Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Teppei Kikuchi

Tatsuya Kubo

Shinnosuke Koshizuka

Kentaro Nodera

Hideki Kosugi

Emi Kita

Susumu Tateyama

Akira Fujimori

Akihiro Takayama

Toshio Koike

Keinosuke Kondoh

Kazuhiro Aso

Michiharu Suzuki

Hideo Yoshizawa

Shinya Tanaka

Tadashi Ogawa

Yutaka Takahashi

Makoto Yasuda

Atsushi Nakamoto

Nobuo Kuwabara

Jun Shiori

Kenji Nozawa

Kazunori Suzuki

Kohki Asada

Tetsuya Muto

Hiroki Ishihara

Kentaro Mikuniya

Yusuke Komine

Yuuki Gotoh

Yu Takahashi

Takehiro Nakamura

A device attaches and detaches at least one of rollers in a belt conveyor in which an endless belt is wound around the rollers between a front plate and a rear plate of the belt conveyor. The device includes a guide and a roller holder. The guide has a base end and extends along a longitudinal direction of the detachable roller and includes a guide groove. The roller holder holds the detachable roller and includes an engagement portion, another engagement portion, and a guided portion. The engagement portion detachably engages with the front plate. The other engagement portion detachably engages with the rear plate. The guided portion slides along the guide groove toward the rear side or the front side of the device to engage or disengage the engagement portion with or from the front plate and engage or disengage the other engagement portion with or from the rear plate.

Device for attaching and detaching roller, and belt conveyor including the device

An embroidery system includes a data reading device to read three-dimensional data of a design of an embroidery. The embroidery system includes processing circuitry to process the three-dimensional data read by the data reading device, to create embroidery data using height information included in the three-dimensional data. The embroidery system includes an embroidery forming section to form the embroidery on a target object according to the embroidery data created by the processing circuitry. The embroidery system includes a recording head to discharge a liquid droplet from a nozzle. The embroidery system includes control circuitry to control an operation of the recording head. The embroidery data includes data relating to an embroidery density that is a density of a thread in the embroidery and data relating to an application amount of the liquid droplet to be applied to the thread in the embroidery.

Embroidery system

A powder container includes a powder chamber for containing powder for forming images, a powder outlet formed in a face of the powder container, and a shutter assembly to open and close the powder outlet and including first and second shutters. The first shutter is movable between a sealing position to close the powder outlet and an open position to open the powder outlet and includes a pressed member to cancel retention of the first shutter at the sealing position. The second shutter includes a pressing projection that interferes with the pressed member of the first shutter and is movable between a shielding position to cover the pressed member without interference between the pressing projection and the pressed member and a releasing position to press the pressed member with the pressing projection.

Powder container, powder supply device, and image forming apparatus including same

An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of developer containers to contain different types of developers and a container mount in which the plurality of developer containers is removably installed and arranged adjacent to each other. Each of the developer containers includes an engagement portion. The engagement portion of one of the developer containers engages the engagement portion of another of the developer containers adjacent to the one of the developer containers when the developer containers are installed in the container mount in a predetermined order, to allow the developer containers to be installed. Further, the engagement portion of one of the developer containers interferes with the engagement portion of another of the developer containers adjacent to the one of the developer containers when the developer containers are installed in the container mount in a different order from the predetermined order, to prevent the developer containers from being installed.

Image forming apparatus with a plurality of developer container each having an engagement portion

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, a removable component configured to be removably installed in an installation position in the apparatus body, a cover configured to open and close when the removable component is removed from or installed in the installation position, a replacement removable component configured to be installable in and removable from the installation position in which the removable component is installed, and a holder configured to hold the replacement removable component at a different position from the installation position when the removable component is installed in the installation position and the cover opens. The replacement removable component held by the holder is configured to inhibit the cover from closing.

Image forming apparatus including a removable component which is held by holder

An image forming apparatus includes image bearers, developing devices, developer containers, and developer supply devices. The image bearers are arranged side by side along a movement direction of an intermediate transferor or a sheet. The developing devices, the developer containers, and the developer supply devices are configured to be rearrangeable for each color in the movement direction in a manner that one or each of a developing device, a developer container, and a developer supply device corresponding to each color of the different colors is detached from and attached to the image forming apparatus, separately from a rest of the developing device, the developer container, and the developer supply device. The image forming apparatus is configured to be available for use when colors of the developing device, the developer container, and the developer supply device correspond to each other after rearrangement.

Image forming apparatus

A developing device includes a developer bearer opposed to an image bearer, configured to bear developer and rotate in a direction of rotation of the developer bearer, and configured to develop a latent image on the image bearer and a casing opposed to the developer bearer at a position downstream from an opposed position, at which the developer bearer is opposed to the image bearer, in the direction of rotation of the developer bearer. A casing gap between the developer bearer and the casing continuously decreases or increases from a first end of the developing device to a second end of the developing device across a center of the developing device in a longitudinal direction of the developing device.

Developing device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transferor to rotate in a predetermined rotation direction, a plurality of image bearers disposed along the intermediate transferor to bear latent images, a plurality of developing devices to develop the latent images, a plurality of developer containers to contain developers, and a plurality of conveyance paths each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of developing devices and a respective one of the plurality of developer containers to supply the developers to the plurality of developing devices respectively. An arrangement of the plurality of developing devices in the predetermined rotation direction is configured to be changed without changing an arrangement of the plurality of developer containers. A layout of the plurality of conveyance paths is configured to be changed without changing connections between a supply source and a supply destination of the plurality of conveyance paths.

Image forming apparatus including developing devices, developing containers, and changeable conveyance paths between the developing devices and the developing containers

An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transferor, a plurality of image bearers, a plurality of developing devices, a plurality of developer containers, a plurality of conveyance paths, and a plurality of sub-hoppers. At least one set of an image bearer, a developing device, and a sub-hopper is disposed at a height different from other sets. The arrangement of the plurality of developing devices and the plurality of sub-hoppers in the rotation direction of the intermediate transferor is changed while satisfying the following. The arrangement of the plurality of developer containers is not changed and the connections between the plurality of developing devices and the plurality of sub-hoppers are not change, while the layout of the plurality of tubes as the plurality of conveyance paths is changed so that the connections between the plurality of tubes and the plurality of sub-hoppers are not changed.

A developing device includes: a developer bearer configured to bear developer thereon; a developer conveyance path for conveying developer to be fed to the developer bearer; a developer conveying member configured to convey the developer in the developer conveyance path; a developer discharge port disposed in the developer conveyance path to discharge developer from the developer conveyance path by overflow; and a contact member configured to be brought into contact with the developer conveyed toward the developer discharge port in the developer conveyance path, the developer conveyance path being configured to receive externally-supplied developer therein, the contact member being configured to repeat a sequence of movements including being elastically deformed by being brought into contact with the developer conveying member being driven and thereafter being elastically restored by being brought out of contact with the developer conveying member.

Developing device and image forming apparatus including a contact member which is elastically deformed

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Kanagawa, Japan

Teppei Kikuchi