Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Yutaka Ebi

Masanori Horike

Tatsuya Furukawa

Toshiyuki Furuta

Yoshio Watanabe

Hirotoshi Eguchi

Hiroyuki Horiguchi

Toshihiro Tsukagoshi

Koichiro Jinnai

Takeshi Takemoto

Eiichi Ohta

Yohichiro Miyaguchi

Yoshinori Hayashi

Takuro Sekiya

Satoru Tomita

Kyuhachiro Iwasaki

Taira Kouchiwa

Fuyuhiko Matsumoto

Toshiroh Higuchi

Kohji Izumi

Masaaki Tachiki

Hirotoshi Eguti

Yuhji Kimura

Tsutomu Sato

Takahiro Watanabe

Hiroshi Yamazaki

Wasaburo Ohta

Osamu Naruse

Sugitaka Oteki

Hiromichi Komai

Makoto Tanaka

Takashi Kitaguchi

Kouichi Ohtaka

Yutaka Kodama

Takuro Isayama

Chuji Ishikawa

Koji Hirakura

Michio Umezawa

Toshio Kawakubo

Tadashi Fujii

Mitsugu Irinoda

Minoru Ameyama

Takao Fukazawa

Masatoshi Saitou

Kenichiro Hashimoto

Toshitaka Hirata

Shuji Motomura

Tamio Ohori

Kouji Izumi

Satoshi Otsuki

Toshifumi Kato

Tositaka Hirata

Atsuo Hashimoto

Kikuo Kubo

Akinori Mizuno

Yutaka Yoshiba

Eiki Aono

Yohei Ikezu

A photosensitive body has a photosensitive layer. An optical scanning device has a deflector deflecting a light flux emitted from a light source, and scans the surface of the photosensitive body by the thus-deflected light flux. A dot is formed at a center between adjacent light fluxes as a result of the adjacent light fluxes being overlapped with one another in a sub-scan direction. A ratio of a static beam-spot diameter Ws in the sub-scan direction on the surface of the photosensitive body defined by 1/eof the maximum value in the exposure distribution of the beam spot to an interval L between adjacent scan lines satisfies the following formula: 1.2&#x3c;Ws/L&#x3c;4.5.

Image forming apparatus

A classifier having a simple constitution for classifying powder with a high accuracy is provided. The classifier is provided with a transfer board having a plurality of electrodes for generating electric fields for transferring and hopping the powder by an electrostatic force. The classifier is further provided with an opposite roller generating an electric field for transporting and attaching the powder (toner) transferred and hopped on the transfer board to the opposite roller, which is opposite to the transfer board.

Classifier, developer, and image forming apparatus

A photosensitive body has a photosensitive layer. An optical scanning device has a deflector deflecting a light flux emitted from a light source, and scans the surface of the photosensitive body by the thus-deflected light flux. A dot is formed at a center between adjacent light fluxes as a result of the adjacent light fluxes being overlapped with one another in a sub-scan direction. A ratio of a static beam-spot diameter Ws in the sub-scan direction on the surface of the photosensitive body defined by 1/e of the maximum value in the exposure distribution of the beam spot to an interval L between adjacent scan lines satisfies the following formula: 1.2<Ws/L<4.5.

Image forming apparatus with overlapped light fluxes forming a dot

An electrostatic ink-jet head includes an oscillation plate which defines a bottom of a pressurizing chamber. An electrode substrate is bonded to the oscillation plate and includes a recessed portion that defines an internal space between the oscillation plate and the electrode substrate. A curved electrode is arranged on the recessed portion so as to face the oscillation plate via the internal space. When a driving voltage is applied to the electrode, the electrode actuates the oscillation plate via an electrostatic force, so as to pressurize ink in the pressurizing chamber, thereby ejecting an ink drop onto the recording paper. In the ink-jet head, a dielectric layer is provided on at least one of the electrode and the oscillation plate, and the recessed portion of the electrode substrate has a generally concave cross-section taken along shorter sides of the oscillation plate, such that a gap between the electrode and the oscillation plate is gradually decreased from a middle point to ends of the shorter sides.

Electrostatic ink-jet head and method of production of the same

A neuron unit processes a plurality of input signals and outputs an output signal which is indicative of a result of the processing. The neuron unit includes input lines for receiving the input signals, a forward process part including a supplying part for supplying weight functions and an operation part for carrying out an operation on each of the input signals using one of the weight functions and for outputting the output signal, and a self-learning part including a generating part for generating new weight functions based on errors between the output signal of the forward process part and teaching signals and a varying part for varying the weight functions supplied by the supplying part of the forward process part to the new weight functions generated by the generating part.

Neuron unit, neural network and signal processing method

A hierarchical signal processing apparatus includes aggregates having logic operation portions. The apparatus compares a final output signal from a logic operation portion in a final aggregate with a teaching signal, and generates an error signal by taking a signal which exists only in the teaching signal as a positive error signal, and taking a signal which exists only in said final output signal as a negative error signal. An error signal generating portion in the apparatus generates a positive error signal of a logic operating portion within a certain aggregate which supplies one or more output signals thereof to said logic operation means of another aggregate based on one or more logic operations on the excitatory weight function signal of said weight function signal, the positive error signal, the inhibitory weight function signal of said weight function signal and the negative error signal, and also generates a negative error signal of said logic operation means within said certain aggregate which supplies one or more output signals thereof to said logic operation means of said other aggregate based on one or more logic operations on the inhibitory weight function signal of said weight function signal, the positive error signal of said other aggregate, the excitatory weight function signal of said weight function signal and the negative error signal.

Signal processing apparatus including plural aggregates

A neuron unit processes a plurality of input signals and outputs an output signal which is indicative of a result of the processing. The neuron unit includes input lines for receiving the input signals, a forward process part including a supplying part for supplying weight functions and an operation part for carrying out an operation on each of the input signals using one of the weight functions and for outputting the output signal, and a self-learning part including a generating part for generating new weight functions based on an error signal representing an error between the output signal of the forward process part and a teaching signal and a varying part for varying the weight functions supplied by the supplying part of the forward process part to the new weight functions generated by the generating part. The error signal includes first and second error signal components representing pulse densities.

Neuron unit with error signal having components representing pulse

A neuron unit processes a plurality of input signals and for outputs an output signal which is indicative of a result of the processing, and includes input lines for receiving the input signals, a forward process part including a supplying part for supplying weight functions and an operation part for carrying out an operation on each of the input signals using one of the weight functions and for outputting the output signal, and a self-learning part including a function generating part for generating new weight functions based on errors between the output signal of the forward process part and teaching signals and a varying part for varying the weight functions supplied by the supplying part of the forward process part to the new weight functions generated by the generating part. The supplying part includes a memory for storing each weight function in the form of a binary value, and a generating circuit for generating a random pulse train based on each binary value stored in the memory. The random pulse train describes each weight function in the form of a pulse signal having a pulse density.

Neuron unit

Force sensing apparatus

An apparatus for measuring the refractive index of liquid particularly suitable for use in an ink-jet printing system is provided. The apparatus includes a light emitting diode and a photodiode which are optically coupled by an optical fiber which in turn is partly immersed in a liquid to be measured. In one aspect, the wavelength of light emitted from the light emitting diode is so set to be outside a light absorption wavelength range of the liquid to be measured. In another aspect, provision is made of a temperature dependent resistor which changes its electrical resistance depending on the temperature of the liquid to be measured so as to vary the level of the driving current to be applied to the light emitting diode thereby varying the amount of light to be emitted.

Measuring the refractive index of liquid

A device for detecting viscosity of a liquid which varies with time includes a first tank provided with an overflow section for maintaining a predetermined liquid height, and a second tank fluidly communicated to the first tank and provided with a restricted outlet, or orifice. While a liquid is circulated through the two tanks by a pump, a height sensor which is dipped in the liquid in the second tank senses a liquid height in the tank in terms of capacitance. The output of the height sensor is representative of a viscosity of the liquid.

Device for detecting viscosity of liquid

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Tokyo, Japan

Yutaka Ebi