Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hiroaki Ogata

Shinya Yamamoto

Hiroshi Sasame

Hiroki Kisu

Kazushige Sakurai

Tomomi Kakeshita

Michihito Yamazaki

Erika Asano

Takashi Hibi

Yasuyuki Ishii

Seiji Yamaguchi

Masaharu Ohkubo

Eiichiro Teshima

Hiroyuki Adachi

Hiroshi Sato

Yasushi Shimizu

Masaki Ojima

Motoki Adachi

Katsuhiro Sakaizawa

Masao Uyama

Junichi Kato

Yasunari Watanabe

Yuki Nishizawa

Yukihiro Ohzeki

Tetsuya Sano

Hiroto Hasegawa

Satoru Inami

Takeo Shoji

Kazumi Yamauchi

Norihisa Hoshika

Hajime Sugaya

Shinji Uehara

Syuhei Kawasaki

Eiji Funabashi

Miyuki Oki

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a developing device including a carrying member for carrying a one component developer and for developing an electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member with the developer; a rotatable developer supplying device, contacted to the carrying member, for supplying the developer to the carrying member; a developer regulating device for regulating an amount of the developer carried on the carrying member; a developer stirring device for stirring the developer a developer supply device for supplying the developer to the developing device; and a controller for controlling supply of the developer to the developing device from the developer supply device. A lower end of the developer stirring device is disposed at a position which is vertically above an upper end of the developer supplying device and which is vertically above a contact portion between the carrying member and the developer regulating device. A direction of rotation of the developer supplying device is such that the developer supplying device is contacted to the carrying member during a downward part of the rotation of the developer supplying device. The controller controls the developer supply device such that a lower limit of a height of a surface of the developer is vertically above a lower end of the developer stirring device and an upper limit of the height of the surface of the developer is vertically below a wall of an upper surface of the developing device.

Image forming apparatus

In a color image forming apparatus, a color mode is switched from a full color mode to a single color mode as follows. When the length of an image of a last page in the full color mode is less than the distance from a first-transferring position of a most downstream image forming station to a second-transferring position, if the time interval from arrival of the trailing end of an image of a page immediately previous to the last page at the second-transferring position to arrival of the leading end of the image of the last page at the second-transferring position is longer than the time needed to separate color image forming stations from the second image carrying medium, then the separating operation is started when the trail end of the image of the page immediately previous to the last page in the full color mode reaches the second-transferring position.

Color image forming apparatus, and program and method of controlling a color image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of photosensitive drums, a plurality of developing devices, an intermediate transfer medium, primary transfer members, and a secondary transfer member for transferring toner images onto a transfer material. A full-color mode and a monocolor mode are selectively carried out. The image forming apparatus also includes a CPU for adjusting the length of a non-image forming region, and an intermediate-transfer-medium movement controller. The CPU brings about a switching state in which an image forming region lies between a primary transfer position on the most downstream one of the photosensitive drums and a secondary transfer position and in which non-image forming regions simultaneously lie at the primary transfer position and at the secondary transfer position. The intermediate-transfer-medium movement controller switches between the full-color mode and the monocolor mode during the switching state.

Image forming apparatus that has a full-color mode and a monocolor mode, and image forming apparatus that can adjust the length of a non-image forming region during mode switching state

When it has been estimated that there is substantially no toner remaining in a toner supply unit based upon the amount of toner that has been supplied from the toner supply unit, a supply roller for supplying toner from the toner supply unit to a developing unit is rotated by a prescribed amount. After the supply roller has thus been rotated, a user is notified of the fact that no toner remains in the toner supply unit.

Image forming apparatus and method of controlling same

An image forming apparatus or a cartridge detachably attachable to the image forming apparatus is provided, wherein the apparatus comprises developer container for containing developer, developer amount detecting means for detecting an amount of the developer contained in the developer container, a memory for memorizing information concerning the amount of the developer detected by the detecting means and output means for outputting the information concerning the amount of the developer, and the output means outputs the information concerning the developer memorized in the memory until the detection result of the detecting means is confirmed.

Image forming apparatus having developer amount detector

An image forming apparatus includes a developer container for containing a developer; a developer amount detector for detecting the amount of the developer contained in the developer container; a memory; and a calculator for calculating a display level of the remaining amount of the developer. At least the developer container and the memory are in a unit which is detachably mountable to a main assembly of the image forming apparatus. The memory stores information relating to a lifetime of the unit, and a device calculates the display level in accordance with the amount detected by the developer amount detector and the information relating to the lifetime of the cartridge.

Image forming apparatus, cartridge detachably mountable to the image forming apparatus, developer remainder displaying method and system

An image forming apparatus or a cartridge detachably attachable to the image forming apparatus is provided, wherein the apparatus comprises a developer container for containing developer, a developer amount detector for detecting an amount of the developer contained in the developer container, a memory for memorizing information concerning the amount of the developer detected by the detector and an output unit for outputting the information concerning the amount of the developer. The output unit outputs the information concerning the developer memorized in the memory until the detection result of the detector is confirmed.

MEMORY DEVICE STORING INFORMATION WARNING A USER ABOUT THE DEVELOPER-REMAINING AMOUNT, A PROCESS CARTRIDGE INCLUDING A MEMORY STORING SUCH INFORMATION, AND A CONTROL SYSTEM AND A MEMORY SYSTEM FOR WARNING A USER ABOUT THE DEVELOPER-REMAINING AMOUNT

IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS COMPRISING MEANS FOR DETECTING AN AMOUNT OF DEVELOPER CONTAINED IN A DEVELOPER CONTAINER, A MEMORY FOR STORING THE AMOUNT DETECTED BY THE DETECTING MEANS, AND CONTROL MEANS FOR UPDATING THE INFORMATION STORED IN THE MEMORY

An image forming apparatus, includes an image bearing device for bearing an image to be formed on a transferring material; a charger; an exposing device; a developing device; a transferring device, which transfers a developed image formed on the image bearing device to a transferring material; a current detector, which detects a transferring current flowing through the transferring device; and a controller. A voltage set in the developing device for an image forming area of the image bearing device is different from a voltage set in the developing device for the non-image-forming area of the image bearing device. The controller controls the voltage set in the developing portion, wherein a voltage for the non-image-forming area is controlled based on an output of the current detector.

Image forming apparatus having a transfer current detection device and control for developing bias in non-image area

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus that has a plurality of image forming stations for forming an image on a recording material, each of the plurality of image forming stations having a memory, and writing device for writing data into the memories, wherein when the image is formed on the recording material without at least one of the image forming stations being used, the writing device writes use data into the memory of the station used and the memory of the station not used.

Image forming apparatus having a plurality of image forming stations, and unit detachably mountable on the apparatus

A use situation reporting system reports the use situations of a developer and other consumables included in an image forming apparatus for forming images on a recording material. More particularly, the use situation reporting system reports an amount of remaining developer and the use times of consumables to a user. Thus, the timing of replacing a cartridge with a new one can be concisely reported to the user.

Image forming apparatus, and use situation reporting system for reporting use situations of developer and other consumables stowed in image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a developer container for containing a developer; a developer amount detector for detecting the amount of the developer contained in the developer container; a memory; and a calculator for calculating a display level of the remaining amount of the developer. At least the developer container and the memory are in a unit which is detachably mountable to a main assembly of the image forming apparatus. The memory stores information relating to a lifetime of the unit, and a device calculates the display level in accordance with the amount detected by the developer amount detector and the information relating to the lifetime of the unit.

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus which has image forming device for forming an image on a recording material, at least one component element of the image forming means being formed in a unit and detachably attachable to a main body of said apparatus, and output device for outputting information of an expiration date of the unit for use.

Image forming apparatus and unit detachably attachable to the same image forming apparatus and information displaying system related to unit detachably attachable to the same image forming apparatus

A cartridge detachably mountable to a main body of an image forming apparatus which has a developing device for developing an electrostatic image formed on an image bearing member with two-component developer includes a toner and a carrier. The developing device has a density detecting portion for detecting toner density of a start agent of the developer and the main body of the apparatus performs a setting operation for setting a control value for controlling the density detecting portion on the basis of a detection result of the density detecting portion and storing device for storing information that the setting operation is performed.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka-ken, Japan

Hiroaki Ogata