Konica Minolta, Inc.

Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Tatsumi Fujishima

Eiji Okabayashi

Satoru Yoneda

Takeshi Kato

Shoichi Suzuki

Naomasa Saito

Hiroaki Hinotani

In a sheet postprocessing apparatus, an accommodation paddle increases a rate of increase in transport force generated for sheets by the accommodation paddle, in conjunction with a rate of increase in transport resistance generated for the sheets by a sheet pressing member with an increase in number of the sheets stacked on a sheet stacker.

Sheet postprocessing apparatus and image forming system

An image reading apparatus includes: an image reader that reads an image of a document; a document conveying apparatus including a housing internally including a conveyance path that conveys the document, and a supply tray designed to supply the document to the conveyance path, and a discharge tray designed to receive the document; and a cover member that covers the supply tray and the discharge tray, wherein in a case where a direction orthogonal to a first direction along a document discharge direction and orthogonal to the up-down direction in the discharge tray is defined as a second direction, the cover member includes an opposing wall opposed to one end of the supply tray and one end of the discharge tray, and an upper wall connected to an upper part of the opposing wall and designed to cover a zone above the supply tray and the discharge tray.

Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus having pivotable cover member with opposing wall and side wall

A toner image formed on a recording member is fixed onto the recording member by a fixing device having a heatable member, a heater for heating the heatable member positioned on one side of the heatable member, the recording member being positioned on an opposite side of the heatable member and spaced from the heatable member to heat the recording member by radiation from the heatable member, and a fixing structure for fixing the toner image on the heated recording member. The heatable member can be a fixing belt arranged in a loop while the heater is an electromagnetic induction coil positioned substantially within the loop. The electromagnetic induction coil generates a magnetic flux perpendicular to the transport direction of the fixing belt to produce an eddy-like induction current in a conductive member of the fixing belt to heat the fixing belt. The fixing belt, in turn, heats the recording member on the exterior side of the belt to soften the toner image thereon. The fixing structure, e.g., a pressure roller, then fixes the toner image on the heated recording member. The heatable member may be a conductive guide member, or a belt arranged in a loop and having a tension roller with the electromagnetic induction coil being arranged on an interior side of the tension roller.

Electromagnetic induction heating type fixing device and method

An image forming apparatus has an image bearing member rotatable in a specified direction, a developing roller for supplying developing material to a latent image formed on the image bearing member, a spacing roller rotatably supported on a shaft of the developing roller and making contact with the edge of the image bearing member in the axial direction, and a seal member having a portion that contacts the image bearing member on the upstream side of the developing roller in the direction of rotating and a portion that contacts the image bearing member on the developing roller side. The spacing roller forms the desired developing gap between the surface of the developing roller and the surface of the image bearing member. The seal member sweeps the surface of the image bearing member so as to mainly prevent the adhesion to the spacing roller of the airborne toner which is in the vicinity of the surface of the image bearing member and the surface of the developing roller. Further, the toner adhering to the surface of the image bearing member is cleaned therefrom by the seal member before the toner reaches the spacing roller. Thus, the precision of the developing gap can be maintained in the desired condition over a long period of time.

Growing community of inventors

Toyokawa, Japan

Tatsumi Fujishima