Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Brother Industries, Ltd.

Hiroyuki Okuchi

Hiroshi Nobe

Koshiro Yamaguchi

Kiyoshi Sugimoto

Hirotaka Mori

Noriyuki Kawamata

Makoto Souda

Yukio Shiohara

Yohei Hashimoto

Masahito Saeki

Takamitsu Kawai

Masamitsu Ukai

Hikaru Iino

Masato Makino

Yoshikazu Shimizu

Megumi Matsutani

A sheet feeding device having sheet feed tray configured to support multiple sheets be movably inserted to a main body. A sheet feed roller is configured to contact the sheet supported by the sheet feed tray and rotate to apply a feeding force to feed the sheet in a sheet feed direction. The sheet feed roller is configured to contact the sheet feed tray when there is no sheet on the sheet feed tray. A push latch mechanism is arranged on a downstream side with respect to the sheet feed roller in the sheet feed direction. A state of the push latch mechanism is alternately switched between an engaged state and a disengaged state every time when a pressing force is applied to the push latch mechanism. A first spring is configured to exert an elastic force to move the sheet feed tray toward a near side.

Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus employing the same

An image formation apparatus has a belt unit and a drawer casing configured to accommodate the plurality of process units. The drawer casing is movable in a horizontal direction so that it is insertable in and/or drawable from a main body of the image formation apparatus. An openable cover for an opening formed on an end face of the drawer casing is provided. The drawer casing is arranged above an imaginary plane including the bridging surface of an endless belt, while a sheet tray is arranged below the imaginary plane. A pair of rollers is arranged on the sheet tray side with respect to the movable path and configured to feed the sheet fed from the sheet tray to the belt unit. A first guide and a second guide, which is provided opposite to the first guide with a predetermined clearance therebetween, are provided to form a sheet feed path.

Image formation apparatus

A sheet stackable device includes a sheet stackable plane. The sheet stackable device includes a first tray and a second tray, each of which is formed in a shape of a flat plate. The first tray includes a first contact part. The second tray is slidable along a slidable direction between a first position, in which the second tray overlaps the first tray, and a second position, in which the second tray is dawn out of the first tray. The second tray includes a second contact part, which is slidable on the first contact part. At least one of the first contact part and the second contact part includes a rack with rack teeth, which are aligned along the slidable direction. An upper plane of the first tray and an upper plane of the second tray in the second position form at least a part of the stackable plane.

Sheet stackable devices

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a housing including a sheet feed opening for feeding a recording sheet to the image forming unit, a tray which accommodates a recording sheet, and a feed member which rotates while pressing a recording sheet fed through the sheet feed opening to apply a transport force to the recording sheet. Also, the image forming apparatus may include a friction member provided to oppose the feed member, and contact the recording sheet from a side opposite to the feed member to apply a transport resistance to the recording sheet, a resin support frame which supports the friction member, and a metal transport chute which includes a guide part provided to contact the recording sheet fed from the tray to guide the recording sheet toward the image forming unit, the transport chute being formed integrally with the support frame.

Image forming apparatus with metal transport chute and resin support frame

An image forming apparatus includes a placement tray, an image forming unit, a drive unit, a control board, a power supply substrate, a high-voltage board, and low-voltage power supply harnesses. The placement tray holds a recording sheet thereon. The image forming unit forms an image on the recording sheet. The drive unit supplies driving force to the image forming unit. The control board controls the drive unit. The power supply substrate supplies electric power to the control board. The high-voltage board is disposed in one side of the placement tray. In the high-voltage board, voltage is generated higher than voltage in the power supply substrate. The low-voltage power supply harnesses are disposed in another side of the placement tray so as to supply electric power from the power supply substrate to the control board.

Image forming apparatus

Image forming apparatus with increased noise resistance

Tape cartridge for tape printing machine

A printing apparatus including a thermal head, a measurement device that measures a temperature of the thermal head and a controller. The controller controls a printing speed on the basis of the measured temperature as measured by the measurement device, determines whether the measured temperature of the thermal head is rising or dropping, compares a preliminarily determined first threshold value with the measured temperature when the temperature is rising, compares a preliminarily determined second threshold value with the measured temperature when the temperature is dropping, controls printing by reducing the printing speed when the measured temperature is greater than the first threshold value, and controls printing by raising the printing speed when the measured temperature is less than the second threshold value.

Thermal printing apparatus and printing method

An object of the invention is to offer tape units having a plurality of kinds of tapes and to be reloaded to corresponding tape cassettes, and when the tape unit is to be reloaded, the kind of tape unit to be reloaded can be discriminated at a single glance and the tape unit can be reloaded in a proper state to the corresponding tape cassette without fail. A cap is fitted in a spool hole disposed on the upper end part of a tape spool of each tape unit, and there is a display for displaying the ground color of a tape, a color which can be colored in printing, the use of the tape and the width of the tape provided on the upper surface of the cap. Thus, the characteristic of each tape can be recognized at a single glance, and reloading can be performed properly in selecting a desired tape unit.

Tape unit

A tape cassette capable of refilling a tape among various tapes each having width different from one another into a corresponding tape cassette, and capable of properly refilling the tape into a corresponding tape cassette without fail. In a broad width tape cassette, a first annular space is provided between an inner diameter of a tape spool and an outer diameter of a tape support shaft. A first cap is fitted into the first space. In a small width tape cassette, a second annular space is provided between an inner diameter of a tape spool and an outer diameter of a tape support shaft. A second cap is fitted into the second space. A tape spool can be correctly refilled into corresponding tape cassette by checking insertion of the caps into the spaces.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Hiroyuki Okuchi