Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Brother Industries, Ltd.

Brother Kogyo Kaushsiki Kaisha

Tsugio Okamoto

Osamu Takagi

Hiroshi Igarashi

Susumu Kuzuya

Atsuhisa Nakashima

Takemi Yamamoto

Jun Sakai

Kenji Sakakibara

Yumio Matsumoto

Michitoshi Akao

Yuji Asano

Kazuo Sangyoji

Naoyuki Hatta

Hitoshi Nakai

Masakazu Kuki

Kazuo Itoh

Osamu Nagata

Tsuyoshi Ohashi

Takeshi Asano

Takashi Kawaguchi

Yasuhiro Shimizu

Minoru Hisakawa

Junichi Maeda

Yoshiharu Hirai

An image forming apparatus may include a sheet conveying belt that conveys a sheet to a position opposed to an image carrier, and a cleaning unit that cleans the sheet conveying belt. The sheet conveying belt may be driven by a first driving unit such as a first motor while the cleaning unit may be driven a second driving unit such as a second motor. In one or more arrangements, the second driving unit is independent from the first driving unit. Additionally or alternatively, the first driving unit may also be configured to drive an image carrier and/or a developing unit.

Image forming apparatus with multiple driving units for driving different components of the image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus is swung with a stopper which is swingable simultaneously with a switching member, and which allows rotation of an output gear by being disengaged from the output gear with a swinging movement of the switching member to an ON side, and which stops the rotation of the output gear by being engaged with the output gear with a swinging movement of the switching member to an OFF side. When the switching member is swung to the OFF side, the stopper is engaged with the output gear at the same time as the switching member is disengaged from the triggering member or before the switching member is disengaged from the triggering member. Accordingly, a descent of a pressing plate at the time of stopping the pressing plate is prevented without using a one-way clutch.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus may include an intermediate transfer belt for transferring, onto a sheet, a developer image that has been transferred from an image carrier to the intermediate transfer belt. The image forming apparatus may also include a cleaning unit that cleans the sheet conveying belt. The image forming apparatus that may also include a first driving unit that drives the intermediate transfer belt; a second driving unit that drives the cleaning unit, wherein the second driving unit is independent from the first driving unit; and a sheet conveying mechanism that conveys the sheet, wherein the second driving unit drives at least a part of the sheet conveying mechanism.

Image forming apparatus with an independent drive unit for a cleaning unit

A sheet feeder includes a feed roller feeding a sheet while rotating in a feeding direction, a driving gear that rotates in a predetermined direction and transmits a driving force, a first gear mechanism transmitting the force to the feed roller to rotate the feed roller in a reverse direction opposite to the feeding direction, and a second gear mechanism transmitting the force to the feed roller to rotate the feed roller in the feeding direction. The driving gear includes a first engaging member that engages with the first gear mechanism and transmits the force to the first gear mechanism at a rotational angle of the driving gear within a first range, and a second engaging member that engages with the second gear mechanism and transmits the force to the second gear mechanism at the rotational angle within a second range having no common range with the first range.

Sheet feeder and image forming device provided with the same

A sheet feeding device is provided. The sheet feeding device includes a sheet holder to hold a sheet in a position to be fed, a feed roller to pick up the sheet, a first lifter to move a closer portion of the sheet holder by one of a front end and a rear end thereof, a second lifter to move a further portion of the sheet holder by one of a front end and a rear end thereof, and a coordinating system to move the first lifter and the second lifter in cooperation with each other to move the overall sheet holder in a direction to be closer to the feed roller, wherein an amount of the sheet holder to be moved by the first lifter is greater according to a constant rate with respect to an amount of the sheet holder to be moved by the second lifter.

Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus

A sheet feeding device to feed a sheet in a sheet stack into a sheet feeding path is provided. the sheet feeding device includes a feed roller configured to contact the sheet stack and feed the sheet in a feeding direction, a guide member, having a guide surface, which is configured to contact a side of the sheet fed by the feeding roller, to guide the sheet being fed along a guiding direction, and a shifting unit to shift the feed roller in a direction toward the guide surface before the feed roller is rotated.

The unjamming process is conducted through an opening formed on a lateral side of a housing of the printer. A recording medium conveying unit of the printer does not get exposed to outside. The printer also inhibits inaccurate ejection of ink from recording heads because of the unjamming process. For the unjamming process, the recording medium conveying unit is moved away from head surfaces. This constitution prevents vibration or shock on the recording heads when a recording paper is removed, prevents breakage of menisci formed on respective nozzles of the recording heads, and furthermore prevents ink from being pushed outside of the nozzles, or inhaled toward an ink tank because positional relation between the recording heads and the ink tank does not change. Therefore, inaccurate control over ejection of ink can be inhibited.

Printer

An image forming apparatus that includes: a sheet conveying belt that conveys a sheet to a position opposed to an image carrier; a cleaning unit that cleans the sheet conveying belt; a first driving unit that drives the sheet conveying belt; a second driving unit that drives the cleaning unit, the second driving unit being independent from the first driving unit; and a sheet conveying mechanism that conveys the sheet separately from the sheet conveying belt, wherein the second driving unit drives at least a part of the sheet conveying mechanism.

Image forming apparatus with multiple driving units

An image forming apparatus comprises: a housing; a supporter located in the housing, a plurality of developing apparatus attachable to and detachable from the supporter; and a restricting unit that restricts movement of the supporter while at least one developing apparatus supported by the supporter is inside the housing. The supporter is movable relative to the housing.

Restricting unit for restricting a supporter of a plurality of developers in an image forming apparatus

A pump includes a case, a rotor, and a partition member. The case has a hollow inside defined by an inner wall surface thereof and includes a suction inlet through which fluid is sucked in the hollow and an exhaust outlet through which the fluid is ejected from the hollow. The rotor is rotatable in the hollow. The partition member is supported with respect to the rotor in the direction across the rotor such that two ends make constant contact with the inner wall surface defining the hollow, and is rotatable with the rotor. When the rotor is rotated, the partition member slides in the direction across the rotor and expands and shrinks in the same direction, thereby the two ends of the partition member make constant contact with the inner wall surface of the case. Accordingly, the fluid is sucked through the suction inlet in the hollow and the sucked fluid is ejected through the exhaust outlet from the hollow.

Pump and inkjet printer

Restricting unit for restricting a supporter of developers in an image forming apparatus

A feeding unit is disposed near the lower edge of an access opening formed in a front cover of a main casing. The feeding unit includes a pair of registration rollers and a pair of guide parts. One of the registration rollers and one of the guide parts are retained on the front cover. Thus, when the front cover is pulled to an open position, the registration roller and the guide part retained on the front cover displace together with the front cover, exposing a paper conveying path.

Image-forming device facilitating resolution of paper jam

A sheet feeding mechanism comprises a sheet supporter, a pick-up roller, and a guide. The sheet supporter is capable of supporting a plurality of sheets in a stacked manner. The pick-up roller rotates in contact with a surface of, among the plurality of sheets supported by the sheet supporter, the endmost sheet in the stacking direction, to thereby pick up and convey the sheet. The guide has a surface that extends along a predetermined conveyance direction for the sheet. A line segment, between a center of the pick-up roller with respect to a direction of its rotation axis and a point at which the rotation axis intersects with the surface of the guide, forms an acute angle with a line segment extending forward in the predetermined conveyance direction from the point at which the rotation axis intersects with the surface of the guide.

Sheet feeding mechanism

An ink-jet printer is provided with a belt conveying mechanism which includes two rollers and a conveyor belt that is wrapped around the two rollers for carrying paper. The surface of the conveyor belt is formed with a recessed portion into which ink is ejected during flushing. The recessed portion has a non-water-repellent region upstream in a traveling direction of the conveyor belt. The non-repellent region functions as an ink retaining portion retaining. On a rear surface of the conveyor belt is disposed an ink absorber for absorbing ink retained in the non-water-repellent region from the rear surface.

Belt conveying mechanism for ink-jet recording apparatus and ink-jet recording apparatus including it

In purge processing, ink ejected from a head weeps from a cap unit due to weight of the ink during the movement of a maintenance unit to a retraction position. Then, the ink is absorbed into a primary recovery portion mounted on a movable body. When the maintenance unit reaches the retraction position, the primary recovery portion comes into contact with an ink absorber of the secondary recovery portion so that the ink migrates from the primary recovery portion to the secondary recovery portion due to a capillary phenomenon. Also, when the maintenance unit moves to a maintenance position, the primary recovery portion comes into contact with an ink absorber of the secondary recovery portion so that the ink migrates from the primary recovery portion to the secondary recovery portion due to a capillary phenomenon.

Growing community of inventors

Kani, Japan

Tsugio Okamoto