Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hideyuki Takemoto

Koichi Noguchi

Shinichiro Wada

Goro Katsuyama

Takuji Takahashi

Makoto Kurata

Makoto Yoshioka

Noriyuki Kimura

Katsuhiro Kosuge

Takeroh Kurenuma

Hirotaka Hatta

Nobuhiko Umezawa

Takeshi Motohashi

Yusuke Funayama

Wataru Hojo

Yoshihide Ota

Masashi Takiguchi

A frame structure for use in an image forming apparatus includes a main frame, a front plate to position a first end of a latent image carrier within the image forming apparatus, a rear plate fixed to the main frame to position a second end of the latent image carrier opposite the first end within the image forming apparatus, and a writing device frame fixed to the rear plate to position a latent image writing unit that writes a latent image onto the latent image carrier within the image forming apparatus. The front plate is fixed to the writing device frame. The rear plate is fixed to the main frame at least at three separate positions, at least one position being offset from a hypothetical line connecting the other two positions.

Frame structure and image forming apparatus including same

An image forming apparatus including a process cartridge detachably installable in a main body of the image forming apparatus, a main reference portion receiver to receive a main reference portion provided to the process cartridge, a sub-reference portion receiver to receive a sub-reference portion provided to the process cartridge, and a pressing mechanism to press the process cartridge to cause the main reference portion to contact the main reference portion receiver upon installation of the process cartridge in the main body of the image forming apparatus. The pressing mechanism presses the process cartridge in a direction angled with respect to a line connecting a center of the main reference portion with a contact position where the pressing mechanism contacts the process cartridge.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming device includes an image forming unit, an image reading unit arranged above an upper part of the image forming unit, a sheet ejection space between the image forming unit and the image reading unit, and a supporting unit arranged on the upper part of the image forming unit to surround at least two sides of the sheet ejection space in different directions. The image reading unit is secured to the upper part of the image forming unit through the supporting unit.

Image forming device

A frame for an image forming apparatus including at least one functional unit includes a front member, a rear member, a base member, and a pair of elevated supporters. The front and rear members at least support the functional unit. The base member supports at least the rear member. The pair of elevated supporters, fixed at least to the base member, have a U-shaped form in its cross-section. The elevated supporters are spaced a given distance apart and disposed facing an open part of the U-shaped form of the pair of elevated supporters. The elevated supporters supports both lateral rim portions of the front member at a given position of the pair of elevated supporters. The front member is indirectly fixed with the base member via the elevated supporters, and positions the functional unit at a given position.

Frame and image forming apparatus using the frame

A frame structure includes three or more supporting members, a scanner support, a scanner cantilever support, and an adjuster. Three or more supporting members are provided vertically from a base portion. The scanner support is provided horizontally between upper portions of the supporting members. The scanner cantilever support extends horizontally from the upper portion of one of the supporting members. The adjuster is attached to a free end of the cantilever support, and includes an inclined slot. The cantilever support includes a protrusion provided in the free end of the scanner cantilever support. The protrusion is engageable with the slot of the adjuster to obliquely raise and lower the adjuster.

Frame structure and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a main body housing including a plurality of walls, a duplex unit openably provided to one of the walls of the main body housing, that reverses a recording medium, and a handle that advances from and retracts to the wall of the main body housing including the duplex unit. The duplex unit includes a pocket which is a clearance formed in the advancing/retracting direction and a direction perpendicular to and adjoining the advancing/retracting direction of the handle so as to expose the handle inside the duplex unit. A front end of the handle in the advancing direction thereof is positioned at a retracted position when the handle is retracted to the pocket and positioned at an advanced position outside the duplex unit when the handle is pulled out from the retracted position.

An image forming apparatus including a main body housing, an image reading block for reading a manuscript image, and an image forming block located below the image reading block and for forming an image on a recording sheet. Also included is an operation block located at a front side part of the image reading block, and a sheet discharge space provided between the image reading block and the image forming block, and for receiving a discharge recording sheet having the image formed by the image forming block. The sheet discharge space is opened at at least one side in a width-wise direction of the main body housing and at a front side so the at least one opened side communicates with the front side. Further, a front end portion of the image reading block is located above the sheet discharge space and is arranged at a position shifted toward a rear end side of the main body housing from a front outside wall surface of the main body housing.

An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member bearing latent images; a developing unit including plural developing devices developing the latent images with developers to form visual images, each developing device including a developer bearing member bearing the developer to develop the latent image, and a developer thickness controlling member contacting the developer bearing member to control the thickness of a developer layer on the developer bearing member; and a driving device including at least one driving source, a forward rotation driving member rotated by the driving source to drive the developer bearing members to forwardly rotate to develop the latent images, and a reverse rotation driving member rotated by the driving source to drive the developer bearing members to reversely rotate when the developing operation is not performed, wherein the forward rotation driving member and the reverse rotation driving member can operate at the same time.

Image forming apparatus with reversely rotated developer bearing members

An image forming apparatus includes a first sheet path, a first sheet transfer mechanism, an ejection mechanism, a second sheet path, and a sheet flipping mechanism. The first sheet path is in a first side of the image forming apparatus. The first sheet transfer mechanism sends recording sheets from a sheet cassette through the first sheet path. The ejection mechanism switches between an ejection process and a duplex recording process. The second sheet path receives the recording sheet from the ejection mechanism and returns it to the image recording mechanism. The second sheet path is on the other side of the apparatus than the first side in which the first sheet path is arranged. The sheet flipping mechanism flips the recording sheet and has a flipping space in which the recording sheet is flipped without coming outside of the image forming apparatus. The ejection mechanism, the second sheet path, and the sheet flipping mechanism are located in a separate add-on unit. The second sheet path has openable/closable side guides for operator access.

Image forming apparatus conveniently upgradable to a duplex image forming apparatus

An image reading unit reads an original image, one main scan line by one main scan line, in a sub-scan direction. A window setting unit sets a measuring window in a bit-map formation of image data obtained through the image reading unit, in a manner in which the measuring window moves in a predetermined manner so that the measuring window appropriately includes pixels of an oblique line image which is formed in the bit-map formation of image data as a result of being read through the image reading unit. A position error measuring unit processes image data defined by the measuring window, and, thus, measures an error of the oblique line image formed in the bit-map formation of obtained image data between a predetermined reference state and an actual reading state.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Hideyuki Takemoto