Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Akira Azami

Takamasa Ozeki

Masaaki Yamada

Yasunobu Shimizu

Yoshio Hattori

Yoshiyuki Fukuda

Yoshiko Ogawa

Katsumi Masuda

Yoshiharu Kishi

Junichi Matsumoto

Yuji Suzuki

Toshio Koike

Toshiyuki Kabata

Noriyuki Kimura

Nobuyuki Taguchi

Yuki Oshikawa

Yoshihiro Fujiwara

Keiichi Yoshida

Kei Saito

Yuuji Ishikura

Takahiro Suzuki

Hideki Kimura

Hideo Yoshizawa

Kazumi Suzuki

Minoru Masuda

Toyoshi Sawada

Yutaka Takahashi

Yasufumi Takahashi

Shunji Katoh

Katsuhiro Aoki

Takeroh Kurenuma

Kyohta Koetsuka

Tomoya Ohmura

Hiroyuki Uenishi

Yuuki Satoh

Hiroaki Okamoto

Masayuki Ohsawa

Yoshiyuki Takano

Daichi Yamaguchi

Keinosuke Kondoh

Toshiki Hayashi

Kaori Hemmi

Toshiaki Motohashi

Akihiro Kawakami

Mutsuki Morinaga

Kentaro Mikuniya

Kiyotaka Sakai

Megumi Arai

Kenji Nakajima

An image forming method includes forming, fixing, and applying. The forming forms a toner image on a recording medium by an image forming device. The fixing fixes the toner image on the recording medium with heat by a fixing device. The applying applies an electric charge by a charge applying device to the recording medium on which the toner image has been fixed by the fixing device, in a state in which an output-adjustable power source for the charge applying device has an electric current that is controlled to be constant.

Image forming method and image forming apparatus

An image forming method is provided. The image forming method includes: forming an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image bearer; developing the electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic latent image bearer with a toner to form a toner image; transferring the toner image from the electrostatic latent image bearer onto a continuous resin film; fixing the toner image on the continuous resin film with a heat roller or a heat belt. The toner contains a maleic-acid-modified polyolefin having a polypropylene block in a main chain.

A method for manufacturing a removable information sheet includes: forming a toner image on a recording medium; applying an energy-ray-curable pressure-sensitive composition precursor onto the medium to form an energy-ray-curable pressure-sensitive composition precursor layer; irradiating, with an energy ray, the medium to cure the layer and form an energy-ray-curable pressure-sensitive composition; and attaching faces with the composition and pressure-bonding the faces. A region size of a toner-image flat part is 200 &#x3bc;m or less in the image, which is determined by a measurement method including: defining a site at a depth of 2 &#x3bc;m or more from a surface of a solid part of the image as a recess; defining a site other than the recess as the flat part; acquiring and binarizing a micrograph of the solid part; drawing circles out of contact with the recess; and defining a largest circle diameter as the size of the flat part.

Method for manufacturing removable information sheet

An image forming method for an image forming apparatus having a fixing rotator and a pressure rotator opposite the fixing rotator includes transferring white toner and color toner onto a surface of a metallic sheet. The metallic sheet has a thermal conductivity of 0.34 W/m&#xb7;K or less as measured by hot-wire method. The transferring process forms an unfixed color toner layer layered on an unfixed white toner layer on the metallic sheet. Further, the method includes conveying the metallic sheet, with the surface on which the white toner layer and the color toner layer being transferred facing the fixing rotator, between the fixing rotator heated and the pressure rotator to fix the white toner layer and the color toner layer onto the metallic sheet.

Image forming method for metallic sheets

A developing device includes a developer bearer to carry, by rotation, developer including toner and magnetic carrier to a developing range facing a latent image bearer; a casing including a developer container and an opening to expose a part of the developer bearer disposed in the casing; an opposing face of the casing including a conductive material and opposing to a surface of the developer bearer downstream from the developing range in a direction of rotation of the developer bearer; a developing bias source to apply a developing bias to the developer bearer; and an insulation layer disposed on the opposing face of the casing. The opposing face is disposed across, from the developer bearer, a casing gap sized to allow the developer borne on the developer bearer to contact the opposing face.

Developing device, and image forming apparatus and process cartridge incorporating same

A developing device includes a developer bearer disposed facing a latent image bearer in a developing range to transport developer by rotation, a support to support the developer bearer and including a holder mount, a rod-shaped developer regulator disposed facing a surface of the developer bearer across a gap, and a holder secured to the holder mount of the support to hold the rod-shaped developer regulator. The rod-shaped developer regulator extends in an axial direction of the developer bearer.

Developing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A developing device to develop with two-component developer an electrostatic latent image includes a developer bearer to carry thereon developer supplied to the latent image bearer, a first conveyance channel disposed adjacent to the developer bearer, a second conveyance channel disposed adjacent to the first conveyance channel and farther from the developer bearer than the first conveyance channel, a first conveying member disposed in the first conveyance channel to agitate and transport developer supplied to the developer bearer, a second conveying member including a spiral blade winding around a shaft to transport developer in the second conveyance channel in a predetermined developer conveyance direction, and a collected-developer guide to guide a part of developer that leaves the developer bearer to the second conveyance channel beyond the first conveyance channel.

Development device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A developing device includes a non-magnetic rotatable sleeve of a developer bearer to bear developer and a development electric field generator to generate a development electric field between the image bearer and the developer bearer by applying a development bias to the developer bearer. The developing bias is an AC bias generating an AC electric field therebetween. The magnetic carrier includes a plurality of fine particles each covered by a covering layer made of prescribed material having a volume resistivity equal to or more than 10[&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm] having a prescribed particle diameter equal to or less than 100 [nm]. Each of the a plurality of fine particles has a total volume resistivity equal to or less than 10[&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm]. The magnetic carrier has a total volume resistivity equal to or more than 10[&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm].

Image forming apparatus and method capable of obtaining high quality image suppressing edge effect

There is provided a separation member for separating a first conveying path formed by a first conveying member from a second conveying path formed by a second conveying member. There is also provided an opposed member facing a magnetic pole Hat an upstream side of two magnetic poles Hand Hthat forms a developer-releasing magnetic pole H

Developing device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A developing unit includable in a process cartridge and in an image forming apparatus includes a developer bearing member including a magnetic field generator and a nonmagnetic hollow member, a developer container, an agitation/conveyance member, a developer regulating member to regulate the thickness of a layer of the two-component developer. The magnetic field generator has first and second magnetic poles to generate respective magnetic forces for removing the developer from the developer bearing member after the developer passes the development region. The second magnetic pole generates a magnetic force to attract the developer to form a magnetic brush on the developer bearing member. The developer regulating member includes a magnetic member outwardly disposed on an exterior perimeter surface of the developer bearing member upstream from the developer regulating member, and one planar surface of the magnetic member faces the second magnetic pole across an effective development region.

Developer regulating member in a developing unit, process cartridge including same, and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An image forming apparatus and process cartridge which uses a two-component developer comprising a toner and a carrier. By using toner and carrier having a small-particle size, deterioration of the toner fluidity over time can be avoided, and further by maintaining stable toner charge even in a low-humidity environment, stable high-quality image formation can be achieved. The occurrence of adherence of carrier to the solid portions of the toner image is reduced in addition to the occurrence of adherence of carrier to the edge portions, and image abnormalities, toner scattering and the like are prevented.

Image forming apparatus and process cartridge

A developer bearing member on which grooves slanting in a thrust direction of the developer bearing member cross other grooves reversely slanting relative to the thrust direction, wherein each of the grooves and the reversely slanting grooves is slanting at an angle of greater than 0&#xb0; and not greater than 40&#xb0;. Any two adjacent intersections of the grooves and the reversely slanting grooves in the thrust (or peripheral) direction are preferably on different levels in the peripheral (or thrust) direction. The distance between two adjacent intersections in the thrust direction is preferably from 1.3 mm to 4.8 mm. The distance between two adjacent intersections in the thrust direction is preferably from 0.38 Vd/Vi (mm) to 1.1 Vd/Vi (mm). The deviation in depth of grooves present on a 36&#xb0; arc surface portion of the member is not greater than 15% of the gap between the image bearing member and the developer bearing member.

Developer bearing member, developing device, process cartridge and image forming apparatus

A developing method of the present invention is practicable with a developing unit of the type including a rotatable, nonmagnetic sleeve and a rigid metering member. A two ingredient type developer made up of magnetic carrier grains and toner grains is magnetically deposited on the sleeve. The metering member meters the amount of the developer deposited on the sleeve. The sleeve has surface roughness Rz ranging from 5 &#x3bc;m to 20 &#x3bc;m. The carrier grains each are covered with a coating layer containing at least binder resin and grains. The ratio of the diameter D of the individual grain contained in the coating layer to the thickness h of the binder resin layer lies in the range of 1&#x3c;D/h&#x3c;10. The carrier grains have a weight-mean grain size ranging from 20 &#x3bc;m to 60 &#x3bc;m.

Developing method using a two-ingredient type developer and image forming apparatus using the same

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Kanagawa, Japan

Akira Azami