Mita Industrial Co., Ltd.

Masatoshi Uehara

Yumiko Sano

Kazuhito Takaoka

Kazushige Inoue

An image-forming method including the steps of forming a thin layer of a photosensitive toner charged to have a given polarity on a conductive drum, exposing said thin layer to light according to image information, and pressing a roller-type electrode against said toner thin layer through a transfer material after said exposing step to transfer a part of said photosensitive toner onto said transfer material. The method further includes the step of continuing contact between said conductive drum and said transfer material after said transfer material passes said roller-type electrode. Accordingly, a sharp toner image having a high density can be formed without the generation of fog.

Electrophotographic image-forming method

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus in which photosensitive toner remaining on an electrically-conductive drum after the formation of an image is collected and then used again for the subsequent process of forming an image. The apparatus comprises a toner storage unit including a toner feed system and a toner collecting system both disposed within a single housing. The toner feed system feeds toner onto an electrically-conductive drum for the formation of an image. The toner collecting system includes a blade for removing the toner remaining on the conductive drum after the formation of the image, and also includes a transporting paddle or a feeder for delivering the removed toner back to the toner feed system, the toner then being supplied again onto the electrically-conductive drum for the subsequent image-forming process.

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Hirakata, Japan

Masatoshi Uehara