The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 13, 2016
Filed:
May. 14, 2015
Haruki Nagata, Kanagawa, JP;
Ryo Hasegawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Naoto Kochi, Kanagawa, JP;
Atsushi Nagata, Kanagawa, JP;
Takahiro Konishi, Kanagawa, JP;
Haruki Nagata, Kanagawa, JP;
Ryo Hasegawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Naoto Kochi, Kanagawa, JP;
Atsushi Nagata, Kanagawa, JP;
Takahiro Konishi, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer, a nip forming device, a contact-and-separation device, a thickness information retrieving device, and a controller. The contact-and-separation device moves the image bearer and the nip forming device to contact and separate from each other. The controller controls the contact-and-separation device based on information on a thickness of a recording medium obtained by the thickness information retrieving device such that in a case in which a thickness of a preceding recording medium and a thickness of a successive recording medium are different in continuous printing in which a plurality of recording media is printed out continuously, the contact-and-separation device adjusts a space between the image bearer and the nip forming device when the preceding recording medium exits the transfer nip to a preset size corresponding to the thickness of the successive recording medium that enters the transfer nip.