Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hideki Kosugi

Masaaki Yamada

Yasuyuki Ishii

Ichiro Kadota

Tomoko Takahashi

Yoshinori Nakagawa

Tatsuya Kubo

Kazumi Suzuki

Atsushi Kurokawa

Takeo Tsukamoto

Takashi Fujita

Masanori Horike

Makoto Obu

Atsushi Nakafuji

Hisashi Kikuchi

Toshihiko Baba

Katsuhiro Echigo

Yusuke Takeda

Shigeo Kurotaka

Tetsuro Hirota

Hiroshi Nakai

Shuji Hirai

Katsuaki Miyawaki

Kei Yasutomi

Koichi Kato

Toshio Koike

Daisuke Tomita

Keisuke Uchida

Naomi Sugimoto

Yutaka Takahashi

Toshihiro Hamamura

Makoto Yasuda

Yuuji Wada

Atsushi Nakamoto

Nobuo Kuwabara

Teppei Kikuchi

Jun Yura

Shinnosuke Koshizuka

Sadayuki Iwai

Akira Fujimori

Kentaro Nodera

Hirokazu Ikenoue

Kiyoshi Ohshima

Hirokatsu Suzuki

Hideyasu Seki

Nobuaki Kondoh

Yoshiko Ogawa

Takeshi Iijima

Yuji Ishikura

Echigo Katsuhiro

Ayako Iino

Katsuhiro Aoki

Shin Kayahara

Masanori Saitoh

Hideki Zemba

Hiromitsu Takagaki

Mie Yoshino

Takaya Muraishi

Kazunori Suzuki

Takashi Kawashima

Tetsuya Muto

Keinosuke Kondoh

Yasunari Harada

Tohru Nakano

Koichi Katoh

Kunihiko Nishioka

Kentaro Mikuniya

Masako Yoshii

Kazuhiro Aso

Kohichi Katoh

Yu Yoneda

Yasukazu Kitamura

Yu Takahashi

Ichiroh Kadota

Horike Masanori

Yamada Masaaki

An image projection device includes a projector configured to project an image; and an operation unit configured to receive an operation performed by an operator. The projector is in a projecting state while the operation unit is receiving a pressing operation performed by the operator, and the projector is in a non-projecting state while the operation unit is not receiving a pressing operation performed by the operator.

Image projection device

A developing device includes: a developer bearer configured to bear developer thereon; a developer conveyance path for conveying developer to be fed to the developer bearer; a developer conveying member configured to convey the developer in the developer conveyance path; a developer discharge port disposed in the developer conveyance path to discharge developer from the developer conveyance path by overflow; and a contact member configured to be brought into contact with the developer conveyed toward the developer discharge port in the developer conveyance path, the developer conveyance path being configured to receive externally-supplied developer therein, the contact member being configured to repeat a sequence of movements including being elastically deformed by being brought into contact with the developer conveying member being driven and thereafter being elastically restored by being brought out of contact with the developer conveying member.

Developing device and image forming apparatus including a contact member which is elastically deformed

A developer container includes a container body, a rotary shaft, a rotary stirrer, and a flexible blade. The container body contains developer and has a discharge port. The rotary stirrer includes a rotary support and rotates about the rotary shaft to stir and transport the developer. The rotary support includes a base end rotatable integrally with the rotary shaft, a free end spaced away from an inner wall of the container body, and a holding surface provided at the free end or at a position shifted toward the rotary shaft away from the free end. The holding surface is parallel to or inclined relative to a rotation direction of the rotary support. The flexible blade includes a base end portion held on the holding surface and a distal end to contact the inner wall and transport the developer to the discharge port.

Developer container, developer replenisher, and image forming apparatus

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 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 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

An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier; a latent image writer to write a latent image on the latent image carrier; a developing unit including a toner carrier having first and second electrodes insulated via an insulator member and a voltage applying unit to apply voltages to the first and second electrodes having a potential difference to generate first electric fields to cause the toner to hop from the toner carrier to the latent image carrier to develop a toner image; and a transfer unit to transfer the developed toner image to a transferring member. When alternating voltages having a same phase and same amplitude are applied to the first and second electrodes to form second electric fields between the latent image carrier and the toner carrier, the toner is discharged from the toner carrier to the latent image carrier in a toner discharge mode.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier to carry a latent image, a developing device having a toner carrier with first and second electrodes to develop the latent image by transferring the toner to a developing region between the toner carrier and the latent image carrier while causing the toner to hop between the first and second electrodes and attaching the hopping toner to the latent image, a pulsed power supply to output a first periodic pulse voltage having a mean potential the same as a normal toner charge and a second periodic pulse voltage, a smoothing circuit to make the first periodic pulse voltage smooth to generate a direct voltage, and a toner layer thickness regulator member to regulate, on receiving the direct voltage, a thickness of the toner layer in a region between a toner supply position at which toner is supplied and the developing region.

Developing device, image forming apparatus, and image forming method

A development device includes a developer container; a rotary cylindrical developer carrier including an outer electrode including multiple electrode portions arranged in a circumferential direction of the developer carrier, an inner electrode provided on an inner circumferential side of the developer carrier from the outer electrode, an insulation layer disposed between the outer electrode and the inner electrode, and a surface layer; and a bias power source to apply a first bias voltage and a second bias voltage to the inner electrode and the outer electrode, respectively. The first bias power source causes an electrical potential difference that changes with time between the inner electrode and the outer electrode to cause the developer to hop on a circumferential surface of the developer carrier. At least one of the first bias voltage and the second bias voltage has a cyclic waveform in which pulse-on time is reduced.

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

Shutter of a powder container

Powder container

A development device includes a toner carrier including first and second groups of electrodes, a toner supplier, and an electrical field generator. The electrical field generator includes a positive-phase pulse voltage generation circuit, a negative-phase pulse voltage generation circuit, a first DC power source for supplying a bias for setting a peak value of pulse voltages, a second DC power source to output a variable voltage having a polarity identical to a polarity of toner charge, a first diode having an anode connected to a lower potential side of the first DC power source and a cathode connected to an output terminal of the positive-phase pulse voltage generation circuit, and a second diode having an anode connected to the lower potential side of the first DC power source and a cathode connected to an output terminal of the negative-phase pulse voltage generation circuit.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Hideki Kosugi