Oki Data Corporation

Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Fumitaka Ozeki

Takuya Goto

Hisashi Soga

Kentaro Hasegawa

Susumu Yamamoto

Kazuoki Katayama

Tsukasa Hirayama

An image formation apparatus according to an embodiment may include: an image formation section to form an image with a developer; an entire area printing rate calculator configured to calculate an entire area printing rate, which is, a printing rate of an entirety of an image formation area; a divided area printing rate calculator configured to calculate each divided area printing rate, which is, a printing rate of each of plural divided areas, divided in a main scanning direction, of the image formation area; and a deteriorated developer discarding operation execution section configured, when the entire area printing rate is equal to or lower than an entire area printing rate threshold, to perform a deteriorated developer discarding operation to discard the developer in any one of the divided areas in which the divided area printing rate is equal to or lower than a divided area printing rate threshold thereof.

Image formation apparatus

An image formation apparatus according to an embodiment includes: an image carrier; a charging member facing the image carrier; a developer carrier facing the image carrier; and a controller that controls a rotating operation of the image carrier, application of a charge voltage to the charging member, and application of a development voltage to the developer carrier. In a first period, the controller sets an absolute value of a voltage difference between a DC component of the charge voltage and a DC component of the development voltage to a first value to develop a latent image on the image carrier. In a second period after the first period, the controller sets the absolute value of the voltage difference to a second value smaller than the first value.

Image formation apparatus controlling charging voltage and development voltage

An image forming apparatus executes an image formation process through which a developer image is formed on an image carrier by developing an electrostatic latent image while rotating a developer carrier in a forward direction, a voltage controller controls development and regulating voltages after the image formation process such that a magnitude relationship between the development regulating voltages becomes inverted from that during the image formation process, and after finishing the image formation process, in a state where the magnitude relationship between the development and regulating voltages is inverted from that during the image formation, the drive controller rotates the developer carrier in the forward direction for a prescribed period, and afterwards rotates the developer carrier in a reverse direction for another prescribed period.

Image forming apparatus

An image formation apparatus includes: a storage which stores a test pattern; and image formation sections which form an image of the test pattern on a medium. The image of the test pattern includes divided images formed by being divided into regions in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction. Each of the divided images is formed by at least one preset image formation section out of the image formation sections. A total width, in each of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction, of the divided images formed by each of the image formation sections is larger than the entirety of a corresponding width of the image of the test pattern.

Image formation apparatus forming a test pattern image

An information presentation method includes an apparatus information acquisition step to acquire as apparatus information a detection result of detecting a state of an image forming apparatus by a detection part, an input step to let a user of the image forming apparatus input a content to search for about the image forming apparatus as search input information by an input part, a presentation order determination step to read more than one of multiple answers stored in a server device on a symptom that occurred in the image forming apparatus based on the search input information and the apparatus information, the read answers being to be presented to the user, and to determine a presentation order of the answers, and a presentation step to present, by a presentation part, the answers to the user in the presentation order.

Information presentation system and information presentation method

An image forming unit includes a first developer supply member that is arranged inside a developer container and supplies a developer to a developer carrier, a seal member of which a fixed end is fixed on a case. The case has a first wall part that extends from the fixed end obliquely downward with respect to a vertical direction and a second wall part that continues from the first wall part and extends along an outer peripheral surface of the first developer supply member, and a first distance between an inner peripheral surface of the first wall part and the outer peripheral surface of the first developer supply member becomes smaller with increasing distance from the fixed end of the seal member.

Image forming unit having image carrier, developer carrier that supplies developer to image carrier and developer supply member that supplies developer to developer carrier, and image forming apparatus having image carrier, developer carrier that supplies developer to image carrier and developer supply member that supplies developer to developer carrier

An image forming apparatus includes image carrier carrying latent image, developer carrier supplying developer on the image carrier, transfer part transferring the developer on the image carrier, cleaning blade removing attachment that attaches to a surface of the image carrier, internal environment detection part detecting an internal environmental temperature in the apparatus, developer disposal control part controlling disposal of developer from the developer carrier to the image carrier, and voltage control part controlling an applied voltage to the transfer part. Wherein, the developer disposal control part determines an absolute value of the applied voltage larger, which is applied to the transfer part during disposing the developer, where the internal environment temperature is high, and the voltage control part controls the applied voltage to the transfer part based on the absolute value of the voltage decided by the developer disposal control part.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method

An image forming apparatus includes a developer bearing body for supplying developer to a surface of the image bearing body, on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by a latent image forming unit; a driving unit for rotating the developer bearing body; a speed control unit for determining a rotation speed of the developer bearing body; a drive control unit for controlling the driving unit so that the developer bearing body rotates at the determined rotation speed; and a control unit for determining the amount of developer to be disposed of on the basis of the determined rotation speed and controlling disposal of the determined amount of developer on the surface of the developer bearing body.

Image forming apparatus for controlling disposal of developer

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a charging device to be applied with a charging voltage, an exposure device, a developer carrier to be applied with a development voltage, a developer supplying member to be applied with a supply voltage, a developer regulation member to be applied with a regulation voltage, and a voltage controller. The developer carrier has thereon a developer having a charge amount Q/M. The charge amount Q/M satisfies 25 [&#x3bc;C/g]&#x2266;|Q/M|&#x2266;40 [&#x3bc;C/g]. The image carrier has a surface potential Vopc, the development voltage is expressed as Vdb, and the developer carrier has a developer layer potential Vtnr thereon. The developer layer potential Vtnr relative to a difference between the surface potential Vopc and the development voltage Vdb is expressed by a ratio &#x3b3;. The ratio &#x3b3; satisfies 0.1&#x2266;&#x3b3;&#x2266;0.2.

A image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearing body, an exposing unit that irradiates the image bearing body to form a latent image, a developer bearing body that develops the latent image to form a developer image, a transfer unit that transfers the developer image to a recording medium, a feeding unit that feeds the recording medium, a density detecting unit that detects a developer density of the developer image transferred to the recording medium, and a speed difference control unit that controls a difference of a circumferential speed of the image bearing body and a feeding speed of the recording medium fed by the feeding unit. The speed difference is controlled based on a density of a thin line pattern transferred to the recording medium detected by the density detecting unit.

Image forming apparatus having speed difference control

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit having image forming elements and a fixing unit. The image forming elements includes an image carrier, a charging unit, a developer carrier, and a developer supplier. The image forming apparatus further includes a post unoperated period image formation preparation processor operable to, when the unoperated period, which is a time period from an end of an image forming operation to a start of a subsequent image forming operation is equal to or greater than a threshold, perform an idling operation to rotate the image carrier while applying a post unoperated period image formation preparation voltage, which is different from a normal image formation voltage, to a given one or more of the image forming elements.

An image forming apparatus includes an image supporting member; a developer supporting member for attaching developer to the image supporting member to form a developer image; a regulation member for forming a thin layer of the developer on the developer supporting member; a charge adjustment member for receiving a charge adjustment voltage and contacting with the thin layer of the developer formed on the developer supporting member to adjust a charge amount of the developer; and a charge adjustment voltage switching unit for switching the charge adjustment voltage applied to the charge adjustment member between an image forming voltage upon forming an image and a non-image forming voltage during a preparation operation.

Image forming apparatus, developing device, and method of adjusting developer

An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image forming units each having an image supporting member, a developer supporting member, and a cleaning member for cleaning developer on the image supporting member. The image forming apparatus further includes a transfer device for transferring a developer image to a medium; a fixing device for fixing the developer image to the medium; a first detection unit for detecting a first physical value of an external environment of the image forming apparatus; a second detection unit for detecting a second physical value of an internal environment of the image forming apparatus; and a control unit for determining whether at least one of the image forming units performs a developer discard mode in which developer is discarded according to the first physical value, the second physical value, and a distance between the one of the image forming units and the fixing device.

Image forming apparatus and method of discarding developer

An image forming apparatus forms images. A developer bearing body receives a first voltage and supplies developer to the electrostatic latent image formed on an image bearing body. A supplying member receives a second voltage and supplies the developer to said developer bearing body. A detector detects at least one of an environmental condition, e.g., temperature and humidity outside of an apparatus and an environmental condition e.g., temperature inside of the apparatus. A controller controls the difference between the first voltage and the second voltage in accordance the environmental conditions. The controller makes a decision to determine whether the outside temperature is not lower than a first reference, whether outside humidity is not higher than a second reference, and whether inside temperature is not lower than a third reference. If the above criteria are met, the controller decreases the absolute value of the difference.

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Tokyo, Japan

Fumitaka Ozeki