between the third holding means and the exposing position.

Image forming apparatus for reproducing images on photosensitive medium

A copyable blackboard has: a written member on which a picture including such as characters or figures is depicted a first carrier for carrying the written member, a light source for irradiating light to the picture on a portion of the written member located at a predetermined position on the written member to generate an optical signal corresponding to the picture, a photosensitive member which receives the optical signal from the written member and produces a latent image of the picture thereon. A second carrier is provided for carrying the photosensitive member, an image developing element for developing the latent image on the photosensitive member itself or on a copy paper to obtain a copy of the picture, and a control element for controlling the first and second carriers the photosensitive member and the light source.

Copyable blackboard

Disclosed is photo- and pressure-sensitive recording paper which comprises a support coated with first microcapsules each enclosing contents including a substance which has hardness changeable corresponding to a quantity of light irradiation thereon and which includes a dye precursor, and with second microcapsules each enclosing a developer which is a thermoplastic substance, and further disclosed is a pressure developing apparatus suitable for pressure developing such photo- and pressure-sensitive recording paper as described above.

Growing community of inventors

Kasugai, Japan

Hideo Yoshihara