Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Kohji Tokuyama

Genichiro Kawamichi

Shigeru Morinaga

Yutaka Nagasawa

Takeo Shirato

Hideharu Miki

Hiroshi Andoh

Toshihide Inaba

Mitsuyuki Karasawa

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge head to discharge liquid, a liquid circulation path including the liquid discharge head, an exhaust path connected to the liquid circulation path on a downstream side of the liquid discharge head in a circulation direction of the liquid, and circuitry. The liquid circulation path circulates the liquid via the liquid discharge head. The circuitry opens and closes between the liquid circulation path and the exhaust path to exhaust bubbles in the liquid circulation path to an outside of the liquid circulation path through the exhaust path when the liquid is circulated in the liquid circulation path.

Liquid discharge apparatus

A device for detecting a state of a liquid droplet discharged from each of nozzles placed in one or more rows, includes a light emitting element to emit a light beam to the liquid droplet from a nozzle in question, and a pair of light receiving elements disposed on both sides of a beam diameter of the light beam via an optical axis to receive scattered light occurring from the liquid droplet for detecting a state of the discharged liquid droplet on the basis of the scattered light. Either of the pair of the light receiving elements is selected for receiving the scattered light from the liquid droplet discharged from the nozzle according to a positional relation between the nozzle and the pair of light receiving elements.

Device and method for detecting state of discharged liquid droplet and image forming device incorporating such device

Disclosed is a roller replacement auxiliary tool of a fixing unit for extracting at least one of a heating roller and a pressure roller from a replacement opening part formed in a frame of the fixing unit in a shaft direction so as to be replaced. The heating roller has a heater lamp provided therein, and the pressure roller is capable of being brought into press-contact with the heating roller. The roller replacement auxiliary tool includes a protection unit that protects the roller when the roller is replaced.

Roller replacement auxiliary tool of a fixing unit that protects a roller

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Ibaraki, Japan

Kohji Tokuyama