Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Ryuhei Waragai

Naoki Oikawa

Toshiaki Takahashi

Munehisa Fuda

Kazuki Seto

Masanobu Yoshida

Yukihiko Natsui

Masaru Ohba

Yusaku Matsumoto

Tsuyoshi Sawamoto

A sheet separating device includes a receptacle, a pickup rotator, an air supplier, and a sheet floating restraint. The receptacle is configured to hold a plurality of sheets. The pickup rotator is configured to feed the plurality of sheets one by one from the receptacle. The air supplier includes an air outlet disposed ahead of the receptacle in a sheet feeding direction in which the plurality of sheets is fed. The air supplier is configured to blow air out from the air outlet toward a leading end of the plurality of sheets, held on the receptacle, in the sheet feeding direction. The sheet floating restraint is configured to restrain floating of a part of the plurality of sheets separated from each other by the air blown out from the air outlet.

Sheet separation device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

When a paper feeding ray is set, an arm of a one-armed pinion makes a contact with an abutting member formed in a main unit to which the paper feeding tray is attached. When the paper feeding tray is pushed in, the arm is pushed by the abutting member, the one-armed pinion rotates as the rack member moves, and the one-armed pinion moves in a direction into the paper feeding tray. When a spring is stretched, a bottom plate push-up member rotates up on its rotation center and rises by a predetermined angle to press a bundle of stacked paper sheets against a feed roller, so that the paper sheets can be fed.

Paper feeding device and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a sheet bundle housing unit that houses recording sheets piled as a sheet bundle; a swing member having a sheet contact portion on one end side, and swinging between a projection position at which the sheet contact portion projects above a sheet placement surface of the housing unit and a non-projection position at which the sheet contact portion does not project above the sheet placement surface, the swing member moving from the projection position to the non-projection position by the sheet bundle; a sheet detection unit that detects the sheet bundle in the housing unit using the swing member; and an interlocking mechanism that moves the swing member to the non-projection position, regardless of presence or absence of the sheet bundle in the housing unit, by interlocking with the housing unit being pulled out from an apparatus body.

Image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Ryuhei Waragai