Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Brother Industries, Ltd.

Toshitaka Iwago

Takashi Ohama

Ryoichi Matsushima

Yoshinori Osakabe

Yoichi Horaguchi

Michifumi Ishigami

Satoru Nakakita

Shigeharu Katayama

Takehiko Inaba

Yuichiro Suzuki

Nobuhiko Suzuki

Kazuhiro Hoshiya

Takuro Kusama

Takaaki Mukai

A document feeder includes a reverse transporting mechanism that forms a substantially U-shaped document transporting pathway for carrying a document from a feeding tray located at a lower side to a discharging tray located at an upper side through a reading position, a pulling device, a separating-transporting device and a openable pathway cover. The pulling device and the separating-transporting device are arranged at substantially the same horizontal level within the height that is occupied by the reverse transporting mechanism. The pathway cover is capable of opening and closing to cover on the pulling device, the separating-transporting device and the reverse transporting mechanism.

Document feeder

An information management apparatus includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform processes including acquiring stroke data, the stroke data being data representing a trajectory and being data that includes information indicating positions on the trajectory, identifying, based on first stroke data, a first character string that is a character string formed by a first trajectory, identifying, based on second stroke data, a second character string that is a character string formed by a second trajectory, generating an image file that is a data file representing a third trajectory based on third stroke data, storing the image file in storing portion as a file including at least the first character string in a file name, and storing the image file in the storing portion in association with data representing the second character string.

Information management apparatus and non-transitory computer-readable medium

An automatic sheet transporting apparatus includes a transporting unit with a discharge roller, the transporting unit discharge a sheet onto a discharge tray configured that support discharged sheets in a stack. A discharge guide, positioned on an upstream side of the discharge tray in a sheet discharging direction, guides a subsequent sheet transported by the transporting unit to a position between the discharge tray and a bottom surface of a previously discharged sheet in the stack. The discharge tray includes at least one rotating member that rotates when the discharge guide guides the subsequent sheet between the discharge tray and the bottom surface of the previously discharged sheet in the stack. The frictional resistance applied to the subsequent sheet is reduced to increase the number of sheets that can be stacked in the discharge tray.

Automatic sheet transporting apparatus, and automatic document scanning apparatus with the automatic sheet transporting apparatus

There is disclosed an image reading apparatus which comprises a document feeder, a reading unit, and a guide device. The document feeder includes a feeder roller and feeds a document sheet with an image thereon, along an outer circumferential surface of the feeder roller. The reading unit has a reading surface opposed to the outer circumferential surface of the feeder roller, and reads, at a reading position, the image on the document sheet being fed. The guide device has a guide surface, and is disposed to be opposed to the reading surface of the reading unit, so as to guide the document sheet along the guide surface to the reading position. The outer circumferential surface of the feeder roller, and at least an opposed portion of the guide surface at which the guide surface is opposed to the reading surface, have a substantially same color.

Image reading apparatus

Feeding systems for documents or other sheet materials include: (a) an inlet; (b) an outlet; (c) a feed path extending between the inlet and outlet; and (d) a feed system that moves materials along the feed path. The systems further may include: (e) a bidirectional feed path extending from the feed path; (f) a supply system that moves materials to the feed path; (g) a bidirectional drive system that moves materials along the bidirectional feed path; and/or (h) a bidirectional feed path access control system. Drive systems may be provided for driving the feed system and at least one of the supply system, the bidirectional drive system, and/or the access control system such that operation of the feed system is independent of operation of the other systems and/or such that a single motor may be used to drive any or all of the systems.

Document or sheet material feeder

A document feeder includes a document feed unit that feeds a document along a document feed path extending from a document loading section to a document output section via a scanning position. The document feed unit includes a first feed roller pair nipping and feeding a document opposed to the scanning position at a position downstream in a feed direction from the scanning position, and a second feed roller pair nipping and feeding the document fed by the first feed roller pair at a document feed speed higher than that of the first feed roller pair at a position downstream in the feed direction from the first feed roller pair.

An image forming apparatus includes a first unit configured to form an image, in a recording part, on a first surface of a recording medium being fed from a storing member for storing the recording medium, reverse the recording medium and feed it again to the recording part, form an image on a second surface of the recording medium, and eject the recording medium through an outlet; and a second unit disposed above the first unit. The second unit includes a first reading part, the first reading part being movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the recording medium. The first unit and the second unit form a first space therebetween, and a length from a front end of the first unit to the outlet is greater than or equal to a length of a maximum sized recording medium capable of being stored in the storing member.

Image forming apparatus

A document feeder includes a reverse transporting mechanism that forms a substantially U-shaped document transporting pathway for carrying a document from a feeding tray located at a lower side to a discharging tray located at an upper side through a reading position, a pulling device, a separating transporting device and a openable pathway cover. The pulling device and the separating-transporting device are arranged at substantially the same horizontal level within the height that is occupied by the reverse transporting mechanism. The pathway cover is capable of opening and closing to cover on the pulling device, the separating-transporting device and the reverse transporting mechanism.

A document feeder includes a conveying path extended from a document supplying position to a reading position, a first conveying roller pair provided upstream from the reading position and nipping and conveying the document, a second conveying roller pair provided downstream from the reading position and nipping and conveying the document faster than the first conveying roller pair, a post-reading conveying path extended downstream from a nipping position of the second conveying roller pair, the post-reading conveying path being located above a plane tangent to the second conveying roller pair at the nipping position running in a reverse sheet feed direction, and a third conveying roller pair provided on the post-reading conveying path and nipping and conveying the document conveyed from the second conveying roller pair at a conveying force equivalent to that of the second conveying roller pair.

In a document feeder, a driving control unit feeds a document by a switch-back feeding unit, guides again the document from a document feed path to a bidirectional feed path, and then discharges the document from the document feed path to a document discharging section, when the feeding of the document is in a double-sided scanning feeding mode and in a status during first side feeding. The driving control unit feeds the document by the switch-back feeding unit and then discharges the document from the document feed path, when the feeding of the document is in the double-sided scanning feeding mode and in the status during second side feeding. The driving control unit discharges the document from the document feed path without feeding the document in the switch-back manner, when the feeding of the document is in the double-sided scanning feeding mode and after the second side feeding.

A document feeding apparatus in a cover body supported by a document reading table whose upper surface is at least partially constituted by a platen glass. The cover body is openable and closable relative to the table and covers the glass when closed. The apparatus feeds a document sheet along a feed path from at a document setting portion and to a document ejecting portion. The apparatus comprises: an upper and a lower feed roller that are disposed along the path to pinch and feed the sheet; a bearing member supporting a shaft of the lower roller such that the lower roller is movable onto and away from the upper roller; a protrusible member disposed in the cover body and below the lower roller to be movable between an outer position to protrude from a bottom of the cover body and an inner position not to protrude therefrom, the protrusible member being placed at the outer position when the cover body is open, and at the inner position by the document reading table when the cover body is closed; and a biasing member supported by the protrusible member and biasing the lower roller toward the upper roller, such that when the protrusible member is at the outer position, the lower roller is off the upper roller, and when the protrusible member is at the inner position, the lower roller is in pressing contact with the upper roller.

Cut-sheet feeding apparatus, document-sheet feeding apparatus, and document-sheet reading apparatus

An automatic document feeder, which is capable of feeding a document for double-sided reading, includes a document feed path connecting an input tray and an output tray, a bidirectional feed path connected to a connection position of the document feed path, a bypass diverged from a branch position of the document feed path and connected to the connection position, a guide flap that changes a position thereof between a first guide position and a second guide position, and a guide flap that changes a position thereof between a third guide position and a fourth guide position.

Automatic document feeder

A document feeder includes a substantially U-shaped document transporting pathway with an upper feeding tray and a lower discharging tray, a separating-transporting device including a first rotation driving member and a first contacting member, a reverse transporting device including a second rotation driving member and a second contacting member and a pathway cover, which includes at least the second contacting member among the first and second contacting members, and capable of rotating about a rotational shaft closer to the discharging tray than the feeding tray. When the pathway cover is opened, at least the second contacting member of the first and second contacting members is separated from the second rotation member and at least a part of the document transporting pathway is exposed.

A sheet feeder includes a roller configured to feed a plurality of sheets one by one in a sheet feeding direction to a feed path, and a motor configured to drive the roller. The sheet feeder also includes a drive transmission mechanism configured to transmit a driving force from the motor to the roller, and the drive transmission includes a clutch configured to enable the roller to rotate within a predetermined range of rotation in the sheet feeding direction during an idle condition. Moreover, the sheet feeder includes a return mechanism configured to enable the roller to rotate within the predetermined range of rotation in a direction that is opposite to the sheet feeding direction.

Growing community of inventors

Okazaki, Japan

Toshitaka Iwago