Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Ryoh Idehara

Kaoru Tada

Kazuyoshi Kondo

Genta Hagiwara

Nobuhiko Kita

Yuusuke Furuichi

Sei Onuma

Tadashi Okano

Kazuyoshi Matsumoto

Yoshinori Uchino

Daisuke Nakamura

Yoichi Ito

Tomomi Katoh

Takeyuki Kobayashi

Tsuguyori Kemma

Yuuzoh Obata

Satoshi Kunioka

Kenji Hiratani

Tsuyoshi Miyata

Yusuke Furuichi

A heating apparatus includes a body and a holder removably placed inside the body. The holder removably holds a heating object. A receiver removably holds the holder. A heater heats the heating object held by the holder held by the receiver. A mover moves one of the receiver and the heater vertically relative to another one of the receiver and the heater to a non-contact heating position where the heating object is isolated from the heater.

Heating apparatus and image forming system

A printer includes a body, a cloth holder to hold a cloth thereon, a receiver to hold and move back and forth while holding the cloth holder partially within the body of the printer, and a printing unit to print an image on the cloth held by the cloth holder held on the receiver. The cloth holder is detachably attached to the receiver while holding the cloth thereon.

Printer, cloth holder, holder with cloth, and cloth printing system

A liquid container includes a first chamber and a second chamber to contain liquid to be supplied to a head and a liquid path to connect the first chamber and the second chamber so that liquid communicates between the first chamber and the second chamber. Each of the first chamber and the second chamber has a flexible wall. The first chamber includes a first spring inside the first chamber to press the flexible wall of the first chamber outward. The second chamber includes a second spring inside the second chamber to press the flexible wall of the second chamber outward. A pressing force of the first spring is greater than a pressing force of the second spring. A first feeler disposed outside the first chamber and in contact with the flexible wall of the first chamber, and the first feeler is displaced according to a movement of the flexible wall of the first chamber.

Liquid container and liquid discharger

An image forming apparatus includes a media roll, an image forming device, a conveyance unit, and a controller. In the roll, a printing medium having an adhesive face and no separation sheet on the adhesive face is wound in a roll shape. In pulling back the medium to the roll, the controller sets a linear velocity of the roll to be not lower than a linear velocity of a conveyance rotator of the conveyance unit. The controller controls a velocity difference between the roll and the rotator to be Va from a start of pulling back the medium to when a separation point of the medium from the roll reaches a tangent line of the roll in an area between the roll and the rotator. When the separation point reaches the tangent line, the controller switches the velocity difference from Va to Vb that is smaller than Va.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus including a sheet container, a sheet stacking member to closably open the sheet container; a restriction unit to restrict a swinging movement of the sheet stacking member, and a stopper mechanism to restrict insertion of the sheet container into the image forming apparatus in a state in which the sheet stacking member swings open from the sheet container. The stopper mechanism includes a stopped member provided to the sheet container and being movable vertically along the swinging movement of the sheet stacking member, and a stopper member provided to the image forming apparatus and being contactable with the stopped member. The stopped member includes a stopped surface contacted by the stopper member in a state in which the stopped member is lifted; and a switching surface adjacent to the stopped surface and vertically moving the stopped member by contact against the stopper member.

In a paper feeder, a signal switching unit switches a paper present signal output from a paper detector to a paper absent signal indicative of absence of a paper in the second paper cassette if a first paper cassette is pulled out from a specific position.

Paper feeder and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier, a latent image forming unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier, at least one developing device disposed to contact the latent image carrier to develop the latent image with developer stored therein, a cooling mechanism including at least one cooling device disposed close to the developing device to cool the developing device, a developer amount detector electrically connected to the developing device to detect an amount of the developer remaining in the developing device, and a cooling mechanism controller connected to the cooling mechanism to change a cooling power of the cooling mechanism according to a detection result generated by the developer amount detector. The developing device includes a rotary member whose shaft is rotationally supported by at least one bearing and is not to be supplied with new developer while any developer remains therein.

Image forming apparatus having developing device cooling mechanism, and control method therefor

An image forming apparatus comprises a sheet feeding cassette, a printing unit, and a sheet ejection tray. A first conveyance unit feeds the recording sheet from a front side of the sheet feeding cassette and inverts and conveys it to the printing unit. A path of a switchback conveyance unit extends from the printing unit to let the recording sheet switch back after the printing in an opposite direction to that the recording sheet is conveyed to the printing unit. A front and back side inversion conveyance unit conveys the printing sheet to the sheet ejection tray with a printed surface of the printing sheet facing down. Both of the sheet feeding position on the conveyance unit and the front and back side inversion conveyance unit are arranged on the front side in the image forming apparatus.

Conveyance mechanism and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A holding unit turns, while holding a latent image writing unit, centered on a turning axis that is arranged on a main body of an image forming apparatus between an opening position and a closing position with respect to the main body. A positioning unit arranged on the main body positions the latent image writing unit with respect to the image carrier, when the holding unit is at the closing position. A biasing unit biases the latent image writing unit to make a contact with the positioning unit. A shock absorbing unit absorbs a shock received by the holding unit and the latent image writing unit when the holding unit is moved from the opening position to the closing position.

An image forming apparatus capable of reliably positioning a process unit in a main image forming apparatus body, without impairing ease of mounting/dismounting of the process unit achieved by a simple structure. The image forming apparatus including a convex section, provided on the process unit, that projects towards the insertion side; an engagement section, provided on the main apparatus body, that positions the process unit in a width direction by engaging with the convex section; and a guidance section, provided on at least one of a tip end of the convex section and the main apparatus body, that guides the convex section towards the guidance section when mounting the process unit.

Image forming apparatus including a mechanism for reliably mounting a process unit

A biasing unit biases an exposing unit with respect to a main unit in at least one direction in a direction approaching the main body, so that the exposing unit makes contact with the main body in at least one portion to determine a position of the exposing unit with respect to the main body. A buffer unit relieves an impact the exposing unit receives from the main body, provided at or near the portion where the exposing unit makes contact with the main body. An attachment forming portion is provided for attaching the buffer unit in switching a functional state of the buffer unit between a buffer functional state and a buffer non-functional state.

Image forming apparatus including a latent image carrier and an exposing unit

An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of process units, a plurality of latent image carriers, an optical writing unit, an upper cover, and a pitch positioning member. The pitch positioning member including a plurality of abutting portions so as to regulate movements of the plurality of process units in the horizontal direction by abutting each of the plurality of process units. The pitch positioning member including a plurality of notches extending from an upper portion to a lower portion of each of the respective plurality of abutting portions with a predetermined pitch.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and supporting mechanism

A process cartridge includes a photoconductor driven by gears, a developing roller, an agitator. The process cartridge is mounted on an image forming apparatus that forms an image with toner. The process cartridge includes an air inlet and an air outlet on a side plate thereof. The gears are arranged along a path between the air inlet and the air outlet.

Process cartridge having air inlets and outlets for cooling gears disposed in the process cartridge

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrying member carrying a latent image and a development device disposed along a surface of the image carrying member. The development device includes a developer storing case storing a developer, a developer carrying member carrying the developer to develop the latent image with the developer in an area in which the surface of the developer carrying member faces the surface of the image carrying member, a developer supplying member supplying the developer carrying member with the developer, a metal member extending in an axial direction of the developer carrying member to receive heat conducted from the developer, and a heat releasing device provided on at least one of the outer sides of the developer storing case in the axial direction of the developer carrying member and disposed in contact with the metal member to release the heat conducted from the metal member.

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Hyogo, Japan

Ryoh Idehara