Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Katsuichi Abe

Atsushi Toda

Kazumi Yamauchi

Akira Suzuki

Masahito Kato

Taku Watanabe

Naoki Matsumaru

Junichi Matsumura

Naoki Fukushima

Go Shindo

Motonari Ito

Masataka Mochizuki

Naoya Asanuma

Hiroki Tanaka

Takayuki Namiki

Nobuo Oshima

Satoru Motohashi

Akihisa Matsukawa

Yosuke Kishi

Kenta Shibukawa

Shuhei Kawasaki

Kodai Hayashi

Shinichi Hagiwara

Yasukazu Ikami

Kosuke Ikada

An image forming apparatus includes a first image forming portion, a second image forming portion, a belt, a charging voltage applying portion, and a transfer voltage applying portion. With respect to a movement direction of a recording material, the first image forming portion is provided upstream of the second image forming portion. In an image forming operation, a potential difference between a first transfer voltage and a potential at a first transfer portion, which is formed on a first image bearing member and does not form the image, is greater than a potential difference between a second transfer voltage and a potential at a second transfer portion, which is formed on a second image bearing member and does not form an image.

Image forming apparatus with image bearing members having different surface layer thicknesses

Image forming apparatus capable of suppressing image defect due to foreign matter

An image forming apparatus includes a main assembly, a first cartridge including an image bearing member, a second cartridge including a developing member, a developer supplying member provided in the second cartridge, and a controller for changing a polarity of a developer supply amount control bias which is a difference between the developing bias and the developer supplying bias depending on a print ratio based on an inputted image data. The controller changes the polarity of the developer supply amount control bias depending on at least one of a use history of the first cartridge and a use history of the second cartridge and on the print ratio.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus having a first mode and a second mode with respectively different rotational peripheral velocity ratios of a developer bearing member, stores a first lifetime threshold value of a developing apparatus corresponding to the first mode and a second lifetime threshold value of the developing apparatus corresponding to the second mode, updates a lifetime determination value of a developing apparatus on the basis of drive amount information when the developer bearing member operates in the first mode and second modes, performs a first determination related to a lifetime in the first mode on the basis of the first lifetime threshold value and the lifetime determination value, performs a second determination related to a lifetime in the second mode on the basis of the second lifetime threshold value and the lifetime determination value, and makes a notification on the basis of determination results.

Determining lifetime of a developing apparatus in an image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a regulating member that regulates a developing agent that a developing agent carrying member carries in order to develop an electrostatic image, and a regulatory bias application portion that applies a regulatory bias to the regulating member, wherein the developing agent includes a toner containing a toner particle, inorganic silicon fine particles present on the surface of the toner particle, and a metal soap, wherein the amount of water-washing migration of the inorganic silicon fine particles is 0.20 mass % or less, wherein a peripheral speed ratio, which is a ratio of a peripheral speed of the developing agent carrying member to a peripheral speed of an image bearing member, has a range of 120% to 300%, and a dark portion potential Vd on the surface of the image bearing member and a regulatory bias Vb satisfy the relationship of Vd&#x3c;Vb.

Image forming apparatus that regulates developing agent and applies regulatory bias

A method of manufacturing a developer container including a frame configured to define a developer containing portion, a first electrode, and a second electrode arranged on a surface of the frame and having a surface opposed to the first electrode, a developer amount in the developer containing portion being detected based on a capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode, the method including: holding a conductive resin member constituting the second electrode on a mold configured to mold the frame, a surface of the conductive resin member being in contact with a surface of the mold configured to mold a surface of the frame on a side of the developer containing portion; injecting a resin to be formed into the frame, into the mold on which the conductive resin member is held; and curing the resin to form the frame to which the second electrode is fixed.

Method of manufacturing developer container, developer container, developing apparatus, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A control portion executes: a step of calculating a surface potential of an image bearing member charged by a charging member, to which a predetermined voltage is applied, and exposed to light by a predetermined exposure amount on the basis of a discharge start voltage between a measurement member and the image bearing member and calculating a correction value from a difference between a target value and calculated surface potential of the image bearing member; a step of correcting calculated surface potential of the image bearing member on the basis of the correction value; and a step of controlling at least one of the voltage applied to the charging member and an exposure amount of the exposure apparatus on the basis of the corrected surface potential of the image bearing member so that the surface potential of the image bearing member reaches the target value.

Image forming apparatus controlling surface potential of image bearing member

A developer container includes: a housing chamberwhich includes an openingand which houses developer; a stirring memberwhich includes a sheet-like stirring portionand a rotary shaftto which the stirring portionis attached; and a first electrodeand a second electrodewhich are used to detect an amount of the developer and which are arranged with an interval therebetween, wherein an area Xbetween the first electrodeand the second electrodein the housing chamberis positioned below the rotary shaftof the stirring member, and the sheet-like stirring portioncomes into contact with the area Xdue to rotation of the stirring member

Developer container, developing apparatus, process cartridge, apparatus main body, and image forming apparatus

Method of manufacturing developer container

A developer container includes: a housing chamberwhich includes an openingand which houses developer; a stirring memberwhich includes a sheet-like stirring portionand a rotary shaftto which the stirring portionis attached; and a first electrodeand a second electrodewhich are used to detect an amount of the developer and which are arranged with an interval therebetween, where in an area Xbetween the first electrodeand the second electrodein the housing chamberis positioned below the rotary shaftof the stirring member, and the sheet-like stirring portioncomes into contact with the area Xdue to rotation of the stirring member

A relationship between a light amount of an exposure portion and a surface potential according to a use amount, a first detection light amount corresponding to a prescribed surface potential in the relationship where a use amount of a photosensitive member is a first use amount and a second detection light amount corresponding to the prescribed surface potential in the relationship where the use amount of the photosensitive member is a second use amount, which is greater than the first use amount, are acquired. The exposure portion changes, as an electrostatic image forming light amount, a first image forming light amount representing a setting value under the first use amount to a second image forming light amount representing a setting value under the second use amount on the basis of a ratio of the first detection light amount to the second detection light amount.

A developer container including a frame configured to define a developer containing portion, a first electrode, and a second electrode arranged on a surface of the frame and having a surface opposed to the first electrode, a developer amount in the developer containing portion being detected based on a capacitance between the first electrode and the second electrode.

Growing community of inventors

Suntou-gun, Japan

Katsuichi Abe