Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Sharp Kabushiki

Norihide Kunikawa

Tetsuya Kondo

Yasumasa Ohba

Michihiro Matsuoka

Atsushi Umekage

Masatsugu Nakamura

Hiroshi Maeda

Shunju Anzai

Yoshikado Yamada

Toshihisa Matsuo

Hiromu Sasaki

Toshio Yamagishi

Yoshiteru Mori

Toshihiro Okahashi

Suehiro Ueda

Hiroshi Takatani

Norihide Momose

Masayuki Gomi

Tatsuya Itoh

Kazuyuki Ohgita

A line concentrator classifies printers connected via a communications network into groups according to the capabilities of the printers and includes a storage section which stores a VLAN table classifying the printers into groups and listing virtual addresses corresponding to the respective groups. When a monitoring section receives data addressed to a virtual address, it refers to the VLAN table and performs controls so as to transmit the received data to all of the printers belonging to the group corresponding to the virtual address. Thus, it is possible to eliminate the problem, such as concentration of jobs to a specific information processing device, and to provide a line concentrator capable of rapidly performing data transfer processing.

Line concentrator and information processing system using the same, assigning transmitted data to all devices in the group of information processing devices

A display device of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention is a display device of an electronic apparatus for setting a plurality of conditions for a process of the electronic apparatus through an input portionwhile displaying the conditions before the electronic apparatus performs the process in accordance with the conditions. The device comprises a determination portionof determining whether or not each of the conditions has not yet been set, and a liquid crystal display panelof displaying notifying information indicating to what degree conditions remain to be set. The liquid crystal display paneldisplays buttons for setting the respective conditions on a screen thereof, and displays button(s) which have already been pressed as being unfilled and the number of buttons which have not yet been pressed. Therefore, by viewing the screen, the number and types of conditions which have not yet set can be known.

Display device of electronic apparatus

A development device is provided with a development vessel, a toner box, a toner amount detection sensor, and a control section. The development vessel accommodates toner to be supplied to an electrostatic latent image on an image carrier. The toner box replenishes toner into the development vessel. The toner amount detection sensor detects an amount of toner accommodated in the development vessel. The control section calculates an amount of toner to be used during image formation based on density information of an image to be formed and controls an amount per unit of time for replenishing toner from the toner box to the development vessel based on the calculated amount of toner to be used and the amount of toner accommodated detected by the toner amount detection sensor.

Development device and toner replenishment method

The present invention is made to reduce the effect of variation of pulses for driving a printer when recording image data and to improve the gray level representation of picture images to be printed. Data incoming through an image reading device are quantized and processed two pixels at a time by a gray level image processing circuit. The two-pixels' data are first discriminated by an edge discriminator to determine whether they represent an edge portion within the image or not. An object image, on which an operation for inter-pixel spacing shall be conducted, is selected according to the discrimination result. The arithmetic and logic portion performs the above-mentioned operation by two pixels at a time if the data correspond to a non-edge portion and performs correction for enhancement if the data correspond to an edge. This may eliminate the effect of dot displacement due to variation of drive pulses of a printer and improve the quality, in particular, of a gray level image portion.

Image processing device

A feeding device for enabling continuous copy paper feed from a first and second cassette. When copy material of the same size is stored in a first cassette and an absence of copy material is detected in the first cassette, orientation of the second rotatable cassette is altered, if necessary to coincide with that of the first cassette, and paper feed continues from the second rotatable cassette. Still further, the second rotatable cassette may be selected for continuing copy paper feed if copy material within the first cassette is detected to be less than a predetermined amount.

Feeding device for enabling continuous copy paper feed from plural copy

A document size detection apparatus having a plurality of sensor portions including light emitting devices and photodetector devices disposed in the vicinity of an original table for detecting the size of a document such as an original mounted on the original table is disclosed. This apparatus uses reflected light or transmitted light, a comparator for comparing the output level of the sensor portion with a reference level, and decision means for deciding the document size depending on the output signal of the comparator. The document size detection apparatus comprises a circuit for changing the reference level of the comparator and for detecting the resultant output of the comparator in order to find the condition in which the reference level becomes equal to the output level of the sensor portion and a storage circuit for storing the value representing that condition, which are used in the adjustment mode without a document mounted on the original table, and a reference level setting circuit for setting the reference level to be input to the comparator depending on the value stored in the storage circuit, which is used in the document size decision mode for detecting the size of a document mounted on the table.

Document size detection apparatus

A copying machine having an optical system movable by a motor in a feed direction with a predetermined feed speed and in a return direction for returning the optical system to a predetermined home position. The optical system is returned with a first speed higher than the feed speed. A countercurrent braking of the motor is performed to decelerate the motor near its home position and the speed of the motor after this braking process is decelerated to such a speed that the optical system can be stopped correctly at the home position.

Method of controlling a stop position of an optical system in a copying

A method of controlling the movement of a lens in a copying apparatus wherein the amount of lens movement is detected and the movement of the lens is corrected if necessary when the lens passes the home position. Even an error in the number of pulses counted before the lens passes the home position can be corrected because of the presence of the home position.

Method of controlling a lens stop position

A copying apparatus equipped with a brushless DC motor for driving a light source, a photoreceptor drum, etc. and including a motor locking circuit for locking the DC motor. The motor locking circuit, when an external force has been applied to a rotor of the DC motor while the DC motor is not being actuated, causes an electric current to flow through a stator coil of the DC motor such that the electric current produces a reaction force counteracting the external force.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Norihide Kunikawa