Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Ichiro Kadota

Hideki Kosugi

Yoshinori Nakagawa

Masaaki Yamada

Tomoko Takahashi

Yasuyuki Ishii

Kazumi Suzuki

Takuya Seshita

Takeshi Uchitani

Hiroshi Nakai

Masayuki Yamane

Satoru Yoshida

Shinji Tamaki

Kunihiro Ohyama

Takeo Tsukamoto

Masanori Horike

Nobuyuki Taguchi

Kei Yasutomi

Jun Yura

Hirokatsu Suzuki

Nobuaki Kondoh

Hiroshi Hosokawa

Keiichi Yoshida

Junichi Matsumoto

Nobutaka Takeuchi

Tatsuya Kubo

Shunji Katoh

Koichi Kato

Katsuhiro Aoki

Hisashi Shoji

Takashi Hodoshima

Hiroaki Okamoto

Yuuji Ishikura

Atsushi Shinozaki

Hiroshi Takahashi

Takashi Fujita

Hiroyuki Sugiyama

Hajime Oyama

Atsushi Kurokawa

Satoshi Muramatsu

Tsukuru Kai

Keisuke Uchida

Nekka Matsuura

Masanori Kawasumi

Kazuhisa Sudo

Atsushi Nakafuji

Shin Kayahara

Ryuji Yoshida

Shuji Tanaka

Hideki Zemba

Hiromitsu Takagaki

Yasuo Miyoshi

Shigekazu Enoki

Toshihiro Kanematsu

Takahiro Adachi

Chikara Imai

Naoyuki Ozaki

Koichi Katoh

Takuya Suganuma

Yukio Tabata

Motohiro Usami

Hiroki Atari

Kohichi Katoh

Teiichiro Takano

Horike Masanori

Yamada Masaaki

A developing device includes a developer bearer the surface of which moves with a developer thereon, a development housing including the developer in an inner space thereof and an opening through which the surface of the developer bearer is partially exposed in a direction of surface movement thereof to face a latent image bearer a surface of which moves with a latent image thereon, a drive assembly disposed in the development housing, configured to drive members in the development housing driven by a driven force of the drive assembly, and a collision assembly including a collision member, the collision assembly being configured to move the collision member away from the development housing and toward the development housing to collide the collision member with the development housing, utilizing the drive force of the drive assembly.

Developing device and image forming apparatus

A developing device includes a casing to contain developer and define a developer circulation passage, a developing roller to bear the developer, and at least one developer conveyor to convey the developer. The developer conveyor is disposed in the developer circulation passage and lower than the developing roller. The developing device satisfies M1/L2&#x3e;0.56 g/cm and M1/M2&#x3e;0.50, where M1 represents an amount of developer borne on the developing roller, L1 represents a width in which the developing roller bears the developer in a longitudinal direction of the developing roller; and M2 represents an amount of developer stored in the casing and excluding the amount of developer borne.

Developing device, and image forming apparatus and process cartridge incorporating same

A developing device includes a casing to contain developer, a developer bearer disposed in the casing and opposite a latent image bearer in a developing range, at least one developer contact face to which the developer adheres in image formation, and a vibrator to give vibration to the developer contact face in a non-image formation period. The developer bearer is to rotate to supply the developer to the latent image bearer in the developing range.

A developing device includes a developer bearer including a magnetic field generator, a developer regulator disposed opposite the developer bearer across a regulation gap, a developer containing compartment disposed below the developer bearer, and a conveying screw disposed in the developer containing compartment and including a shaft having a diameter greater than a radius of the conveying screw. On a cross section perpendicular to an axial direction of the conveying screw, a developer scooping pole of the magnetic field generator to scoop the developer from the developer containing compartment onto the developer bearer is disposed between the regulation gap and a bisector dividing an angle extending from a first line, which connects a center of the developer bearer and a center of the conveying screw, to a second line, which connects the center of the developer bearer and the regulation gap, in a rotation direction of the developer bearer.

A developing device includes a developer bearer to bear developer, a developer containing compartment disposed lower than the developer bearer, and a conveying screw disposed in the developer containing compartment. The developing device further includes an inclined face extending from an inner wall of the developer containing compartment obliquely upward toward the developer bearer, and the inclined face opposes the conveying screw from above.

A developing device includes a casing to contain developer and a developer bearer disposed in the casing to bear developer, and a rough face repellent to developer is disposed inside the casing.

Developing device and image forming apparatus and process cartridge incorporating same

A developing device includes a developer bearer to carry developer, a first developer compartment from which developer is supplied to the developer bearer, a second developer compartment from which developer is sent to the first developer compartment, and first and second communicating portions through which developer is circulated between the first and second developer compartments. The second communicating portion to send developer from the second developer compartment to the first developer compartment is constructed of multiple openings.

A toner container for use with an image forming apparatus. The toner container comprises a toner storage section, a toner outlet at a circumferential surface of the toner container, and a shutter at the circumferential surface of the toner container. The toner container further comprises an electronic element, disposed at the same end of the toner container as the toner outlet to communicate with the image forming apparatus. The toner outlet and the electronic element are disposed along a line which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the toner storing section. Further, there is a projection on the circumferential surface of the toner container.

Toner container and image forming apparatus

A developing device includes a developer bearer, a first developer compartment to supply developer to the developer bearer, a second developer compartment to supply developer to the first developer compartment and positioned adjacent to the first developer compartment, a partition to divide, at least partly, the first developer compartment from the second developer compartment, a communicating opening in the opening, through which developer is transferred from the second developer compartment to the first developer compartment, a rotary conveyor to transport developer inside the second developer compartment to the communicating opening and a flexible sheet provided to the rotary conveyor and positioned facing the communicating opening. The flexible sheet rotates integrally with the rotary conveyor and projects through the communicating opening into the first developer compartment as the rotary conveyor rotates.

Developing device, process cartridge, image forming apparatus, and developer transfer method

A toner container and an image forming apparatus are disclosed. The toner container includes a guiding member formed at a part surrounding a toner outlet to be protruded from a circumferential surface of the toner container for guiding an opening or closing operation of a shutter member in a circumferential direction of the toner container. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus main body includes a main body side shutter for opening or closing a toner supplying opening to be connected to the toner outlet. When the shutter member is opened, an end surface of the guiding member pushes the main body side shutter together with the opening operation of the shutter member, and the toner supplying opening is opened and is connected to the toner outlet.

A development device includes a toner-containing chamber for containing supplied toner having an interior wall, a developer-containing chamber for containing developer including toner and carrier communicating with the toner-containing chamber; and a transport screw to transport the supplied toner from the toner-containing chamber to the developer-containing chamber, disposed in the toner-containing chamber so that there is no gap between the outer edge of the transport screw and the interior wall of the toner-containing chamber in a portion lower than a level of the supplied toner in the toner-containing chamber.

Development device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

The image forming apparatus includes a latent image bearing member; a charging device charging the surface of the latent image bearing member; a latent image forming device forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image bearing member; a developing device supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image; a cover film supplying device supplying a cover film to the surface of the latent image bearing member at a cover film supplying position located on an upstream side from the development position so that the toner image is formed on the cover film covering the surface of the latent image bearing member; and a cover film separating device separating the cover film bearing the toner image thereon from the surface of the image bearing member before the cover film bearing the toner image thereon reaches the cover film supplying position.

Electrophotographic image forming method and apparatus with a cover film supplying device

A developing device constituted to be capable of reliably making toner flare, and carrying out developing normally in the developing area, by preventing toner from adhering to the toner carrier. A developing device having a toner carrier which is disposed in opposition to a latent image carrier and which carries toner for developing an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier, the developing device including: a plurality of electrodes aligned at a predetermined interval within the toner carrier; voltage application means for applying a voltage to the electrodes so that the electric field between the plurality of electrodes varies with time, wherein the electric field between the electrodes causes the toner on the toner carrier to hop and form a cloud; and a toner adhesion prevention member that is provided upstream of a developing area where the latent image carrier is in opposition to the toner carrier and that prevents adhesion of toner to the toner carrier. According to the developing device, it is possible to prevent toner from adhering to the toner carrier, and it is possible to make the toner flare reliably.

Developing device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A liquid droplet flight device is provided that moves an ink or the like using a comparatively low voltage and stably causes flight of even a high viscosity ink or the like. When causing droplets of a liquid inside a liquid retaining section to fly onto a medium transported between liquid droplet discharge means and an opposing electrode in the liquid droplet flight device, a high voltage is applied to the flight electrode from a bias power source to generate an electric field between the flight electrode and the opposing electrode. On/off control of flight control means is performed in this state to apply a drive voltage of a low voltage to an EW drive electrode from a drive power source such that the liquid inside a slit moves to a leading end portion of the flight electrode due to an electrowetting phenomenon, and the liquid that has moved to the leading end portion of the flight electrode flies toward the opposing electrode through the electric field such that a liquid droplet lands on the medium.

Liquid droplet flight device and image forming apparatus with electrowetting drive electrode

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Ichiro Kadota