Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Masashi Sakamoto

Hidekazu Nakagami

Hiroshi Ozawa

Masaki Takahashi

Shin Miyata

Keizo Nishiguchi

An image forming apparatus wherein a latent image is electrostatically formed on a surface of a photosensitive member and developed by a developing device. In the above image forming apparatus, the reference line image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive member outside the effective image forming area. The width of the reference line image is detected by a sensor. A developing bias voltage applied to the developing device is controllably changed based on the result of detection by a sensor.

Laser beam printer capable of forming line images having stable image

An image forming unit removably mountable in an image forming apparatus is composed of a plurality of image forming elements including at least a photosensitive drum. The unit is assembled by providing a pair of side plates with the image forming elements between, and covering the outside of the side plates with a thermally shrinkable resin film to firmly connect the image forming elements with the side plates.

Removably mountable image forming unit held together by thermally

An electrophotographic apparatus having a first frame accommodating an exposure head which emits a light according to digital image data and a second frame accommodating a photosensitive member on which an electrostatic latent image is formed with a light emitted from the exposure head to the photosensitive member at an exposure portion. The first frame is openably supported by the second frame. When the first frame is opened relative to the second frame, the exposure head is released from the photosensitive member and thereby a document exposing unit including a transport system for transporting a document and an exposure optical system for exposing the photosensitive member to an optical image of the document being transported by the transport system is mountable at the exposure portion.

Electrophotographic apparatus including an attachment device for

An electric printer is capable of printing images on a large size sheet. The electric printer is provided with a print head to output images on a photoconductive member based on image data and a plurality of process units each of which integrally accommodates therein at least a photoconductive member, a developing device and a cleaner for forming the images on the sheet transported along a transport path within the printer. The process units are disposed in a direction orthogonally intersecting a transport direction of the sheets so as to form the images thereby on the sheet as it is being transported.

Electric printer

An image forming apparatus provided with an image reading unit for reading an image of an original fed into an original path, wherein the original path is confluent with a first copy sheet path connecting an image forming unit with a common tray. The image reading unit is detachable from the body of the apparatus. A copy sheet is formed an image on a first side and ejected to the common tray with the first side down. An original inserted into the original path is ejected to the common tray with its first side having an image up. Further, the apparatus has a second copy sheet path diverging from the first copy sheet path at an upstream of the original path and a sub-tray for receiving a copy sheet ejected from the second copy sheet path, and a switch member is disposed at the diverging point.

Image forming apparatus with an image reading function

An image forming apparatus provided with a toner replenishing device attachable to a position of any one of a plurality of developing units. The toner replenishing device replenishes toner to another developing unit through the space of a developing unit to which the toner replenishing device is interchangeably attached.

Image forming apparatus having toner replenishing device interchangeable

An image forming apparatus equipped with a sensor for detecting the requirement of replenishment and exchange of expendable supplies, parts and the like and an image forming structure capable of forming on the same sheet of paper a prewarning image in addition to a regular image formed corresponding to an original or image information to be copied. The image forming structure receives different control depending on whether or not the sensor is detecting the requirement of replenishment and exchange, wherein if the sensor is not detecting the requirement, it forms only a regular image while when the sensor detects the requirement, it forms a prewarning image together with a regular image thereby indicating the requirement of replenishment and exchange by the prewarning image on the same sheet on which a regular image is formed.

Image forming apparatus

An electrophotographic copying machine which comprises a rotatable photoreceptor, a developing devices including a first removable developing device and a second developing device provided at downstream of the first removable developing device with respect the rotation of the photoreceptor, a first seal member arranged at the first developing device for preventing toner from scattering, a second seal member which is arranged at the second developing device for preventing toner from scattering and is movable to contact with the photoreceptor, a first moving member for moving the second seal member from a first state to be out of contact with the photoreceptor to a second state to be in contact therewith upon the removal of the first developing device, and a second moving member for moving the second seal member from the second state to the first state upon the attachment of the first developing device.

Growing community of inventors

Toyohashi, Japan

Masashi Sakamoto