Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hiromi Takada

Keiji Okamoto

Toshio Shimazaki

Hideo Aoki

Takami Suzuki

Nobuo Iwata

Hiroshi Hosokawa

Nobuo Sakuma

Hideaki Mochimaru

Yoshiaki Tanaka

Nobuhiro Makita

Yasuhiro Sagawa

Masayoshi Miyamoto

Hiroyuki Idenawa

Takeshi Motohashi

Tadaaki Kanno

Yasuyuki Nukaya

Hajime Kanda

Takeshi Komurasaki

Satoru Yoshioka

Hisao Ishizu

Koh Matsuhisa

Toshio Shiina

Kazuo Aramaki

Tadashi Matsuura

Takanori Yamaki

Takahiro Yagisita

Tomoo Sankoda

A document setting tray of the ADF is disposed above a platen glass of an image forming apparatus. A duplex document ejecting tray is disposed above a document setting tray. A switch back table, on which the duplex document is switched back after one side thereof has been read by the reading device and fed again toward the image reading device, is disposed between the document setting tray and the duplex document ejecting tray. A switch back return path is disposed between the reading position of the image reading position and the switch back table.

Simple inverting path for an auto document feeder for an image forming

A laser beam printer having a scanner unit and a sheet transport apparatus for use with the scanner unit. The printer includes a sheet feeding part, a photosensitive medium, a transfer part and a scanner unit, the transfer part being provided at an upper portion of the photosensitive medium. The sheet transport apparatus includes an upper transport path for transporting a record sheet from the sheet feeding part to the transfer part of the printer. The sheet transport apparatus further includes a transport path which passes by a position where the scanner unit is provided, the position being adjacent to the upper transport path.

Sheet transport apparatus of printer having scanner unit and using

A laser beam printer having a scanner unit and a sheet transport apparatus for use with the scanner unit. The printer includes a sheet feeding part, a photosensitive medium, a transfer part, an upper cover and a scanner unit, the transfer part being provided at an upper portion of the photosensitive medium. The sheet transport apparatus includes an upper transport path for transporting a record sheet from the sheet feeding part to the transfer part of the printer. The sheet transport apparatus further includes a transport path where the scanner unit is provided, the transport path being provided within the upper cover.

Sheet transport apparatus of printer having scanner unit

An electrostatic photographic image forming apparatus for forming an electrostatic image on a photosensitive member by the light beam from a writing system and transferring to a transfer paper the image which has been made visible by a development apparatus. A shutter or a toner contamination preventive means is provided at the space defining an optical path extending between the photosensitive member and the lens of the writing system nearest to the photosensitive member.

Toner contamination preventive means

A mirror surface for deflecting an incident light beam is inclined to the axis of rotation and rotated for scanning the light beam. The incident light beam is applied to the mirror surface along the axis of rotation, and a reflected light beam is continuously deflected by the rotating mirror surface to scan a surface. When the incident light beam has an elliptical cross section in a direction normal to its optical axis, the cross-sectional shape of the reflected light beam varies due to the inclination of the mirror surface in response to rotation of the mirror surface. The varying shape of the reflected light beam obstructs proper reading and writing of an image with a light scanning device employing the above mirror surface. To avoid this problem, light beam shapers are provided in positions before and after the light beam is reflected by the mirror surface.

Light scanning device

An electrostatic photographic apparatus includes a photosensitive drum and a fixing device composed of a pair of rollers pressure-contacted with each other over a predetermined nip width, in which a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred onto a lower surface of a transfer paper transported over an upper portion of the photosensitive drum while contacting therewith and is fixed by a nip portion of the rollers of the fixing device, an inlet end of the nip portion is disposed on a curve of a cross section of the transfer paper when the latter is warped with a radius of curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of cross section of a transfer paper having stiffness smallest among other transfer papers usable in the apparatus when the transfer paper of the smallest stiffness is supported at its rear end horizontally at a point at which the transfer paper leaves the photosensitve drum while allowing the other portion thereof to be drooped freely by gravity, a tangential line of the rollers at a center of the nip portion being substantially coincident with a tangential line of the curve, and guide member having a lower guide surface convexed upwardly is arranged along the curve between the separating point of the transfer paper from the photosensitive drum and the inlet end of the nip portion.

Transfer paper guide device for an electrostatic photographic apparatus

A laser printer or like electrostatic recording apparatus of the type developing an electrostatic latent image provided on a photoconductive drum by toner which is conveyed by a developing roller. Various devices of the apparatus including the photoconductive drum and developing roller are separated into an upper and a lower unit which are openable away from each other. A photoconductive drum assembly including the photoconductive element and a developing assembly including the developing roller are individually detachable from a body of the apparatus. Various measures are taken to enhance stable and safe operation, miniaturization, easy maintenance, operability, service life, and image quality.

Electrostatic recording apparatus

A compact laser printer has an up-side down arrangement of components within a machine housing. That is, an optical writing unit is disposed below a rotatably supported photosensitive drum and an image transferring unit is disposed above the photosensitive drum with a developing unit disposed substantially in a side-by-side relationship with the photosensitive drum. A paper feed cassette is located below the optical writing unit when detachably set in position and a paper transportation path extends from the supply end of the paper feed cassette around the developing unit generally in the shape of 'U.' The machine housing has a pivotally movable portion which may be pivotted open and closed. The photosensitive drum and/or one of a pair of registration rollers may be mounted on the pivotally movable portion.

Compact image recording apparatus having an up-side down structure

A recording head of a current application type serial printer is provided with two independent recording electrode groups on both sides of its tip. The angle of contact of the recording head with a platen of the printer is switched between a forward printing stroke and a backward printing stroke of a carrier so that, usually, the electrode group on the right-hand side of the recording head is used during the forward printing stroke, and the electrode group on the left-hand side during the backward printing stroke.

Head rotating mechanism for a printer

A document preparing apparatus capable of preparing a document in which small letters and capital letters are printed together, e.g. a document in English. The apparatus includes a decision circuit for deciding whether or not a character to be processed is at a head of a sentence, and a capitalizing circuit for capitalizing the character when the decision circuit decides that the character heads a sentence.

Document preparing apparatus which automatically capitalizes characters

A type wheel cassette to be loaded in a carriage of a printer, typewriter or like printing apparatus and holding a type wheel in a case thereof, and a type wheel cassette loading mechanism for removably loading the cassette in the carriage. The type wheel and the cassette can be assembled with ease, while the cassette can be readily loaded and unloaded into and out of the carriage.

Apparatus for receiving a type wheel cassette in a printing apparatus

A paper setting mechanism of a printer for setting a sheet of paper in position around a platen roller for printing desired information includes a paper bail assembly having at least one bail roller, which is pivotally supported and normally biased so as to cause the bail roller to be pressed against the platen roller. The paper bail assembly may be set in a set position in which the bail roller is pressed against the platen roller and it may also be set in a retracted position in which the bail roller is separated away from the platen roller. After insertion of paper, the platen roller is driven to rotate first in the normal direction over a first predetermined amount and then in the reversed direction over a second predetermined amount, which is smaller than the first predetermined amount, whereby the reversed rotation of the platen roller is utilized to cause the paper bail assembly to return to its set position automatically.

Automatically returned paper ball assembly of a printer

A ribbon feed mechanism for a printer which develops a drive force for a printing ribbon utilizing the reciprocating movement of a carriage. Torque is applied to two drive gears through a single wire under tension in response to the movement of the carriage. A ribbon drive gear for feeding the ribbon in a predetermined direction is alternately meshed with the two drive gears during reciprocation of the carriage to be thereby rotated in a predetermined single direction. When the ribbon feed is needless, the tension is removed from the wire.

Ribbon feed mechanism for printer

A type carrier for use in an impact-type printing machine to form an imprint of virtually the equal quality when used with either a flat hammer or a detentable, shaped hammer is provided. The present type carrier includes a hub and a plurality of fingers extending from the hub, each finger having a printing section which has a front surface provided with at least one type and a back surface having a novel structure. The back surface of the printing section includes at least one flat portion and at least a pair of sloped portions. Preferably, the sloped portions are defined such that they slope down oppositely from a plane common to or below the flat portion in the direction substantially perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the finger.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Hiromi Takada