Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.

Minolta Camera K.k.

Takuma Ishikawa

Kuniaki Ishiguro

Akiyoshi Johdai

Hirokazu Matsuo

Toshio Matsui

Yuusuke Morigami

Wataru Hamakawa

Hiroyasu Nagato

Hirofumi Tanahashi

Yoshihito Hirano

Kazutaka Takemura

Yusuke Morigami

Yoshikazu Ikenoue

Hirokazu Yamada

Masahide Ueda

Shizuo Yuge

Hiroki Yamashita

Takashi Onishi

Kazuhito Ozawa

Yasuhiko Doi

Akira Ohhata

Toshio Yamamoto

Susumu Sakakibara

Kunihiko Katsuta, Deceased

Masayoshi Horikawa

Tadashi Maruyama

Yoshihiro Matsuyama

Naoki Kubo

Fumitoshi Atsumi

Yuusuk Morigami

By Shikou Komaki, Legal Representative

Syuichi Katohgi

Nobuo Kito

A sheet aligning apparatus for a copying machine having a loading unit capable of loading a plurality of stacked sheets. A comparing unit determines and compares respective sizes of at least two sheets partially stacked and loaded on the loading unit. An alignment unit carries out alignment when the width of a sheet of a first job is the same or smaller than a sheet of a second job and inhibits carrying out alignment when the width of a sheet of the first job is greater than a sheet of the second job. The apparatus further includes first and second discharge units for discharging a group of sheets from respective first and second jobs onto the load unit. A determination unit determines successiveness of the first and second jobs and, based on a result of the determination, a post-processing unit executes post-processing for the group of sheets of the first job upon completion of discharging the group of sheets of the second job.

Sheet aligning apparatus and processing apparatus used for copy machine

An automatic document feeder for conveying a document on a platen glass. Back-up rollers for pressing a conveyer belt against the platen glass are loosely supported by a body frame. The shafts of a driving roller and a driven roller for rotating the conveyer belt, and the supporting member of the back-up rollers each have an end which is detachable from the body frame. The body frame has a first frame pivoted on a copying machine and a second frame for holding the conveyer belt and its motor. The second frame is connected with the first frame such that the second frame is movable from and to the platen glass with a specified range, and further the second frame is urged in a direction separating from the platen glass. The second frame is also movable in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the pivot of the first frame extends.

Automatic document feeder

Copying apparatus capable of high speed document exchange and high speed copying. Sets an original at the exposure position and prefeeds at least two originals to their respective standby positions. Pre-fed originals are detected by various sensors. Prefeeds copy paper for the respective originals based on the aforesaid detection results. Copying efficiency is improved by prefeeding originals and prefeeding copy paper.

Copying apparatus with automatic document feeding device

An image forming apparatus having a refeeding unit for temporarily containing image-formed sheets as a horizontal pile and for refeeding the sheets for the second image forming operation. The refeeding unit can be pulled out from a body frame in the direction perpendicular to a sheet transporting direction. A setting position of the refeeding unit in the body frame can be adjusted to be parallel with the sheet transporting direction. The refeeding unit has an intermediate tray on which the sheets are piled, a refeeding roller which feeds the sheets piled on the intermediate tray from the most bottom sheet successively one by one, a sheet front end aligning member, a sheet rear end aligning member, a sheet side aligning member and a sheet pressing plate which, every time a sheet is transported to the intermediate tray and every time a sheet is refed from the intermediate tray, presses the sheet toward the refeeding roller.

Image forming apparatus including a sheet refeeding unit

In an original transfer apparatus, a pair of rollers around which a transfer belt is stretched and pressing rollers provided between the pair of rollers and adapted to press the transfer belt against the platen are held with each end portion of each shaft of the rollers being fixed to a frame of a body of the transfer apparatus so as to be attachable and detachable directly and separately. The fitting of these rollers is executed by fitting at least three end portions of the shafts of the pair of rollers and each end portion of each shaft of the pressing rollers to the frame from a side opposed to the platen of the frame of the body.

Original transfer apparatus

A sorter-finisher wherein sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus are distributed among a plurality of bins in a sorter unit, and thereafter the sheets are taken out of each bin and transported to a finisher unit to be finished. The bins are put one upon another, and they are movable up and down. A take-out unit for taking sheets out of each bin in order to transport the sheets to the finisher unit is installed above the bins positioned for the distributing operation. Each bin is moved up to the position facing the take-out unit and further is laterally moved toward the take-out unit, and the sheets in the bin are taken out thereof nipped by a pair of rollers. Further, the sorter-finisher comprises a transporting unit which is a route from the discharge portion of the image forming apparatus to a receiving/take-out portion of the sorter unit, and sheets are transported to the bins and also transported to the finisher unit through the transporting unit.

Sorter-finisher provided for an image forming apparatus

An automatic original feeding handler adapted for transporting an original to a reading portion in an image forming apparatus. The automatic original feeding handler is provided with an accommodating portion upwardly provided with respect to the reading portion for accommodating originals stacked therein, a supplying member for supplying a lowermost original of the stacked originals one by one to the reading portion, a transporting member for transporting on the reading portion the original supplied by the supplying member and returning that original to the accommodating portion, a counting member for counting the number of the originals and a control member for controlling the supplying member so as to change the timing for start of supplying the original according to a count value counted by the counting member.

Recirculating document handler and image forming apparatus equipped

An automatic document handler adapted for transporting an original document to a reading portion in an image forming apparatus. The automatic document handler is provided with an accommodating portion the reading portion for accommodating stacked original documents therein, a supplying member for supplying a lowermost original document of the stacked original documents one by one to the reading portion, a transporting member for transporting on the reading portion the original supplied by the supplying member and returning the original to the accommodating portion, a counting member for counting the number of the original documents and a control member for controlling the supplying member so as to change the timing for the start of the supplying of the original document according to a count value counted by the counting member.

A copying apparatus having an automatic original document feeder (ADF unit), which includes a sheet size detecting system for detecting each size of original documents fed by the ADF unit and a boundary detecting system for detecting a boundary between sets of originals which are placed on a tray of the ADF unit. The boundary detecting system discriminates the boundary between sets of originals based on a variation of the size of the original document, of which the size is detected by the sheet size detecting system.

Copying apparatus

A copying machine having a sorter and a finisher is capable of operating in three different modes: a copying mode with sorting, a copying mode without sorting, and a stapling finish mode. When the stapling finish mode is selected, an automatic magnification selecting mode (AMS mode) is automatically chosen, wherein only copies of one size are made during the copying operation such that unsatisfactory stapling caused by copy sheets of differing size is prevented. Also, if one of a number of sorting bins of the copying machine is not being used while the copying machine is operating in the stapling finish mode, a copying operation can be carried out in the copying mode without sorting, utilizing that bin.

Image forming apparatus having a finisher

An image forming apparatus with a binding function wherein small bands of toner are deposited on paper sheets, a plurality of said sheets are then stacked and thereafter said small bands of deposited toner are fused, thereby binding said sheets. In order to form said small bands of toner on an electrostatic latent image carrier, the present invention is provided with a charger disposed between an exposure position and the developing position so as to be movable perpendicularly to the paper transport direction, an optical shutter disposed in the image exposure optical path and selectably operable, or a scale disposed at one side of a platen glass for preventing light from reaching the image carrier. Said small band of toner formed on the image carrier may be developed by a special toner such as waste toner removed from the surface of the image carrier after being supplied to copy the original document image, white toner, color toner, or highly self-adhesive toner. The apparatus may further comprises controller for controlling the apparatus so as not to form the binding toner on a suitable cover sheet of the sheet stack. The width of the binding toner deposited on the sheet may be controlled so as to be variable by changing the timing for transporting sheets toward a transfer station.

Image forming apparatus with a binding function

A copying apparatus having an automatic document feeder (ADF), and a sorter having a plurality of bins. The apparatus comprises an input mechanism for setting the number of sheets to be copied with respect to one original document; a detecting system for detecting a boundary between units of originals; a first control system for controlling the sorter so that the bins are altered one to another every time the boundary is detected by the detecting system when the number of sheets is set to one; a second control system for controlling the sorter so that the bins are altered one to another when the number of copied sheets accommodated in one bin exceeds its capacity of each bin while a copying operation for one unit of originals is being performed. When a sheet, inserted between units of originals, whose size is different from the sizes of original documents is fed by the ADF, the detecting system judges that it is the boundary therebetween. The sorter is controlled so as to automatically accommodate copied sheets of one unit of originals in one bin. Further, every time the boundary is detected, bins are shifted by one step, respectively so that copied sheets are accommodated in one bin for each of units of originals. Thus, units of the copied sheets corresponding to units of originals are separately accommodated in the respective bins.

Copying apparatus having a controller capable of sorting groups of

In a sorter-finisher distributing sheets ejected from a copying machine among a plurality of bins and thereafter stapling the distributed sheets, the plurality of bins can move independently from each other within a first area where the sheets are distributed and a second area where the distributed sheets are stapled. Some of the bins among which the sheets are not distributed are continuously moved to said second area without actuating a stapler, and then the other bins among which the sheets are distributed are moved to the second area one by one actuating the stapler. Further, in the sorter-finisher, a finishing mode which allows an operation of the stapler after a distributing process can be selected in the middle of or even after as well as before the distributing process.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Takuma Ishikawa