Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Yoshihiro Okamoto

Tomoyuki Mizuno

Shougo Sato

Toshiki Motoyama

Yoshihiro Oyama

Masahito Saeki

Yusuke Ikegami

Masahito Hamaya

Takashi Fujiwara

Akira Terao

Kentaro Aoyama

Kazushi Shumiya

A reading apparatus, having a document placement table, a cover, a reader, and a controller, is provided. The cover has, on a facing surface thereof that faces the reader, a reference section having a first edge extending in a sub-scanning direction and a second edge extending in a main scanning direction, and a colored part on peripheries of the reference section. The colored part is colored along the first edge and along the second edge. The controller is configured to operate the reader to read the colored part and the peripheries of the colored part, detect a first position being a position of the first edge in the main scanning direction and a second position being a position of the second edge in the sub-scanning direction in an outcome of reading, and determine a reading range based on the first position and the second position.

Reading apparatus

In a reading device, a light transmissive member has a front surface on which an original is placed. A peripheral member is adjacent to the light transmissive member, and includes a back surface in which a reference hole is formed. The reference hole includes a first edge and a second edge intersecting with each other. A reading sensor faces the back surface of the light transmissive member and the back surface of the peripheral member. The controller controls the reading sensor to read a reading range including the reference hole to obtain a read image, and determines a reference position in the reading range based on the read image. The reference position is determined to an intersection between the first edge and the second edge. The controller sets a reading start position based on the reference position.

Reading device setting reading start position by reading reference hole having L-shape

According to aspects of the present disclosure, there is provided a tray swinging mechanism including a document tray. A movable plate of the document tray is configured to be swingable about a tray shaft and extends leftward. A lifter is configured to be swingable about a lifter shaft extending in the front-rear direction at a position different from the tray shaft. On a lower surface of the movable plate, a cam surface configured to contact a tip of the lifter is formed. The cam surface includes a parallel part parallel to an upper surface of the movable plate and a curved part spaced from the upper surface farther toward a right side. According to a shape of the cam surface, each time the lifter is rotated by a particular angle, the tip of the movable plate moves by a particular amount.

Tray swinging mechanism and device including the same

A sheet conveyer, having a sheet tray, a tray-driving mechanism, a conveyance guide, a feed roller, a conveyer-driving mechanism, a first sensor, and a controller, is provided. The controller controls the tray-driving mechanism and the conveyer-driving mechanism, during a sequential conveying action, when the first sensor detects an upper-surface level being at a lower limit of a correct range, delay a lift-start timing, at which the tray-driving mechanism starts moving the sheet tray upward, to be later at least than a timing, at which the feed roller after feeding one of the sheets completely and pausing resumes rotating for feeding a next one of the sheets, and cause the sheet tray to complete moving to a higher position prior to completion of feeding of the next sheet.

Sheet conveyer

An image reading device installed in an image forming apparatus includes a document placing table having an image reader, and an auto document feeder (ADF) rotatably supported by the document placing table. The ADF is rotatable between a closed position where an upper surface of the document placing table is uncovered and an opened position where the upper surface is covered. The ADF includes a document tray, a document discharge tray arranged at a position below the document tray with a space, and a front wall fixed to a front side of the document tray. A cutout part is formed on the front wall with a front side of the space being opened through the cutout part. The ADF further includes a hand grip provided to an upper edge of the cutout part, and used to lift the ADF from the closed position toward the opened position.

Image reading device having openable auto document feeder and image forming apparatus provided therewith

An image forming apparatus includes a first casing, a second casing, a support portion, an indication, and a USB port. The first casing includes a sheet discharge tray disposed at a top surface thereof. The indication is located at a portion of one of the top surface of the first casing and the support portion, and is positioned outside the sheet discharge tray in a width direction. The portion is located closer to one end of the image forming apparatus in the width direction than the other end of the image forming apparatus opposite to the one end in the width direction. The USB port is disposed at a portion of one of the second casing and the support portion closer to the one end than the other end in the width direction, and is located at a different position in an up-down direction from the indication.

Image forming apparatus that establishes short-range wireless communication between the image forming apparatus and an external device

A sheet conveyer having a sheet tray, a tray-driving mechanism, a conveyance guide, a feed roller, a separator, a conveyer, a conveyer-driving mechanism, a controller, and a sheet sensor to detect sheets on the sheet tray, is provided. The conveyer-driving mechanism includes a transmission-active portion and a transmission-passive portion. A conveying velocity to convey the sheets by the conveyer is higher than a conveying velocity to convey the sheets by the feed roller and the separator. The transmission-active portion and the transmission-passive portion are rotatable about a transmission axis. The transmission-passive portion rotates passively by being pushed by the transmission-active portion. After the sheet sensor detects absence of the sheets, and before the transmission-passive portion starts rotating passively, the controller conducts a specific action to move the sheet tray downward by controlling the tray-driving mechanism.

An image reading apparatus, including a feed tray, a conveyance guide, a feed roller, a separator, a reading sensor, and a controller, is provided. The feed tray supports sheets for being fed and has a movable plate movable between a standby position and a feedable position. The feed roller is movable and feeds the sheets to be conveyed along the conveyance guide. A positional relation between the feed roller and an uppermost sheet in the sheets is maintained within a predetermined range by the movable plate located at the feedable position. The controller controls at least rotating-and-stopping movements of the feed roller and the separator and ascending-and-descending movements of the movable plate. While the feed roller feeds the sheets, the controller conducts a vibrating action, in which the movable plate located at the feedable position is moved to ascend and descend for a plurality of times.

Image reading apparatus

An image reading apparatus includes a main body part and an openable part. On an upper surface of the main body part, a first reading surface, a second reading surface and a first guide part arranged between the two reading surfaces are provided. When a direction parallel to a direction in which an original passes over the second reading surface is defined as a first direction, and a direction parallel to the second reading surface and orthogonal to the first direction is defined as a second direction, on the upper surface, a positioning convex part having a curved surface curved downward when viewed in the second direction is provided on an extended line of the first guide part. On a lower surface of the openable part, a positioning concave part having two inclined surfaces respectively contacting the curved surface when viewed in the second direction is provided.

An image forming apparatus, having feeder tray, a multipurpose tray arranged on a first side surface, a first conveyer path, a second conveyer path, a third conveyer path, and a fourth conveyer path, is provided. A nip position between paired registration rollers is located to be lower than a nip position between a separation roller and a separator member. A tangent that contacts circumferential surfaces of the paired registration rollers at the nip position between paired registration rollers inclines to be lower toward a second side surface opposite from the multipurpose tray. The second conveyer path inclines to be lower toward the second side surface in a range between a merging point merging with the fourth conveyer path and the nip position between the paired registration rollers.

Image forming apparatus

A sheet conveyer, including a tray, a pickup roller, a separator roller, a separator pad, a driving source, a roller holder with an arm, an engagement member engageable with the arm, a load applier lever, and a first urging member coupled with the load applier lever, is provided. The load applier lever is movable between a first position, wherein the load applier lever supports the first end of the first urging member at a position where the first urging member causes the engagement member to be urged against the arm and to apply a load that acts in a direction to cause the pickup roller to be pressed against the sheets to the arm; and a second position, wherein the load applier lever supports the first end of the first urging member at a position where the first urging member is in the natural length thereof.

Sheet conveyer and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a casing, a photosensitive member, an exposing device, a cartridge attachable to and removable from the casing, a protruding portion protruding toward a removal path along which the cartridge is removed, and a guide portion disposed on the cartridge. The guide portion is configured to, when the cartridge is attached to the casing, guide a sheet toward the photosensitive member. The guide portion is movable relative to the cartridge between a guide position where the guide portion guides a sheet and a retracted position where the guide portion is retracted from the protruding portion when the cartridge is removed from the casing.

Image forming apparatus and cartridge

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a sheet receiving plate configured to receive a sheet and pivot in an up-down direction; a feed roller configured to pivot between a contact position where the feed roller contacts the sheet on the sheet receiving plate and a withdrawal position where the feed roller withdraws from the sheet; an urging member configured to urge the sheet receiving plate upward; an abutting portion configured to, when the sheet receiving plate pivots upward, abut the sheet and stop the sheet receiving plate; a moving member configured to, after the sheet abuts the abutting portion, move the sheet receiving plate to a sheet feed position; and a feed roller pivoting mechanism configured to, when the sheet receiving plate pivots upward, withdraw the feed roller to the withdrawal position and to, after the sheet contacts the abutting portion, move the feed roller to the sheet receiving plate.

Sheet feeding apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a cover, a process unit, and a grip portion. The housing has an opening portion defining an open end. The cover is movable between a closing position to close the open end and an opening position to open the open end. The cover defines the opening portion and has one end portion to define the open end. The process unit is configured to be attached to and detached from the housing through the opening portion. The process unit includes a developer chamber configured to accommodate therein developer. The grip portion is provided at the process unit, and has a protruding portion protruding outward between the open end and the one end portion when the process unit has been attached to the housing and the cover is at the closing position.

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Komaki, Japan

Yoshihiro Okamoto