Konica Minolta, Inc.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Inoac Corporation

Yasuhiro Suzuki

Yoshiyuki Toso

Shoichi Yoshikawa

Atsuhiko Shimoyama

Masahiro Yamaguchi

Yoshinori Tanaka

Fuminori Moro

Hiroshi Mizuno

Hiroyuki Maeda

Hiroshi Makino

Syuichi Katogi

Hiroshi Tanimoto

Hidekazu Nakagami

Hiromasa Ueno

Hisaaki Kobayashi

Yoshitaka Kuroda

Naoki Matsui

Takahiro Ogo

A sheet material feeding apparatus includes: a cassette configured to internally contain a sheet material; a push-up plate that is mounted on an inner bottom surface of the cassette and that is a plate on top surface of which the sheet material is mounted; a push-up plate displacement mechanism configured to include push-up plate biasing members and to change a posture of the push-up plate using a biasing force of one of the push-up plate biasing members; a width regulating member configured to be displaced in a width direction intersecting with a feeding direction and to regulate a position of the sheet material; and a biasing member selecting mechanism that includes a switching unit configured to switch application and release-application of the biasing force of one of the push-up plate biasing members to a posture change of the push-up plate, in interlocking with displacement of the width regulating member.

Sheet material feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus

A sheet member supply device () of an image forming apparatus () includes a sheet member stacking plate () in which sheet members (S) are stacked on the upper surface, a pickup roller () which makes contact with, from above, the uppermost layer of the sheet members (S) stacked on the sheet member stacking plate (), a stacking plate displacement mechanism () which displaces the sheet member stacking plate () upward, a motive power transmission mechanism () which transmits motive power obtained from a drive source () to the stacking plate displacement mechanism () and a paradox planetary gear mechanism () which is provided in the motive power transmission mechanism (). In this way, with a simple configuration, it is possible to reduce the unintentional downward displacement of the stacking plate.

Sheet member supply device and image forming apparatus

A tension roller which is brought into contact with an inner circumferential surface of an endless belt and is rotated and which can be moved to a first position where the belt is in a relaxed state and a second position where the belt is in a tensioned state, a butting member which butts against the belt, a force application unit which applies, to the butting member, a force acting in a direction opposite to a rotation direction of the belt and a movement mechanism which moves the tension roller to the first position and the second position are provided. When the belt is rotated, the butting member is moved in the rotation direction of the belt by a friction force with the belt, and the movement mechanism moves the tension roller from the first position to the second position by the movement of the butting member in the rotation direction of the belt. When the rotation of the belt is stopped, the butting member is moved in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the belt by the force applied by the force application unit, and the movement mechanism moves the tension roller from the second position to the first position by the movement of the butting member in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the belt.

Belt tension adjustment mechanism and image forming apparatus

In an image forming apparatus, a sensor section includes a sheet path through which the sheet passes in a sheet feeding direction. In the sensor section, a light source unit emits light to an irradiation area set in the sheet path. Here, the light is elongated in a main-scanning direction and has quantities of light varying according to positions in the main-scanning direction and according to positions in a height direction perpendicular to a sheet feed surface. In addition, in the sensor section, a light-receiving section receives light diffused in a predetermined diffusing direction among the light emitted from the light source and then irradiated to the sheet passing in the sheet path and outputs information representing quantities of the received light. In the image forming apparatus, a control section extracts a parameter from the information and derives an amount of curl of the sheet.

Image forming apparatus

PROBLEMS The present invention provides a sound absorbing structure that enables a sound absorbing rate thereof to be raised in a low-frequency region or medium-high frequency from around 500 Hz to 10 KHz, and a thickness thereof to be reduced. SOLUTIONS The sound absorbing structure has: a non-air permeable sheet molding object having, on one surface side thereof, a plurality of cavities including recesses formed by bending; and a non-air permeable surface sheet which is layered on the sheet molding object, on a cavity open-top side surface thereof, so as to cover open-top of the plurality of cavities, wherein the surface sheet is fixed at outer peripheral sections of the sheet molding objectand is not fixed to the sheet molding object at portions between adjacent cavities.

Sound absorbing structure

An image forming unit is provided with a regulating member placed in such a way as to surround a charging roller to regulate movement thereof. The regulating member has a pressing section inclined with respect to a straight line connecting the center of the charging roller to the axis of the photoconductor, as seen from the axial direction of the photoconductor. The pressing section is inclined farther away from the photoconductor toward upstream of rotation of the photoconductor. The regulating member allows the charging roller to electrically charge the photoconductor with a simplified structure and prevents adhering substances from accumulating on the contact portion between the photoconductor and the charging roller.

Image forming unit and image forming apparatus including elastically deformable charging roller

An image forming apparatus comprises a cartridge equipped with a toner reservoir, and an apparatus body. The cartridge is attached to the apparatus body when used and developer in the toner reservoir is used for image development. The cartridge comprises a storage unit which is provided inside the toner reservoir and capable of communicating with the apparatus body. The apparatus body comprises a communication unit which is capable of communicating with the storage unit and communication state between the storage unit and the communication unit varies depending on amount of residual developer in the toner reservoir. Thus there is provided a developer cartridge and an image forming apparatus surely capable of carrying out both residual-toner-amount detection and transmission of cartridge information with space saving design.

Developer cartridge having different communication states with an image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Toyokawa, Japan

Yasuhiro Suzuki