Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Sunao Chubachi

Toshihiro Ishii

Kazuhiko Adachi

Fumikazu Hoshi

Yoshihiro Oba

Toshihide Sasaki

Masayuki Fujiwara

Yoichiro Takahashi

Yoshihiro Misaka

An optical sensor, an optical examination device, and a method of detecting optical properties. The optical sensor includes an irradiation system including light irradiator to irradiate a test object with light, and a detection system to detect the light that is emitted from the irradiation system to the test object and has propagated through the test object. The light irradiator includes a multilayered structure having an active layer, and the multilayered structure includes a surface-emitting laser element and a photo-sensing element optically connected to the surface-emitting laser element. The optical examination device includes the optical sensor, and a controller to calculate optical properties of the test object based on a detection result of the optical sensor. The method includes performing optical simulation to obtain a detection light quantity distribution for an optical model and performing inverse problem estimation.

Optical sensor, optical examination device, and optical property detection method

A sensor apparatus includes an irradiation system with a light source configured to emit linearly polarized light of a first polarization direction onto a sheet-like object, in a direction oblique to a direction orthogonal to a surface of the object, a first photodetector arranged on an optical path of light that is emitted from the irradiation system and then is reflected at the object by regular reflection, a first optical element, arranged on an optical path of light reflected by diffuse reflection from an incidence plane of the object, configured to transmit linearly polarized light of a second polarization direction that is orthogonal to the first polarization direction, a second photodetector configured to receive light that has passed through the first optical element, and a detection unit configured to detect at least one of basis weight and thickness of the object.

Sensor apparatus and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A sensor device includes an irradiation unit that includes a light source and irradiates an object with light, an optical detection unit disposed on an optical path of light emitted from the irradiation unit and reflected at the object, at least one object sensor that detects presence of the object, and a controller that controls the light source based on output from the object sensor.

Sensor device, image forming apparatus, and control method for light source

A focus point detecting apparatus comprises a HPF which extracts a high-frequency component from a picked-up image, and an ABS circuit which obtains an absolute value of the outputs of the HPF. A base clipping circuit removes a component equal to or less than a first threshold value from the output of the ABS circuit, and an another base clipping circuit removes a component equal to or less than a second threshold value which is larger than the first threshold value from the output of the ABS circuit. An integrator integrates the output of one of the base clipping circuits and an another integrator integrates the output of the other base clipping circuit. Finally, a computing circuit detects a focus point according to the integrated values in the two integrators. Therefore, focus point can be detected with higher precision.

Growing community of inventors

Miyagi, Japan

Sunao Chubachi