Konica Corporation

Konica Minolta, Inc.

Konica-minolta Holdings, Inc.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Mikihiro Yamakawa

Toshio Shida

Tsuyoshi Tsuchiya

Masahiro Kaneko

Hiroyuki Wakabayashi

Katsunori Takahashi

Toshitaka Matsumoto

Takashi Yamada

Satoru Shimizu

Hitoshi Tamura

Takenobu Kimura

Tsuyoshi Mizubata

Teruhiko Toyoizumi

Satoshi Hamaya

Tsutomu Anezaki

Makoto Tamura

Masato Niizuma

Tomohiko Kiryu

Ryohei Sunayama

A paper conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus are described which can appropriately convey a sheet when the sheet is restarted after forming a loop. The paper conveying apparatus includes a conveying roller pair in the upstream side of a loop roller pair, a stepping motor for rotationally driving the conveying roller pair, and a processor for controlling rotation of the stepping motor by controlling pulse signals and excitation current supplied to the stepping motor. This processor halts rotation of the conveying roller pair by stopping output of the pulse signals when loop formation of the sheet is completed, and switches the excitation current to a lower current value which is lower than a reference current value at which excitation is turned on.

Paper conveying apparatus and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing section configured to fix a toner image formed on a recording medium to the recording medium by conveying the recording medium while heating and pressing the recording medium at a fixing nip; a conveyance section configured to convey the recording medium toward the fixing nip while sandwiching the recording medium; and a control section configured to control the fixing section such that, at a timing after an image formation operation on the recording medium is stopped during the image formation operation, conveyance of the recording medium in the fixing section is stopped before the conveyance of the recording medium in the conveyance section is stopped, and that a timing of stopping the conveyance of the recording medium in the fixing section is changed in accordance with a type of the recording medium.

Image forming apparatus and conveyance control method

A sheet-conveying device has a guide member that constitutes a sheet-conveying route, a plurality of rollers and a control portion that performs a sheet-position correction operation. The plurality of rollers is provided at plural portions of the guide member. Each roller projects from the guide member, contacts a sheet and rotates together with the conveyance of the sheet. The control portion searches the roller(s)arranged at positions that may contact the end surface of the sheet along the width direction thereof in the register fluctuation operation to produce positional information of the roller(s) to be escaped. The control portion escapes the roller(s) specified by the positional information of the roller(s) to be escaped before a register fluctuation operation starts.

Sheet-conveying device that conveys sheets, and image-forming apparatus using the same

A sheet folding apparatus including: a conveyance device having a first pair of rollers for nipping and conveying a paper sheet; a folding device disposed downstream of the conveyance device in a paper sheet conveyance direction, the folding device having a second pair of rollers for nipping and conveying the paper sheet, wherein the conveyance device conveys the paper sheet to the folding device by making the paper sheet bent toward the folding device, and the folding device conveys the bent paper sheet to fold the paper sheet; and a folding assist member for pushing the paper sheet so that the paper sheet moves toward the folding device, the folding assist member being pivotally arranged to be capable of rotating downstream of the conveyance device in the conveyance direction.

Sheet folding apparatus, sheet post-processing apparatus and image forming apparatus

An apparatus and method for punching a hole in a paper with a punching unit in a paper post-processing apparatus. The paper is nipped and transported with a transporting roller system arranged downstream of the punching unit in a paper transport direction to make at least a leading edge of the paper pass through an aligning unit. An actuator is activated to end the nipping of the paper by the transporting roller system, and the aligning unit aligns the paper in a width direction thereof that is perpendicular to the paper transport direction. The activation of the actuator is ended to resume the nipping of the paper, and a stopper member is inserted into a paper transport path upstream of a punch of the punching unit. A trailing edge of the paper is then caused to hit the stopper member, and the paper is punched by the punching unit.

Paper post-processing apparatus and image recording apparatus

This invention relates to a sheet postprocessing apparatus for executing postprocessing including a punching process, folding process, binding process, and the like, midway along a sheet convey path, for sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus, and a folding method. This sheet postprocessing apparatus includes a sheet folding section having the first and second folding sections which are arranged in series in a sheet convey direction to execute folding processes for sheets. The sheet folding section is configured such that the first folding section performs the first folding process in a Z-fold process, the first folding process in an internal three-fold process, and a center folding process with an image-transferred surface facing outside, and the second folding section performs the second folding process in the Z-fold process, the second folding process in the internal three-fold process, and a center folding process with an image-transferred surface facing inside.

Sheet postprocessing apparatus for use with image forming apparatus and folding method

The present invention is to provide a paper stacker for use with an image forming apparatus of a high copying speed. The paper stacker comprises a paper conveying means for conveying a paper with an image recorded thereon to a stacking position, a top end stopper provided reciprocatively movably along a conveying path of the paper, a paper receiving plate disposed below the conveying path of the paper for receiving a paper, a rear end stopper for defining the rear end position of the paper on the paper receiving plate, and an elevating device for changing the height of the paper receiving plate, wherein the top end stopper and the rear end stopper are provided movably in the same direction in the conveyance direction per a given number of papers. The papers are stacked only by shifting the top end stopper and the rear end stopper in the conveyance direction so that the stacker configuration is extremely simplified so as to enable a high speed.

Paper stacker for use with image forming apparatus

A paper post-processing apparatus for folding a paper ejected from an image forming apparatus at a paper folding process section, having a pair of folding rollers; a pair of fold/transporting rollers each of which contacts with each of the pair of folding rollers; a driving unit; a folding roller moving unit; and a drive direction switching unit. When transporting a paper without folding the paper, the holding roller moving unit moves the folding rollers to a releasing position, and the drive switching unit switches the folding rollers to the same rotation direction with each other; and when folding the paper, the holding roller moving unit moves the folding rollers to the pressure contact position, and the drive switching unit switches the folding rollers to the reverse rotation direction with each other.

Paper post-processing method, paper post-processing apparatus and image recording apparatus

A sheet folding method has the first introduction process to introduce a sheet between the first rotary folding body and the first rotary pressure-contact body, and between the second rotary folding body and the second rotary pressure-contact body, respectively; the first folding process in which, under the condition that the first and second rotary folding bodies are in contact with the first and second rotary pressure-contact bodies, respectively, and rotated in the reversal direction to each other, thereby the conveying force of reversal directions to each other is acted and the sheet is bent and a fold is formed, and the fold of the sheet is conveyed between the first and second rotary folding bodies thereby the sheet is folded; the second introduction process to introduce the sheet folded by the first folding process using the similar structure to the first introduction process; and the second folding process using the similar steps to the first folding process.

Sheet folding method, sheet folding apparatus, sheet finisher equipped therewith and image forming apparatus for used with the sheet finisher

A sheet puncher includes; a reversal conveying section having a displaceable stopping member by which a sheet is stopped at a predetermined position, and punching device; a conveying-in and conveying-out section having a conveying-in device and conveying-out device by which the sheet is conveyed from a main conveying path into the reversal conveying section, and the sheet is conveyed out from reversal conveying section to the main conveying path, wherein the sheet is conveyed into the reversal conveying section by the conveying-in device, and after the sheet is stopped at a predetermined position by the stopping member, the sheet is punched by the punch device, and the conveying direction is reversed by the stopping member and the sheet is carried from the reversal conveying section by the conveying-out device.

Sheet puncher, sheet finisher equipped with the sheet puncher and image forming apparatus using the sheet finisher

A pasting and bookbinding method in which a leading edge of a sheet conveyed in a first conveying path having a sheet conveyor is brought into contact with a hitting member and the sheet skew is corrected, a linear paste coating portion is formed by a paste jetting device in the vicinity of a side edge portion of the sheet conveyed in a second conveying path in a direction perpendicular to the first conveying path, and plural sheets after the paste coating processing are stacked on a sheet stacking table provided below the second conveying path, and aligned by an aligner, and the linear pasted portion is pressed by a pressing device, and after a pasted booklet is produced, the booklet is delivered onto the delivery tray provided in the conveying direction downstream of the first conveying path and on an outside side surface of the apparatus.

Pasting and bookbinding method, pasting and bookbinding apparatus, and image forming apparatus for use therewith

In a sheet finisher having a stacker for sheets conveyed from an image forming apparatus and a stapler for stacked sheets, the sheet finisher further has a conveying timing adjustment section arranged upstream of the stacker including: a conveying-in section for a sheet from the image forming apparatus; a conveying-out section separately provided from the conveying-in section; and a reversal conveying section for reversing a conveying direction of the sheet conveyed in one direction from the conveying-in section and for conveying-out from the conveying-out section. A controller controls the reversal conveying section such that at least a second bundle or a bundle after the second bundle of sheet bundles to be stapled by the stapler, in which a plurality of sheets having at least a top sheet and a succeeding sheet to the top sheet are overlapped each other, is conveyed-out from the reversal conveying section.

Sheet finisher having stapler and image forming apparatus for use therewith

A gluing device having therein a pressuring means which presses a glue container containing a liquid glue to eject contained glue from an ejection opening, a supply tube through which the ejected glue is transported from the glue container, a connecting means on the glue container side which connects the supply tube to the glue container, a connecting means on the supply tube side which detachably connects the connecting means on the glue container side to the supply tube, and a glue discharging means which receives the glue transported through the supply tube and delivers them from a nozzle opening, wherein there is provided a valve member provided inside the connecting means on the glue container side that makes the ejection opening to be opened and closed, and a protrusion is provided inside the connecting means on the supply tube side so that the protrusion presses the valve member to open the ejection opening when the connecting means on the supply tube side is connected to the connecting means on the supply tube side.

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Tokyo, Japan

Mikihiro Yamakawa