Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Tohoku Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Kohichi Ohshima

Hiroshi Nakai

Tetsuro Suzuki

Nozomu Tamoto

Yasuo Suzuki

Takahiko Tokumasu

Kazuhiko Watanabe

Nekka Matsuura

Michitaka Sasaki

Yukio Ide

Kazuhito Watanabe

Hidetoshi Kami

Yoshiyuki Kageyama

Hiroshi Adachi

Yukio Fujiwara

Itaru Fujimura

Masanori Rimoto

Hiroshi Tateishi

Fumiaki Arai

Kazuhiro Egawa

Tetsuo Tanaka

Noboru Tsukude

Kenji Sugiura

Yasushi Nakazato

Hiroshi Ikuno

Masahiko Shakuto

Narihito Kojima

Hiroshi Nagame

Daichi Yamaguchi

Takashi Rokutanzono

Shinji Nousho

Masako Kunita

Kazahiko Watanabe

The image forming apparatus includes a photoreceptor bearing an electrostatic image; a developing device developing the electrostatic image with a developer including a toner to form a toner image on the photoreceptor; a transferring device transferring the toner image onto a receiving material; and a cleaning device having a cleaning blade cleaning the surface of the photoreceptor. The photoreceptor includes an electroconductive substrate, a photosensitive layer and an outermost layer having projected portions thereon. The outermost layer and projected portions include the same crosslinked charge transport material. The outermost layer has a surface roughness property such that the number of projected portions having height greater than Rz/2 is from 40 to 90 in a length of 12 mm, wherein Rz represents ten-point mean roughness of the outermost layer. The tip of the cleaning blade is contacted with the photoreceptor at a linear pressure of from 80 g/cm to 150 g/cm.

Image forming apparatus

An electrophotographic photoreceptor, including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer, located overlying the electroconductive substrate; and an outermost layer comprising a convexity, wherein each of the outermost layer and the convexity includes a crosslinked body including a structural unit having a same charge transportable structure, and wherein the number of convexity having a height not less than &#xbd;&#xd7;RzJIS is from 30 to 300 in a measurement length of 12 mm, wherein RzJIS is an average of ten-point mean roughness specified in JIS B0601 of 2001 and measured at least 4 random positions in an area the outermost layer is formed on, and wherein the height of the convexity is a distance from the deepest valley to a top of the convexity in the measurement length of 12 mm.

Electrophotographic photoreceptor, image forming apparatus and process cartridge therefor using the electrophotographic photoreceptor

The present invention provides an image bearing member that includes: a photoconductor; and a heating unit which heats the photoconductor, wherein the photoconductor includes: a support; a charge generating layer on the support, a charge transport layer, and a crosslinked charge transport layer in this order, wherein the crosslinked charge transport layer includes a reaction product of a radically polymerizable compound with three or more functional groups which does not have a charge transporting structure, and a radically polymerizable compound with one functional group, which compound has a charge transporting structure.

Image bearing member and image forming method using thereof, and image forming apparatus and process cartridge

An image forming method including: forming an electrostatic latent image on an image bearing member; developing the latent image with a toner; transferring the toner image onto a receiving material; and fixing the toner image. The image bearing member includes a substrate, and a charge generation layer, a charge transport layer and a crosslinked charge transport layer, wherein the crosslinked charge transport layer includes a compound obtained from radical polymerizable monomers including a monomer having three or more functional groups and no charge transport structure and a monomer having one functional group and a charge transport structure. The toner includes a binder resin, a colorant, and a release agent, wherein tetrahydrofuran-soluble components of the binder resin have a molecular weight distribution such that at least one peak is observed in a range of from 1,000 to 10,000 and the half-width of the molecular weight distribution curve is not greater than 15,000.

Image forming method, and image forming apparatus and process cartridge using the image forming method

An image forming process using an electrostatic latent image carrier containing a support and a photoconductive layer including: a charge generating layer, a charge transportable layer, and a cross-linked charge transportable layer which are disposed on the support in this order and the cross-linked charge transportable layer comprises a compound produced by the reaction between a trifunctional or more functional radical-polymerizable compound having no charge transportable structure, and a monofunctional radical-polymerizable compound having a charge transportable structure, and a toner produced in the form of particles by producing an adhesive base material through reacting a compound having an active hydrogen group with a polymer which can be reacted with the above-noted compound having an active hydrogen group in an aqueous medium.

Process cartridge, image forming apparatus, and image forming process

Image forming apparatus and process cartridge

An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a movable body to be charged and a charger including a charging member that contacts or adjoins the body to be charged and applies a voltage, including an AC component, to the charging member for thereby charging the body. A protection substance for protecting the surface of the body from deterioration ascribable to charging is caused to exist on the body. The number of particular elements, contained in the protection substance and detected by an X-ray photon spectral analyzer (XPS) in a zone where the charging member charges the body, is held in a particular ratio to the total number of all elements constituting the outermost surface of the body and also detected by the XPS.

Image forming apparatus using a contact or a proximity type of charging system including a protection substance on a moveable body to be charged

An image forming apparatus includes an object to be charged whose surface moves. A charging device for charging the object uses an electrical discharge generated by applying a voltage including an alternating current component to a charging member provided in contact with or in proximity to the object. A latent image forming device forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the object. A developing device causes a two-component developer to come into contact with the image portion of the electrostatic latent image formed by the latent image forming device and affixes toner thereto. A protective substance is present on the surface of the object in the discharge region for charging the object, and the saturation magnetization of the carrier of the two-component developer with respect to an applied magnetic field of 1000 oersted is 40 to 80 emu/g.

An image formation apparatus including at least a moving body to be charged, a charging device for charging the body to be charged using discharge caused by applying a voltage to a charging member provided in contact with or proximity to the body to be charged, a latent image formation device for forming a latent image on a surface of the body to be charged which is charged by the charging device, and a development device for depositing toner on an image portion of the latent image formed by the latent image formation device, wherein an elastic displacement ratio &#x3c4;e for the surface of the body to be charged is equal to or greater than 40% which is defined by the following formula,elastic displacement ratio &#x3c4;e (%)=[(maximum displacement)-(plastic displacement)]/(maximum displacement)&#xd7;100,and the image formation apparatus further includes a protective material feeding device for depositing a protective material on at least a discharge area of the surface of the body to be charged.

Image formation apparatus having a body to be charged with specified properties and including the use of a protective material

A heat-sensitive stencil including a porous support, and a thermoplastic resin film laminated on the support and having a surface smoothness of at least 10,000 seconds. The stencil is fabricated by bonding a thermoplastic resin film to a porous support with an adhesive having a specific viscosity and a specific volatile matter content, while maintaining each of the support and the film under a specific tension. The stencil may also be fabricated by applying a coating composition containing a resin and first and second solvents having a specific solubility and specific evaporation rates, and drying the applied composition to form a porous support. A printing master is produced by heating the above stencil imagewise by a thermal head with a heating energy of not greater than 0.05 mJ/dot.

Heat-sensitive stencil, process of fabricating same and method of

An electrophotographic photoconductor is disclosed, which comprises an electroconductive substrate, a photoconductive layer formed on the electroconductive substrate, and a protective layer formed on the photoconductive layer, the protective layer comprising a binder resin and finely-divided particles of at least one metal oxide with the surface thereof being coated with a coupling agent selected from the group consisting of a titanate-type coupling agent, a fluorine-containing silane coupling agent, and an acetoalkoxyaluminum diisopropylate, dispersed in the binder resin.

Electrophotographic photoconductor

A method and apparatus of manufacturing a photosensitive member including an electrically conductive support and a photoconductive layer formed on said support for use in electrophotography is characterized by including the steps of introducing a reacting gas containing predetermined components for forming said photoconductive layer on said support into said reaction chamber and irradiating ultraviolet light to activate said predetermined components while maintaining said support at a predetermined temperature thereby causing said predetermined components to be deposited onto said support.

Method of making an electrophotographic inorganic photosensitive element

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Mishima, Japan

Kohichi Ohshima