Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hi-Control Ltd.

Akira Fujimori

Kaoru Yoshino

Satoshi Hatori

Naohiro Kumagai

Hideki Kosugi

Tatsuya Kubo

Takeshi Shintani

Takaaki Tawada

Hiroshi Kikuchi

Hideki Kimura

Yutaka Takahashi

Nobuyuki Taguchi

Takatsugu Fujishiro

Yuji Arai

Hiroshi Ono

Toshio Koike

Satoshi Takano

Daisuke Tomita

Ken Amemiya

Masami Tomita

Tadashi Ogawa

Kunihiro Ohyama

Masanori Kawasumi

Hiroshi Saitoh

Makoto Yasuda

Hideyasu Seki

Ryohta Gotoh

Shinnosuke Koshizuka

Teppei Kikuchi

Kentaro Nodera

Yuta Azeyanagi

Hiromichi Ninomiya

Kenji Honjoh

Yusuke Ishizuka

Yasuhito Kuboshima

Hiroyuki Uenishi

Norio Kudo

Takeshi Tabuchi

Johji Yahagi

Nobuo Kuwabara

Shinichi Kawahara

Masahiko Shakuto

Nobuo Kikuchi

Hiroyuki Mabuchi

Yukio Otome

Haruji Mizuishi

Hiroshi Mizusawa

Takahiro Adachi

Michiya Okamoto

Junichi Terai

Kensuke Sasaki

Takuma Iwasaki

Shinya Karasawa

Hiroaki Okamoto

Tetsuya Muto

Takuzi Yoneda

Keinosuke Kondoh

Tokuya Ojimi

Norio Kudoh

Daisuke Hamada

Kentaro Mikuniya

Kazuhiro Aso

Yu Takahashi

Hideyo Watanabe

A cleaning device cleans a discharge wire that discharges electric charge onto a discharge target. The cleaning device moves in a longitudinal direction oldie discharge wire. The cleaning device includes a first contact portion that contacts and cleans the discharge wire and a second contact portion that contacts and cleans the discharge wire. When the first contact portion and the second contact portion clean the discharge wire, the first contact portion and the second contact portion sandwich the discharge wire in a discharge direction in which the discharge wire discharges the electric charge onto the discharge target. The discharge direction is parallel to a radial direction of the discharge wire.

Cleaning device for cleaning a discharge wire, charger, and image forming apparatus

A developing device includes a developer bearer, a developer regulator, a developer supply passage, and a stopper. The developer bearer includes a magnetic field generator and is configured to bear a developer containing toner and magnetic carriers and conveys the developer to a developing area by rotation. A stopper prevents the developer blocked by the developer regulator from moving to a surface of the developer bearer, while securing a supply path for passing the developer in the developer supply passage to the developer bearer between the stopper and an upper end of a side wall of the developer supply passage that is opposite to the developing bearer. A width of the supply path in a direction perpendicular to a direction of a rotation axis of the developer bearer is in a range of 7%-10% of a circumference of an outer diameter of the developing bearer.

Developing device with a developer regulator and a stopper

A developer conveyance device includes a downward conveyance path in which a developer falls under gravity, a transverse conveyance path communicating with a lower end of the downward conveyance path and extending in a transverse direction intersecting with the downward conveyance path, a transport screw disposed in the transverse conveyance path, and a floating member. The transport screw is configured to rotate in a predetermined direction to transport the developer in the transverse direction. The floating member is configured to contact the transport screw rotating in the predetermined direction to float in the downward conveyance path.

Developer conveyance device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A developing device includes a developer container to contain developer including toner and magnetic carrier, the developer container; a developer bearer to carry, by rotation, the developer to a developing range facing a latent image bearer; a communication opening in a wall defining the developer container; a toner conveyance passage connected to the communication opening; and a cylindrical magnet having a magnetic pole arrangement parallel to an axis of the cylindrical magnet. The cylindrical magnet is disposed to enclose a space overlapping with the communication opening on a cross section perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical magnet.

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

A toner cartridge includes a toner container to store toner and two rotary agitation members to rotate to agitate toner in the toner container. The toner container has two arc-shaped portions adjacent to each other at an inner bottom wall of the toner container. The two rotary agitation members has edges to rotate along the two arc-shaped portions with rotation phases thereof shifted from each other. The two rotary agitation members are placed with rotation trajectories thereof partially overlapping each other.

Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A powder supply device to supply powder to a supply destination includes a body, a single holder including multiple mounts on which multiple powder containers are removably mounted respectively, and a reservoir disposed in the body and below the single holder to store powder discharged from the multiple powder containers; and the single holder is removably attachable to the body of the powder supply device including the reservoir.

Powder supply device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A lubricant supplying device includes: lubricant; a supplying member that supplies the lubricant to a lubricant supply target; and a remaining amount detecting unit that detects that a remaining amount of the lubricant is equal to or smaller than a certain amount. The remaining amount detecting unit includes a first electrode member and a second electrode member. The lubricant supplying device includes a member that causes at least a part of the second electrode member to move and causes the second electrode member to abut the first electrode member with an increase in consumption of the lubricant.

Lubricant supplying device, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge

An image forming apparatus includes a waste toner conveying device including a primary conveyor to convey waste toner discharged from a plurality of primary cleaners and a secondary conveyor to convey waste toner discharged from a secondary cleaner. A relay conveyor conveys the waste toner discharged from the primary conveyor and the secondary conveyor. A waste toner container receives the waste toner discharged from the relay conveyor. The primary conveyor, the secondary conveyor, and the relay conveyor are disposed at one end of the image forming apparatus in a front-to-rear direction thereof. A secondary conveyor outlet of the secondary conveyor is disposed below a primary conveyor outlet of the primary conveyor and above an inlet of the waste toner container.

Image forming apparatus and waste toner conveying device incorporated in same

A data reader includes a memory board provided to a removable member and a reading member including a reading terminal. The memory board includes a positioning opening, a ground terminal provided to the positioning opening, and a contact terminal. The reading member includes an engagement projection that fits in the positioning opening and is disposed adjacent and parallel to the reading terminal. The engagement projection includes a uniform diameter portion, a tapered portion extending from the uniform diameter portion, and an apparatus-side ground terminal to contact the ground terminal of the memory board when the engagement projection fits in the positioning opening. The apparatus-side ground terminal includes a portion projecting laterally from the uniform diameter portion from an end of the uniform diameter portion toward a reading member base and an extended portion at the end of the uniform diameter portion, covered with the tapered portion.

Data reader and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A solid lubricant supply system includes a solid lubricant supplier to receive and supply solid lubricant to a solid lubricant supplying target. A pair of first and second moveable planar electrodes is opposed to each other. The second moveable planar electrode is partially moved toward the first moveable planar electrode as the solid lubricant is consumed. A residual solid lubricant quantity detecting unit is provide to detect a quantity of the residual solid lubricant at a first stage, in which the residual solid lubricant quantity is below a given level, by detecting electric conduction between the pair of first and second moveable planar electrodes when the pair of first and second moveable planar electrodes contacts each other. The first moveable planar electrode is enabled to further move together with the second moveable planar electrode when it is contacted and pressed by the second moveable planar electrode.

Lubricant supply system, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge

A toner-container support unit is provided. The toner-container support unit includes: a toner container housing toner; a container mount including an internal space to accommodate the toner container; a toner-container receiver which is provided on an internal end side of the internal space of the container mount; a positioning hole formed on the back end surface of the toner container; a positioning pin provided in the toner-container receiver; a retracting assembly retracting a back end portion of the toner container to a toner-container receiver side when inserting the toner container into the container mount; and an inclination stopper which prevents the inclination of the toner container when the back end portion of the toner container is retracted by the retracting assembly toward the toner-container receiver.

Toner-container support unit and image-forming apparatus

In an embodiment, provided is a lubricant supplying device that includes: a solid lubricant; a supplying member that supplies lubricant of the solid lubricant to a lubricant supplying target; and a remaining amount detecting unit that detects an amount of the solid lubricant being at a given amount or less. The remaining amount detecting unit is provided on a downstream side in a rubbing direction of the supplying member with respect to the solid lubricant.

A lubricant applicator includes a block of lubricant, a supply member contactable against the block of lubricant to scrape the block of lubricant, and a lubricant gauge to detect whether a remaining amount of lubricant is less than a threshold value. The lubricant gauge includes a rotary member rotatable about a pivot, a pressing member disposed opposite the rotary member to rotate the rotary member by pressing a contact part of the rotary member as the block of lubricant is consumed, and a detection part of the rotary member opposite to the contact part across the pivot of the rotary member. A length of the rotary member from the pivot to the detection part is longer than a length of the rotary member from the pivot to the contact part.

Lubricant applicator, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Akira Fujimori