Konica Minolta, Inc.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Masatoshi Hitaka

Yasufumi Naitou

Masazumi Ito

Takuya Imai

Satoshi Ogata

Kenji Izumiya

Takeshi Tamada

Chikatsu Suzuki

Masao Kondo

Toshiya Furubayashi

Fusako Ozawa

Toshiyuki Tokuno

Hirokazu Higashiuchi

Hideki Matsumoto

A paper feeder, includes: a sheet storage that stores sheets; a pick roller that delivers the sheets stored in the sheet storage to a downstream side of a conveyance path; a pair of conveyance rollers that is located on a downstream side of the pick roller in the conveyance path and conveys the sheets delivered from the pick roller to further downstream side in the conveyance path; a drive source that drives the pair of conveyance rollers; and a hardware processor that cleans the pair of conveyance rollers by driving the drive source to rotate the pair of conveyance rollers in a state of being in contact with each other, when the pick roller cannot deliver sheets.

Paper feeder, image forming apparatus, and control method

An image forming apparatus includes: an image former that executes image forming processing; a primary controller; a secondary controller that controls the image former; a sensor that detects a state of at least a unit of the image forming apparatus and transmits sensor data indicating the state to the secondary controller; a first transmission path for duplex communication between the primary and secondary controllers; and a second transmission path. The secondary controller: generates, from the sensor data, diagnostic data for failure diagnostics or life prediction, transmits data other than the diagnostic data to the primary controller via the first transmission path and transmits the diagnostic data to the diagnostic server via the second transmission path, or transmits data other than the sensor data to the primary controller via the first transmission path and transmits the sensor data to the diagnostic server via the second transmission path.

Image forming apparatus and diagnostic system increasing frequency of acquiring diagnostic data

An image forming device includes: an image former that executes image forming processing to form an image on a sheet; a primary controller; a secondary controller that controls the image former; a sensor that detects a state of the image former and transmits sensor data indicating the state to the secondary controller; a first transmission path between the secondary controller and the primary controller; and a second transmission path different from the first transmission path. The primary controller instructs the secondary controller to execute the image forming processing. Data related to the execution of the image forming processing is transmitted through the first transmission path. The secondary controller generates diagnostic data for failure diagnostics from the sensor data and life prediction relating to the image forming device and transmits the diagnostic data to the primary controller via the second transmission path.

Image forming device and image forming device diagnostic system

An image forming device including an image former, a primary controller, a secondary controller, one or more sensors, an interface, and a writer. The image former executes image forming processing to form an image on a sheet. The primary controller instructs the secondary controller to control the image former to execute the image forming processing. Each sensor detects a state of the image former and outputs sensor data to the secondary controller. The interface can be connected to a storage medium. The secondary controller generates diagnostic data based on the sensor data. The writer writes the diagnostic data to the storage medium via the interface. The diagnostic data is used by a diagnostic server to perform failure diagnostics and life prediction pertaining to the image forming device, after transfer to the diagnostic server via a transfer device when the storage medium is mounted to the transfer device.

An image forming apparatus includes: an image forming unit that performs image forming processing on a recording sheet; a primary central processing unit (CPU) and a secondary CPU, where the primary CPU receives a job externally and instructs the secondary CPU to monitor and control the image forming unit to perform the image forming processing; sensors that sense a state of the image forming unit and output sensor data indicating the state of the image forming unit, a first transceiver; and a second transceiver. The secondary CPU monitors the sensor data to generate diagnostic data. The first transceiver performs duplex communication with the primary CPU to send and receive data other than the diagnostic data. The second transceiver sends the diagnostic data to the diagnostic server without relaying via the primary CPU.

An image forming device comprising: a tray in which multiple number of sheets are stored; a feeder that feeds the sheet stored in the tray; and a hardware processor that: measures a carrying speed of the sheet fed by the feeder; determines whether or not the measured carrying speed is affected by the following sheet; corrects the carrying speed upon determining the carrying speed is affected by the following sheet; and detects a wear status on the feeder based on the measured carrying speed or the corrected carrying speed.

Image forming device, paper feeding mechanism deterioration determining method and non-transitory recording medium

An image formation apparatus includes a first non-volatile memory, a second non-volatile memory smaller in allowable number of times of rewriting of data than the first non-volatile memory and higher in rate of reading of data than the first non-volatile memory, and a processor. The processor backs up control data for the image formation apparatus to the first non-volatile memory, backs up the control data to the second non-volatile memory less frequently than to the first non-volatile memory, and reads the control data from the second non-volatile memory when the control data stored in the first non-volatile memory matches with the control data stored in the second non-volatile memory at the time of start-up of the image formation apparatus and otherwise reads the control data from the first non-volatile memory.

Image formation apparatus with two types of storage

An image forming apparatus includes: an image former that performs image forming processing to a plurality of sheets included in each of a plurality of sheet groups; and a hardware processor that detects occurrence of a jam, wherein the image former completes the image forming processing to each of the plurality of sheets included in a sheet group not including a jammed sheet that has generated the jam.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and image forming program configured to process image forming following jam

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming controller forming a toner image on an image carrying member, and transferring at a transfer position the toner image formed on the image carrying member onto a sheet being conveyed on a conveyance path, and a hardware-processor. The hardware-processor determines an image position indicating a position for an image to be formed on the sheet, determines a grace period based on the image position, stops the sheet at a waiting position on an upstream side from the transfer position, restarts paper conveyance at a second point when a predetermined period elapses from a first point of starting formation of the toner image on the image carrying member, and conveys the sheet to the transfer position if paper conveyance can be restarted before the grace period elapses from the second point though paper conveyance cannot be restarted at the second point.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with image forming program

A storage unit stores therein registered data about image forming devices connected to each other via a network. An acquisition unit refers to the registered data to acquire the number of the image forming devices. A consumption ratio monitor unit monitors a consumption ratio of consumables in at least one of the image forming devices. A prediction unit predicts a predicted time for replenishment or replacement of consumables for each image forming device monitored by the consumption rate monitor, based on the consumption ratio of consumables thereof, and corrects the predicted time based on comparison between a number that the acquisition unit has acquired and another number that the acquisition unit previously acquired. A requisition unit issues a request for replenishment or replacement of consumables at the predicted time.

Image forming device and device, system, recording medium with program codes for managing consumables in image forming device

An image forming apparatus includes: a printing unit configured to print at a plurality of linear velocities; an image preparing time determination unit configured to determine a print image preparing time necessary for developing print data to a print image to be printed by the printing unit; a linear velocity determination unit configured to determine the linear velocity according to the print image preparing time determined by the image preparing time determination unit; and an engine control unit configured to operate the printing unit at the linear velocity determined by the linear velocity determination unit.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method

An image forming apparatus performs a serviceman call detection mode during its idling time. In this time, a control portion controls upper and lower pressuring rollers to be clamped, controls a driving motor, and controls a change-over mechanism to switch a braking motor off. A torque detection portion detects a torque value Y of the driving motor at this time. The control portion then controls the upper and lower pressuring rollers to be clamped, controls the driving motor, and controls the change-over mechanism to switch the braking motor on. The torque detection portion detects a torque value Z of the driving motor at this time. The control portion subtracts the torque value Y from the torque value Z to calculate a difference value. The control portion determines that the braking motor is broken down when the difference value does not exceed the threshold value.

Image forming apparatus

Provided is an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit with a plurality of developing devices, a sheet transport unit, a sheet position measurement unit that measures a position of the sheet during the transport in a direction crossing a sheet passage, a displacement correction unit that moves the sheet during the transport in the sheet-passage crossing direction to correct a displacement of the sheet, and a control unit that carries out the displacement correction for the sheet by the displacement correction unit for the measured sheet depending on the measurement result by the sheet position measurement unit if the developing device located on a upstream side is used, and carries out position correction for an image and reduces an interval of the image formation for each sheet if the developing device located on the upstream side is not used.

An image forming system includes a first image forming apparatus and a second image forming apparatus, the first image forming apparatus including: a first image forming section which performs image formation on a sheet; a first fixing section which performs image fixation on the sheet on which the first image forming section performs the image formation; and a first control section which makes, when the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus perform the image formation and the image fixation on different sides of a sheet to perform double-sided printing, thereby performing tandem outputting, a tandem-outputting target fixing temperature of the first fixing section lower than a first fiducial temperature which is a non-tandem-outputting target fixing temperature of the first fixing section for when the first image forming performs the image formation and the image fixation alone.

Imaging forming system comprised of image forming apparatuses arranged in series, and which prevents an excessive rise in either of an inside temperature or a fixing section temperature of a downstream image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a patch image generation unit which generates a patch image for image density detection disposed between toner images, and a patch density sensor which detects a density of the patch image. In order to prevent the output quality of a printed image from varying with the type of paper use, a correction unit performs correction processing to match a detected density and a target density by comparing the detected density of the patch image detected by the patch density sensor and the target density of the patch image which is set in advance, a toner deposit control unit controls a toner deposit when the image forming unit forms an image based upon image data and when the patch image generation unit generates the patch image, and a paper interval control unit controls an interval between consecutive papers.

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Toyokawa, Japan

Masatoshi Hitaka