Seiko Epson Corporation

Kuniaki Tanaka

Keiichi Taguchi

Hiroshi Miyazawa

Nobuyuki Mizushima

Yujiro Nomura

Nozomu Inoue

Yoshio Nakazawa

Tsuyoshi Kowari

Kaneo Yoda

Toshiya Takahata

Hiroshi Nakazato

Yutaka Takada

Katsumi Shinkai

Saburo Furukawa

Ken Ikuma

Nobumasa Abe

Toru Fujita

Tomoe Aruga

Tahei Ishiwatari

Shigeo Fujita

Hidenori Kin

Akihito Uetake

Minoru Kishigami

Junichiro Shinozaki

Akira Kubota

Noriaki Shimura

Toshihiko Yokoyama

Toshinobu Sakurai

A blood pressure measurement device is characterized in that the said device is designated to arithmetically apply to the computed blood pressure value a correction value that is in accordance with the difference in atmospheric pressure between the position of the blood pressure transmitting part and the position of the heart of the subject wearing the blood pressure transmitting part as obtained from the sensor signal, on the basis of the internal pressure variation of the blood pressure transmitting part.

Blood pressure measurement device and blood pressure measurement method

A color image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of image forming stations, each including a photo conductor on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a developing member which develops the latent image as a visible toner image, and a single motor pinion which drives both of the photo conductor and the developing member, and a transfer belt, onto which the toner image is transferred, and which is driven by the single motor pinion of a first one of the image forming stations.

Image forming apparatus

An electrostatic latent image is formed on a rotary image carrier. A developer is provided with at least one developing roller which is separatably abutted on the image carrier at a developing position to supply toner onto the image carrier to make the latent image visible as a toner image. An intermediate transfer member is adapted to temporarily hold the toner image. A transferer applies a transfer bias to primarily transfer the toner image on the image carrier to the intermediate transfer member. A first cleaner is always abutted on the image carrier to remove toner remaining thereon. A second cleaner is separatably abutted on the intermediate transfer member to remove toner remaining thereon. The toner image includes a first toner image which is not to be transferred onto the recording medium and a second toner image which is to be secondarily transferred onto a recording medium. The second cleaner is separated from the intermediate transfer member so as to avoid the first toner image.

A circulating intermediate transfer member contacts an image carrier at a primary transfer position at which a toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member. A secondary transfer member contacts the intermediate transfer member at a secondary transfer position at which the toner image is transferred onto a recording medium. A gate roller pair nips the recording medium therebetween at a nipping position and conveys the recording medium toward the secondary transfer position. A cleaning blade retractably contacts and scrapes off toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member. A conveyance speed of the recording medium at the nipping position is faster than that at the secondary transfer position. The cleaning blade is retracted from the intermediate transfer member until a trailing end of the recording medium passes through the nipping position, when the recording medium has a stiffness greater than a prescribed level.

Image forming apparatus with controlled timing of contact of cleaning blade against intermediate transfer member

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier formed with a latent image A developing device has a developing roller driven by a stepping motor. A rotary development apparatus supports the developing device on a rotating shaft to rotate to a developing position opposed to the image carrier to form an image by developing the latent image formed at the image carrier and transfers the developed image to a medium at a transferring position The developing roller is driven by the stepping motor in a region of the latent image of the image carrier and is stopped in a holding state in a region in which the latent image is not formed by a current lower than a current in driving the developing roller.

Image forming apparatus with selectively rotated developing roller

An image forming apparatus which repeats image create/transfer processing while rotating a photosensitive member and a transfer medium in a sub scanning direction and thereafter transferring the toner image onto the transfer medium, for a plurality of toner colors which are different from each other, to thereby lay toner images in respective toner colors over each other on the transfer medium and accordingly form a color image. The apparatus corrects transfer start positions of toner image in at least one or more toner colors out of the plurality of toner colors based on a registration control amount which is necessary to correct relative registration deviations among toner images on the transfer medium.

Image forming apparatus for transferring respective toner colors on a transfer medium

An image forming apparatus, includes an image bearing member having an endless belt shape, on which a toner image is formed, and the image bearing member, a drive roller, which rotates the image bearing member laid around the drive roller, a drive gear, which is connected to the drive roller, and a drive transmitting gear, which is engaged with the drive gear, and transmits a driving force to the drive gear to rotate the image bearing member. The drive transmitting gear is arranged so that a direction of a drive reaction force of the drive transmitting gear with respect to the drive gear substantially coincides with an ingress direction of the image bearing member toward the drive roller.

In a monochromatic print mode, an abutting timing on when a secondary transfer roller abuts on an intermediate transfer belt is different from the timing in a color print mode. Specifically, in the monochromatic print mode, the secondary transfer roller abuts on the intermediate transfer belt prior to the start of an exposure process for the first image. Then, the secondary transfer roller is separated from the intermediate transfer belt at completion of the secondary transfer of the final image. Therefore, the secondary transfer roller has already abutted on the intermediate transfer belt at the start of the irradiation of a light beam for forming the first electrostatic latent image. The exposure process is performed with the secondary transfer roller kept abutting on the intermediate transfer belt.

Image forming apparatus and method having multiple print modes

An electrostatic latent image is formed on an image carrier. A developing roller is separatably abutted on the image carrier at a developing position to supply toner onto the image carrier to make the latent image visible as a toner image. The toner image is transferred onto a transfer member. A cleaner is abutted on the image carrier to remove toner remained thereon. A toner supplier supplies toner onto the image carrier while the developing roller is separated from the image carrier.

An image forming apparatus and method that repeats image create/transfer processing, in which serial processing of forming a toner image on a photosensitive member while rotating the photosensitive member and a transfer medium in a sub scanning direction and thereafter transferring the toner image onto the transfer medium, for a plurality of toner colors which are different from each other. The apparatus and method lay toner images in the respective toner colors over each other on said transfer medium and accordingly form a color image. Correcting transfer start positions of toner images in at least one or more toner colors out of the plurality of toner colors is based on a registration control amount which is necessary to correct relative registration deviations among toner images on the transfer medium.

Image forming apparatus and method for processing a plurality of toner colors onto a transfer medium

An image forming apparatus has a latent image carrier on which a latent image is formed. A developer carrier conveys a one-component non-magnetic developer and develops the latent image either in close proximity to or in contact with the latent image carrier. A voltage application unit applies an AC-superimposed bias voltage to the developer carrier. A regulating member abuts against the developer carrier to regulate the thickness of the developer layer on the developer carrier. The regulating member has a semiconductive member provided at the distal end thereof to produce an electric potential difference between the semiconductive member and the developer carrier, to which the AC-superimposed bias voltage is applied, when regulating the thickness of the developer layer on the developer carrier, thereby forming a line-shaped uneven conveying surface. Thus, the occurrence of banding and longitudinal unevenness and stripes is prevented, and fogging and scattering are also prevented. Further, the occurrence of filming is prevented, thereby allowing formation of a uniform image free from density unevenness.

Image forming apparatus with reduced image defects

Power transmission members which transmit rotational drive force from a drive source such as a motor, to an intermediate transfer drum is elastically deformed due to a load change which is generated as a cleaning part contacts and moves away from the intermediate transfer drum. Registration control amounts (Ra, Rb and Rc) attributed to the elastic deformation are obtained in advance. Transfer start positions for toner images in at least one or more toner colors out of four toner colors are corrected based on the registration control amounts (Ra, Rb and Rc), whereby registration deviations are suppressed to minimum and a high-quality color image is obtained.

Image forming device having transfer registration control

Sensor, drive force auxiliary device using the sensor, and torque sensor

An image support apparatus including a pair of rotatable disk shaped members, a cylindrical member supported and fixed at both ends by the pair of disk shaped members, a flexible image supporter shaped like a thin cylinder and formed with a photosensitive layer at the outer peripheral surface, support members being disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member for supporting the image supporter, a charge roller abutting the outer peripheral surface of the image supporter for uniformly charging the outer peripheral surface, and a frame. A distance between a portion of the image supporter supported by the support member and an end of the charge roller is set to a length to prevent the image supporter, which is bent as the charge roller abuts the image supporter, from becoming permanently deformed.

Image forming apparatus which prevents permanent deformation and

The present invention provides an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of forming a high quality image by eliminating an expansion/contraction, displacement in color or nonuniformity of color of the image formed on a transfer member. An image carrier gear for driving an image carrier is driven by a driving means gear at an image carrier driving position and transmits driving force to conveying force transmitting gear at a transfer driving position. The conveying force transmitting gear transmits conveying force to the transfer member. A time during which the image carrier moves from a latent image forming position to a transferring position is made substantially equal to a time during which the image carrier gear moves from an image carrier driving position to a transfer driving position.

Growing community of inventors

Nagano, Japan

Kuniaki Tanaka