Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hiroyuki Seki

Atsushi Kimura

Yasutaka Yagi

Kazuhiro Funatani

Takayuki Tsukimoto

Yoshifumi Nishimoto

Yoshiro Saito

Tatsuya Kinukawa

Tomoaki Nakai

Takuo Okuno

Shinji Yamamoto

Masahide Hirai

Kimitaka Ichinose

Naoya Kaneda

Akira Hiramatsu

Ichiro Okumura

Takaaki Tsuruya

Kazuhiro Izukawa

Hitoshi Mukohjima

Shuji Saito

Takashi Maeno

Tetsuichiro Fujimoto

Masanori Asai

Kenichi Kataoka

Masahiko Igaki

Eiichi Yanagi

Hideki Tanaka

Ken Yokoyama

Toshiaki Harada

Yoshitaka Okamura

Yasuyuki Araki

Taku Kanai

Akira Shimada

Yutaka Maruyama

Nobuyuki Kojima

Takao Kume

Tomonori Shida

Takao Mori

Takayoshi Kihara

Kiyoshi Nitto

Kaishi Ohashi

Kosuke Fujimoto

Yusaku Iwasawa

Koji Kitani

Yuki Oda

Satoshi Tsuchiya

Yoshimichi Ikeda

Yoshiharu Irei

Yu Takahashi

Naruto Sugimoto

Masaaki Udagawa

An image forming apparatus includes image bearing members, an intermediary transfer member having ion conductivity, primary transfer members, a first voltage applying portion, a secondary transfer member, a second voltage applying portion, and a controller. On the basis of image information, the controller controls a transfer voltage applied to the secondary transfer member so as to be different between a first voltage when a first region, in which a coverage indicating a ratio occupied by an image region per predetermined area is a first coverage passes through the secondary transfer portion and a second voltage when a second region, in which the coverage is a second coverage larger than the first coverage, passes through the secondary transfer portion. The controller controls a change amount of the first voltage with respect to the second voltage so as to be different between a first mode and a second mode.

Image forming apparatus capable of suppressing maldistribution of an ion conductive agent on an intermediary transfer member

A contact body that makes it possible to easily verify whether or not the resin has been properly impregnated in the pores. A metallic sintered body having a plurality of pores, as a main body, is in contact with a vibration element in a vibration actuator. The contact body includes a sliding portion that has a sliding surface in contact with the vibration element, and a non-sliding portion adjacent to the sliding portion and not in contact with the vibration element. The non-sliding portion is provided with a resin lump containing hard particles and resin, and the resin lump is formed to be lower in height in a vertical direction than the sliding surface. In the sliding portion, part of hard particles and resin is exposed on the sliding surface.

Contact body easy to verify resin impregnation, manufacturing method thereof, and vibration actuator including contact body

A primary transfer roller is disposed upstream or downstream from the center of rotation of a photosensitive drum in the moving direction of an intermediate transfer belt. The primary transfer roller includes a core metal and an elastic layer coating the outer circumference of the core metal and having a thickness of less than 2.0 mm. The primary transfer roller has an Asker-C hardness of 40&#xb0; or higher and 85&#xb0; or lower.

Image forming apparatus with image bearing member and a belt that contact each other to form a wound area by urging a transfer member toward the image bearing member

A vibration actuator includes a vibrator including a shaft, an output transmission member penetrated by the shaft, and configured to rotate about the axis of the shall, and a fixed member configured not to move relative to the shaft and configured to move relative to the output transmission member. The fixed member includes a base portion and a projection portion protruding from the base portion to the output transmission member side, the vibration actuator includes a pressure reception member between the base portion and the output transmission member in an axial direction of the shaft, and wherein the projection portion and the output transmission member are in contact with each other in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the shaft, and the projection portion and the output transmission member are not in contact with each other in the axial direction of the shaft.

Vibration actuator and electronic device including the same

A vibrator of a vibration-type driving device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a first vibrating member that includes first protrusions protruding in a first direction, a second vibrating member that includes second protrusions protruding in a direction that is opposite to the first direction, and an electric-mechanical energy conversion element that is fixed to the first vibrating member. The first protrusions and the second protrusions each have a hollow structure, and the first vibrating member and the second vibrating member are disposed in such a manner that a surface of the first vibrating member on which the first protrusions are not formed and a surface of the second vibrating member on which the second protrusions are not formed face each other.

Vibrator, vibration-type driving device, image forming apparatus, robot, and pan head

A vibration actuator is capable of bringing a vibration body into press contact with a driven body stably for an extended period while reducing obstruction of excitation of vibration in the vibration body by the pressing force. The driven body is in contact with the vibration body by a pressing force given by a pressing member. A vibration isolation member is arranged between the vibration body and the pressing member. The vibration body and the driven body move relatively by vibrations in first and second vibration modes that are excited in the vibration body by applying alternating voltage to a piezoelectric device on the vibration body. Face pressure that acts on the piezoelectric device by the pressing force from the pressing member in first and second areas that respectively include nodal lines in the first and second vibration modes and their vicinities is higher than that in other areas.

Vibration actuator and electronic apparatus using vibration actuator

A regulation member includes an opposed surface and a contact surface in a portion corresponding to an image forming area. The opposed surface is opposed to a developer bearing member. The contact surface protrudes from the opposed surface and has a height different from that of the opposed surface. An end seal seals a gap between a frame body, the developer bearing member, and the regulation member. The regulation member further includes an area not having the contact surface between the image forming area and a sealing area in which the regulation member and the end seal overlap. In the sealing area, a step between the opposed surface and the contact surface has a height of greater than or equal to 0 mm and not greater than 0.10 mm.

Developing device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A vibration-type driving apparatus includes a vibrator holder, wherein a plurality of vibrators each having at least an electro-mechanical energy conversion element and an elastic member having a contact portion formed therein are connected to a vibrator holding member, for generating an ellipsoidal movement of the contact portion, to move, relative to the vibrator, a driving member contacting the contact portion. The plurality of vibrators are connected to a surface of the holding member at a side at which the contact portion contacts the driving member, and on a surface of the vibrator holding member opposite to the side at which the contact portion contacts the driving member, a pressing member is placed to set the contact portion to be pressed and contacted to the driving member.

Vibration-type driving apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a controller for forming an adjustment toner image in a region corresponding to between a first region corresponding to a preceding sheet and a second region corresponding to a subsequent sheet, wherein the controller selectively executes a first mode for setting as a first length a gap between the adjustment image and a trailing edge of the first region and for setting as a second length a gap between the adjustment toner image and a leading end of the second region, or a second mode for setting as a third length a gap between the adjustment toner image and the trailing edge of the first region and for setting as a fourth length a gap between the adjustment image and the leading end of the second region. The third is shorter than the first, and the fourth length is longer than the first length.

Image forming apparatus utilizing adjustment toner image

An image forming apparatus including a cleaning member having a belt cleaning blade and a conductive brush. A value of a charging current that is generated when charging residual toner with the conductive brush is smaller when a color mode is executed compared to that when a monochrome mode is executed.

Image forming apparatus

In an adjustment step, an adjustment purpose toner image is formed on an intermediate transfer belt, and the adjustment purpose toner image is removed from the intermediate transfer belt by a cleaning member contacting the intermediate transfer belt and through an electrostatic cleaning step. This adjustment step is executed in a state where a toner attachment amount on a charging member is switched from a first limit value, which is allowed in the image forming step to a second limit value, which is allowed immediately before executing the adjustment step. This switching is performed by the execution of a toner discharging step, where a power supply changes the state of applying voltage to the charging member from that in the electrostatic cleaning step, so that toner attached to the charging member is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt.

Image forming apparatus with cleaning using cleaning member and charging member

An image forming apparatus includes: an image bearing member for bearing a toner image; a movable intermediary transfer member onto which the toner image is to be transferred from the image bearing member; and a cleaning member, contacting a surface of the intermediary transfer member, for scraping off a toner from the surface of the intermediary transfer member which moves. At the surface of the intermediary transfer member, a plurality of grooves are formed along a surface movement direction of the intermediary transfer member. The surface of the intermediary transfer member has an average in-plane roughness of 10 nm or more and 30 nm or less in an area of a square of an average particle size of the toner.

An oscillatory wave drive unit includes at least one vibrator having an electromechanical energy converting element, and at least one supporting member configured to support the at least one vibrator. The oscillatory wave drive unit excites oscillation in the at least one vibrator and moves a moving body in contact with the at least one vibrator by frictional force. The oscillatory wave drive unit includes at least one moving mechanism configured to support the at least one vibrator movably in a plane parallel to the plane where the at least one vibrator and the moving body are in contact with each other, in a second direction intersecting with a first direction in which the at least one vibrator drives the moving body.

Oscillatory wave drive unit and image stabilization device

There is provided an image forming apparatus in which an image forming speed is changed in a state where toner is provided between a photosensitive drum and an intermediate transfer member. Therefore, even if a speed difference between the photosensitive drum and the intermediate transfer member is generated, a drive torque can be suppressed, and deterioration caused by abrasion of the photosensitive drum and the intermediate transfer member can be reduced.

Image forming apparatus with changing photosensitive member speed

An image forming apparatus includes a removal unit configured to remove developer that was not transferred to a recording material; and a control unit configured to control an image forming unit for supplying developer to the removal unit. The image forming unit is configured to form first developer image, and second developer image whose length in the sub-scanning direction is longer than that of the first developer image, and whose amount of developer per unit area is less than or equal to that of the first developer image, and the control unit is further configured to, based on a predetermined relationship between the recording material type and the supplying image, select a supplying image formed by the image forming unit before or after the developer image transferred to the recording material.

Image forming apparatus including removal unit for removing developer

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Mishima, Japan

Hiroyuki Seki