Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Tomoya Fujii

Takayuki Andoh

Satoshi Narai

Yoshinobu Sakaue

Munekazu Hirata

Yohei Osanai

Noboru Kusunose

Kunihiko Nishioka

Masatoshi Ishida

Masashi Ota

Daisuke Imaki

Nobuyuki Arai

Kazunori Watanabe

Tadashi Nakamura

Kaoru Tada

Yasunobu Youda

Takeshi Yamakawa

Tatsuaki Nagano

Toshiyuki Horikawa

Koji Hatayama

Naoto Kitamura

Ryo Sato

Susumu Narita

Makoto Hirakawa

Keiichi Serizawa

Hiroshi Johno

An image forming apparatus includes a recording device and an apparatus body to internally house the recording device. The apparatus body includes an attachment unit to be removably mounted in the apparatus body and an apparatus body-side connector. The attachment unit includes an attachment-side connector to be electrically connected to the apparatus body-side connector. The apparatus body also includes a pressing portion to press the attachment unit in a direction in which the attachment-side connector faces the apparatus body-side connector in a state where the attachment unit is attached to the apparatus body. The direction is orthogonal to a mounting direction of the attachment unit. The apparatus body further includes a movable member holding the pressing portion movable between a first position where the pressing portion is closest to the apparatus body-side connector and a second position where the pressing portion is farthest from the apparatus body-side connector.

Image forming apparatus and image forming apparatus body

An article includes a body member and a detachable member detachably attached to the body member. One of the body member and the detachable member includes a cover portion having an engaging portion on an inner wall face of the cover portion. The other includes a covered portion that is covered with the cover portion and has an engaged portion on an outer wall face of the covered portion. The engaging portion and the engaged portion are configured to be disengaged by warping the cover portion so that the cover portion displaces to an outer wall face side of the cover portion. The one of the body member and the detachable member includes a finger-applying-position indicator at a position deviated from a portion corresponding to the cover portion, on an outer wall face of the one. The finger-applying-position indicator indicates a position to be applied with fingers of a user.

Handheld mobile printing device

An image forming apparatuses includes an apparatus body configured to house a replacement part. The apparatus body includes a guiding face configured to guide a guided face of the replacement part. The guided face is on a side along a movement direction in which the replacement part moves between a set position in the apparatus body and an attaching and detaching position at which the replacement part is attached to and detached from the apparatus body. The apparatus further include a moving device configured to move the replacement part between the set position and the attaching and detaching position, and a pressing device configured to press the guided face of the replacement part against the guiding face of the apparatus body while the replacement part moves between the set position and the attaching and detaching position.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a recording device configured to record an image on a recording medium, a main body configured to house the recording device, and a cover rotatably attached to the main body. The main body includes a recording face to be disposed opposite the recording medium, a first face positioned opposite the recording face, and a second face positioned between the recording face and the first face. The cover includes a first cover portion configured to cover the first face of the main body, and a second cover portion configured to cover at least a portion of the second face, and the second cover portion is configured to house a battery.

An image forming apparatus includes a body, an image forming device configured to form an image on a recording medium and supported by the body, an attachment configured to be removably attached to the body, and a cover configured to be removably attached to the body. The cover is configured to cover the attachment attached to the body. The attachment is configured to switch a state in use of the image forming apparatus by attaching and removing of the attachment to and from the body.

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 optical scanner includes a light source including a plurality of light emitting elements, a polygon mirror which deflects light from the light source for scanning a surface of a subject, an optical element arranged between the light source and the polygon mirror, having optical power in a sub scanning direction, a synchronous detector which detects the light deflected by the polygon mirror for synchronous detection and generates a signal for controlling a timing at which the scanning of the surface is started, and a fixing element which secures one end of the optical element. The light emitting elements of the light source are aligned with a certain tilt angle relative to the sub scanning direction. Light from one of the light emitting elements disposed closest to the fixing element in a main scanning direction is used for synchronous detection.

Optical scanner and image forming device incorporating same

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer, an exposure device, a drive device, a cleaning body, and an exposure device holder. The exposure device is disposed on a motion trajectory between an exposure position and a retracted position and emits light to the image bearer via a lens having a lens surface at the exposure position. The drive device causes the exposure device to move between the exposure position and the retracted position. The cleaning body disposed on the motion trajectory of the exposure device tilts a cleaning surface when contacting with the lens surface of the exposure device. The exposure device holder supports the exposure device while changing an attitude of the exposure device such that the lens surface remains in contact with the cleaning surface of the cleaning body when the exposure device moves from the retracted position to the exposure position.

Image forming apparatus including a rotatable exposure device

In a light beam scanning device, a plurality of light sources, which irradiates a plurality of light beams in a first direction and is retained by a holder, are disposed at distance from one another in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The plurality of light beams are incident, via a coupling optical system, to deflecting and reflecting surfaces of a deflector from a direction that is tilted with respect to a plane orthogonal to the rotational shaft of the deflector. The holder is supported by a housing of the light beam scanning device at a plurality of different positions in a third direction extending from the light source to the coupling optical system.

Light beam scanning device and image forming apparatus

An optical writer includes a housing, a light source, a deflector, and a plurality of optical elements. The housing includes a plurality of surfaces, one of which includes a substantially flat portion having an opening formed therein and a curved portion curved in the shape of an arc of a circle in cross-section. The light source is enclosed within the housing and projects light through the opening and onto a target. The deflector is enclosed within the housing and deflects the light projected from the light source in a main scanning direction. The plurality of optical elements is enclosed within the housing and directs the light deflected by the deflector onto the target.

Optical writer and image forming apparatus including same

An optical writing unit includes in a housing a light source projecting a light beam, a deflector to deflect the light beam projected from the light source, a focusing lens, and a lens adjusting device. The focusing lens is long in a main scanning direction and focuses the light beam onto a scan target. The lens adjusting device rotates the focusing lens about a substantially center portion thereof as a rotation fulcrum on a plane perpendicular to an optical path of the light beam so as to adjust the position of the light beam illuminating the scan target. The focusing lens has an asymmetric cross-section relative to a center line of the focusing lens in a direction of the optical path in a sub-scanning plane perpendicular to the main scanning direction, and the center of gravity of the focusing lens is offset from the center line toward the rotation fulcrum.

Optical writing unit and image forming apparatus including same

An optical scanner includes a light source, an optical part, a housing, and a retainer. The light source projects light against a target. The optical part is disposed on a light path between the light source and the target. The housing houses the light source and the optical part. The retainer fixed to the housing holds the optical part and includes a plurality of flanges disposed along an outer circumference of the retainer. One of the plurality of flanges of the retainer is adhered to the housing an adhesive agent. An image forming apparatus includes the optical scanner.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Tomoya Fujii