Minolta Company, Ltd.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Noritoshi Maruchi

Hiroshi Nishikawa

Tohru Murakami

Kazuhiro Ishiguro

Masao Kondo

Keiko Toyoda

Koji Higashikawa

An image reading apparatus which reads a document image optically at a reading position while feeding the document over a reading glass. A document guide sheet for forming a step so as to prevent an imaged surface of a fed document from coming into contact with the reading glass is provided at an upstream side of the reading position with respect to a document feeding direction. The reading glass is capable of reciprocating in the document feeding direction by a specified distance x. If the document guide sheet is located such that a downstream edge of the document guide sheet is at a distance xfrom the reading position, the distances xand xare in relationship of xx

Image reading apparatus

An image reading device capable of detecting foreign particles on a transparent member by including the transparent member, a conveyance unit that conveys an original document to the transparent member, a reading unit that reads via the transparent member an image of the original document being conveyed on the transparent member at multiple reading positions that exist with a prescribed distance therebetween along an original document conveyance direction, an output unit that outputs signals for different color components corresponding to each of the reading positions, a transparent member moving unit that moves the transparent member in a prescribed direction such that the original document slides over the transparent member while being conveyed to the reading positions during image reading, and a detector that detects noise components caused by foreign particles on the transparent member based on the output signals from the output unit.

Image reading device

An image reading apparatus capable of occurring no failure in reading of the original document sheet due to a change in the original document sheet conveyance conditions that occurs in switching a pair of rollers of document conveyance mechanism from a separated state to a contacted state by including a document reader, a document conveyance mechanism including a pair of rollers that are disposed upstream from a reading position in terms of a direction of document conveyance and a controller for, when a trailing edge of one original document sheet has passed the reading position, switching the pair of rollers of the document conveyance mechanism from a separated state to a contacted state before a leading edge of a next original document sheet reaches the reading position.

Image processing apparatus, image reading apparatus, and document conveyance device

An apparatus for transporting sheets into a fixed image reading position has a drive roller and a pad. The pad has a lower layer made of a flexible material and an upper layer provided on the lower layer and made of rigid material in the form of film with a kinetic friction coefficient of 0.2 or less. The is biased to the drive roller so that the upper layer contacts a peripheral surface of the drive roller to form a nipping region between the drive roller and the pad by a compressive deformation of the flexible lower layer of the pad.

Apparatus for transporting a sheet into a reading position

The present invention is to provide an image reader including a transparent substrate, which can be used effectively for an extended lifetime. The image reader comprises a transparent substrate and a stationary image pickup opposed to the transparent substrate for reading an image of an original document while the document is being transported between the transparent substrate and the stationary image pickup. The transparent substrate can be turned around and/or upside down relative to the image pickup in order to use the transparent substrate for an extended its service time. Also, the transparent substrate includes at least one first indicator showing an arrangement order how the transparent substrate has been turned around relative to the image pickup.

Image reader

A binding member removing apparatus comprises a tray for mounting thereon a bundle D of document sheets bound with a staple S, a removing unit for removing the staple S from the bundle D of document sheets mounted on the tray , and a moving unit for moving the staple S removed by the removing unit . The removing unit is provided with an inserting member to be passed between the bundle of document sheets and the binding member binding the bundle of document sheets and the inserting member is provided with a plurality of elongated parts formed in the shape of a comb having teeth extended in the direction of insertion thereof. The inserting member optionally comprises a first inserting member to be passed between the obverse face of the bundle D of document sheets and the staple S and a second inserting member to be passed between the reverse face of the bundle D of document sheets and the staple S as a binding member. The binding member removing device is further provided with discerning means for forming a judgment whether or not the staple S has been removed from the bundle D of document sheets after the operation for removal of the staple S by the removing unit

Binding member removing apparatus, automatic document feeder, sheet processing apparatus, and image forming apparatus

The rotation of the second conveyance rollers located downstream from the first conveyance rollers, which are located downstream from the thermal fixing device of the image forming apparatus, is stopped for a prescribed period of time, or the speed of the second conveyance rollers is made slower than that of the first conveyance rollers. A loop is formed in the sheet through this difference in rotation speed, and the curling of the sheet caused through the thermal fixing is corrected. A torque limiter (or one-way clutch) is mounted at least in the drive path for either the first or second conveyance path. When a rigid sheet such as thick paper or low-moisture paper&mdash;for which curling is not likely&mdash;is conveyed, slipping occurs in the drive path due to the rigidity of the sheet itself, and the loop formation is automatically cancelled. When a high-moisture thin sheet, in which curling is likely, is conveyed, no slipping occurs in the drive path and a loop in the opposite direction from the curling is formed, whereby the curling is reliably corrected.

Sheet decurling apparatus

The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus for conveying a sheet in recirculation. The apparatus comprises a feed tray on which a plurality of sheets are set, a discharge tray on which the plurality of sheets are discharged, a feed mechanism for feeding the plurality of sheets set on the feed tray one by one, a recirculation conveying mechanism for conveying the sheet fed by the feed mechanism to discharge it on the discharge tray and return it to the feed tray, and a plurality of stoppers. The stoppers are disposed at different positions along the sheet conveying direction correspondingly to the sheet size. Each of the plurality of stoppers is moveable between an operation position and a withdrawal position and restricts the front end of the sheet discharged on the discharge tray to align the sheet in the operation position.

Sheet conveying apparatus

The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus comprising a separating mechanism and a conveying mechanism. The separating mechanism separates a plurality of sheets to convey it one by one. The separating mechanism applies a friction force to the sheet to be conveyed in a direction opposite to the sheet conveying direction. The separating mechanism has a plurality of separating members disposed in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. The conveying mechanism receives and conveys the sheet separated by the separating mechanism. The conveying mechanism has a plurality of conveying rollers disposed in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. An outermost profile width of the conveying rollers in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction is smaller than that of the separating rollers.

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Toyokawa, Japan

Noritoshi Maruchi