Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Hiromasa Ueno

Hiroshi Mizuno

Junichi Hashimoto

Takanobu Yamada

Hideaki Hayashi

Kentaro Katori

Toru Hayase

Kuniya Matsuura

Toshiyuki Sakai

Tomoharu Nishikawa

Yuusuke Okuno

Syuichi Katogi

Tomoyuki Imura

Norikazu Okabe

Yasuhiro Suzuki

Kyoichi Yoshizawa

Toshihide Taniguchi

A mono-component developing apparatus including a developing roller which transports toner supported on an outer circumferential face of a center portion toward a developing area by rotating while frictionally sliding on a sealing member on each of two end portions. The developing roller includes surface processing areas having a spiral shape, placed on each of outer circumferential faces of the two end portions. An angle, made by a spiral direction of each surface processing area and the rotation direction, is an acute angle. The developing roller inhibits toner leakage, with the driving torque of the developing roller being only slightly increased.

Developing roller specific for mono-component developing apparatus

A potential difference between the photoreceptor and the development roller is set at a value at which the normally charged toner on the development roller can be flown toward the photoreceptor in the development phase at the time of compulsorily consuming the toner, and this potential difference is set at a value at which the flown normally charged toner can be returned to the development roller in the recovery phase.

Image forming apparatus with toner discharge method

An image forming apparatus comprises a cartridge equipped with a toner reservoir, and an apparatus body. The cartridge is attached to the apparatus body when used and developer in the toner reservoir is used for image development. The cartridge comprises a storage unit which is provided inside the toner reservoir and capable of communicating with the apparatus body. The apparatus body comprises a communication unit which is capable of communicating with the storage unit and communication state between the storage unit and the communication unit varies depending on amount of residual developer in the toner reservoir. Thus there is provided a developer cartridge and an image forming apparatus surely capable of carrying out both residual-toner-amount detection and transmission of cartridge information with space saving design.

Developer cartridge having different communication states with an image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of printing units each having an image bearing member for rotation about an axis and a process member which cooperates with the image bearing member in an image forming process; a transfer member for moving in contact with the image bearing member of each of the plurality of printing units, an image on each of the image bearing members being transferred onto the transfer member or a recording medium that is transported on the transfer member; a switch unit for switching between a contact state where the image bearing members in the plurality of printing units are in contact with the transfer member and a separate state where the image bearing member(s) in the printing unit(s) other than one of the plurality of printing units are separated from the transfer member; a memory for storing life expectancies of the image bearing member and the process member with regard to the printing unit(s) other than the one of the plurality of printing units; and a control section for controlling the switch unit based on a print job and the life expectancies stored in the memory.

Image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Toyohashi, Japan

Hiromasa Ueno