Ricoh 2014 Annual Report Download - page 30

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 30 of the 2014 Ricoh annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 106

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106

Ricoh Group Sustainability Report 201429
• Factory automation camera application
Stereo cameraExtended depth-of-eld camera
Extended depth-of-eld camera Distance image from stereo cameraConventional camera
Wide depth-of-eld facilitates
recognition in foreground and
background
Varying distances to subject
Accurate object capture possible
because robot can acquire
correct position
Sincethelatterhalfofthe1970s,wehavepromoted
in-house development of automated production
facilities, and through such approaches as the installa-
tion of sensor modules to inspect products, we have
elevated the accuracy of machine vision technology,
which assesses situations and responds without
human involvement. Although our emphasis was on
the development of optical modules for factory
automation cameras and sensors to accelerate auto-
mation at our own production sites, we provided
some of our results to customers across a wide range
of industry sectors, including automotive, security and
Rewritable recording technology is a technical eld
attracting considerable attention from the perspective
of convenience and reduced environmental impact.
Ricoh was quick to put into practical application a
thermal rewritable recording medium using heat, and
the associated system featuring a thermal printhead
as the recording mechanism has been widely adopted
for cards, particularly loyalty cards and IC cards,
showing numbers and expiry dates. The labels can be
used repeatedly, helping to mitigate environmental
impact because wasted label volume is lower and
label-related tasks are deemphasized.
Currently, this rewritable recording technology
Providing new value for the industrial market
Example 1: Machine vision, indispensable to social infrastructures
Providing new value for the industrial market
Example 2: Rewritable laser system contributes to higher operating efciency in distribution sector
distribution and earned high marks, for application in
their own operations.
Machine vision not only offers performance
incredibly close to that of human sight, it also has the
capacity to instantaneously identify two- and three-
dimensional information as well as information that
are imperceptible to the human eye. Consequently,
machine vision facilitates automation in areas where
manufacturers have always had to rely on human
workers, and it will become indispensable to the
social infrastructures of tomorrow. ➤ WEB1,2,3
isused in industrial applications, such as factory
automation and distribution. In the distribution sector,
where delivery labels are afxed to returnable tote
containers on regular service routes, the use of
rewritable labels can lead to a huge improvement in
operating efciency. The use of rewritable recording
technology obviates the need for removal of old labels
and reapplication of new ones and thereby cuts
associated personnel costs.
In addition, this contactless, high-speed rewriting
technology from Ricoh allows labels to be reused
about 1,000 times, which extends label life to ve
years or more. ➤ WEB4
• Rewritable laser system boasting high speed and high durability can be used outdoors as well as indoors
Basic conguration of rewritable laser system
Erasure
Conveyor
Rewritable
laser eraser
Rewritable
laser marker
Rewritable
laser medium
Printing
Protective layer is put on the
front of the medium to block
out oxygen and ultraviolet
light
Data overlap automatically
removed to prevent
excessive heating at
intersection points of font
or image
• Original technology point
Protective layer
Ultraviolet screening layer
Oxygen insulation layer
Recording layer
(Containing photothermal material)
Oxygen insulation layer
Substrate
Intersecting Cuff Approximating
➤ WEB1ExtendedDepth-of-FieldCamera
:
www.ricoh.com/about/company/technology/tech/050_edof.html
➤ WEB2Stereo camera
:
www.ricoh.com/about/company/technology/tech/045_stereocamera.html
➤ WEB3Ricoh’s Next-Generation Machine Vision (White paper)
:
www.ricoh.com/technology/whitepaper/pdf/wp_mv.pdf
➤ WEB4Rewritable Laser System
:
www.ricoh.com/technology/tech/062_laserrewritable.html