Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Manabu Izumikawa

Kazuyoshi Matsumoto

Minori Ichimura

Yasuo Katano

Yasuhisa Kato

Shinji Imoto

Jun Sasaki

Kazumi Kobayashi

Takeshi Takemoto

Tatsuo Hirono

Masami Miyajima

Shingo Shiramura

Atsushi Saitoh

Shiho Shimosaka

Shohgo Takeuchi

Yoshio Hattori

Tomoaki Sugawara

Masaharu Furuya

Takashi Enami

Seiji Hoshino

Hiroaki Murakami

Nobuyuki Kobayashi

Mikio Ishibashi

Yasuhiro Sagawa

So Ohta

Ryo Takenaka

Masaaki Tsuda

Yukio Tagawa

Kohji Matsuda

Takeo Ohashi

Mami Akiyama

Shota Miyajima

Takeshi Kowada

Kohichi Kanaya

Yohji Mohri

Takashi Imori

An operator guidance system includes a detection unit, a control unit, and an operation indicator. The detection unit is disposed in an image forming apparatus to output a combination of detection signals, and includes one or more media sensors, and one or more opening sensors. The one or more media sensors are disposed along a media conveyance path to output a media detection signal. The one or more opening sensors are disposed adjacent to an openable structure to output an opening detection signal. The control unit is connected to the detection unit to determine guidance to be provided to an operator based on the combination of detection signals, and includes a memory and a controller. The operation indicator is connected to the control unit to indicate the identified operation to the operator.

Operator guidance system and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An image forming apparatus includes a generating mechanism to generate foam from a liquid or gel which may take a foam state, a coating roller having a peripheral surface supplied with the foam to coat the foam on the peripheral surface onto a surface of a recording medium, and a transport passage to transport the foam from the generating mechanism to the coating roller by an accumulation force of the foam.

Image forming apparatus and apparatus for coating foam on coating target member

A disclosed image forming apparatus is capable of solving the problems of deterioration of a foam application function and driving systems caused by the dried and fixed foam remaining without being applied. The image forming apparatus includes a foam forming section forming foam, a reservoir section supplying foam formed by the foam forming section to an application roller, a discharge channel through which extra foam is collected from the reservoir section, and a heating unit for heating the extra foam to return the extra foam to a liquid form. The discharged liquid prepared by defoaming the foam discharged through the discharge channel is returned to a container containing the defoamed liquid.

Image forming apparatus and foam application device

A disclosed image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to discharge ink for forming an image on a recording medium or for idle-discharging the ink; a carrying unit configured to carry the recording medium and include an idle discharge region for receiving the ink which is idle-discharged; a determining part configured to determine whether the recording medium is positioned at the idle discharge region; and a changing part configured to change, if the determining part determines that the recording medium is positioned at the idle discharge region, a direction of the recording medium so that the recording medium is not positioned at the idle discharge region.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method

An image forming device includes: an endless transport belt in which a plurality of through holes are formed, the transport belt circulating to carry sheets; a recording head with a plurality of nozzles through which ink droplets are discharged, the nozzles being arranged in a width direction of the transport belt. The image forming device performs preliminary discharge of ink droplets in which the ink droplets discharged through the nozzles pass through the through holes. The image forming device further includes: a sensor that detects an element to be detected formed on the transport belt when the transport belt circulates; and a preliminary discharge control unit that controls timings of discharge of ink droplets through the nozzles in the preliminary discharge based on a plurality of results of detecting the elements to be detected given from the sensor.

Image forming device and method for controlling discharge of ink droplets based on sensor detection

An image forming apparatus is disclosed that includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a medium to be recorded; and a foam application unit that applies a foam generated from at least any one of a liquid and a gel to the medium to be recorded or an intermediate member for applying the foam to the medium to be recorded. The foam application unit has a foam generation unit that generates the foam, an application unit that applies the generated foam to the medium to be recorded or the intermediate member, a foam supplying path through which the generated foam is supplied to the application unit, and a unit that increases a volume of the foam supplying path. The foam application unit increases the volume of the foam supplying path when stopping the supply of the foam to the application unit.

A foamed liquid coating apparatus prevents curling or warping of a sheet caused by coating irregularities when coated with a preprocessing solution using a coating roller or a liquid discharge head. The foamed liquid coating apparatus includes a container holding a liquid that can be foamed. A first foamed liquid producing/transporting unit produces a foamed liquid having a foam size greater than a required foam size from the liquid supplied from the container. A second foamed liquid producing/transporting unit produces a foamed liquid having the required foam size from the foamed liquid produced by the first foamed liquid producing/transporting unit. The foamed liquid produced by the second foamed liquid producing/transporting unit is applied onto a first coating roller. The foamed liquid is further supplied from the first coating roller to a second coating roller that coats a sheet with the foamed liquid.

Image forming apparatus, and apparatus and method for applying foamed liquid

A disclosed image forming apparatus comprises an image forming unit configured to form an image on a to-be-recorded medium, and a foam application unit configured to apply foam of at least one of a liquid and a gel to the to-be-recorded medium or an intermediate member. The intermediate member is configured to apply the foam to the to-be-recorded medium. The foam application unit includes a storage unit configured to store the foam and spread the foam in a width direction of the to-be-recorded medium or the intermediate member, an applicator configured to apply the foam to the to-be-recorded medium or the intermediate member, and a transport unit configured to transport the foam from the storage unit to the applicator.

An image forming apparatus includes a recording head having nozzles to form an image by squirting droplets onto a recording medium, a transfer member transferring the recording medium and having holes which allows passage of droplets squirted by the recording head for non-printing discharge, an area detecting unit to detect a plurality of non-printing discharge areas that are areas between adjacent recording media, and a non-printing discharge instructing unit to cause the nozzles to perform non-printing discharge such that all the nozzles perform non-printing discharge at least once in the non-printing discharge areas.

Image forming apparatus performing non-printing discharge

An image quality improvement treatment liquid is disclosed that improves quality of an image formed on a medium by reacting with color materials in ink and agglutinating the color materials upon contact with the ink including water and color materials to be ionized in water or color materials to be ionized in water due to absorption with components having ionic characteristics in water. The image quality improvement treatment liquid includes at least one of cationic components and components capable of acidizing water, at least one of nonionic surfactant and amphoteric surfactant as a foaming agent, and water-insoluble fatty acid.

Image quality improvement treatment liquid, image quality improvement processing method, image forming method, and image forming apparatus

A disclosed image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording medium; and a foam application unit configured to apply foam generated by foaming a liquid and/or a gel onto the recording medium. The foam application unit includes an application part configured to apply the foam onto the recording medium, a supply opening configured to supply the foam to the application part, and a spreading part configured to spread the foam on the application part. The spreading part is disposed at an angle with respect to the movement direction of the application part; and the supply opening is disposed near the most upstream portion of the spreading part with respect to the movement direction of the application part.

A liquid ejection head includes a nozzle plate having a nozzle that ejects liquid drops, an actuator that deforms a portion of the nozzle plate surrounding the nozzle with heat, and a flow path member opposing the nozzle plate, which forms a flow path for guiding liquid to the nozzle. A fluidity resistance path is provided in the flow path between a nozzle plate portion surrounding the nozzle and a portion of the flow path member opposing the nozzle plate portion. A fluidity resistance of the fluidity resistance path is changed by deforming the nozzle plate portion.

Liquid ejection head with nozzle plate deformed by heat and image forming apparatus including the liquid election head

An image reading apparatus is disclosed. The image reading apparatus provides plural sensors and a correction unit that corrects displacement of image data caused by intervals among the plural sensors and includes a first draft reading mode whose scanning direction by the sensors is the same as at the time of shading correction and a second draft reading mode whose scanning direction by the sensors is different from at the time of shading correction. The correction unit includes plural paths in which a different number of delay units are disposed in each path and changing over units that change over a connection between the sensors and the paths. The changing over units are changed over between at the time of reading image data and the shading correction in the first draft reading mode and at the time of reading image data in the second draft reading mode.

Image reading apparatus, image reading method and image processing apparatus

In an image processing apparatus, a document is read to obtain image data of the document, and a color material of an image forming unit is selected. If it is detected that reproduction of a document is prohibited, a document distinction disabling process, which inhibits reproduction of the document, is applied to the image data of the document using selected color material, and the image data subjected to the document distinction disabling process is sent to the image forming unit to form an output of the image data.

Image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and computer product

When a reading unit reads information of a pattern image for correcting image quality printed on at least either side of a recording medium, a control unit compares the information of the pattern image for correcting image-quality with correction pattern information that is a basis of the pattern image for correcting image quality transferred to the at least either side of the recording medium, and controls an image forming unit based on a result of the comparison to correct image quality on the at least either side of the recording medium.

Image forming apparatus, image processing unit, and image forming method to keep image quality precision of both sides of recording medium, and computer product

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Manabu Izumikawa