Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Satoshi Takanashi

Masanori Matsuda

Hiroshi Tanabe

Hiroshi Kawano

Hiroshi Fujiwara

Yasushi Hashimoto

Kunio Hibi

Genichiro Kawamichi

Yuuji Ohmura

Takahiro Shinga

Katsumi Kurihara

Hironobu Murai

Yuzou Kohno

A conveying device includes a rotator, a drier, and a conveyance direction changer. The rotator winds a web-shaped recording medium around a predetermined region of an outer peripheral surface of the rotator with one side of the web-shaped recording medium facing outward and conveys the recording medium with rotation. The drier is disposed downstream from the rotator in a direction of conveyance of the recording medium, to dry and convey the recording medium. The conveyance direction changer is disposed on a conveyance path of the recording medium between the rotator and the drier. The conveyance direction changer has an outer peripheral surface that includes an opposed region opposed to the one side of the recording medium. The opposed region has openings to blow gas toward the one side of the recording medium. The rotator and the drier are disposed at positions not overlapping with each other in a plan view.

Conveying device, image forming apparatus, liquid discharge device

In an image forming apparatus, a fixing device for fixing a toner image on a paper has an oil applying member for applying oil to a heat roller, and an impurity fixing member for fixing the impurities, including toner and paper dust, to the cleaning member. The impurities transferred from the applying member to the cleaning member are fixed to the cleaning member. As a result, the applying member suffers from a minimum of contamination and can be cleaned when contaminated. This obviates the reverse transfer of the contamination from the applying roller to the heat roller which would lower image quality.

Fixing device for fixing a toner image on a transfer medium by heating

A highly reliable sheet feed device for a copier, facsimile apparatus, printer or similar image forming apparatus and having a plurality of sheet storing portions which are arranged substantially horizontally and serially in an intended direction of sheet transport. The device surely feeds sheets from the storing portions one by one and eliminate sheet jams and defective sheet feed. Further, the device is simple and miniature and capable of accommodating a plurality of kinds of sheets therein.

Sheet feed device for an image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Chigasaki, Japan

Satoshi Takanashi