Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Masaru Nishijima

Hideaki Hagihara

Susumu Murakami

Masanobu Deguchi

Hiroshi Kida

Kimihide Tsukamoto

Shougo Iwai

Toshio Yamagishi

Keizo Fukunaga

Tadaaki Kawano

Takashi Miyaji

Fukusaburo Ito

Masakatsu Itoigawa

Tutomu Kato

Shiyougo Iwai

Akihiro Soga

Minoru Hashimoto

Toshikuni Kanagaki

A shredder for feeding documents from a document loading portion to a document shredding portion so as to shred the documents by the document shredding portion, in which the document loading portion is constituted by a plurality of document loading apertures such that a total quantity of the documents capable of being fed from the document loading apertures to the document shredding portion is so set as to be not more than a shredding capability of the document shredding portion.

Shredder

A photoreceptor of an electrophotographic copying machine is rotatably supported by a mounting member. The mounting member is rotatably supported by a supporting member which can slide out of the housing of the copying machine. The supporting member also supports a developing station. When the supporting member is pulled out of the housing, the developing station can be displaced on the supporting member away from the photoreceptor and the mounting member can be rotated so as to expose the photoreceptor such that its surface becomes accessible from outside.

Photoreceptor attachment device for an electrophotographic copying

A copier capable of varying magnification ratio moves its optical system to a position determined by an inputted value of magnification ratio only after its print switch is operated to start a copying operation.

Copier with variable magnification ratio

An image forming device such as a copier has separate upper, middle and lower units which are mutually openable. The axes of rotation around which the upper unit can rotate with respect to the middle unit and the middle unit with respect to the lower unit are symmetrically disposed and engaging and locking mechanisms are provided such that when one of the pairs of mutually openable units is opened, the other pair is prevented from opening. Thus, the overall equalibrium of the device is not lost even if both pairs of units are opened.

Image forming device with separable units

An electrophotographic copying machine device provided with a pair of lens arrays installed in parallel to enable variable- or actual-size copying and a means for selectively directing the light-path, allowing each lens array to select its light-path before projecting the original image onto a recording medium such as a photoreceptive drum, in which the copying device incorporates the following: equalizing the distance between original-scanning starting points for actual- and variable-size copying to the distance between light-exposure positions on the recording medium by applying variable-size lens array; equalizing the distance between light-exposure positions on the recording medium, corresponding to the original-scanning starting point, and the image transfer starting position, by which image on the recording medium is transferred to the transference material using the variable-size lens array, to the distance for transferring the transference material from its standby position to its transference position; and means for controlling engagement of the transference material held in a standby condition in response to the original-scanning operation activated with the variable-size lens array.

Copying device utilizing a parallel lens array

In an electrophotographic copying machine in which a warming up operation is performed before a copying operation is initiated. This warming up operation is for preliminarily warming up various devices such as a fixing device and a photoreceptor drum. In this copying machine, a device is provided for performing the warming up operation in accordance with a signal generated by operation of any one of the keys for setting copy nubmer, for setting copy magnification or for selecting size of a copy paper and/or a signal of an original detecting sensor.

Copying machine having a control process to reduce copying time

A developer material supply arrangement which includes a developer hopper mounting portion for detachably mounting a developer hopper on the mounting provided portion at an opening at the upper portion of a developing tank of an electrophotographic copying apparatus, a hopper-shaped container for a developer material, a supply port provided at a lower portion of the hopper-shaped container and formed into a configuration which can be detachably mounted with respect to the developer hopper mounting portion, and a valve member provided within the supply port for selective opening or closing of the supply port.

Developer material supply arrangement

A copying machine has a roller unit which includes a driving roller and an idler roller which are positioned substantially parallel to each other. The roller unit has opposite ends in the axial direction of the rollers, and is supported in a housing of the copying machine at one end thereof. An endless photoreceptor belt is mounted on the rollers. A lid member is provided to the housing movably between an attached position and a detached position. When the lid member is moved to the attached position, the other end of the roller unit is supported by the lid member and, when it is moved to the detached position, the other end of the roller unit is freed, thereby enabling the removal and mounting of the endless photoreceptor belt in the axial direction of the rollers during the lid member is in the detached position.

Copying machine having an endless photoreceptor belt

An electrophotographic copying machine of the type in which the copying machine is separated into two sections including a photoreceptor, a developing device, a supporting device for rotatably supporting the developing device so that the developing device is rotated as automatically being separated from the photoreceptor according to the self-weight of the developing device when the copying machine is separated into the two sections. Either the developing device or the photoreceptor can be replaced without damaging the surface of the photoreceptor at all.

Growing community of inventors

Hirakata, Japan

Masaru Nishijima