Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Marie-Helene Froger

Christophe Truffaut

Alexandre Dodge

Pascal Coudray

Stephane Michel

Noboru Nakatani

Hiromichi Nagane

In order to monitor the consumption of a normally electrically conductive product contained in a storage chamber of a reservoir made of electrically non-conductive material, the storage chamber is disposed in a capacitive arrangement and a measurement procedure is defined, according to which, in response to an excitation signal applied to the capacitive arrangement, a measurement signal is obtained (at,), one characteristic of which has an amplitude which varies substantially with the quantity of product contained in the storage chamber. Before deducing the value of information representing the quantity of product available in the reservoir from this amplitude, the measurement signal has filtering applied to it, according to which it is multiplied by a reference signal of frequency at least approximately equal to that of the excitation signal (at,) and the multiplied signal is applied to a low-pass filter.

Method and device for monitoring the consumption of a product, for example a printing ink, using a low-pass filter

In order to monitor the state of a reservoir made of electrically insulating material containing a normally electrically conductive product, ink for example, the free end of the outlet channel of the reservoir is connected to a predetermined potential and two measurement procedures are defined, the first of which results in a first measurement signal, a characteristic of which varies mainly with the quantity of product contained in the storage cavity of the reservoir, and the second of which results in a second measurement signal, a characteristic of which varies mainly with the electrical conductivity of the channel between its ends. During the measurements, an abnormality correction procedure (or a simple alarm procedure) is triggered when the characteristic of the second measurement signal indicates a low electrical conductivity of the channel (absence of product) whilst the characteristic of the first signal indicates that there is still product in the storage cavity.

Method and device for monitoring the operational state of a reservoir,

Device for determining quantities of products contained in adjacent ones of plural reservoirs, by using a capacitive arrangement. According to the invention, two electrodes of the capacitive arrangement are disposed between two reservoirs and are in each case either sending electrodes to which a signal is applied, or receiving electrodes which transmit a signal. By virtue of this arrangement, it is possible to reduce parasitic coupling between different capacitors of the capacitive arrangement.

Device for determining quantities of consumable products contained in

In order to monitor the consumption of a normally electrically conductive product contained in a reservoir made of electrically insulating material, a measurement procedure is defined according to which there is taken off a measurement signal in response to an excitation signal applied to a storage cavity in this reservoir, this signal being such that a characteristic, such as the voltage, of the measurement signal varies substantially with the quantity of product contained in the cavity, and with a utilisation parameter of this product. A procedure for determining this utilisation parameter and a processing procedure giving an item of information on the quantity of product remaining in the reservoir as a function not only of the said characteristic but also of the instantaneous value of the utilisation parameter, are also defined. In the field of printing, this parameter can be the density of printing of the printed pages, or the temperature.

Method and device for monitoring the consumption of a product, such as

The invention concerns a device for checking the operation of a unit comprising an ink reservoir (112) connected to at least an ink transfer means (113, 204), for an image transfer device (10), characterized in that it includes a means (205, 31, 230) for transmitting energy to ink contained in the ink transfer means, and a means (115, 100) for analyzing the energy transmitted to the ink, with a view to checking the operation of said unit.

Checking of the operation of the transfer of ink in an image transfer

A tray for a sheet processing apparatus has a receptacle (11), a lifting plate (12) movable between the low and high positions, arranged at the bottom of the receptacle and cooperating with an elastic thrust return member towards the high position, a lid (13) for covering the receptacle, and the tray has an arrangement preventing the passage of sheets between the cover and receptacle, having at least one clearance (44, 44') arranged on the periphery of the receptacle, and at least one plane limitation area (46, 46') arranged on the periphery of the lid and parallel to the bottom (37) of the receptacle, when the lid (13) is closed, the plane area (46, 46') being offset with respect to the internal surface of the lid and arranged on a support structure (48, 48') integral with the lid, this structure being positioned so that, in the closed position of the lid, it enters the said clearance (44, 44'), the plane limitation area (46, 46') then opening onto the inside of the receptacle.

Tray for loading sheets, including a receptacle and a lid having

A tray for a sheet processing apparatus having a receptacle, a lifting plate movable between a low position and a high position, an elastic member for elastically moving the lifting plate to the high position from the low position, a lid mounted on the receptacle pivoting about an axis and movable between an open position and a closed position, and a pushing member for pushing the lifting plate toward the low position against an elastic force of the elastic member when the lid moves into the open position, and characterized in that the pushing member is mounted on the lid and maintains the lid in the open position against the elastic force of the elastic member.

Tray for loading sheets in a sheet-processing apparatus having an

A feeding device transfers, one by one, sheets from a pile (12) to a processing device having a storage area for the pile of sheets, a drive roller (201) in contact with a sheet disposed at one end of the pile, a separating and prestressing device (203, 210) disposed opposite the roller, the separating and prestressing device including a friction device (203) generating, on the sheet, a friction opposite to the direction in which the sheet is driven. The separating and prestressing device (203, 210) also has a movable support (205) and a lever (211), the support (205) bearing the friction device, whilst the lever has at least one lateral prestressing arm (341), and an elastic unit (214) acting on the lever (211) in order to bias the surface towards the roller (201).

Sheet feeding device having a separating and prestressing device

A sheet feeding device has a frame adapted for mounting on the image-forming apparatus, a slide sliding on the frame between a closed position in which the sheets are presented to the rollers of the apparatus and an open position for loading the sheets, a tray receiving the sheets disposed in the said slide and having an opening for distributing the sheets to the said rollers and also a loading opening, the tray being able to adopt an inclined position in which the distribution opening presents the sheets to the rollers in the closed position of the slide, and an inclined position in which the loading opening is presented to the user, in the open position of the slide, and a unit pivotally biasing the tray suitable for cooperating with the tray so as to make it pivot from one position to another in the course of the movement of the slide from the closed position to the open position, and vice versa.

Sheet feeding device intended to be mounted on an image-forming apparatus

A device for collating sheets, in which the sheets are offered at an input of the device, which comprises conveyor member which convey the sheets in a circuit arranged between the input and an output of the device, the conveyor member comprising at least a first pair of helical ramps with a predetermined winding direction and each comprising a free end. The ramps are arranged on rotating member which rotate them about their helix axis in the opposite direction to the winding direction. The device also comprises guide and placement member, the rotation of the ramps having the effect of conveying the sheet positioned, by the guide and placement member, on a predetermined portion of each of the two ramps, along a portion at least of the circuit and toward the free end of the ramps, a first of the two ramps of the pair having an opposite winding direction in relation to the second. In a first variant, the device is characterized in that each of the ramps comes into contact with the sheet approximately transversely to the movement of arrival of the sheet to guide it laterally. In a second variant, the device is characterized in that it also comprises a second pair of ramps, arranged downstream from the first pair in relation to the movement of arrival of the sheets, the first ramps and the second ramps of each of the two pairs having respectively an identical winding direction and the first ramps of each of the two pairs having a height greater than that of the second ramps of each of the two pairs.

Growing community of inventors

Chateaugiron, France

Marie-Helene Froger