Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Kiyoshi Toizumi

Fumio Shimazu

Taisuke Kamimura

Kouichi Yamauchi

Takuya Abe

Hiroshi Tachiki

Atsuyuki Katoh

Hiromu Yoshimoto

Yoshie Iwakura

Toshimitsu Gotoh

Tomohiro Oikawa

Katsumi Adachi

Masamitsu Sakuma

Tadashi Iwamatsu

Yasuhiro Shibai

Yoshinobu Tateishi

Yuhi Akagawa

Satoru Ariyoshi

Tohru Nishikawa

Hideki Ohnishi

Yukikazu Kamei

Keizo Fukunaga

Mitsuyoshi Terada

Takayuki Ohno

Kenji Mishima

Toshimitsu Goto

Tadashi Nakamura

Yasuhiro Takai

Satoshi Ogawa

Masashi Hirai

Tsutomu Yoshimoto

Yoshiaki Akazawa

Hiroshi Onda

Masahiko Kubo

Toshihisa Ishida

Tadayuki Sawai

Tomoko Toizumi

Yoshinobu Umetani

Osamu Nakayama

Koichi Nakamura

Kouji Kida

Noritaka Okazaki

Masao Suzuki

Rika Hayashi

Akio Matsumoto

Provided is a multifunctional apparatus including an external recording medium slot at a position higher than a touch area that receives touch operation by a user, and the touch area is provided in an operation panel provided on a near side of a main body of the multifunctional apparatus and near an upper edge of the main body.

Multifunctional apparatus having external recording medium slot

A device for measuring adhesion of toner to carrier containing a magnetic component, the toner and the carrier being contained in a two-component developer, includes: a developer holding section including a first magnet for holding the two-component developer by a magnetic force; an airflow supply section for supplying airflow to the two-component developer held by the first magnet; a separated toner detecting section for detecting the number of toner separated from the carrier by the airflow; and an adhesion calculating section for calculating the adhesion of the toner to the carrier or an index of the adhesion, based on wind speed of the airflow and the detected number of the separated toner. Thus, the device can measure the adhesion of the toner to the carrier with high reproducibility and exactness.

Device and method for measuring toner adhesion

A toner capable of ensuring cleanness and the amount of specific charge for extended periods of time and having excellent charge stability and fixing property, a two-component developer, a developing device and an image forming apparatus are provided. A toner includes toner particles containing at least a binding resin and a coloring agent, and fine silicon-containing oxide particles having an average primary particle size of not smaller than 70 nm but not larger than 150 nm and containing water in an amount of not larger than 2.0% by weight, the fine silicon-containing oxide particles being externally added to the toner particles.

Toner, two-component developer, developing device and image forming apparatus

A toner has columnar particles manufactured through: a kneading step of melt-kneading toner raw materials including at least binder resin, colorant and a release agent to prepare a kneaded product; a spinning step of extruding the kneaded product from orifices disposed at the tip of a spinning nozzle to prepare a fibrous kneaded product; and a pulverizing step of cutting or pulverizing the fibrous kneaded product, the toner matrix particles each having an aspect ratio of 0.5 to 5.0 and a d/dvalue of 0.5 or above and contain an external additive composed of large particles and small particles having a volume average particle size smaller than that of the large particles, as well as to provide each of the columnar particles with each having 10 or less reentrants whose apertures have a longer length in a minor axis thereof than a radius of the respective large particles.

Toner, two-component developer, developing device, and image forming apparatus

In an image forming apparatus in which a visual image on a photosensitive drum is developed with columnar toner, and the developed toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum to an intermediate transfer belt, a moving speed of the photosensitive drum and a moving speed of the intermediate transfer belt are different at a contact position (transfer nip section) where the photosensitive drum and the intermediate transfer belt are in contact. With this arrangement, toner scattering, nonuniform image etc. can be reduced in the image forming apparatus, in which the development is carried out with columnar toner.

Image forming apparatus utilizing cylindrical toner particles

Provided is a toner not undergoing the effect of change of temperature and humidity, with high charging stability and having good fixing property and releasability. This is an electrophotographic toner containing at least a binder resin, a colorant, a charge controller and a wax in which the binder resin comprises a polyester resin having an aromatic alcohol ingredient, the charge controller comprises an organic bentonite and the wax comprises a non-polar paraffin wax.

Electrophotographic toner

A developing device prevents deterioration of toner, i.e., prevent the toner from being damaged, or fused onto the blade, to realize a more reliable developing operation. In the developing device, an electron emitting section is provided onto the toner regulation blade in which apertures () are formed, wherein each of the apertures () is formed by electroforming to have an inner surface curved convexly to be widened outwardly to the side irradiated with an ultraviolet ray (shape A). Further, a photoelectric surface () is laminated on the surface of the electron emitting section with the apertures (). With an application of ultraviolet ray onto the electron emitting section, the resulting photoelectrons as emitted from the photoelectric surface () are guided to the toner through the apertures (). Here, for the aperture () of the shape A, a larger amount of electrons can be guided to the toner than the apertures in other shapes (B to E).

Developing device using specific charging unit for charging toner and image forming device adopting the same

Electron generating devices and LED arrays are arranged in a surrounding area of a photosensitive drum. The electron generating devices are located downstream of a cleaner and upstream of a developing unit with respect to a turning direction of the photosensitive drum with a specific gap between the electron generating devices and a surface of the photosensitive drum. The LED arrays are disposed against outer ends of the electron generating devices opposite to inner ends thereof facing the photosensitive drum. When activated by a driving circuit according to image information, individual LED elements of the LED arrays emit light, causing the electron generating devices to emit electrons in a pattern corresponding to the image information. The electrons emitted from the electron generating devices produce more electrons due to an electron avalanche phenomenon before reaching the photosensitive drum, eventually forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum.

Image forming apparatus

Light emitted from an entire surface of a light source is passed selectively through a liquid crystal shutter. The shutter can be controlled to open/close on a pixel basis in response to image data and then selectively passed light is converted into light having a specified wavelength by a nonlinear optical element before impinging on a metal film. The metal film induces and emits its own electrons and forms an electrostatic latent image directly on a dielectric film.

Charging system

A developing device is provided with a developer conveying member in which a plurality of electrodes arranged on a substrate at a predetermined interval are coated with a surface protection layer, the developer conveying member being provided in a developing area that faces an image carrying body whose surface carries an electrostatic latent image, wherein developer is conveyed on the developer conveying member using a traveling-wave electric field that is formed by applying a polyphase voltage to the respective electrodes. The developing device is further provided with a supplying member for supplying the developer onto the developer conveying member, wherein (i) an effective electrode width Le of the respective electrodes in their width direction orthogonal to their arranging direction and (ii) a width Lt of a developer existing area on the supplying member, the width Lt being orthogonal to a direction of supplying the developer, are set so as to satisfy a relation of Lt&#x3c;Le. This prevents the developer from entering wiring pattern areas outside of the electrodes on the developer conveying member, thereby surely preventing the scattering and the sticking of the developer in the areas.

Developing device conveying toner using a traveling-wave electric field and image forming apparatus using same

On surfaces of insulating layersandof a transportation member, a protective layerhaving a volume resistivity of 10&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm to 10&#x3a9;&#xb7;cm is so laminated that a sum of thickness of the insulating layersandis less than intervals between adjacent ones of progressive wave generating electrodes. With this arrangement, it is ensured that a progressive wave electric field generated by the progressive wave generating electrodesis exposed beyond a surface of the transportation member. Even if developer T and the transportation membercontact each other, a surface potential of the transportation memberis not changed. Moreover, firm adhering of the toner T to the surface of the transportation memberis prevented. It is therefore possible to certainly transport the developer T to a development position always stably.

Developing apparatus and image forming apparatus using progressive wave electric field transport

The charging method is arranged so as to charge the toner on a developing roller by electrons as generated by the photoelectric effect from a photo-electric surface of a toner layer regulating/charging blade. An electric bias is applied across a toner layer thickness regulating/charging blade and a developing roller, and an amount of electrons discharged indicated by current flowing across the toner layer thickness regulating/charging blade and the developing roller is measured by an amplifier. When the amount of electrons discharged is detected to be 1/t of an initial amount, the amount of light to be received by the photo-electric surface of an ultraviolet ray luminescent is increased by t times to be the initial amount. According to the foregoing method, such event that the photoelectric effect is weakened due to the deterioration of the photoelectric surface can be detected with ease, and thus desirable charged state of toner can be maintained with ease.

Charging method and developing device adopting the same

According to a toner and a manufacturing method of the present invention, the toner, which is composed of a binding resin component precipitated in particle shapes with a coloring agent component dispersed in the binding resin component, is produced by dissolving the binding resin component in a supercritical fluid (a SCF), blending the coloring agent component in the SCF, and lowering solubility of the binding resin component for precipitating the binding resin component in the particle shapes. Even when the coloring agent content is increased, by the SCF, the toner can maintain dispersibility of the coloring agent component in the binding resin component precipitated in the particle shapes, meanwhile coloring power is also maintained thereby. Therefore, the toner can promote miniaturization of an image forming apparatus using the toner.

Toner and manufacturing method thereof

An image forming device includes a development section which has a blade for applying electrons generated in its photoelectric surface due to a photoelectric effect to a toner so as to charge the toner; an ultraviolet irradiator for irradiating the photoelectric surface with light; a development roller for holding the toner thus charged, and performing carriage of the toner to a photoconductive drum having an electrostatic latent image on a surface; wherein the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive drum is developed by the charged toner. The development section further includes a control section for performing control of application of a voltage to the ultraviolet irradiator, application of a voltage to the photoelectric surface, application of a voltage to the development roller, and beginning of the carriage of the toner by the development roller, at predetermined timings, respectively.

Development device, charging method used in the development device and image forming device having the development device

A developing device comprises: a toner carrying member ( ) for carrying toner T towards a photosensitive drum, using a traveling wave electric field; a belt member ( ) which is provided so as to cover the surface of the toner carrying member ( ), the surface facing the photosensitive drum ( ); a belt drive roller ( ) which is in touch with the belt member ( ) so as to rotate the belt member ( ) around the toner carrying member ( ); and a drive assistance roller ( ) for sandwiching the belt member ( ) with the belt drive roller ( ). With this arrangement, it is possible to provide a developing device which is silent, small in size, and capable of reducing costs, and an image forming device including the developing device.

Developing device, and image forming device having the same

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Nara, Japan

Kiyoshi Toizumi