Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Konica Corporation

Konica Minolta, Inc.

Hiroshi Akita

Seiko Itagaki

Kunio Shigeta

Natsuko Minegishi

Isamu Miura

Hiroyuki Saito

Takeshi Yamazaki

Yotaro Sato

Takenobu Kimura

Tatsuya Furuta

Hiroyuki Tokimatsu

Tomohiro Kawasaki

Kyoichi Mizuno

Yusuke Nishisaka

Kunihiro Kawachi

Yasuhiko Muramatsu

Seiji Yamaguchi

Toru Komatsu

Takahiro Tsuchiya

Eri Yagi

Toshiki Masuda

Taku Mitsuhashi

Katsuhiro Umeda

Tetsushi Aoki

Osamu Morikawa

An image forming apparatus includes: an ink-jet head including a storage that stores phase transition ink, the ink-jet head forms an image on a recording medium by ejecting the phase transition ink; and one or more hardware processors. The one or more hardware processors change a driving condition of the ink-jet head for a case of ejecting the phase transition ink on a basis of a first reading result of a pattern image formed by the ink-jet head; estimate occurrence of a state change of the phase transition ink in the storage when the driving condition that is changed satisfies a predetermined condition; and determine whether a lifetime of the ink-jet head is over in accordance with whether the occurrence of the state change is estimated.

Image forming apparatus, lifetime determination method and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing lifetime determination program

A head cleaning device includes: a porous cleaning roller that rotates around a cylindrical axis while a cylindrical side circumferential surface is in pressure contact with a nozzle surface of an ink head to clean the nozzle surface; a storage tank that immerses a lower part of the cleaning roller in a cleaning liquid stored therein; a unit moving mechanism that moves a cleaning unit including the storage tank and the cleaning roller in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cleaning roller; a hardware processor that controls a rotation speed [vr] of the cleaning roller and a moving speed [vx] of the storage tank and the cleaning unit; and a composition acquisition part that acquires a change in composition of the cleaning liquid in the storage tank due to mixing of ink supplied from the nozzle surface through the cleaning roller.

Head cleaning device, image forming device, and head cleaning method of image forming device

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a developing device, a primary transfer part, a droplet ejecting unit and a controller. On the photosensitive drum, an electrostatic latent image is formed. The developing device forms a toner image by causing a developing agent to adhere to the electrostatic latent image. The primary transfer part transfers the toner image onto an intermediate transfer belt. The droplet ejecting unit ejects droplets onto the toner image on the photosensitive drum after forming the toner image on the photosensitive drum and before transferring the toner image to the transfer member. The controller controls an ejection area of the droplet ejecting unit in accordance with image information of the toner image.

Electrostatigraphic image forming apparatus with droplet ejecting unit

An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrier; a latent image forming device; a developing device; an electrode which faces to the image carrier; an electric power source, a toner contamination detecting device for detecting toner contamination onto the electrode; an electrode cleaning device for cleaning the electrode; and a controlling section. The control section controls the electric power source to apply at least an alternating current voltage to the electrode so that toner image is rearranged by reciprocally moving toner of the toner image between the image carrier and the electrode control section and allows the electrode cleaning device to clean the electrode when the toner contamination detecting device detects toner contamination on the electrode, and performs the toner rearrangement by the electrode from which the toner contamination is removed.

Image forming apparatus with a toner contamination detecting device

Provided is a developing device which can prevent the occurrence of a phenomenon of an excessive increase of a developer quantity in a developer standby space, thereby acquiring a stable image. The developing device comprises a developer agitation-transfer unit, a developer roller, a developer feeding roller, a developer guide member and a space forming member. The developing device is characterized in that the developer feeding roller rotates to transfer the developer transferred by the agitation-transfer means, upward from the clearance between the developer feeding roller and the developer guide member, and in that, when the developer standby space formed in the device is filled with the developer transferred by the developer feeding roller, the developer feeding roller is rotated to carry the developer, which overflows from the developer standby space, and to move the same in the direction away from the developer roller, so that the developer is once discharged from the developer standby space.

Developing device

Provided is a developing device employing a two-component developer where a good image can be obtained by preventing the influence of scratching caused by a magnetic brush. A developing device comprises a first develop roller () for developing an electrostatic latent image, formed by the two-component developer on an image carrier (), in a first development area (n), and a second develop roller () for carrying toner supplied from the first develop roller () on the outer circumferential surface and developing the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier () in a second development area (n) on the downstream side of the first development area (n) in the rotational direction of the image carrier (), wherein the moving direction of the outer circumferential surface of a sleeve (A) is reverse to the moving direction of the surface of the image carrier () in the first development area (n), and a position (n) at which to supply toner from the first develop roller () to the second develop roller () is locate downstream of a regulation position (n) in the rotational direction of the first develop roller and upstream of the first development area (n).

Developing device and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus having a development apparatus that includes: a developer storing part; a developer supply mechanism; and a surplus developer removing section; wherein the developer supply mechanism includes: a toner storing part; a carrier storing part; a developer conveying path and a conveying mechanism, both are arranged between the toner storing part and the developer storing part, and between the carrier storing part and the developer storing part; wherein the developer conveying path includes a toner ejection outlet through which a toner stored in the toner storing part is ejected and a carrier ejection outlet through which a carrier stored in the carrier storing part is ejected, and a supplying developer ejection outlet through which a supplying developer is ejected to the developer storing part; and wherein the conveying mechanism is adapted to convey the toner and the carrier while stirring them.

Image forming apparatus

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus, which makes it possible to remove the resistance reduced carriers included in the developer without abandoning normal carriers whose resistances have not reduced, even in mid-course of implementing the image forming operation. The image forming apparatus includes: a carrier adhering roller to make at least a part of carriers, included in the developer, shift and adhere onto a carrier adhering roller in response to an electric field generated between the developer conveyance member and the carrier adhering roller, a recollection roller, rotatably disposed in such a manner that the recollection roller and the carrier adhering roller oppose to each other with a gap between them, to attract carriers, currently adhered onto the carrier adhering roller, onto a circumferential surface of the recollection roller; and a scraping member, contacting the recollection roller, to scrape the adhered carriers off the circumferential surface of the recollection roller.

An image forming apparatus includes: a supplying section for supplying developer; a first developing roller including plural magnetic poles and a first sleeve arranged rotatable to the first developing roller; a second developing roller including plural magnetic poles and a second sleeve arranged rotatable to the second developing roller, the second developing roller arranged adjacent to the first developing roller and parallel to the same; an electrode arranged between the first and second developing rollers; and a voltage applying unit for applying bias voltages each having different electric potential corresponding to the first developing roller, the second developing roller and the electrode, wherein an absolute value of the bias voltage to be applied to the electrode is larger than that of the bias voltage to be applied to the first developing roller and smaller than that of the bias voltage to be applied to the second developing roller.

Image forming apparatus with two developing rollers, and an electrode therebetween

Described is a developing roller, which makes it possible to appropriately peel developer off the developing roller, even if the developing roller is a small-sized. The developing roller includes a non-magnetic developing sleeve and a magnetic member installed into an inner space of the developing sleeve and having plural magnetic poles including a peeling magnetic pole. When a reference position is defined as such a position that exhibits a maximum value of magnetic flux density to be generated in a normal direction by the peeling magnetic pole, a magnetic-flux density flat region within which the magnetic flux density is kept at substantially a constant value being closely approximate to the maximum value of the magnetic flux density and the reference position is included, exists while fulfilling an Equation indicated as follow:&#x2267;7&#xb0;

Developing device, image forming apparatus and developing roller

A developing apparatus, comprises an endless belt shaped donor member; a developer supporting member to carry developer including toner and magnetic carrier and to form a toner layer on the donor member; a first supporting member arranged in the inside of the donor member with a predetermined gap against the developer supporting member and to strain the donor member; a second supporting member arranged in the inside of the donor member with a predetermined gap against the developer supporting member and to strain the donor member; a toner supply bias applying section to apply onto the first supporting member a toner supply bias for supplying toner from the developer supporting member to the donor member; and a toner recovery bias applying section to apply onto the second supporting member a toner recovery bias for recovering toner from the donor member to the developer supporting member.

Developing device, process unit, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrying body; a latent image forming unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the image carrying body; a developing unit to develop the electrostatic latent image on the image carrying body to form a toner image, the developing unit including a developing agent carrying body to carry a developing agent in a development region, and a direct-current power supply and an alternating-current power supply, both applying a developing bias voltage to the developing agent carrying body, the developing bias voltage generated by superimposing a direct-current voltage to an alternating voltage; a printing rate detecting unit to detect a printing rate; and a control unit to control the alternating-current power supply, wherein the control unit controls an output of the alternating-current power supply based on a detection result of the printing rate detecting unit.

Image forming apparatus which suppresses selective development of toner

There is described an image forming apparatus for forming a high-density image by using the reversal developing method and suppressing an occurrence of irregularities. The apparatus includes an image bearing member, a latent image forming device to form an electrostatic latent image, a magnetic field generating device to generate a magnetic field and a developing device to develop the electrostatic latent image so as to form a toner image on the image bearing member. At a developing region, the developer bearing member moves in a direction opposite to a moving direction of the image bearing member and the magnetic field generating device has a developing pole to form a magnetic brush for developing the electrostatic latent image. Further, an outer diameter R (mm) of the developer bearing member and a magnetic flux density Br(mT) of the developing pole fulfill the relationship of Br&#x2267;R&#xd7;4.5.

An image forming apparatus includes: a developing device which applies a developing bias voltage obtained by superimposing an AC bias voltage onto a DC bias voltage to a photoreceptor, and develops a latent image on the photoreceptor with a developer to form a toner image. The apparatus has a toner forced discharge mode for forming a toner image for forced discharge in a first image formation area provided in a non-image formation area other than a second image formation area on the photoreceptor to forcibly discharge a toner from the developing device. When the mode is selected, an AC bias voltage at a frequency lower than that in the second image formation area is applied to the first image formation area to develop a latent image for forced discharge, to form a toner image, and a toner of the toner image is collected by a cleaning device.

Image forming apparatus with toner forced discharge mode

An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrying member; a latent image forming unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the image carrying member; a developing unit to develop the electrostatic latent image on the image carrying member to form a toner image; a forcible discharge unit to forcibly discharge the toner from the developing unit; a toner supplying unit to supply toner by the discharged quantity; and a fog-detection unit to detect fog of the image, wherein the forcible discharge unit forcibly discharges the toner from the developing unit based on a detected result of the fog-detection unit.

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Musashino, Japan

Hiroshi Akita