| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080224385 | Feeding device and image forming apparatus - A sheet discharge roller has a contact portion in contact with a feed roller and a noncontact portion not in contact with the feed roller. The sheet discharge roller includes a kick-out unit having a projected portion and a recess portion on one end of the noncontact portion in the circumferential direction. A reverse roller also has a contact portion in contact with the feed roller and a noncontact portion not in contact with the feed roller. The reverse roller includes a large-diameter portion on its one end in a direction opposite to a direction of the kick-out unit. The large-diameter portion has a diameter larger than a diameter of the contact portion. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080237970 | Sheet loading device, sheet conveying device, and image forming apparatus - A sheet cassette loads and houses therein a plurality of sheets. A separating unit separates the sheets loaded in the sheet cassette one by one. The separating unit is arranged in the sheet cassette in opposite to a feeding roller that conveys the sheets from the sheet cassette. A rib is formed on a rear surface of a bottom plate of the sheet cassette. The rib is pressed by a pressing member. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080273908 | Sheet discharging device and image forming apparatus - A sheet-discharging device includes an upper discharging roller, a lower discharging roller, and a protruding member. The protruding member allows discharging of a sheet to outside from the nip between the upper discharging roller and the lower discharging roller, and prevents taking-in of a sheet that has already been discharged. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080284090 | Switchback mechanism and image forming apparatus - In a color printer in which a drive force of a fixed gear that rotates not in both a forward direction and a reverse direction but in either one direction only is transmitted to a discharging unit, a swing gear is attached to a branch guide via a switching link and a transmission link as a link mechanism. When a solenoid mechanism starts driving, the transmission link rotates. In accordance with the rotation of the transmission link, the switching link rotates, so that a switching among a discharge conveying path, a duplex-printing conveying path, and a switchback conveying path by the branch guide and a switching of a rotating direction of a transmission gear can be simultaneously performed. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20090022514 | Image forming apparatus - An image forming apparatus includes a cover and a supporting unit. The supporting unit includes a holding member, a supporting member, a first biasing unit, and a positioning unit. The holding member holds the transferring member. The supporting member movably supports the holding member, so that the transferring member can move toward or away from a specific member arranged in the main body. The first biasing unit biases the transferring member toward the specific member. When the cover is in a closed state, the transferring member is pressed against the specific member. The positioning unit performs positioning of the supporting member with respect to the main body. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090056484 | Image forming apparatus - A reciprocating-motion converting mechanism includes a cam that rotates around a rotation center; a reciprocating member that is reciprocated due to rotation of the cam; and a pressing unit that presses the reciprocating member to the cam. A first load torque is generated by a load applied at a point of contact of the cam and the reciprocating motion member. A load applying unit applies a load to the cam to generate a second load torque having a phase substantially opposite to a phase of the first load torque. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090110459 | Image forming device - An image forming device is disclosed. The device includes a toner-image forming unit which forms a toner image; a transfer unit; a fixing unit; a paper-output unit; a drive unit; a first drive-power transmission gear; a second drive-power transmission gear; a gear housing; a first positioning unit which positions the fixing unit relative to a device body; and a second positioning unit. The second positioning unit positions the paper-output unit relative to the device body in the direction of a gap between the first drive-power transmission gear and the second drive-power transmission gear by engaging the gear housing with the device body. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090121418 | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus - A sheet feeding device includes a sheet feeding member, a friction separation member, a retaining member, a downstream guiding member, and a biasing member. The downstream guiding member is arranged downstream of a sheet conveyance direction than the friction separation member such that its guide surface is inclined at a predetermined angle to a front surface of the friction separation member towards the sheet feeding member. A line joining an apex of a sheet guiding member arranged upstream of the sheet conveyance direction than the friction separation member and an apex of the downstream guiding unit is positioned towards the sheet feeding member than a contact portion of the sheet feeding member and the friction separation member. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090174135 | Sheet conveying apparatus and image forming apparatus - A sheet conveying apparatus includes a sheet containing unit that contains sheets; a sheet conveying unit that conveys the sheets; a separating unit that separates a single sheet from the sheets; a holding unit that holds the separating unit; and a vibration applying unit that applies a vibration to any one of the sheets conveyed by the sheet conveying unit and the separating unit before starting conveyance of the sheets. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090295061 | Sheet discharge device and image forming apparatus - A sheet discharge device discharges a sheet to a sheet discharge tray. The sheet discharge device includes a rotary shaft, two inside drive rollers, two outside drive rollers, two inside driven rollers, two outside driven rollers, two end retainers, and two inside retainers. The drive rollers are rotatably attached to the rotary shaft. Each of the driven rollers opposes a corresponding one of the drive rollers to be driven by the drive roller. The end retainers and the inside retainers rotatably extend from the rotary shaft across a common tangent of the driven rollers and the drive rollers. The end retainers are longer than the inside rollers and constructed so as to rest on the stacked sheets. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090302521 | Image forming apparatus, optional sheet feeder, and base plate member - A base plate is selectively attached to a lower surface of a main body of an image forming apparatus or to an optional sheet feeder attachable to the main body. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090315250 | Sheet feeding device, image forming apparatus, and sheet feeding method - A sheet feeding device includes a first roller that draws a recording medium at a first position and feeds the recording medium; a friction pad that comes into contact with the first roller with a predetermined contact pressure at a second position that is close to and downstream of the first position in a conveying direction of the recording medium and nips the recording medium with the first roller to convey the recording medium in the conveying direction; and a second roller that comes into contact with the first roller at a third position that is close to and downstream of the second position in the conveying direction and nips the recording medium with the first roller. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20100059930 | Paper feeder and image forming device - A paper feeder includes a sheet container including a platen member on which sheet-like recording media is placed, the platen member having one end portion on an upstream side of a paper feed direction rotatably supported to a spindle, such that the other end portion on a downstream side of the paper feed direction is lifted, and a paper feed member which draws and feeds the sheet-like recording media, and the sheet container includes a stepped portion which presses down the downstream side of the paper feed direction of the platen member when inserting the sheet container in the direction opposite to the paper feed direction, and a sliding portion which maintains the pressing down. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100192710 | Sheet conveying device and image forming apparatus - Plural auxiliary rotating members abut at different positions in a circumferential direction of a roller-shaped rotating member that is configured to rotate in a forward direction and a reverse direction. Diameters of a portion of the roller-shaped rotating member where a first auxiliary rotating member abuts and a portion of the roller-shaped rotating member where a second auxiliary rotating member abuts are different from each other. Conveying speeds of sheets conveyed by the first auxiliary rotating member and the second auxiliary rotating member with the roller-shaped rotating member in different directions at the same time are different from each other. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100201059 | Open/close mechanism for paper tray for use in image forming apparatus - An open/close mechanism can be used for paper trays of an image forming apparatus. The open/close mechanism includes a plate member provided on a side of a housing of the image forming apparatus and configured to pivot upon an axis between an open position and a close position, and a box member that is arranged in the housing beneath the plate member and that can be drawn out of the housing from the side. The open/close mechanism includes also includes a restricting unit that is coupled to the plate member and that abuts against the box member when the box member is set in the housing and when the plate member is in the open position thereby restricting detachment of the box member from the housing. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100314827 | Sheet transport mechanism and electrophotographic image forming apparatus incorporating same - A sheet transport mechanism that can be incorporated in an image forming apparatus includes a first sheet transport member, a second sheet transport member disposed downstream from the first sheet transport member in a sheet transport direction, a sheet transport path defined by and curved between the first and second sheet transport members and including a downstream section recessed from an upstream section in the sheet transport direction, and a contact member disposed at the downstream section and including a first contact portion to which the leading edge of a sheet contacts to move the contact member in a direction to recess from the sheet transport path and a second contact portion connected to the first contact portion to advance toward the sheet transport path at a position upstream from the first contact portion in the sheet transport direction to contact the surface of the sheet. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20110058873 | Conveyer and image forming apparatus including the same - A conveyer includes a first rotating body; a second rotating body pair; and an intermediate rotating body arranged between the first rotating body and the second rotating body pair. A curl of the recording medium is corrected by winding and bending the recording medium around and with the intermediate rotating body at a bent angle formed by a tangent line shared by the intermediate rotating body and the first rotating body, and a line on which such a tangent line of the intermediate rotating body is connected to a nip point of the second rotating body pair. The intermediate rotating body includes an escape mechanism that is capable of causing the intermediate rotating body to escape in a direction to increase the bent angle depending on the width of the recording medium. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110127707 | Switchback mechanism and image forming apparatus - In a color printer in which a drive force of a fixed gear that rotates not in both a forward direction and a reverse direction but in either one direction only is transmitted to a discharging unit, a swing gear is attached to a branch guide via a switching link and a transmission link as a link mechanism. When a solenoid mechanism starts driving, the transmission link rotates. In accordance with the rotation of the transmission link, the switching link rotates, so that a switching among a discharge conveying path, a duplex-printing conveying path, and a switchback conveying path by the branch guide and a switching of a rotating direction of a transmission gear can be simultaneously performed. | 06-02-2011 |
