Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Tatsuaki Nagano

Toshiyuki Horikawa

Yasunobu Youda

Yohei Osanai

Takayuki Andoh

Satoshi Narai

Takuji Kawai

Kaoru Tada

Koji Hatayama

Daisuke Imaki

Munekazu Hirata

Koichi A Ono

Hideo Tanaka

Takeshi Shikama

Kazushige Kawamura

Susumu Miyazaki

Tetsuo Inui

Shingo Shiramura

Yasuo Kosuga

Yuki Fujii

Hiroshi Kubo

Takashi Fujii

Takeshi Akai

Masatoshi Ishida

Norio Kimura

Kenichiro Morita

Hideki Tobinaga

Hiroshi Kusumoto

Tomoya Fujii

Naoto Kitamura

Hiroaki Ikeda

Takuro Sekiya

Genta Hagiwara

Shinya Kitaoka

Akira Hirose

Motoya Sano

Masashi Kohchi

Masafumi Kishi

Masahiro Taniuchi

A sheet conveying device includes a separator to separate a sheet from sheets. The separator includes a separation conveyor; a separation resistance member to press against the separation conveyor via the sheet; a resistance-member holder; a biasing member to contact and bias the resistance-member holder to press the separation resistance member toward the separation conveyor, the resistance-member holder to rotate about a resistance-member rotary shaft to separate from the biasing member in detaching from an apparatus body; and a biasing-member holder configured to rotate about a biasing-member rotary shaft to more incline the biasing member in a state, in which the biasing member is spaced apart from the resistance-member holder, in a moving direction of the resistance-member holder to detach from the apparatus body than the biasing member in a biasing state in which the biasing member biases the resistance-member holder in contact with the resistance-member holder.

Sheet conveying device, image reading device, and image forming apparatus

An image reading device includes a plurality of conveyance rollers to convey a sheet, a motor to drive the plurality of conveyance rollers, an image reading unit to read an image of the sheet, a control device to perform a stop control that stops the sheet in a course of a conveyance path, and a clutch to transmit a driving force of the motor. A first conveyance roller group includes at least one of the plurality of conveyance rollers upstream from a leading end of the sheet stopped by the stop control in a conveyance direction, to which the driving force is transmitted via the clutch. A second conveyance roller group includes at least one of the plurality of conveyance rollers downstream from the leading end of the sheet stopped by the stop control in the conveyance direction, to which the driving force is transmitted without the clutch.

Image reading device configured to selectively stop a sheet based on image reading readiness and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An image-reading unit includes an original document conveyor that includes a first original document tray to hold an original document to be read, a first original document feeding port to feed the original document placed on the first original document tray, and an original document conveying path to convey the original document from the first original document feeding port to an original document discharging port. The original document conveyor further includes an openable second original document tray attached near an intermediate portion of the original document conveying path to hold an original document when opened, and a second original document feeding port to feed the original document on the second original document tray. The image-reading unit further includes an image reader to read an image of the original document being conveyed along the original document conveying path.

Image reading unit

A rotation drive device includes a driven rotation member, a driving rotation member, a rotation relay member, a shaft, and a holder. The rotation relay member transmits only a unidirectional rotational driving force from the driving rotation member to the driven rotation member. The rotation relay member includes a housing and a cylindrical one-way clutch. A contact portion between the driving rotation member and the shaft is configured to rotate the driving rotation member and the shaft to transmit the driving force to an inner peripheral side of the cylindrical one-way clutch via the shaft. The driving rotation member includes a boss projected toward the holder and rotatably held in the holder. A portion of the shaft to support the driving rotation member and an inner wall surface of a through hole of the driving rotation member are shaped to rotate the shaft and the driving rotation member. together.

Rotation drive device, image reading device, and image forming apparatus

An image reading device includes: a reading unit; a first detecting unit that detects a position of the reading unit in the sub-scanning direction; a second detecting unit that detects a position of the reading unit in the sub-scanning direction; and a calculating unit that calculates a skew quantity and a skew direction of the reading unit, based on a difference, introduced by the skew, between a travel distance by which the reading unit has travelled from a measurement reference position located on an upstream side of the first detecting unit and the second detecting unit in a moving direction to a point where the reading unit is detected by the first detecting unit, and a travel distance by which the reading unit has travelled from the measurement reference position to a point where the reading unit is detected by the second detecting unit.

Image reading device, method and non-transitory computer-readable medium for detecting moving image reader positions to correct skew

A document feeder, which may be incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes a sheet conveying guide, at least one recess, a frame, and at least one protrusion. The sheet conveying guide is disposed facing an exposure glass on an apparatus body and guides an original document passing over the exposure glass when the document feeder is closed to the apparatus body. The recess is disposed on the apparatus body at both ends of the exposure glass in a lateral direction orthogonal to a document conveying direction. The frame is openably closable about one end side of the apparatus body in the lateral direction and vertically movably holds the sheet conveying guide. The protrusion is disposed on the frame facing the recess. The sheet conveying guide and the frame are secured to each other while the recess and the protrusion are engaged with each other in the closed state.

Document feeder and image forming apparatus incorporating the document feeder

An automatic document feeder, which is included in an image reading device and an image forming apparatus, includes first and second document trays, a document output tray, a document conveying passage, multiple document conveying bodies, a drive source, a detector, and a controller. The multiple document conveying bodies include a document holding and conveying body to convey and hold the original document sheet on the second document tray. On detection of the original document sheet on the second document tray while conveying a different original document sheet from the first document tray, the controller stops feeding the different original document sheet, causes the different original document sheet downstream from the document holding and conveying body in a document conveying direction to be conveyed to the document output tray, and stops the drive source after the different original document has been conveyed to the document output tray.

Automatic document feeder, image reading device incorporating the automatic document feeder, and image forming apparatus incorporating the image reading device with the automatic document feeder

An image reading device, which may be incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes an image reader, a color reference body, a biasing body, a reading gap forming device, and a driving device. The image reader reads an image of an original document. The color reference body has a white reference face to position facing the image reader within a predetermined range in a document width direction. The biasing body biases the color reference body to the image reader. The reading gap forming device forms a reading gap while receiving a biasing force from the biasing body on the outside of the predetermined range. The driving device has a force drive transmission body engaged with a center of the color reference body in the document width direction and drives the color reference body in the document width direction at the center via the force drive transmission body.

Shade correcting image reading by biasing force of a color reference body in the document width direction

An image reading device, which is included in an image forming apparatus, includes a first transparent body, a second transparent body, a holding body, and a reading body. The second transparent body is disposed separated from and inclined at a predetermined angle to the first transparent body. The holding body holds the first and second transparent bodies. The reading body moves in a sub-scanning direction along the first and second transparent bodies. The holding body includes a flat face and a frame-shaped face. The flat face is contiguous to the first transparent body on a same plane and smoothly connected with the second transparent body. The frame-shaped face projects outwardly beyond the second transparent body facing the reading body. The reading body moves and contacts the first transparent body and the holding body, and moves with a gap relative to the second transparent body.

Image reading device and image forming apparatus incorporating the image reading device

An automatic document feeding device includes a document tray, an ejection tray, and a document takeout port. The document tray is rotatably attached to a rotation fulcrum provided in a body of the automatic document feeder, to load a document. The document tray includes a first positioner and a second positioner. The first positioner is disposed at a front side of the body in a direction perpendicular to a document feed direction. The second positioner is disposed at a depth side of the body in the direction perpendicular to the document feed direction. The first positioner is disposed upstream from the rotation fulcrum in the document feed direction and above the document takeout port in the body. An upper portion and side surfaces of the first positioner in the direction perpendicular to the document feed direction are surrounded by the document tray in a closed state of the document tray.

Automatic document feeding device

An automatic document feeding device includes a conveyance unit, an image reading unit, a color reference member, a moving assembly, and a drive source. The drive source includes a rotation output shaft to drive the conveyance unit and the moving assembly. The drive source changes the rotation output shaft from a forward rotation direction to a reverse rotation direction to reversely rotate the rotation output shaft to a set reverse rotation angle set in advance, according to a condition of conveyance of the document. In a rotation transmission route from the rotation output shaft to the moving assembly, the movement regulator is disposed in a first reverse rotation drive region from when a rotation direction of the rotation output shaft is changed to the reverse rotation direction to when a rotation angle of the rotation output shaft after the change in the reverse rotation direction reaches the set reverse rotation angle.

Automatic document feeding device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An automatic document feeder that is included in an image reader of an image forming apparatus includes a sheet conveying roller, a document feeder cover, a projection piece, a motor, a driving side gear, and a driving force transmission device including an idler gear, a driving force release gear, a slide body, a first elastic body to bias the idler gear and the driving force release gear to be separated, a second elastic body to bias the driving force release gear and the slide body to be separated, and a drive shaft. The driving force transmission device meshes the driving and driven side meshing portions together with a biasing force applied by the second elastic body when the document feeder cover is closed, and releases the driving and driven side meshing portions with a biasing force applied by the first elastic body when the document feeder cover is opened.

Automatic document feeder, image reading device incorporating the automatic document feeder, and image forming apparatus incorporating the image reading device

A sheet conveyance device includes a sheet mount on which a standard-sized sheet is mountable; a first conveyor to bring in the sheet from the mount, convey the sheet through a reverse conveyance path such that the sheet passes through a specific operation position, and eject the sheet into a sheet ejection area outside the mount; and a second conveyor to bring in a hard sheet with a higher bending rigidity than the sheet from one end of a straight conveyance path along a plane passing through the specific position of the reverse path, and eject the hard sheet conveyed along the straight path from another end of the straight path at a sheet ejection area side. The mount includes a hard sheet ejection port to let through at least a leading edge portion of the hard sheet to be ejected from the second conveyor in a sheet ejection direction.

Sheet conveyance device

An image scanner, which is incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes a stationary-document reading section, a moving-document reading section disposed at an angle to the stationary-document reading section, a reader movable between the stationary-document reading section and the moving-document reading section, and a reading element movable to different angles while contacting the stationary-document reading section and the moving-document reading section to selectively read a document placed on the stationary-document reading section and a document moving over the moving-document reading section. The image scanner further includes any one of position detector, a combination of a moving device and at least one position sensor, and a combination of at least one pressing member, a framework, and an angle changer.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Tatsuaki Nagano