Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Kyocera Mita Corporation

Kyocera Mita Coporation

Hiroka Itani

Masaki Kadota

Masahito Ishino

Shinki Miyaji

Yoshitaka Imanaka

Tamotsu Shimizu

Shiro Kaneko

Kiyotaka Kobayashi

Kenichi Tamaki

Nariaki Tanaka

Takuji Watanabe

Eriko Hayashi

Shingo Sakato

Keigo Kimura

Kazunori Tanaka

Koji Sato

Kanako Morimoto

Yoshiyuki Odaka

Hiroaki Watanabe

Naomichi Higashiyama

An anomaly detecting unit detects an anomaly object in a target image. A characteristic amount watching unit watches at least two basic characteristic amounts of the anomaly object, determines whether values of the basic characteristic amounts satisfy a predetermined watching determination condition of any one of predetermined plural anomaly types or not, if it is determined that the values of the basic characteristic amounts satisfy the watching determination condition, determines as an auxiliary characteristic amount for the anomaly object a characteristic amount corresponding to the anomaly type of which the values of the basic characteristic amounts satisfy the watching determination condition, and starts watching a value of the auxiliary characteristic amount. An anomaly type determining unit determines an anomaly type of the anomaly object on the basis of the basic characteristic amounts and the auxiliary characteristic amount currently watched by the characteristic amount watching unit.

Image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and image processing method

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a developing device, a voltage applier, a current detector, a cleaning blade, and a control device. The control device acts as a measurer and an estimator. The measurer changes the DC bias to a first value and a second value, and acquires a first magnitude of the developing current corresponding to the first value, and a second magnitude of the developing current corresponding to the second value, from the current detector. The estimator calculates a current ratio between the first magnitude and the second magnitude, and estimates deterioration status of the cleaning blade, according to the value of the current ratio.

Image forming apparatus that estimates deterioration status of cleaning blade according to current ratio

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a developing device, a voltage applier, a current detector, a weight detector, and a control device. The control device acts as a first measurer, a second measurer, and an estimator. The first measurer acquires a toner use amount indicating weight per unit area, of the toner that has migrated from the developing agent carrier to the image carrier, according to a detection result provided by the weight detector. The second measurer acquires the developing current from the current detector. The estimator calculates a value of decision coefficient, obtained by dividing variance of an estimated value in a regression model between the toner use amount and the developing current, by variance of a sample value, and estimates deterioration status of the toner, according to the value of the decision coefficient.

Image forming apparatus that estimates toner deterioration status, from toner use amount and developing current

According to one embodiment, an image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion, and a control portion. The image forming portion includes an image carrier, a charging device, and a cleaning device. The charging device includes a charging roller which contacts a surface of the image carrier. The cleaning device includes a cleaning blade, and an adjustment portion. The cleaning blade slidably contacts the surface of the image carrier. The adjustment portion adjusts a linear pressure of the cleaning blade exerted on the surface of the image carrier. The control portion executes, when a rate of increase of an outer layer resistance value of the charging roller caused by a decrease in the function of the cleaning blade is greater than or equal to a first rate, linear pressure adjustment control of controlling the adjustment portion to increase the linear pressure of the cleaning blade.

Image forming apparatus capable of prompting for replacement of at least one of a charging roller and a cleaning blade

An image forming apparatus has a plurality of image forming portions, an intermediate transfer belt having an elastic layer, a plurality of primary transfer members, a contact-separation mechanism, a secondary transfer member, a driving device, a voltage applying device, and a control portion. The contact-separation mechanism is switchable between an all-color pressure state where the primary transfer members are all in pressed contact with the image carrying members via the intermediate transfer belt and an all-color apart state where the primary transfer members are all away from the intermediate transfer belt. At first power-on, the control portion starts driving the image carrying members and the intermediate transfer belt in the all-color apart state, then transits to the all-color pressure state, and then ejects toner from the developing device to the image carrying members to reduce the surface friction coefficient on the image carrying members and the intermediate transfer belt.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus has an image carrier, an electrifying member, and a charge eliminating device, and eliminates remaining charge on the surface of the image carrier by the charge eliminating device. The charge eliminating device includes a discharge member. The discharge member includes an electro conductive knit fabric knitted in a cylindrical shape using twisted yarn made of twisted metal fibers and a support member having a cylindrical shape and inserted in the electro conductive knit fabric, and is disposed to face the image carrier in a noncontact manner. A magnet member is disposed inside the image carrier within a charge elimination nip width between two tangential lines of an outer circumference surface of the discharge member, the two tangential lines being parallel to a straight line passing through a rotation center of the image carrier and a center axis of the discharge member.

Discharge member, charge eliminating device including the same, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a photoreceptor and an exposure device. The exposure device is configured to expose a surface of the photoreceptor and to form an electrostatic latent image. The exposure device includes a light source, a polygon mirror and a polygon motor. The light source is configured to emit a beam. The polygon mirror is configured to deflect the beam emitted from the light source. The polygon motor is configured to rotate the polygon mirror. The polygon motor is rotated at least temporarily when an aging mode to remove moisture from the surface of the photoreceptor is executed.

Exposure devices, static eliminator, and image forming apparatus comprising the same

In an image forming apparatus, a resistance component of an inner impedance of an electricity removing member is equal to or lower than a value that is obtained by multiplying a calculated resistance value by a first specific value, the calculated resistance value being calculated based on a predetermined formula as a DC resistance value of the electricity removing member that is required to reduce a pre-electricity-removal potential of a photoconductor to a predetermined post-electricity-removal potential during an electricity removal time, the first specific value being calculated based on a ratio of a linear speed of the electricity removing member to a linear speed of the photoconductor, and a resistance component of the contact impedance of the electricity removing member is equal to or lower than a value that is obtained by multiplying the calculated resistance value by a second specific value that is calculated based on the ratio.

Electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and electricity removing member used in image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a photoconductor and an electricity removing member electrically grounded and disposed to be in contact with a surface of the photoconductor. In the image forming apparatus, with regard to a capacitance component of an inner impedance of the electricity removing member and a capacitance component of a contact impedance of the electricity removing member that are calculated from a Cole-Cole plot obtained from measurement by an AC impedance method in a predetermined frequency range, a value obtained by dividing the capacitance component of the contact impedance by the capacitance component of the inner impedance is equal to or lower than a predetermined first specific value, and the capacitance component of the inner impedance is equal to or lower than a predetermined second specific value.

Electrophotographic image forming apparatus and electricity removing member used in the same

A discharging member includes an electrically conductive knit fabric, a support member, and a first magnet member. The conductive knit fabric is knitted into a cylindrical shape with use of yarn formed by twisting together a plurality of metal fibers. The support member is cylindrical shaped and inserted in the conductive knit fabric. The first magnet member is placed inside the support member. With the conductive knit fabric grounded or with a voltage applied to the conductive knit fabric, the discharging member is placed in noncontact with a discharged member in such a fashion that the first magnet member is opposed to the discharged member with the support member and the conductive knit fabric interposed therebetween.

Discharging member, and charge eliminating device/image forming apparatus including the discharging member

An image forming apparatus includes a slidingly-rubbing roller abutting a surface of a photoconductive drum; a temperature detection section; a humidity detection section; and a heating control section. When the humidity detected by the humidity detection section is equal to or higher than a first threshold humidity and the temperature detected by the temperature detection section is equal to or higher than a threshold temperature, the heating control section heats and dries the surface of the photoconductive drum by a heat generator, while in a case when the humidity is equal to or higher than the first threshold humidity and the temperature is less than the threshold temperature, the heating control section polishes the surface of the photoconductive drum by the slindingly-rubbing roller with a polishing agent contained in a toner and heats and dries the drum surface by frictional heat generated from the polishing.

Image forming apparatus that uses either a heater or frictional heating to heat and dry a surface of a photoconductive drum based on the detected ambient temperature and humidity

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a charging bias application section, a static eliminating bias application section, and a control section. In the case where the image forming unit causes an image carrier to be rotated without forming an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier, the control section performs a bias control to allow the charging bias application section to apply to a charging section a smaller charging bias than used in forming a toner image and allow the static eliminating bias application section to apply to a static eliminating section a smaller static eliminating bias than used in forming the toner image. The control section performs the bias control to increase respective values of the charging bias and the static eliminating bias every one revolution of the image carrier until the charging bias and the static eliminating bias in forming the toner image are reached.

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus, including: an image carrier configured by a positively charged single-layer electrophotographic photosensitive body; a charging device which is based on a contact charging method for charging a circumferential surface of the image carrier while making contact with the circumferential surface of the image carrier; and a transfer unit which transfers a toner image on the circumferential surface of the image carrier to a transfer receiving body by gripping the transfer receiving body with the image carrier, wherein the transfer unit includes an application unit to which a transfer bias is applied, and a region having a volume resistivity of 10to 10&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm exists between the image carrier and the application unit.

An image forming apparatus includes a positively-charged single layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor, a charging device with a contact charging roller for charging a surface of the photoreceptor and an exposure device for exposing the charged surface of the photoreceptor to light to form an electrostatic latent image thereon. A developing device develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image and a transfer device transfers the toner image to a transferred body. The charging roller is made of electrically conductive rubber having an Asker-C rubber hardness of 62 to 81&#xb0;. A roller surface roughness of the charging roller has an average distance (Sm) between asperity peaks on a cross-sectional curve of 55 to 130 &#x3bc;m and that a ten-point average roughness (Rz) is 9 to 19 &#x3bc;m. The image forming apparatus is capable of preventing carrier trapping, film peeling and uneven charging in the photoreceptor.

An image forming apparatus has: a positively-charged single layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor; a charging device with a contact charging roller for charging a surface of the photoreceptor; an exposure device for exposing the charged surface to light to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoreceptor; a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image into a toner image; and a transfer device for transferring the toner image to a transferred body. The photoreceptor has a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer that contains a charge generating agent, a charge transport agent and a binder resin. The binder resin has a yield point strain of 9 to 29%, and the contact charging roller has a conductive layer with a thickness of 1 mm to 3 mm. The image forming apparatus is environmentally responsive and having a long-lasting positively-charged single layer type photoreceptor and charging roller.

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Osaka, Japan

Hiroka Itani