| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20090065999 | SHEET STACK APPARATUS AND SHEET STACKING METHOD - A sheet stack apparatus comprises a storage portion configured to support sheets conveyed one by one in a standing position, a receiving portion configured to receive lower ends of the sheets supported by the storage portion, an assisting member configured to move from a first position to the storage portion side and at a second position where the assisting member contacts with the sheets conveyed to the storage portion, assist stacking of the sheets on the storage portion, and a holding member configured to move in correspondence with a movement of the assisting member via an attaching portion, when the assisting member is at the second position, separate from the lower ends of the sheets, and when the assisting member is at the first position where the assisting member is separated from the sheets supported by the storage portion, contact with the lower ends of the sheets, thereby hold them on the storage portion side. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090066012 | SHEET STACK APPARATUS AND SHEET STACKING METHOD - A sheet stack apparatus comprises a storage portion configured to support sheets conveyed one by one in a standing position, an alignment member configured to move back and forth between a standby position and a predetermined position in a sheet width direction crossing a sheet conveying direction and contact with and align sheet edges in the sheet width direction at the predetermined position, and a controller configured to control the alignment member to move back and forth by the first number of times whenever sheets are stored in the storage portion and starting from a predetermined number of sheets before a last sheet of the sheets conveyed to the storage portion, and control the alignment member to move back and forth by the second number of times larger than the first number of times. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090166945 | SHEET FINISHER, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND SHEET FINISHING METHOD - According to the invention, a sheet finisher has a folding mechanism, a discharging mechanism, a stacking mechanism, and a slip amount calculator. The folding mechanism forms a folding line by folding a sheet which an image forming unit discharges. The discharging mechanism discharges the sheet including the folding line which the folding mechanism forms. The stacking mechanism stacks the sheet which the discharging mechanism discharges. The slip amount calculator outputs a fullness state of the stacking mechanism to the image forming unit, if a slip amount of the discharging mechanism exceeds a threshold. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20100009830 | SHEET FOLDING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS USING THE SAME, AND SHEET FOLDING METHOD - A sheet folding apparatus includes a fold unit to fold a center of a sheet bundle to form a fold line, a reinforce roller which reciprocates along a direction of the fold line while nipping and pressing the fold line and reinforces the fold line of the sheet bundle, and a control section to changeably set the number of times of reciprocating movement of the reinforce roller according to a thickness of a sheet contained in the sheet bundle. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100117284 | SHEET FOLDING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND SHEET FOLDING METHOD - A sheet folding apparatus includes: a carrying path through which a printed sheet is carried and which has an exit facing upward; a tray on which the sheet carried through the carrying path is stacked while being vertically sloped; an assist roller which rotates in a manner of pushing the sheet against the tray and pushing the sheet upward on the tray before a rear end of the sheet is discharged from the exit after a forward end of the sheet passes the exit of the carrying path, and which rotates in a reverse direction in a manner of pushing the sheet downward on the tray after the rear end of the sheet is discharged from the exit; and a stacker which is provided below the tray and receives and supports the rear end of the sheet pushed down by the assist roller. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100194839 | IMAGE ERASING APPARATUS - An image erasing apparatus includes: a scanner which detects a side of a sheet on which an image is formed using a thermally decolorable coloring agent; a heat roller which provides heat for the sheet having the image formed thereon; and a controller which causes a quantity of heat provided for the sheet from the heat roller when an image forming side detected by the scanner does not face the heat roller to be greater than a quantity of heat provided for the sheet from the heat roller when the image forming side faces the heat roller. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100196063 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a first image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet using a first colorant to be heat-fixed on the sheet; a second image forming unit configured to form an image on the sheet using a second colorant that is erasable by heating; and a fixing device arranged further on a downstream side in a sheet conveying direction than the first image forming unit and further on an upstream side in the sheet conveying direction than the second image forming unit and capable of executing fixing processing for heat-fixing the image, which is formed on the sheet by the first image forming unit, on the sheet and executing erasing processing for heating the sheet, on which the image is formed with the second colorant, to erasing temperature to thereby erase the second colorant on the sheet. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100272449 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING IMAGE FORMING PROGRAM RECORDED THEREIN - There is provided an image forming apparatus including: an image data acquiring unit that acquires image data of an image formed on a sheet; an identification information acquiring unit that acquires identification information that identifies the sheet on which the image is formed; an image forming unit that forms an image based on the image data acquired by the image data acquiring unit on the sheet with a decolorable colorant which becomes colorless by a predetermined chemical reaction and that forms an identification information image based on the identification information on the sheet with a non-decolorable colorant which does not become colorless by the chemical reaction by which the decolorable colorant becomes colorless; and a storage control unit that stores the identification information and the image data of the image to be formed on the sheet, on which the identification information image corresponding to the identification information is formed, in a predetermined storage region in a correlated manner. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20110065056 | IMAGE DECOLORING DEVICE - An image decoloring device includes: a decoloring processing unit configured to perform decoloring for removing the color of a decolorable colorant; a sheet carrying unit configured to transfer a sheet and causing the sheet to pass through the decoloring processing unit; a print condition detection unit arranged upstream of a direction in which the sheet is transferred by the sheet carrying unit with respect to the decoloring processing unit, the print condition detection unit obtaining print condition information indicating the print condition of an image formed on the sheet; and a process controlling unit configured to control the decoloring processing unit based on a result of detection given from the print condition detection unit. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110065563 | SHEET FOLDING APPARATUS, SHEET FINISHING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME AND SHEET FOLDING METHOD - According to an embodiment, a sheet folding apparatus includes: a conveying roller pair configured to convey a sheet; a conveying path provided on a downstream side of the conveying roller pair, an opening being formed in a part of the conveying path if the sheet is triple-folded and being closed if the sheet is double-folded; a retracting conveying path, an inlet of which is opened to the opening of the conveying path and an outlet of which is closed by a stopper, the retracting conveying path leading the front end of the sheet, which is conveyed through the conveying path, from the inlet to the stopper and temporarily retracting the front of the sheet if the sheet is triple-folded; a first folding roller pair disposed near the inlet of the retracting conveying path, the first folding roller pair nipping, if the sheet is triple-folded, a bend caused by pushing of the sheet led by the conveying rollers into the retracting conveying path to form a first fold and nipping, if the sheet is double-folded, the front end of the sheet, which is conveyed through the closed conveying path, and conveying the sheet further downstream; and a second folding roller pair configured to further form a second fold in the sheet on which the first fold is formed to triple-fold the sheet, and form only the second fold in the sheet on which the first fold is not formed to double-fold the sheet. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110065574 | IMAGE DECOLORING APPARATUS, IMAGE DECOLORING METHOD, AND SHEET TRANSFER APPARATUS - The present invention provides an image decoloring apparatus including a plurality of, at least three, sheet load portions, each of the portions being able to be loaded with a sheet, an decoloring portion which performs decoloring an image on a sheet formed with the decolorable colorant, a first sheet transfer portion which transfers the sheet loaded in each of the plurality of sheet load portions to the decoloring portion, and a second sheet transfer portion which transfers the sheet after the decoloring is performed thereto by the decoloring portion to each of the plurality of sheet load portions. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110068529 | SHEET FINISHER, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND SHEET FINISHING METHOD - According to the invention, a sheet finisher has a folding mechanism, a discharging mechanism, a stacking mechanism, and a slip amount calculator. The folding mechanism forms a folding line by folding a sheet which an image forming unit discharges. The discharging mechanism discharges the sheet including the folding line which the folding mechanism forms. The stacking mechanism stacks the sheet which the discharging mechanism discharges. The slip amount calculator outputs a fullness state of the stacking mechanism to the image forming unit, if a slip amount of the discharging mechanism exceeds a threshold. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110074086 | DECOLORIZING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING DECOLORIZING DEVICE - According to one embodiment, a decolorizing device includes a first stacker to stack sheets to be decolorized images on the sheets, a second stacker arranged adjacent to the first stacker, wherein the sheets stacked on the first stacker is kept waiting on the second stacker in order to be decolorized the images, a pressing unit to urge the sheets stacked on the second stacker downward and keep the sheets stacked on the second stacker flat, an image decolorizing unit to decolorize the images on the sheets, and a sheet feed unit positioned on an upper surface of the pressing unit to convey the sheets pressed on the pressing unit from the second stacker to the image decolorizing unit. | 03-31-2011 |