Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Kazushi Takei

Hiroshi Takahashi

Yasuyuki Suzuki

Hideaki Suzuki

Masato Kobayashi

Nobuyuki Satoh

Masahiro Shigemoto

Yuichi Sakurada

Mamoru Yorimoto

Daisaku Horikawa

Satoshi Iwanami

Takuya Kemmochi

Norikazu Taki

Junichi Shimoda

Tomonori Kimura

Suguru Yokozawa

Tatsuhiko Okada

Yasuo Sakurai

Natsuko Ishizuka

Takeshi Iwasaki

Naohiro Funada

Kengo Tanaka

Tetsuya Hara

Tomohide Kondoh

Arata Suzuki

Masashi Hommi

Norio Muraishi

Sumihiro Inokuchi

Nobuhito Komoda

Yoichi Kitahara

Atsushi Kuramoto

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer, a driver, an image forming device, a sensor, and circuitry. The driver drives and rotates the image bearer. The image forming device forms a toner image on the image bearer driven and rotated by the driver. The sensor emits light to the image bearer and receives reflected light. The circuitry controls the driver and the image forming device to form a first toner image with a first color and a second toner image with a second color different from the first color. The circuitry controls the sensor to detect specularly reflected light and diffusely reflected light from the first toner image and the second toner image. The circuitry calculates an amount of misalignment of the first toner image and the second toner image based on a value of the specularly reflected light and a value of the diffusely reflected light.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer, an image forming unit, a toner image detecting unit, and a detection processing unit. The image bearer is configured to bear a toner image. The image forming unit is configured to sequentially form groups of pattern images for a plurality of colors in a sub-scanning direction of the image bearer, each of the groups including pattern images of the same color at a predetermined interval. The toner image detecting unit is configured to detect the pattern images formed on the image bearer. The detection processing unit is configured to recognize whether an interval between adjacent pattern images of the same color corresponds to a set interval, to exclude an image for which the interval does not correspond to the set interval among the detected pattern images.

Image forming apparatus and pattern detection method by image forming apparatus

Switch units control ON and OFF of communication between a master device and slave devices. Signal levels of communication lines between switch units and slave devices are maintained at a predetermined level. A switch unit in a first stage is turned on and off by a first switch control signal. A switch unit in a second stage is turned on and off by a switch control signal generated based on a level of a communication line in the first stage and the first switch control signal. A switch unit in each of subsequent stages is turned on and off by a switch control signal generated based on a level of a communication line in a preceding stage and a switch control signal in a second preceding stage. A portion of ground short circuit is identified based on states of communication between the master device and the slave devices.

Ground short circuit portion detecting apparatus, ground short circuit portion detecting method, and computer-readable recording medium

An electronic apparatus to which a removable device can be set is provided. The removable device includes a first memory to store first status information indicating a status of the removable device, first identification information identifying the removable device, and second identification information identifying the electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus includes a second memory to store second status information indicating a status of the removable device that is set to the electronic apparatus, third identification information identifying the removable device set to the electronic apparatus, and fourth identification information identifying the electronic apparatus, and a processor to determine, when connected to the first memory of the removable device set to the electronic apparatus, whether the first identification information matches the third identification information and the second identification information matches the fourth identification information and update the second status information with the first status information based on a result of the determination.

Electronic apparatus and method of managing status information of the same

An image capturing device includes an image capturing unit, a moving unit, a detector, and a determiner. The image capturing unit includes an optical transmission member; and a sensor capturing an image of the subject via the optical transmission member. The moving unit moves the image capturing unit in an optical axis direction of the sensor. The detector detects a contamination from first and second images. The first and second images are captured by the sensor when the image capturing unit is located at first and second positions in the optical axis direction, respectively. The second position is spaced away from the subject than the first position in the optical axis direction. The determiner determines that a contamination is deposited on the optical transmission member when a difference in the number of pixels in which a contamination is detected between the first and second images is less than a threshold.

Image capturing device, color measuring device, color measuring system, and image forming apparatus

An image capturing unit includes a sensor section that images a predetermined range including a subject; a reference chart section that is imaged by the sensor section with the subject; and an illumination light source that illuminates the subject and the reference chart section. The illumination light source is arranged at a position where a mirror reflection region that mirror reflects light entering from the illumination light source to the sensor section is outside a region of the subject and the reference chart section.

Image capturing device that images a region including a reference chart and a subject

A color measuring device includes a housing; a sensor unit configured to capture an image of a region, the sensor unit being held to the housing; an illumination light source configured to illuminate the region, the illumination light source being held to the housing; a detecting unit configured to detect a distance between predetermined two points from image data of the region obtained by the sensor unit; a correcting unit configured to correct the image data including a subject whose color is to be measured according to a ratio of the detected distance to a reference distance; and a calculating unit configured to calculate a colorimetric value of the subject based on the corrected image data.

Color measurement system to correct color data corresponding to a ratio of detected distance to a reference distance

Image capturing unit, color measuring device, image forming device, color measuring system, and color measuring method

A sheet feeding apparatus is disclosed that includes a plurality of size sensors configured to be arranged in line and to detect a sheet set into a predetermined position; a feeding part configured to feed the sheet set into the predetermined position to a scan position; and a controller configured to control the feeding part to feed the sheet based on two detect signals output from two size sensors among the plurality of the size sensors.

Sheet feeding apparatus, image forming apparatus and sheet feeding method

An image forming apparatus includes a scanning device and a printing device. The scanning device and the printing device are configured to be separately arranged when the image forming apparatus is in use. The printing device includes a control unit that transmits and receives signals to and from a plurality of units included in the scanning device, and a power supplying unit that supplies electric power to the units. The scanning device includes a first relay substrate that receives electric power from the power supplying unit and distributes the electric power to the units, and relays signals between each of the units and the control unit.

Image forming apparatus

An image scanning device includes a base part; and multiple image sensors each including a substrate, a line sensor including scanning elements arranged on the substrate, and a holder for holding the substrate. The base part holds the image sensors such that the scanning elements of an image sensor partly overlap the scanning elements of an adjacent image sensor in the main-scanning direction. The coefficients of linear expansion of the substrate and the base part are substantially the same; the holder and the base part are fixed together at a first fixing point; the holder and the substrate are fixed together at a second fixing point; and the distance in the main-scanning direction between the first fixing point and the second fixing point and the direction of the second fixing point with respect to the first fixing point are the same for all the image sensors.

Image scanning device and image forming apparatus

A first part calculates corrected image data for each pixel in the range in which the reading parts of the adjacent image sensors overlaps in the main scan direction, for correcting the image data for a position shift less than an amount corresponding to one pixel in the main scan direction of the image sensors. A correcting method is determined in such a manner that a position shift amount to be corrected increases in a step-by-step manner as moving from a base portion to an end portion in the range in which the adjacent image sensors overlap in the main scan direction. A second part multiplies the image data corrected by the thus-determined correcting method by a weighting factor determined according to a position in the main scan direction in the adjacent image sensors.

Image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus and computer readable information recording medium

A recording apparatus includes a carriage; a first head group including a recording head and disposed on the carriage; and a second head group including a recording head and disposed on the carriage adjacent the first head group in a staggered manner with respect to a sub-scan direction. The carriage is configured to move in a main scan direction in order to record an image on a recording medium. The recording apparatus further includes a forming unit configured to form plural test patterns including a first pattern formed by the recording head of the first head group and a second pattern formed by the recording head of the second head group. The test patterns are spaced apart from one another in the sub-scan direction. The position of the second pattern relative to the first pattern in the sub-scan direction is varied successively from one test pattern to another.

Recording apparatus and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a recording program

An image forming apparatus is disclosed that includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles and scanning in forward and backward scanning directions to form dot images on the recording medium, an imaging unit imaging an image on the recording medium, a detection unit detecting a positional shift amounts of the dot images and inclination amounts of the recording head based on calibration image data obtained by imaging two first marks and two second marks in a single view by the imaging unit, and a correction unit correcting a drive of the recording head based on the detected positional shift amounts and the inclination amounts of the recording head.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kazushi Takei