Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.

Yukiyoshi Yamakoshi

Hajime Takei

Naoyuki Matsuda

Hiroshi Tomita

Fuminori Moro

Homare Sano

Sadanobu Murasaki

Kenjiro Ishii

Yutaka Maeda

Shiro Toriumi

Seiichi Yamagishi

Hiroyuki Makiyama

Bruce W Carlson

Paul C Schubert

Richard R Lemberger

Terrence H Joyce

Jun Nishiseko

Robert L Rydeen

Kiyoshi Nakamura

Masatoki Sutoh

Edward L Pass

An image forming apparatus that can be charged with a sheet cassette with a resealable flexible cover includes a roller member engageable with and translatable across the cover to wind the cover on the roller member. The size of the sheet material accommodated in the sheet cassette can be determined from a bar code and the movement of the roller member can be adjusted in accordance with the size of the sheet material. Timers can be set to provide predetermined time periods relative to the translating opening and closing movement of the roller member and, if these time periods expire, an indicator can be provided to the operator.

Information forming apparatus with mechanism for unsealing and sealing a

Disclosed is a disposable sheet cassette and an image forming apparatus in which such a sheet cassette is preferably employed. The sheet cassette is comprised of a cassette box capable of accommodating a plurality of sheet materials and having a flange portion extending outwards from the cassette box, an adhesive layer formed on the flange portion, and a sheet cover bonded on the adhesive layer for covering an opening of the sheet cassette. A portion of the sheet cover can be repeatedly separated from or applied to the adhesive layer to open or close the opening. The image forming apparatus is provided with a take-up roller movable above the sheet cover for winding the sheet cover, a pair of roller supports for rotatably supporting the take-up roller, a driving mechanism for moving the roller supports and for rotating the take-up roller, and a control system for operating the driving mechanism so that the take-up roller can wind the sheet cover after the sheet cassette has been charged in the apparatus.

Disposable sheet cassette and image forming apparatus designed to employ

An sheet handling apparatus includes suckers for sucking up a sheet from a sheet storing unit and two sensors which are disposed on the suckers. One of the sensors detects whether the suckers come into contact with the topmost sheet of a sheet stack in the sheet storing unit, and the other sensor detects whether there is a sheet in the sheet storing unit. After the suckers were operated to suck up a sheet, these sensors detect whether the suckers catch the sheet.

Sheet handling apparatus provided with a sheet sucking unit

Disclosed is a magazine for photosensitive sheets, comprising a box-type casing in which photosensitive sheets are stored, the casing having an opening, and a cover member removably stuck on the casing to cover the opening. When the magazine is used, the cover member is removed from the casing to uncover the opening. The end portion of the cover member with which the cover member starts to be removed from the casing has less elasticity than the other part of the cover member.

Magazine for photosensitive sheets

A recording sheet storing apparatus includes a magazine having a removable cover that is adhered to the surface of the magazine. The magazine can be placed into a recording apparatus and the cover can be engaged with a winding device that can reciprocate to remove the cover member and subsequently to reseal it. A transmission system can apply a driving force to the winding means and a driving force to a carriage which supports the winding device as it moves along the magazine.

Recording sheet storing apparatus for an image forming system

The present invention discloses a transport device for transporting a recording medium comprising an inlet channel formed by a first guide member, a switching channel formed by a second guide member and communicating with said inlet channel, an outlet channel formed by a third guide member and connected to the junction of the inlet channel and said switching channel, transport member located at the upstream of the junction of the inlet channel and the switching channel with respect to a recording medium transport direction for transporting the recording medium through the inlet channel into the switching channel and reverse member located at the junction of the inlet channel, the switching channel and the outlet channel for backwardly transporting the recording medium into the outlet channel as released from the transport member after the recording medium is transported into the switching channel.

Transport device for transporting recording medium

An image forming apparatus includes a regulating member for regulating a sheet fed from the magazine in the widthwise direction, the regulating member being movable between a regulating position and a retreating position. The image forming apparatus further includes a cover member for opening and closing the magazine. When the cover member closes the magazine, the regulating member is in the retreating position, and when the cover member opens the magazine, the regulating member is in the regulating position.

Image forming apparatus provided with a sheet magazine

Disclosed is a sheet feeder comprising a magazine in which sheets are stacked, a sucker for sucking a sheet stacked in the magazine, a stepping motor for raising the sucker, and a sheet separation click which is so disposed that an edge of the sheet sucked by the sucker comes into contact with the click when the sucker is raised to a specified position. The sucker is raised at a small pitch when the edge of the sucked sheet comes into contact with the sheet separation click, whereby sheets which have been adhering to the sucked topmost sheet separate therefrom and fall.

Sheet feeder for an image forming apparatus

A sheet feed arrangement is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or the like and is comprised of a sheet cassette for accommodating a plurality of sheet materials, a feed roller assembly disposed above the sheet cassette for feeding the sheet materials sheet by sheet by contacting with an upper surface of a topmost sheet of the sheet materials accommodated in the sheet cassette, and a tiltable guide plate disposed downstream from the feed roller assembly in a direction of feed of the sheet materials for guiding the sheet materials. The guide member can tilt together with the feed roller assembly so that an end portion of the guide member may be introduced in or removed from an inner end portion of the sheet cassette. The sheet feed arrangement is further comprised of a sheet lifting mechanism disposed below the sheet cassette for listing end portions of the sheet materials when the sheet materials are fed from the sheet cassette. The end portions of the sheet materials are lowered by the sheet lifting mechanism when the sheet cassette is removed from the image forming apparatus.

Sheet feed arrangement

An image forming apparatus provided with a magazine in which sheets are stacked, the image forming apparatus comprising a flexible cover member for the magazine, which cover member is capable of adhering to and separating from a flange of the magazine, a cover removing unit which removes the cover member from the flange of the magazine while moving in one direction along the flange of the magazine, and a cover sticking unit which sticks the cover member on the flange of the magazine while moving in a direction reverse to the direction in which the cover removing unit moves.

Image forming apparatus provided with a device for covering and

An image forming apparatus provided with a sensor for detecting a sheet transport problem. When a sheet transport problem occurs before a sheet reaches an image forming section, the sheet is returned to a sheet feeding section, and when a transport problem occurs at or after the image forming section, the sheet is forwarded to a sheet receiving section. When the problem sheet is either returned to the feeding section or forwarded to the receiving section, the apparatus is set to an operational condition. When the problem sheet can be neither returned to the feeding section nor forwarded to the receiving section, further operation of the apparatus is inhibited.

Image forming apparatus

Color laser imager

This invention is to provide a developing device for developing images by means of a photographic process wherein a photographic film is sequentially transported through a developing fluid, a bleach fixing fluid and a stabilizing fluid, and the device comprises developing tank containing the developing fluid, a bleach fixing tank containing the bleach fixing and a stabilizing tank containing the stabilizing fluid, said bleach fixing tank is independently movable in the vertical direction so as to prevent contamination of the developing and stabilizing fluids by the bleach fixing fluid.

Developing device using plurality of tanks

A transport apparatus for transporting media in various size sheets processed at a first processing station to a second processing station. The apparatus comprises, as main components thereof, a plurality of trays disposed between the first and second processing stations, each for accommodating media sheets of one size stacked one upon another, a first transport device for receiving media from the first processing station and transporting the media to the trays, and a second transport device associated with the trays for successively transporting the media from the trays to the second processing station.

Sheet transport apparatus feeding to a plurality of trays in accordance

A transport apparatus for successively transporting a plurality of sheet media having different lengths from a first processing station to a second processing station. The apparatus comprises, as main components thereof, a tray disposed between the first and second processing stations for accommodating the media as stacked one upon another, a first transport device for receiving the media from the first processing station and transporting the media to the tray, a second transport device for acting on leading ends of the media stored on the tray and successively picking up the media to transport the media to the second processing station, and a roller disposed above the tray for contacting a top surface of the media stored on the tray. The roller is rotatable to align the leading ends of the media.

Growing community of inventors

Isehara, Japan

Yukiyoshi Yamakoshi