Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Nippon Electric Co., Ltd.

Masatoshi Murakami

Yoshinori Shirasaki

Masayuki Hayashi

Motohiro Kawanabe

Akinori Yamaguchi

Tatsuya Miyadera

Yuusuke Kohri

An image forming apparatus superimposes a plurality of color images each formed of a single-color developer to form a superimposed color image. The image forming apparatus includes a transfer belt and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry forms, as a correction pattern, combination patterns arranged along a conveyance direction of the color images and including a first pattern, a second pattern, and a third pattern. A formation interval of the first pattern constituting one combination pattern is shorter than a formation interval between one horizontal line of the first pattern constituting the one combination pattern and another horizontal line of the first pattern constituting another combination pattern. The one horizontal line is opposite the other horizontal line.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method

An image forming apparatus includes a transfer belt, a plurality of endless rotational bodies, an image forming device, a pattern sensor, and processing circuitry. The image forming device forms correction patterns including a first pattern as a straight line pattern orthogonal to a conveyance direction of the correction patterns and a second pattern as one of a straight line pattern orthogonal to and an oblique line pattern inclined with respect to the conveyance direction. The processing circuitry causes the image forming device to form the correction patterns using a correction value such that the second pattern included in one correction pattern on the transfer belt is same in color and shape as the second pattern included in at least one correction pattern of a preceding correction pattern and a following correction pattern in the conveyance direction with respect to the one correction pattern.

An optical writing control device controls emission or lighting of a light source onto a photoconductor surface in a latent image forming process and a discharge process, by either setting a light emission time longer in the discharge process or setting a resolution in a sub-scanning direction lower in the discharge process, compared to the latent image forming process.

Optical writing control device, image forming apparatus, and optical writing control method for controlling light emission of a light source

An optical writing control device and method are provided, for controlling light emission of a plurality of light sources to form an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive element, the light sources including a plurality of light emitting elements disposed in a line and classified into a plurality of groups, including frequency converter circuitry configured to acquire image information to be formed as the electrostatic latent image; and a light source controller configured to control the plurality of light sources based on pixel information generated from the acquired image information, wherein the light source controller is further configured to control the light emission of the plurality of light sources by classifying the light emitting elements into the plurality of groups, and shifting a timing of light emission from one group of the plurality of groups to a next group of the plurality of groups, and determine a common illuminating period for the light emitting elements of at least one light source of the plurality of light sources based on the shifted timing of light emission among the plurality of groups.

Optical writing control device, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling optical writing device

An image forming apparatus comprises: a plurality of exposure units, each of the exposure units including a plurality of light emitting elements that are arranged in a main scanning direction; a calculating unit that, with respect to each of the exposure units, calculates a pre-charge period that is a period during which a pre-charge is performed on at least any of the light emitting elements included in a corresponding exposure unit; and an emission control unit that, with respect to each of the exposure units, causes the light emitting elements included in a corresponding exposure unit to emit light such that a pre-charge period of at least any of the exposure units is shifted with respect to pre-charge periods of remaining ones of the exposure units.

Image forming apparatus and emission control method for controlling pre-charge of light emitting elements of exposure units

An optical writing control device and method are provided, for controlling light emission of a plurality of light sources to form an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive element, the light sources including a plurality of light emitting elements disposed in a line, including frequency converter circuitry configured to acquire image information to be formed as the electrostatic latent image; and a light source controller configured to control the plurality of light sources based on pixel information generated from the acquired image information, the light source controller being further configured to control the light emission of the plurality of light sources by classifying the light emitting elements into a plurality of groups, and shifting the timing of light emission from one group of the plurality of groups to a next group of the plurality of groups, and determine an illuminating period for each light source of the plurality of light sources based on the shifted timing of light emission among the plurality of groups.

Optical writing control device for reducing driving power of optical writing device

An image forming apparatus includes multiple exposure units each including multiple light emitting elements, a reading unit that reads data to be used for exposure by each one of the exposure units, one at a time from the exposure unit by the time the exposure units starts exposure, a storing unit that stores the data read by the reading unit, and a transfer unit that transfers the data stored in the storing unit to the exposure unit by the time the exposure unit starts exposure.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and recording medium storing an image forming program

An optical writing controller controls emission of a light source device including multiple light emitting element rows each constituted by multiple light emitting elements arranged in a sub-scanning direction to form an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor. The optical writing controller includes an image information acquisition unit to acquire image information on an image to be formed as the electrostatic latent image; a light source control unit to sequentially control emission of the multiple light emitting elements on the basis of information on pixels generated on the basis of the acquired image information; an error information acquisition unit to acquire information indicating an error of a direction in which the light emitting elements are arranged with respect to the sub-scanning direction; and an adjustment value generation unit to generate an adjustment value for adjusting a light quantity of each light emitting element on the basis of the error.

Optical writing controller, image forming apparatus, and optical writing control method

An image forming apparatus includes an exposure control unit that performs control, based on a shift-amount of an exposure position from an ideal position, the shift-amount being obtained from a detection-result of a misregistration correcting pattern image, to shift at least one of an exposure timing corresponding to first image data which is input to one of two electric cables in contact with a target electric cable and an exposure timing corresponding to second image data which is input to another one of the two electric cables, with respect to an exposure timing corresponding to target image data being input to the target electric cable both sides of which are in contact with the two other electric cables, among a plurality of the electric cables which corresponds respectively to a plurality of the exposure units provided for each of a plurality of colors.

Image forming apparatus

The device comprises: a light emission control unit forming an latent image on a photoconductor; a correction value calculation unit calculating a correction pattern for correcting a transfer position where a developer image of the latent image transfers to a conveying member; and an angle adjustment processing unit that determines an angle of an oblique line pattern included in the correction pattern on the basis of a detection signal of an angle adjustment pattern including a plurality of continuous oblique line patterns, wherein the light emission control unit controls a light to emit so that a plurality of oblique line patterns having different inclinations relative to a conveying direction of the conveying member are continuously formed to draw the angle adjustment pattern, and controls the light to emit so that an oblique line pattern having the determined angle is formed in the correction pattern to draw the correction pattern.

Optical writing control device, image forming apparatus, and method for controlling optical writing device

A data transmitting device is provided. The data transmitting device includes plural bundles of signal lines, each of which includes flatly arranged plural signal lines and which are overlaid in such a manner that surfaces of the bundles of signal lines are contacted with each other while the signal lines extend in a same direction, wherein signal transmission and reception are performed through the signal lines; a transmission timing adjuster to adjust signal transmission timing for each of the plural bundles of signal lines; and a transmission timing controller to perform time division control such that the transmission timing adjuster adjusts the signal transmission timing under the time division control for each of the plural bundles of signal lines.

Data transmitting device for adjusting signal transmission, image forming apparatus, data transmission controlling method, and recording medium storing data transmission control program thereof

An optical writing control device includes a light emission control unit that controls light emission of a light source to exposes a photosensitive element. The light emission control unit is configured to draw two patterns as patterns for correction used to correct a transfer position of a developer image obtained by developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive element, the two patterns including a narrow width pattern where a width of the pattern corresponds to a width of a detection area of a sensor that detects the patterns, in the main-scanning direction, and a wide width pattern having a wider width than the narrow width pattern, and control the light emission, after calculation of a correction value based on a detection signal of the wide width pattern is properly completed, in a manner where the narrow width pattern is drawn upon the calculation of the correction value.

An image forming apparatus including: a conveyance mechanism conveying a first pattern formed by a first image forming unit among image forming units, a second pattern formed by a second image forming unit among the image forming units; a detection unit detecting the first pattern and the second pattern; and a control unit controlling, when a first condition is satisfied, a timing of conveying a recording sheet having the image formed by the first image forming unit is transferred based on a first time required after the formation of the first pattern and before detecting the first pattern, and controlling, when a second condition is satisfied, a timing of conveying the recording sheet having the image formed by the second image forming unit is transferred based on a second time required after the formation of the second pattern and before detecting the second pattern.

Image forming apparatus and conveyance control method

An optical-writing control device calculates correction values for use in correcting a transfer position at which developing-agent images are to be transferred onto a sheet, and overlaying positions at which the developing-agent images are to be overlaid, based on a detection signal output from a sensor upon detection of a correction pattern for use in correcting the transfer position and a correction pattern for use in correcting the overlaying positions. A timing of detecting the pattern for use in correcting the overlaying positions is determined based on a correction value calculated based on the detection signal output upon detection of the pattern for use in correcting the transfer position. The pattern for use in correcting the transfer position is caused to have a width, in the main-scanning direction, that is wider than the width in the main-scanning direction of the pattern for use in correcting the overlaying positions.

Optical-writing control device, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling optical writing device

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus including, at least, an image data storage unit that stores image data; an inclination amount detection unit that detects a first inclination amount of a portion of the image data spanning from one end to the other end relative to a main scanning direction; an inclination amount storage unit that stores, when a gradient of the image data changes at a point in the main scanning direction, a second inclination amount of a portion of the image data spanning from the one end to the point or from the other end to the point; a correction amount calculation unit that calculates correction amounts associated with the main scanning direction by switching, at the point, whether the first inclination amount is increased or decreased by the second inclination amount; and an image correction unit that corrects an image based on the correction amounts.

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Osaka, Japan

Masatoshi Murakami