Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Takashi Enami

Shin Hasegawa

Kazumi Kobayashi

Shinji Kato

Kohta Fujimori

Kayoko Tanaka

Nobutaka Takeuchi

Naoto Watanabe

Shinji Kobayashi

Hitoshi Ishibashi

Yushi Hirayama

Fukutoshi Uchida

Ryohta Morimoto

Natsuko Kawase

Miyo Taniguchi

Nobuyuki Kobayashi

Osamu Ariizumi

Shigeyuki Ishii

Takahiro Kamekura

Takahiro Miyakawa

Jun Kosako

Kiichirou Shimizu

Noboru Sawayama

Yuushi Hirayama

Masami Miyajima

Hiroaki Umezawa

Shinya Tanaka

Hiroshi Aizawa

Jun Sasaki

Kouta Fujimori

Akira Murakata

Masaru Kaneko

Manabu Izumikawa

Yoshiaki Kawai

Tatsuo Hirono

Yuji Hirayama

Kohtaroh Yonenaga

Yukio Tagawa

Takeo Ohashi

Hideki Kamaji

Kentaroh Kurosu

Ryu Hasegawa

Manabu Kodama

Kayoko Ikegami

Takeshi Kowada

Shota Miyajima

Kohichi Kanaya

Kiichiro Shimizu

Takashi Imori

Toyonori Shiho

A vehicle control system determines a travel priority of a vehicle based on a travel condition of the vehicle. In response to detection of an oncoming vehicle ahead of the vehicle along a single guide path, the system compares between the travel priority of the vehicle, and a travel priority of the oncoming vehicle, and selects one of the vehicle and the oncoming vehicle as a vehicle to change a traveling route, to allow the unselected vehicle to continue traveling along the single guide path.

Driverless vehicle, and apparatus, system, and method of vehicle control

An apparatus and a method for controlling a light source used for image reading according to a user activity are provided. The light source controller being coupled to a light source and configured to change the power of the light source from an OFF state to an ON state when a user activity signal having a first state is output, the user activity signal having the first state being assumed to be output when a user activity, other than an instruction to begin scanning, that is assumed to ultimately cause output of the image reading start signal has been performed on the image reading apparatus.

Apparatus and a method for controlling a light source used for image reading

An image forming apparatus includes a direct-transfer control unit that causes a direct-transfer medium and a first image forming unit that forms a single-color image to transfer the single-color image onto either the direct-transfer medium or a transfer sheet; an indirect-transfer control unit that causes an intermediate transfer medium and a second image forming unit that forms a multi-color image to transfer the multi-color image onto the intermediate transfer medium; a secondary-transfer control unit that transfers the single-color image onto the intermediate transfer medium; a sensor that detects an image on the intermediate transfer medium; and a positional-alignment control unit that calculates, using the sensor, an amount of misalignment of the image and corrects, using a position of an image formed by the first image forming unit as a reference position, positions of images to be formed by the second image forming unit based on the calculated amount of misalignment.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program product including a secondary-transfer control unit that transfers a single-color image onto the intermediate transfer medium

An image forming apparatus includes a first image forming unit that directly transfers an image onto a transfer sheet; an intermediate transfer member onto which an image is transferred; a secondary image forming unit that transfers an image onto the intermediate transfer member; a secondary transfer unit that transfers the image on the intermediate transfer member onto the transfer sheet; a fixing unit that fixes an image on the transfer sheet at a fixation position; and a guide member that guides the transfer sheet to the fixation position.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method for image forming apparatus, and computer program product

An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer-sheet conveying member that rotates to convey a transfer sheet; a first image forming unit that directly transfers a color image onto the transfer sheet; an intermediate transfer member that rotates while an image is transferred thereon; a second image forming unit that transfers images onto the intermediate transfer member; a secondary transfer unit that transfers the images on the intermediate transfer member onto the transfer sheet; a measuring unit that measures a surface velocity of the transfer-sheet conveying member and the intermediate transfer member; and a control unit that performs phase matching control by accelerating or decelerating the transfer-sheet conveying member or the intermediate transfer member so as to match a phase of fluctuation of the measured surface velocity of the transfer-sheet conveying member and a phase of fluctuation of the measured surface velocity of the intermediate transfer member.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program product

There are provided an image forming apparatus, an image forming method for the image forming apparatus, and a program that can reduce misalignment among images in all colors. Rotation of at least one of a transfer-sheet conveying beltand an intermediate transfer beltis controlled so as to match the phases of fluctuation of the surface speed of the intermediate transfer beltand fluctuation of the surface speed of the transfer-sheet conveying belt, whereby it is possible to keep the periodical speed fluctuations of both the intermediate transfer beltand the transfer-sheet conveying beltto the minimum and reduce misalignment among images in all colors.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method for image forming apparatus, and program

An image forming apparatus includes an encoder that detects a first pulse signal relevant to a conveyance velocity of an intermediate transfer belt, an encoder that detects a second pulse signal relevant to a conveyance velocity of a transfer-paper conveying belt, a print control unit that performs feedback control by using a count value of the first pulse signal per unit time and a target conveyance velocity value common between the conveyance velocity of the intermediate transfer belt and that of the transfer-paper conveying belt so that the conveyance velocity of the intermediate transfer belt attains the target value and also performs feedback-control by using a count value of the second pulse signal per unit time and the target value so that the conveyance velocity of the transfer-paper conveying belt attains the target value.

Image forming apparatus, and method and computer program product for image forming

A first alignment control unit causes a secondary transfer control unit to bring a transfer-sheet conveying belt and an intermediate transfer belt into contact with each other so as to transfer an alignment control pattern formed on the transfer-sheet conveying belt onto the intermediate transfer belt, whereby alignment for colors C and K is performed on the intermediate transfer belt, and furthermore a second alignment control unit causes the secondary transfer control unit to separate the transfer-sheet conveying belt and the intermediate transfer belt from each other so as to perform alignment for colors Y, M, and C, whereby alignment is performed for all the colors.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and program

An image forming apparatus includes a direct transfer control unit that controls a direct transfer unit and a first image forming unit so as to directly transfer an image onto a transfer sheet, an indirect transfer control unit that controls an intermediate transfer unit and a second image forming unit so as to transfer images onto the intermediate transfer unit, a secondary transfer control unit that controls contact/separation between the direct transfer unit and the intermediate transfer unit, a first alignment control unit that corrects an amount of misalignment among the images formed on the intermediate transfer unit, thereby performing a first alignment control process, and a second alignment control unit that corrects an amount of misalignment of an image directly transferred onto the transfer sheet with respect to the image on which the first alignment control process has been performed, thereby performing a second alignment control process.

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrying member, an image forming mechanism, an optical sensor, and a controller. The image forming mechanism performs an image forming operation for forming a reference toner image on the image carrying member under a specific setting associated with the image forming mechanism. The optical sensor is arranged in a vicinity to the image carrying member. The controller performs an optical toner test for checking, by using the optical sensor, optical characteristics of the reference toner image formed on the image carrying member and to adjust the specific setting based on a result of the optical toner test.

Image forming apparatus capable of reducing a lengthy duration of an adjustment control

An image forming apparatus connectable to a first feed tray and a second feed tray includes an image forming unit, a feed path, and a detecting unit provided on the feed path to sense recording medium jam. An identifying unit identifies a feed path and a feed tray where recording medium jam has occurred as a jammed path and a jamming feed tray. A first determining unit determines whether the image forming apparatus is connected to the second feed tray. A second determining unit determines whether the second feed tray can feed a recording medium to the image forming unit. A feeding unit feeds a recording medium from the second feed tray to the image forming unit.

Method, apparatus, and system for forming image

An image forming apparatus, which comprises a toner density detection device for detecting the density of a toner inside a developing device, acquires the number of pixels from inputted image information, calculates the toner replenishment amount from the toner density detection value and the information on the pixels, and thereby performs replenishment control so that excessive replenishment or insufficient replenishment of the toner is not caused. The upper limit value of the amount of toner to be replenished at once to the developing device is changed in accordance with the amount of information on an input image such as the image area, pixels of the input image.

Toner replenishment determination device of an image forming apparatus

A print control unit causes a secondary-transfer control unit to move a secondary transfer unit apart from an intermediate transfer member, causes a direct-transfer control unit to cause a black image forming unit to form a black image and transfer the black image onto a transfer sheet being conveyed along a conveying path, and causes a positional-alignment control unit to perform positional alignment.

Color-image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer program product

In an image forming apparatus a developing device develops an electrostatic latent image on an image carrier with a developer that contains toner to obtain a toner image, a toner-amount detecting unit detects amount of toner attached to the toner image, and a toner-density detecting unit detects a density of toner in the developer. Moreover, a process control unit corrects a toner-density target value indicative of a target value of density of toner in the developer based on the amount of toner detected by the toner-amount detecting unit and the density of toner detected by the toner-density detecting unit, and a determines execution timing of next process based on corrected toner-density target value.

Image forming apparatus for correcting a toner density target value

An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image carriers, an image forming mechanism, a seamless belt-like intermediate transfer body or a transfer material carrier, a detection mechanism, and an optical detecting apparatus. The optical detecting apparatus includes at least a printed board, and a plurality of photodetectors formed of a light-emitting element, a light-receiving element and light-shielding members, which are mounted on the printed board. The optical detecting apparatus is disposed such that it detects a belt surface adjacent to rollers of the intermediate transfer body or the transfer material carrier, and either displacement of a transfer image or image density is detected by a plurality of photodetectors detecting pattern images which are transferred from the plurality of image carriers to the image transfer body or the transfer material carrier.

Method and apparatus for image forming capable of accurately detecting displacement of transfer images and image density

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Kanagawa, Japan

Takashi Enami