Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Kyocera Mita Corporation

Mita Industrial Co., Ltd.

Tetsuro Kawashima

Yoshiyuki Takeda

Hideki Takeda

Yasuyuki Hirai

Tsutomu Sugaya

Yoshihiro Ueda

Makoto Okado

Toshiyuki Osaka

Takahiko Murata

Masaki Kadota

Minoru Wada

Takeshi Okuda

Kazuhisa Hirahara

Yuya Shimohora

Hitoshi Oishi

Hirohisa Endoh

Kohji Shin

A conveying device includes a first guide section, a second guide section, and an urging section. The second guide section has a guide center portion and pivots about the guide center portion. The second guide section is pivotable between a guide position and a separation position. The guide position is a position in which the second guide section is located when a conveyance path of a sheet is formed between the second guide section and the first guide section. When the second guide section is in the guide position, the urging section urges the second guide section in a first pivot direction.

Conveying device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device includes a heating belt, a pressing roller, a pressing member and a cap. The pressing member faces an inner circumferential face of the heating belt via a lubricant. The cap is rotating together with the heating belt. The cap has a disk part, a cylindrical part, a gear and a hole part. The cylindrical part has an inner circumferential face coming into contact with the outer circumferential face of the heating belt. The gear is formed integrally with an outer face of the disk part. The hole part penetrates from the inner circumferential face of the cylindrical part to a face between adjacently disposed teeth of the gear. The lubricant flowed from the inner circumferential face of the heating belt to the outer circumferential face of the heating belt flows to a tooth surface of the gear through the hole part.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

A sheet conveyance device transports a sheet to a predetermined processing unit, and includes a conveyance belt, a ventilation unit, and a suction unit. The conveyance belt has a first surface and a second surface, and is arranged to be opposed to the processing unit to transport the sheet on the first surface in a predetermined conveyance direction. On an upstream side of the processing unit in the conveyance direction, the ventilation unit blows out wind toward the sheet to adhere the sheet to the first surface of the conveyance belt. The suction unit is arranged to be opposed to the processing unit with the conveyance belt interposed therebetween to generate a negative pressure between the sheet adhered to the first surface by the ventilation unit and the conveyance belt, thereby bringing the sheet into close contact with the first surface of the conveyance belt.

Sheet conveyance device and image forming apparatus including the same

In a sheet conveying device, a foreign substance separating unit has an air discharge chamber, foreign substance collection chamber, air introduction chamber, a plurality of first air vents formed in a first partition wall that partitions the air introduction chamber and the foreign substance collection chamber, a plurality of second air vents formed in a second partition wall that partitions the air introduction chamber and the air discharge chamber, centrifugal separation parts each including a reverse truncated cone-like wall portion extending downward from each of the first air vents, cylindrical parts that each are provided coaxially with each of the centrifugal separation parts, and an inclination surface portion that is formed around each of the cylindrical parts above each of the first air vents and is inclined in a circumferential direction.

Sheet conveying device and image forming apparatus including the same

A conveying roller unit comprises a first unit, a second unit, and a lock mechanism. The first unit comprises: a roller section; and a hollow cylindrical holder section. The second unit can be removably mounted to the first unit, and comprises: a second connection section; a rod section inserted into the holder section. The lock mechanism includes: a first engagement section provided on the inner circumferential surface of the holder section; a second engagement section provided on the outer circumferential surface of the rod section; and a urging member for pressing the second unit in the direction in which the rod section comes out of the holder section. The urging member maintains the first engagement section and the second engagement section in an engaged state and restricts the position of the second unit relative to the first unit in both the circumferential direction and the rotation axis direction.

Conveying roller unit, and sheet feed device and image forming apparatus each comprising same

An image forming apparatus includes a first conveying path, a second conveying path, a detector, a conveyance guide member and an interlock mechanism. The first conveying path communicates the second conveying path through which a sheet supplied from a supply part is conveyed. The detector detects whether or not the sheet is present in the first conveying path. The conveyance guide member composes the second conveying path and one end part thereof is pivotally supported so as to be able to open/close the second conveying path. The interlock mechanism interlocks the detector with the opening/closing operation of the conveyance guide member. The detector detects the opening/closing operation of the conveyance guide member.

Image forming apparatus

A sheet conveying device is provided in a sheet discharge portion of an image forming apparatus. A curved path and a reverse conveyance path are formed within the sheet conveying device. An outer guide rib and an inner guide rib are provided to a conveyance guide forming a lower-side guide surface of the curved path. The inner guide rib is lower than a reference straight line connecting a pressure contact point of a discharge roller pair to a rotary roller, and the outer guide rib is higher than the reference straight line.

A sheet tray includes a tray section. A rear end portion of the tray section capable of supporting an upstream side of a sheet in a direction of conveyance of the sheet extends in a width direction of the sheet transversely of the direction of conveyance of the sheet. Both ends of the rear end portion of the tray section in the width direction of the sheet are raised upward perpendicularly to a placement surface relative to the middle of the rear end portion in the width direction of the sheet.

Sheet tray, sheet feeder with sheet tray,image forming apparatus with sheet tray, and image reading device with sheet tray

A manual sheet feeder that is an example of a sheet conveying device includes a roller unit in which a rubber roller is mounted on a support member. A separation wall is formed in an internal space of the support member, and a rotation shaft is formed at the separation wall. A slide shaft is provided such that a coil spring is interposed between the rotation shaft and the slide shaft in a compressed state. Movement of the slide shaft from an opening outward in an axial direction is restricted by an elastic engagement piece of a movement restriction mechanism. The elastic engagement piece is formed at a spring holding portion of the slide shaft. In a state where the coil spring is stored in the spring holding portion, a back surface of the elastic engagement piece is supported by the coil spring.

Conveying roller unit, sheet conveying device, and image processing apparatus

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet tray, a sheet feeding roller and a pair of link members. The sheet tray constitutes a loading surface. The sheet tray includes a tray main body and a lifting plate. The tray main body is openable and closable with respect to the wall portion. The lifting plate has a pair of first fulcrum portions disposed upstream of the sheet feeding roller. The downstream side of the lifting plate is rotationally movable up and down around the first fulcrum portions. The tray main body has a pair of second fulcrum portions. The second fulcrum portions are configured to be a pivot point for the opening and closing operation of the tray main body. Each of the pair of link members is coupled to the first fulcrum portion and to the wall portion.

Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus including same

A sheet feed apparatus has sheet tray, sheet conveyance path, sheet feed roller, lift plate, and guide wall. Sheet feed roller is disposed, downstream of sheet tray in sheet conveyance direction, above central portion of sheet tray in sheet width direction perpendicular to sheet conveyance direction, so as to face central portion. Lift plate is movable upward and downward to allow sheet to contact with sheet feed roller. Guide wall is disposed downstream of lift plate in sheet conveyance direction and spaced from lift plate with predetermined gap, to guide the conveyed sheet in diagonally upward direction intersecting placing surface of sheet tray. Both end portions in sheet width direction in front edge portion, of lift plate, facing guide wall are provided with end guide surfaces, respectively, which are inclined upward relative to central portion in sheet width direction.

Sheet feed apparatus, and image forming apparatus and image reading apparatus including the same

An image forming apparatus includes a main body, a developing device, a support frame, a developer case, and an intermediate hopper. The support frame selectively positions the developing device to a detachment position and a developing position. The intermediate hopper includes a first hopper, a second hopper, and a third hopper. The first hopper receives developer from the developer case through a developer inlet port. The second hopper has a developer outlet port, through which the developer is supplied to the developing device. The upper and lower end portions of the third hopper are respectively connected to the first and second hoppers. Parts where the first to third hoppers are connected one another are rotatable in directions that allow the support frame to move.

A drive mechanism of the present invention includes: a housing part composed of a first resin cover and a second resin cover; a first sheet metal member housed in the housing part; a first rotation transmission wheel group disposed on the first sheet metal member on a side directed to the first resin cover; a second rotation transmission wheel group disposed on the first sheet metal member on a side directed to the second resin cover; a positioning part rotatably supporting a first rotation transmission wheel of the first rotation transmission wheel group; and a pin member positioned by inserting into the positioning part via the first resin cover.

Drive mechanism and image forming apparatus provided with the same

A color printerhas a rotary type developing devicewhich rotated by an input gearthat receives power from a motor, and a plurality of developing unitssupported on a frame. The plurality of developing unitsaccommodates toner of different colors therein. The framea first annular gearbeing configured to be rotated by the input gearand a second ring-shaped annular memberhaving a larger external diameter than the first annular gear. The second ring-shaped annular memberis disposed adjacent to and on the outer side of the first annular gear and on the same rotational axis.

Rotary type developing device

An image forming apparatus includes a first sheet conveying passage that conveys a sheet through an image forming section. A sheet-discharging roller is on an outlet side of the first sheet conveying passage and can rotate in opposite directions. A second sheet conveying passage has an inlet connected to the first sheet conveying passage downstream from the image forming section and an outlet connected to the first sheet conveying passage upstream from the image forming section. A controller controls double-sided printing by causing the sheet-discharging roller to rotate forward to advance the sheet outside the sheet-discharging roller, and then to rotate in reverse to execute a switchback for transporting the sheet to the inlet side of the second sheet conveying passage and then to return the sheet to the upstream of the image forming section. An assisting mechanism adjusts a posture of the sheet to assist the switchback.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Tetsuro Kawashima