Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Funai Electric Company Ltd.

Masanori Yamada

Tadashi Iwamatsu

Nobuyuki Azuma

Atsushi Inoue

Takayuki Yamanaka

Kuniaki Nakano

Kazuhiro Matsuyama

Hiroshi Tatsumi

Toshihiko Takaya

Susumu Murakami

Yoshie Iwakura

Masashi Hirai

Takahiro Fukunaga

Hiroshi Tachiki

Takahiko Yoshida

Keiji Yasuda

Masaaki Takagi

Toshio Yamanaka

Yasuhiro Takai

Katsumi Adachi

Kazuya Koyama

Yuhi Akagawa

Mikiya Okada

Yukihito Nishio

Kengo Matsuyama

Shigenori Morimoto

Haruo Sayama

Kazuaki Ishikawa

Daisuke Ogawa

Ryousuke Sugiyama

Hisasi Yosimura

Tetsurou Toyoshima

A sheet feeding apparatus includes a casing that comprises a sheet feeding port, a first sheet feed tray in which a first medium is loaded and that is arranged along a sheet feeding port, and a cover that rotates from a position opposite the first sheet feed tray of the casing to a first sheet feed tray side and covers the sheet feeding port. The cover includes a second sheet feed tray that causes a second medium differing in size from the first medium to be capable of being loaded in the sheet feeding port when the cover covers the sheet feeding port.

Sheet feeding apparatus

In an MFP having various and many functions and part of the functions introduced as optional functions, in order to appropriately introduce an optional function related to a frequently used function, a CPU of the MFP executes a program including the steps of; receiving and storing information of an optional function recommended for a standard function used frequently, from an FSS server computer (S); when a function is selected by a logged-in user (YES at S), determining whether or not any recommended optional function is stored (S); when a recommended optional function is stored (YES at S), displaying an image recommending the optional function related to the function selected by the user (S); and transmitting, as a job completing process, selected functions to the FSS server computer (S).

Information processing apparatus presenting recommended optional function to image forming apparatus, and image forming system

An image device includes a movable member, a guide shaft, and a shaft bearing. The movable member moves back and forth inside the device along a guide shaft when reading or recording image information. The guide shaft includes an arc portion in at least part of a cross-section. The shaft bearing is penetrated by the guide shaft at two locations in the movement direction that differ from the center of gravity in the movable member. The shaft bearing includes two inclined faces contacted by the arc portion of the guide shaft in the cross-section. The respective two inclined faces of the shaft bearing are at an angle &#x3b8;f (rad) and an angle &#x3b8;r (rad) with the perpendicular direction. The angle &#x3b8;f (rad) and the angle &#x3b8;r (rad) satisfy the following inequality:cos {&#x3c0;/2&#x2212;(&#x3b8;)}&#x3e;0.

Image device

First eccentric cams for abutting an inner circumferential surface of an intermediate image transferring belt, second eccentric cams for rotating as a unit with the first eccentric cams, cam followers for abutting a circumferential surface of the second eccentric cam, and transmitting members for holding image transferring rollers, moving in response to the cam followers are disposed within a loop-shaped moving path formed by an intermediate image transferring belt, which is stretched across a driving roller and a driven roller. The vertical position of the image transferring rollers, which are held by the transmitting members, changes in accordance with the abutting state of the first eccentric cams with respect to an inner circumferential surface of the intermediate image transferring belt.

Transfer endless belt device applied to image forming apparatus

A transfer unit includes: an intermediate transfer belt that (i) holds a toner image that has been transferred from a photoreceptor drum and (ii) moves a surface holding the toner image; and a secondary transfer belt that comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt. The transfer unit (i) transfers the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt to a sheet conveyed to the secondary transfer part and (ii) includes a cleaning unit that removes and collects toner from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt. The transfer unit also includes a power source for sequentially applying, to the secondary transfer belt, (i) a first voltage for generating an electric field that transfers normally-charged toner from the secondary transfer belt to the intermediate transfer belt and (ii) a second voltage for generating an electric field that transfers oppositely-charged toner from the secondary transfer belt to the intermediate transfer belt.

Transfer unit, transfer method, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a pair of optical sensing devices for monochrome image forming and full-color image forming which are disposed at the rear of the image forming apparatus and a pair of generally L-shaped light shielding members for monochrome image forming and full-color image forming which are mounted swingably on a rear side of an image transfer unit with one end of each light shielding member attached to one of two sliding members. When each of the sliding members moves back and forth, the light shielding member for monochrome image forming or full-color image forming, whichever applicable, swings and the relevant optical sensing device detects the other end of the light shielding member.

Image forming apparatus

A transfer belt device includes an endless transfer belt that is tightly stretched by a plurality of rollers and forms a transport path where a recording medium or a developer image is transported facing a monochrome image bearing member and a plurality of color image bearing members arranged in parallel along a fixed direction. In the apparatus, a first transfer unit having a first linking member in which a monochrome-image transfer member is supported that transfers a developer image formed on the monochrome image bearing member onto a recording medium or an outer peripheral surface of the belt, and a second transfer unit having a second linking member in which a plurality of color-image transfer members are supported that transfer developer images formed on the respective color image bearing members onto a recording medium or an outer peripheral surface of the belt, are linked via the first and second linking members.

Transfer belt device and image forming apparatus

A transfer device has primary transfer rollers supported so as to be upwardly and downwardly movable within a path of movement and opposed to respective of photosensitive drums across a portion of an intermediate transfer belt. There are also provided a slide member for full-color image formation and a slide member for monochromatic image formation, which are capable of reciprocation in a horizontal direction. The transfer device includes roller lifting means each L-shaped and each having one end supporting an associated one of the transfer rollers for rotation and another end engaging an associated one of the slide members, and first and second coaxial rotating cams. The transfer device is capable of switching between three paths of movement of the intermediate transfer belt selectively by the first and second rotating cams rotating together.

Transfer device with coaxial rotating cams

In an ink drying portion, a conveying roller and a rigid roller are rotated by driving force of a driving roller which is transmitted through a driving belt. Air in a housing is discharged by means of a fan and air is sucked into the housing through a clearance between the conveying rollers. A paper conveyed into the ink drying portion is continuously held along a paper drying passageway by the air sucking effect of the discharge of the fan and is consecutively conveyed along the paper drying passageway through the conveying roller. An ink on the paper is dried by direct irradiation with infrared rays from an infrared heat source or by indirect irradiation with infrared rays reflected by a reflecting plate.

Ink drier and ink jet type image forming apparatus mounting the same

A developing device and a blade of the developing device, includes a contact section which is in plane contact with a development roller, and an inclined section which extends from an end of the contact section so as to form a flare at an inflow section of a one-component developer between the blade and development roller. When a flare angle between the blade having the flare and a line tangent to the development roller is denoted by a tilt angle &thgr;, 30&deg;&lE;&thgr;&lE;90&deg;. Thus, if the flare angle at the inflow section of the one-component developer between the blade and development roller is optimized, even when the one-component developer deteriorates with time, for example, the flowability is changed with time, it is possible to provide a developing device and a blade of the developing device capable of forming a one-component developer layer with an extremely stable deposit of one-component developer. Moreover, it is possible to provide a blade which can increase the dimensional tolerance of the inclined section and can be produced easily at a low cost.

Blade for a developing device and methods of making the same

An object of the present invention is to prevent an electrical breakdown of a toner layer and an occurrence of overcurrent, thereby preventing quality of image from being degraded at the time of development, when development with one-component toner is conducted using a developing roller of low resistance. The resistance value Rd of a developing roller which carries and conveys one-component toner in a manner of coming into contact with a photoconductor which bears an electrostatic latent image, is defined as Rd=.rho.d.multidot.(Dd1/S1), wherein S1 (cm.sup.2) is an area in which the developing roller comes into contact with the static image bearing member via a toner layer, Dd1 (cm) is a layer thickness of a semiconductive layer which composes the developing roller, and .rho.d (.OMEGA..multidot.cm) is a volume resistivity thereof. The range of the resistance Rd is set as 10.sup.4 &lt;Rd&lt;10.sup.5 and the resistance Rt (.OMEGA.) of the toner layer is set as Rt&gt;5.times.10.sup.7. By using the developing roller of low resistance, excellent development is realized and an electrical breakdown and an overcurrent can be avoided by the resistance value of the toner layer.

Developing apparatus using one-component toner

A blade is pressed against a developing roller for regulating the amount of toner which is deposited on a surface of the developing roller. The blade is formed with a slant face at its tip end, to which the toner is transported along a direction of rotation of the developing roller. An angle of aperture .theta. at a toner inlet portion defined by the developing roller and the slant face is set at 12.5.degree. or more, the angle of aperture counting in an angle .psi. of the slant face, elastic deformation and radius (R) of the developing roller, and an angle .alpha. related to a nip width w on which the blade contacts with the developing roller. Such an angle of aperture .theta. provides a great allowance for a free length l of the blade, thereby permitting the blade to maintain a constant toner mass for forming a uniform toner layer.

The object of the invention is to certainly remove and certainly recover the charged toner remaining on a developing roller after development. A single component toner which is delivered to the developing roller via a toner-supplying roller is made into a relatively thin layer of a predetermined thickness with a charging plate and is frictionally charged with a given quantity of electric charge. Subsequently, the toner is adhered on a photoreceptor drum along by the electrostatic latent image to develop an image at the developing region at which the developing roller comes into contact with the photoreceptor drum. After development, the electric charge of the toner layer on the developing roller is removed with an electric-charge-removing sheet. The toner after development is recovered into a toner hopper via the toner-supplying roller. In rotation direction of the developing roller, the relation of the width Wt of the toner layer to the width Wc of the electric-charge-removing sheet is established so as to be Wc.gtoreq.Wt. Thus, the electric charge of the toner layer on the developing roller is certainly removed.

Developing apparatus having means for removing electric charge of toner

An elastic member for pressing is provided in a prescribed location in an area where the developer carrier comes in contact with the discharging member, in order to bring the discharging member into contact with the developer carrier so that mechanical peeling of the residual developer on the developer carrier is not caused, and the discharging member is provided with a bias power supply for setting bias in a direction imparting to the discharging member a force for electrically drawing the residual developer on the developer carrier away from the developer carrier, and after thus reducing the electric adhesion of the residual developer to the developer carrier, the developer feed member removes the residual developer on the developer carrier in the vicinity of disjunction area or in the contact area of the developer carrier and the developer feed member, thereafter applies new developer in a developer container to the developer carrier in the vicinity of approaching area or in the contact-starting area of the developer carrier and the developer feed member.

Image developing device using a one-component toner

A developer layer forming device includes a photoreceptor drum, a developing roller arranged opposite to the photoreceptor drum such that the developing roller is in contact with or adjacent to the photoreceptor drum, and supporting a non-magnetic developer, and a blade arranged opposite to the developing roller and also arranged such that an edge of the blade is pressed against and thus in contact with the developing roller at a nip portion.

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Nara, Japan

Masanori Yamada