Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hisayoshi Sugawara

Yasuo Niikura

Kazunori Konno

Hidetoshi Kojima

Hideaki Takahashi

Takashi Fukumoto

Munehisa Fuda

Tatsuya Sugawara

Toshihiro Okutsu

Kohjiroh Haga

Kiyotake Nakamura

Yuuta Mori

Masato Hashimoto

Yuusuke Shibasaki

Junya Suzuki

Kei Sasaki

Kenji Hari

Masaki Ishizaki

Kazuki Mishina

Koji Furuta

Takamasa Matsumoto

Kazuki Morita

Kazuki Seto

Kenji Hayasaka

Ryohsuke Akaishi

Yasushi Tsuruoka

Hiroaki Utagawa

Yasunori Hino

Masakazu Fujita

Tomoyuki Okada

Yuka Kurusu

Yoshifumi Ohtsuka

Chikara Akata

Tomoki Tamate

A sheet feeding device includes a sheet tray, an extended bottom plate, a casing, and a support. The sheet tray includes a bottom plate and feeds a sheet placed on the bottom plate, toward an image forming apparatus. The extended bottom plate extends outward from the sheet feeding device and is coupled to an upstream end of the bottom plate of the sheet tray in a sheet conveyance direction in which the sheet is conveyed. The casing is attached to a side face of the sheet feeding device to cover the extended bottom plate. The support is disposed between an inner wall face of the casing and the extended bottom plate to support a weight load of the extended bottom plate.

Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet feeding device

A sheet sorting device includes a plurality of trays, a tray shifter, a tray stop position detector, and circuitry. The plurality of trays is disposed in multiple stages in a vertical direction and configured to stack a sheet. The tray shifter is configured to move the plurality of trays separately in a tray shift direction. The tray stop position detector is configured to detect stop positions of the plurality of trays separately. The circuitry is configured to cause the tray shifter to move the plurality of trays to home positions in an initial operation, at least one tray having a home position opposite to a home position of another tray in the tray shift direction. The circuitry is configured to, while moving the plurality of trays at a same time in the initial operation, cause the tray shifter to move the trays in directions opposite to each other.

Sheet sorting device, post-processing apparatus, and image forming system

A sheet stacking apparatus includes an ejector, a stacker, a wall, and an upper surface detector. The ejector ejects a sheet, and the stacker stacks the sheet ejected from the ejector. The wall contacts a trailing end of the sheet ejected from the ejector in an ejection direction to align the sheet. The upper surface detector detects an upper surface on a trailing end side of the sheet stacked on the stacker in the ejection direction. When the sheet moves toward the wall, the upper surface detector moves from a home position in which the upper surface detector detects the upper surface of the sheet to a retracted position in which the upper surface detector does not contact the sheet moving toward the wall.

Sheet stacking apparatus, post-processing apparatus, and image forming system

A binding device includes a stacking device configured to receive sheets, a sheet alignment member configured to align the sheets on the stacking device, a binder configured to bind the sheets on the stacking device, a binder moving device configured to move the binder, and a retreat device configured to retreat the sheet alignment member from a range of movement of the binder. The retreat device retreats the sheet alignment member in response to a pressing force acting on the sheet alignment member in a direction of movement of the binder.

Binding device, post-processing apparatus, and image forming system

A fold-enforcing assembly includes a fold-enforcing device, a moving device to move the fold-enforcing device in a direction of a fold of a sheet bundle, and control circuitry. The fold-enforcing device includes a pressing member pair to nip and press the fold of the sheet bundle in a direction of thickness, a pressing mechanism to pressurize and depressurize the pressing member pair, and a driver to drive the pressing mechanism. Controlled by the control circuitry, the moving device moves the fold-enforcing device in accordance with a size of the sheet bundle in the direction of the fold; pressing mechanism pressurizes the pressing member pair to press a first end portion of the sheet bundle in the direction of the fold; the moving device moves the fold-enforcing device to a second end portion of the sheet bundle; and pressing mechanism depressurizes the pressing member pair in the second end portion.

Fold-enforcing assembly, post-processing apparatus, and image forming system

A sheet separating device includes: a lifting nozzle configured to blow air against an end portion of a sheet bundle placed on a sheet loading portion to lift sheets; a separating nozzle configured to separate the sheets; a lifting-nozzle shutter member configured to open and close the lifting nozzle; a separating-nozzle shutter member configured to open and close the separating nozzle; a lifting-shutter driving mechanism configured to drive the lifting-nozzle shutter member; a separating-shutter driving mechanism configured to drive the separating-nozzle shutter member; and an open/close control unit configured to control the lifting-shutter driving mechanism and the separating-shutter driving mechanism such that the lifting-nozzle shutter member and the separating-nozzle shutter member are opened or closed simultaneously.

Sheet separating device, sheet supplying device, and image forming apparatus

A paper feeding apparatus includes: a sheet loading unit for loading a bundle of sheets; a separation unit that separates a topmost sheet of the bundle of sheets loaded on the sheet loading unit, from the bundle of sheets; a conveyance unit that conveys the separated topmost sheet; an end fence that is movable in a sheet conveyance direction, abuts trailing ends in the sheet conveyance direction, and positions the bundle of sheets in the sheet conveyance direction; and a pressing unit that is provided in such a manner as to protrude from the end fence, and is able to press the trailing ends in the sheet conveyance direction of at least an upper part of the bundle of sheets, wherein the pressing unit has different pressing forces at an upper and a lower portion thereof, and has the lower pressing force stronger than the upper pressing force.

Paper feeding apparatus, image forming apparatus, image forming system

Provided are a floating restricting member restricting the floating position of a bundle of sheets; and a holding mechanism holding the floating restricting member relative to a side fence. The floating restricting member includes a sheet contact section being brought into contact with the sheets from above; and a sheet-floating restricting section restricting the floating position of the floating sheet that is floated while air is blown thereto. The holding mechanism sets the floating restricting member in the initial state where the sheet-floating restricting section restricts the floating position of the sheet, in the sheet-placing time retracted state where the sheets are pushed against the sheet contact section so that the floating restricting member is retracted, and in the sheet-ejecting time retracted state where, when the sheets are to be removed, the sheet is pushed against the sheet contact section from below so that the floating restricting member is retracted.

Sheet feeding device, image forming apparatus, and image forming system

A sheet feeding device includes a tray main body and a cover member. The tray main body has a first mount surface. The cover member is rotatably connected to an end of the tray main body on the side opposite to the sheet feeding side so that the cover member can move rotationally between a closed position where the cover member covers the first mount surface and an open position where the first mount surface is exposed, and has a second mount surface on which a sheet is mounted over the first mount surface when cover member is in the open position. The cover member includes an opening for sheet insertion which penetrates through from an upper surface to a bottom surface of the cover member so that a sheet can be inserted onto the first mount surface when the cover member is in the closed position.

Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus

A sheet feeding device includes: a sheet feeding tray attached to a casing in a manner slidable into and out from the casing and including a stacking plate on which sheets are stacked; a conveying unit configured to convey the sheets in a direction orthogonal to both a sliding direction of the sheet feeding tray and a stacking direction of the sheets; an optional extension unit configured to be removably attached to an upstream side of the stacking plate in a conveying direction, and including an extension plate configured to extend the stacking plate; and a first locking unit configured to be capable of being held in a first lock position where the sheet feeding tray cannot be slide when the optional extension unit is attached while, when the optional extension unit is removed, held in a first unlock position where the sheet feeding tray can be slid.

A sheet feeding device includes: a sheet stacking member; an air blowing unit configured to blow air onto the sheet bundle placed on the sheet stacking member to suspend multiple sheets of the sheet bundle; a lifting/lowering unit configured to lift/lower the sheet stacking member; an optical reflection sensor configured to detect a suspended sheet suspended by the air blowing unit; and a control unit configured to control the lifting/lowering unit based on an output value of the optical reflection sensor. The optical reflection sensor is configured to be capable of detecting an area corresponding to multiple sheets in a sheet suspension zone extending between a non-suspended sheet bundle and a conveying member configured to convey an uppermost sheet of the multiple suspended sheets. The non-suspended sheet bundle is made up of sheets not suspended during a period when air is blown by the air blowing unit.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Hisayoshi Sugawara