Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Masahiko Fujita

Masaharu Kimura

Norichika Katsura

Tadasu Taniguchi

Masaya Asakawa

Yasuaki Fukada

Yasuhiro Takai

Yoshiyuki Kobayashi

Masatsugu Ohishi

Masashi Hirai

Yoshiharu Yoneda

Yasunobu Ohkawa

Noriaki Taguchi

Yuji Sawa

Hiroshi Kida

Hirokazu Yamauchi

Takahiro Fukunaga

Toshiki Ohgita

Osamu Fujimoto

Tatsuya Inoue

Kohji Aoki

Susumu Hashimoto

Hidenobu Mandai

Kouzou Yamaguchi

Masanobu Yamamoto

Hideo Taniguchi

Masaki Saka

Takayuki Ohno

Shinichiroh Hiraoka

Tatsuya Ogawa

Kiyohide Ochi

Norio Hontani

Yukio Nakai

Norimasa Kurata

Keigo Hashimoto

Hitoshi Nishida

Tatsuya Seo

Nobuhiko Sakamoto

Hideaki Sugata

Hideyuki Kamiura

Daigo Nishioka

Yasuaki Fukuda

Rei Nakamura

A sheet discharge device of the present invention includes discharge rollers configured to transport a sheet in a predetermined transport direction and to discharge the sheet to a discharge tray, and an upper discharge tray disposed above the discharge tray with a space being interposed therebetween. A bottom face of the upper discharge tray that faces the discharge tray includes a guide rib extending in an oblique direction inclined relative to the transport direction.

Sheet discharge device and image forming apparatus including the same

An image forming apparatus () at least includes a paper output tray (), an actuator () and a photo sensor (). The actuator () is supported in such a manner as to be swingable above a paper loading surface of the paper output tray (). The actuator () includes a fullness detection section () and a rear edge curling detection section (). The fullness detection section () is disposed at a tip portion of the actuator (), being configured so as to contact the uppermost paper on the paper output tray (). The rear edge curling detection section () is formed so as to extend from the fullness detection section () toward a direction that gets further away from the paper loading surface of the paper output tray () toward a direction generally parallel to the paper loading surface of the paper output tray () and opposite to a paper conveying direction.

Paper output device and image forming apparatus

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a sheet detection apparatus that detects a sheet includes an actuator unit that is rotatable around a rotational axis so as to adopt any of a protruding position in which the actuator unit protrudes into a detection area for detecting the sheet and a retracted position in which the actuator unit is retracted from the detection area, and an operation unit that is capable of switching between a retracted state in which the actuator unit is set to the retracted position and a protruding state in which the actuator unit is set to the protruding position. An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the sheet detection apparatus, and the sheet detection apparatus is provided in a main body of the image forming apparatus.

Sheet detection apparatus and image forming apparatus

In a paper feeder, an air hole that allows air to pass through is formed on a paper transport belt, a fan for breathing and exhausting air and an exhaust duct having an opening for exhausting air. Air is exhausted from the fan through the exhaust duct, the fan and an air intake duct for breathing air are connected to each other, and air is breathed from the air hole through the air intake duct towards the fan. This paper feeder includes: an air state detection unit for detecting at least one of an air pressure and an air flow rate in the air intake duct; an opening and closing unit provided to the air intake duct for opening and closing the opening; and a control unit for opening and closing the opening based on a result of detection by the air state detection unit.

Paper feeder and image forming apparatus including the same

In a sheet transport apparatus, coiled springsare fitted in and supported by recess portionsat a bottom faceof a support frameand recess portionsat an upper faceof an inner guide. In other words, most of the portions of the coiled springare enclosed inside the recess portionsof the support frameand the recess portionsof the inner guide, and covered and hidden by side wallsof the recess portionsand side wallsof the recess portions

Sheet transport apparatus

A conveying device includes a switching gate, a handle, and a link mechanism. The switching gate switches the direction in which a sheet of paper is conveyed along a conveying path. Normally, the weight of the switching gate keeps a front end portion of the gate engaging with a recess. A user grips the handle when he/she opens the conveying device from an apparatus. The user's grip on the handle makes the link mechanism disengage the gate portion from the recess. The link mechanism includes a protrusion protruding toward the apparatus and having a slope, which tapers off. When the conveying device closes into the apparatus, compressive contact of the protrusion slope with a wall of the apparatus disengages the gate portion from the recess.

Conveying device

A transport path switching unit is provided between transport rollers and pre-registration rollers, and control is performed to switch between a main transport path and an extended transport path of the transport path switching unit such that either the main transport path or the extended transport path is interposed as the part of the paper transport path between the transport rollers and the pre-registration rollers to vary a total length of the paper transport path.

Paper transport path of image forming apparatus

A paper feeding deviceprovided in an image forming apparatusA according to one embodiment of the present invention is provided with a loading memberin which sheets P can be stacked and a central bending sectionconfigured to upwardly raise a sheet transport direction X central area Pof the sheet P for sheets P stacked in the loading member

Paper feeding device and image forming apparatus with curl correction

A sheet feeding device includes a sheet support, a restricting portion, a displacement section, and a link section. The restricting portion slides along a line passing through restricting points. The restricting portion restricts the position of the sheet when the restricting portion is positioned at each of the restricting points. The link section interlinks the restricting portion and the displacement section. The position of the displacement section is detected. The link section, which interlinks the restricting section and the displacement section, is configured to change a ratio of a distance that the displacement section travels as the restricting section travels a fixed distance, wherein the ratio of the distance between those restricting points which define a relatively large spacing therebetween becomes longer than the ratio of the distance between those restricting points which define a relatively small spacing therebetween.

Sheet feeding device

To provide a fusing unit including a fusing roller for fixing an unfixed toner image to a sheet and a fusing roller cleaning unit including a web sheet delivering roller for supplying a web sheet and a winding roller for taking up the web sheet for cleaning the fusing roller, the fusing roller cleaning unit includes a web detecting terminal for detecting the presence of the web sheet and a tension roller for guiding the web sheet, on the upstream side of a pressure roller with respect to the web sheet's direction of conveyance and first and second guide rollers, the second guide roller being disposed upstream of the web detecting terminal.

Fusing device with a web end detector and image forming apparatus incorporating same

In a fixing device, a heat roller and a fixing gear for rotating the heat roller are arranged concentrically, and coupled to each other by inserting a key formed in the fixing gear into a keyway formed in the heat roller. The keyway is designed such that the key is allowed to move along a direction in which the heat roller is rotated. For example, the keyway is formed by notching a free end of a one-side rotary shaft of the heat roller so as to extend along the direction in which the heat roller is rotated.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A feeding device according to the present invention includes a box, paper holders, and a shifting mechanism. The box is open at its top. The paper holders are open at their tops and positioned in the box. Each of the paper holders holds a pile of sheets of paper in it. The shifting mechanism so shifts at least one of the paper holders that the top sheet in one of the paper holders is positioned in a single feed position in the box according to selection data output from the apparatus with which the feeding device is used.

Feeding device and image forming apparatus

When two or more sheets of paper P are fed in an overlapped manner to a nip where a paper feed roller and a separation roller are in pressure contact with each other, a sub-CPU of a sheet feeding unit rotates the paper feed roller in a paper feeding direction and rotates the separation roller in a direction opposite to the feeding direction, so as to separate overlapping, and thereafter, it rotates the paper feed roller and the separation roller again in the feeding direction.

Paper feeder, image forming apparatus provided with the same and paper feeding method

An image forming apparatus comprising: a main body having an image forming section; a sheet feed section having a sheet cassette that accommodates a recording sheet and can be drawn out and loaded to the main body; and a sheet misalignment preventing mechanism that intermittently comes into contact with an uppermost recording sheet in the sheet cassette so as to prevent misalignment of the recording sheet in a loading direction when the sheet cassette drawn out of the main body is reloaded.

Image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Nara, Japan

Masahiko Fujita