Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals, Incorporated

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.

Minoru Hattori

Yoshio Morimoto

Tsutomu Takase

Yoshiaki Ushirogata

Terumitsu Azuma

Hiroyuki Ishizaki

Shinji Asami

Teruo Yuasa

Akihiro Tsuno

Nobukatu Kato

Masanobu Kimata

Yoshihide Sugiyama

Masahiro Kaneko

Ikumi Takashima

Hiroaki Narisawa

Shigeru Mizuno

Nobukatsu Kato

Koji Furuta

Masanobu Maeda

Toru Horio

Takashi Kataoka

Ueno Shinichi

Nakayama Naoya

Miyuki Ito

Shinzi Asami

A sheet folding device that performs a folding process on a bundle of sheet members includes: a folding unit that folds the bundle of the sheet members; a pushing unit that abuts on a surface of the bundle of the sheet members so as to push the bundle of the sheet members into the folding unit; pressing plates that form a pair, that have convexly curved surfaces to face each other, and that form a crease by pressing the bundle of the sheet members therebetween; a driving unit that performs a pressing operation and a press-releasing operation of the pair of the pressing plates; a moving unit that moves a pressing position of the pair of the pressing plates interposing the bundle of the sheet members; and a control unit that controls the driving unit and the moving unit. The control unit controls a moving speed of the pressing position.

Sheet folding device, image forming system, and sheet folding method

A sheet folding apparatus includes a blade member having an edge configured to push a surface of a sheet so as to push the sheet into a sheet folding unit configured to fold the sheet, a pair of nipping members that is included in the sheet folding unit and nips the sheet pushed into the sheet folding unit by the blade member, a blade member moving unit that moves the blade member and a nipping member moving unit that moves the pair of nipping members. The blade member moving unit and the nipping member moving unit are driven by the same driving unit.

Sheet folding apparatus

A sheet medium adjustment apparatus, e.g., in an image forming system, includes: an ejector to eject a conveyed sheet; a stacking device to stack each sheet ejected from the sheet ejector into a stack on a tray; a moving device to shift the stacking device in a movement direction perpendicular to a sheet-ejecting direction; a sheet aligning member to align ends of the sheets in the stack that are parallel to the sheet-ejecting direction; a stepping motor to move the sheet aligning member; and an evacuation device to evacuate the aligning member by an amount representing an evacuation displacement in the movement direction at a timing of aligning the sheet, the evacuation displacement being determined adaptively according to at least one of an attribute of a given sheet in the stack, an attribute of the stack as a whole and an attribute of the tray.

Sheet medium adjustment apparatus and image formation system capable of sorting sheet media

A phenolic resin composition which is stable against an environmental moisture change and, further, excellent in fast curing property, flexibility and heat resistance. The phenolic resin composition contains 70-97% by weight of a phenolic resin and 3-30% by weight of a silicone-based rubber component and has a ratio of an ortho-bonding to a para-bonding at a methylene bonding in the phenolic resin of 2-9.

Phenolic resin composition

A method and an apparatus for corrugating the output of a reproduction device such as a photocopier includes a guiding arm for guiding an image carrying medium in a predetermined path towards a destination output bin and a projection for corrugating the image carrying medium as it is being guided by the guiding arm. The current corrugation device is suitable for a multiple tray sorter unit since it does not require additional corrugation members.

Path guide for selectively corrugating an output medium

A paper path switching mechanism including a plurality of feeding rollers which feed a page when the page is pressed against the feeding rollers by guide members of a switching guide. The switching guide has long guide members which press the paper against the feeding rollers and short guide members positioned near the edges of the page. The short guide members guide the page without imparting too much resistance at the edges of the page in order to reduce the frequency of paper jams. The longer guide members are tapered in width at portions near the periphery of the feeding rollers in order to reduce the size of the contact area of the page to the long guide members which reduces resistance on the page and consequently reduces paper jams. After the page passes between the switching guide and feeding rollers, its direction of travel is reversed and the page again contacts the switching guide but moves along a different edge of the guide members and along a different paper path in order to invert pages.

Paper path switching mechanism usable with a page inverter

In an image forming apparatus, a device for turning a paper of the present invention has a transport roller constantly rotatable in a predetermined direction for paper transport. A reverse transport member is positioned downstream of the transport roller in the predetermined direction, and transports the paper, transported by the transport roller, in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction. A turn guide has a first guide face for guiding the paper toward the transport roller, and a second guide face for guiding in a paper discharge direction the paper being transported by the reverse transport member in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction. The end portion of the first and second guide faces close to the reverse transport member extends in the direction in which the end portion intersects the periphery of the transport roller. Hence, the end portion is angularly retracted by the paper, being guided by the first guide face, to a position coincident with a line tangential to the transport roller. The end of the turn guide is configured such that the first and second guide portions are tapered. The device is miniature and reduces resistance to act on the incoming paper and surely urges it against the transport roller to generate a driving force. As a result, the paper is prevented from being skewed or caught or from jamming the path.

Paper turning device for an image forming apparatus

A novel process for producing alkenyl phenols, which comprises continuously feeding a dihydroxydiphenyl alkane such as 2,2-(4,4'-dihydroxydiphenyl)propane, 2,2-(4,4'-dihydroxy-3,3'-dimethyldiphenyl)propane, 2,2-(4,4'-dihydroxydiphenyl)butane, 2,2-(4,4'-dihydroxydiphenyl)-4-methylpentane, 1,1,1-(4,4'-dihydroxytriphenyl)ethane and 1,1-(4,4'-dihydroxydiphenyl)cyclohexane into a high-boiling inert organic reaction medium such as an alkylnaphthalene containing a basic catalyst and heated at 150.degree. to 250.degree. C. under 10 to 100 mmHg while maintaining the concentration of the dihydroxydiphenyl alkane in the reaction medium at not more than 30% by weight, thereby cleaving it in the reaction medium; and continuously distilling off the cleavage product out of the reaction system and recovering it. This process can afford the corresponding highly pure alkenyl phenol as a monomer and/or its polymer almost quantitatively.

Process for cleaving dihydroxydiphenyl alkanes

A novel process for producing isopropenyl phenol such as p-isopropenyl phenol which comprises continuously feeding oligomers of isopropenyl phenol having a degree of polymerization of 2 to 5 into a high-boiling inert organic reaction medium such as an alkylnaphthalene heated at 150.degree. to 250.degree. C. under a pressure of 10 to 100 mmHg while maintaining the concentration of the oligomers in the reaction medium at not more than 30% by weight, thereby thermally decomposing the oligomers in the reaction medium; and continuously distilling off the resulting isopropenyl phenol out of the reaction system and recovering it. The process almost quantitatively gives isopropenyl phenol having reduced contents of impurities.

Process for preparing isopropenyl phenol

A drying oil such as isomerized linseed oil, dehydrated castor oil or the like oil which has an iodine value of more than 140 and a content of conjugated double bonds of less than 50% is reacted with isopropenylphenol and/or oligomers thereof in an amount, by weight, of 0.1-2 times as great as that of the drying oil in the presence of a small amount of an acid at a temperature of 65-150.degree. C. for 0.5-3 hours. By the reaction, isopropenylphenol and/or its oligomers are introduced to the drying oil while leaving the double bonds of the oil as they are without disappearance. The thus introduced oil is further reacted with a phenol or phenols under strongly acidic conditions to introduce the phenols thereto. The drying oil which has been introduced with the isopropenylphenol and/or its oligomers and also with the phenols is mixed with a phenol or phenols and then reacted with formaldehyde to give a modified phenolic resin. This phenolic resin is useful for making a phenolic laminate with improved flexibility, punching quality and water proof.

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Nagoya, Japan

Minoru Hattori