Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Hiroomi Harada

Takatsugu Fujishiro

Takaaki Tawada

Shinichi Kawahara

Tokuya Ojimi

Teruyuki Kasuga

Yuji Arai

Masami Tomita

Toshio Koike

Ken Amemiya

Masanori Kawasumi

Shuji Tanaka

Haruji Mizuishi

Takuzi Yoneda

Yutaka Takahashi

Naohiro Kumagai

Takeshi Shintani

Yoshio Hattori

Takeo Suda

Masato Yanagida

Takaya Muraishi

Hiromichi Ninomiya

Takeshi Tabuchi

Hiroshi Ono

Hiroshi Hosokawa

Yoshiyuki Kimura

Keiichi Yoshida

Chohtaroh Kataoka

Hidemasa Sato

A lubricant supply device includes a solid lubricant, a supply member contacting and rubbing the solid lubricant and thereby scraping a lubricant off the solid lubricant and supplying the lubricant to a lubricant supplying target, and a pressing mechanism pressing the solid lubricant against the supply member. The pressing mechanism includes a biasing device, and a plurality of pressing members receiving a biasing force of the biasing device and thereby pressing places of the solid lubricant at symmetrical positions with respect to a center of a contact part of the solid lubricant contacting the supply member, respectively.

Lubricant supply device, image forming apparatus, and pressing device

A cleaning roller cleaning a surface of a cleaning component, wherein the cleaning roller is provided in a roller configuration having a cylindrical shape and has a portion in contact with the cleaning component, the portion being made of a melamine resin foam having a continuous foam structure, the melamine resin foam being provided by heating compression from an original configuration in a radial direction, and wherein the portion in contact with the cleaning component has a continuous foam structure and a tensile strength in a range of 1.7&#xb1;0.5 kg/cm, and an image forming apparatus incorporating the same.

Charging device, process cartridge, image forming apparatus, and toner

The present invention provides a charging device which comprises a charging roller () and a cleaning component (). The charging roller charges a surface of an image-recording medium () with a voltage which is applied from an external source. The cleaning component cleans a surface of the charging roller. The charging roller includes a resistance adjustment layer which is made of a resin composite and formed on an outer periphery of a core metal. The hardness of the charging roller is 45 degrees or more in JIS D hardness. The cleaning component has a portion which is in contact with the charging roller. This portion is made of resin foam which has a continuous foam structure. The density of the resin foam is 5 to 15 kg/mand its tensile strength is 1.7&#xb1;0.5 kg/cm.

An image forming apparatus includes a lubricant applicator and a process cartridge using the same. The lubricant applicator includes a solid lubricant, a lubricant retainer, a lubricant holder, a lubricant application mechanism, a pressure mechanism, a friction resistance reduction mechanism. The lubricant retainer holds the solid lubricant. The lubricant holder stores the solid lubricant and the lubricant retainer. The lubricant application mechanism applies the solid lubricant to an object. The pressure mechanism is provided between the lubricant retainer and the lubricant holder, and presses the lubricant retainer to push the solid lubricant from the lubricant holder. The friction resistance reduction mechanism is disposed at a position where the lubricant retainer and the lubricant holder come into contact in a frictionally sliding manner. The friction resistance reduction mechanism includes a protrusion provided on at least one of a surface of the lubricant retainer and an inner wall of the lubricant holder.

Lubricant applicator, process cartridge and image forming apparatus including the same

A lubricant applying unit, included in a process cartridge provided in an image forming apparatus, includes a solid lubricant, a lubricant supporting unit to support the solid lubricant, a lubricant holder to accommodate the solid lubricant supported by the lubricant supporting unit, a pressing mechanism located between the lubricant supporting unit and the lubricant holder and designed to press the solid lubricant against a lubricant applying member, and a frictional resistance reducing member to reduce a frictional resistance produced at sliding contact portions between the lubricant supporting unit and internal surfaces of the lubricant holder.

Lubricant applying unit, a process cartridge including the same, and an image forming apparatus provided with the process cartridge including the same

In an image forming apparatus, an area applied with a lubricant, i.e., an area of a lubricant layer having a uniform thickness, is obtained by spreading the lubricant by a lubricant smoothing blade. The area applied with a lubricant covers an area cleaned by a cleaning blade, i.e., a contact portion of the cleaning blade with a photoconductor.

Image forming apparatus, lubricant applying device, transfer device, process cartridge, and toner

A process cartridge including an image bearing member; a lubricant applicator, which includes a lubricant application member configured to apply a solid lubricant to the surface of the image bearing member; and a smoothing member configured to smooth the applied solid lubricant, and at least one of a charging device, a developing device and a cleaning device, wherein the amount of the solid lubricant present on a portion of surface of the image bearing member, which is located between the lubricant application member and the smoothing blade, is from 0.11 to 1.2 mg/m. The smoothing member is preferably a blade having a JIS-A hardness of not less than 79&#xb0;. The process cartridge is preferably assembled by a method including setting the lubricant smoothing member, the lubricant and the lubricant application member to a housing of the process cartridge; and then setting the image bearing member to the housing.

Lubricant applicator, and image forming apparatus and process cartridge using the lubricant applicator, and method for assembling the process cartridge

A cleaning device including a cleaning brush configured to clean a surface of a moving member while contacting and facing the surface; and a cleaning blade which is located on a downstream side from the cleaning brush relative to a moving direction of the moving member while being substantially opposed to the cleaning brush and which is configured to clean a cleaning region of the surface of the moving member while contacting the surface of the moving member, wherein the cleaning brush contains a powder when the cleaning brush is brand-new.

Cleaning device, method for preparing the cleaning device, and image forming apparatus and process cartridge using the cleaning device

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Kawasaki, Japan

Hiroomi Harada