Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.

International Business Machines Corporation

Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd.

Masayuki Ainoya

Yoshitaka Fujinuma

Junji Shirakawa

Yuichiro Suzuki

Takashi Suzuki

Koji Kato

Kenji Nozawa

Takuji Torii

Minoru Seino

Hiroomi Kozawa

Takao Matsuoka

Kazunobu Hayashi

Kenji Ishii

Seiichi Mori

Hideki Ishida

Masayasu Anzai

Yasuo Takuma

Tsuneaki Kawanishi

Hisao Okada

Shigenobu Katagiri

Tsutomu Nakagawa

Junichi Suzuki

Tomonari Hokkyo

Katsuya Kawai

Shuichi Morio

Norimasa Kondo

Mamoru Takayama

Takao Chikuzenya

Hiroyoshi Matsumoto

Kazuo Sunou

Hideki Ando

Ryoji Yabuki

Toshio Fuji

Takeyuki Ishihara

Syuichi Morio

Shinya Tomita

Motoya Toyoda

Tomoyoshi Yamazaki

Hiroshi Tsunoda

Tesuo Kanno

Takahiro Kikuchi

Shogo Nobumori

An image forming apparatus includes: a first image forming unit having a first printing section for forming a first image on the paper; a second image forming unit having a second printing section for forming a second image on the paper; and a paper conveying unit for conveying the paper from the first image forming unit to the second image forming unit. Accordingly, two kinds of image can be formed employing one image forming apparatus. The first image and the second image may be formed using the same recording material (toner) or different recording materials (toners).

Image forming apparatus

A transfer guide is provided which includes a guide member for guiding paper to a transfer point and a paper holding member using an electrically conductive member attached to the guide member by means of a spring member and disposed in the vicinity of a surface of a photosensitive drum, such that the gap becomes narrow for thin paper and the gap widens for thick paper in correspondence with the ream weight of the paper.

Electrophotographic apparatus having a paper holding member

Fixing device

Developer bottle

A toner cartridge includes a container for containing toner of a volume of 2500 cm or more. The container defines an opening portion, a cap is fixed to the opening portion of the container, and the cap defines a first semicircle opening portion. A film covers and seals the first semicircle opening portion of the cap. A shutter is rotatably disposed on the cap and the shutter defines a second semicircle opening portion capable of corresponding to the first semicircle opening portion of the cap, the shutter having a diameter of 70 mm or above.

Toner cartridge

A fixing device has a web unit with a housing having two shaft members in parallel with each other, the housing defining a through hole on each of two lateral sides of the housing. The web unit also has a web member windably supported by the two shaft members, and a handle having two protrusion protruded from a lateral surface of the housing to outside of the housing. Each of the two protrusions defines a first width and a second width larger than the first width. The fixing device also has a fixing device frame to be detachably disposed to the web unit. The fixing device frame has a guiding groove with a groove through which the two protrusions are guided on the basis of the first width, and a guiding portion at an end of the groove to allow the two protrusions to be changed from the first width to the second width. The attachment or detachment of the web unit to or from the fixing device frame is regulated corresponding to a position of the handle with respect to the housing.

An image forming apparatus includes a developing unit having a photoreceptor, for making an electrostatic latent image on a surface of the photoreceptor visible as a toner image. A toner hopper stores toner to be supplied to the developing unit and a cleaning device removes and recovers the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor after the toner image has been transferred onto a recording material. A toner transporting passage is connected between the cleaning device and the toner hopper, through which the toner recovered by the cleaning device is returned to the toner hopper. A toner exhausting port is disposed at a part of the toner transporting passage, from which the toner being returned from the cleaning device side is exhausted outside the toner transporting passage. An opening and closing member selectively opens or closes the toner exhausting port, wherein an inner diameter of the toner exhausting port is made larger than that of the toner transporting passage.

Imaging forming apparatus having a toner exhausting device

Toner bottle cap

Photosensitive drum for printer

Printer for a computer

An image recording apparatus and a method of using the image recording apparatus. The image recording apparatus has a sheet sending path connecting a sheet supply section, an image forming section, and a sheet discharge section. A pull-in path branches from the sheet sending path, and a return path branches from the pull-in path to define a branch point. A first pair and a second pair of conveying rollers are provided on the pull-in path on respective sides of the branch point. The first pair and the second pair of conveying rollers are independently drivable in a forward direction and a reverse direction.

Image recording apparatus, and sheet conveying method thereof

A uniform image is obtained by matching the sliding friction force, the moving speed and the developing agent in a developing region of two developing rollers and an electric characteristic of a photosensitive body used for image development. Two developing rollers rotating in directions opposite to each other are used, the moving direction of the first developing roller being opposite to the moving direction of the photosensitive body, and a circumferential speed ratio of a circumferential speed of the first developing roller to a circumferential speed of the photosensitive body is within a rage of 0.5 to 2.5; and the moving direction of the second developing roller is equal to the moving direction of the photosensitive body, and a circumferential speed ratio of a circumferential speed of the second developing roller to a circumferential speed of the photosensitive body is within a range of 1.5 to 3.5. A ratio of the sliding friction force between a magnetic brush for developing agent and the photosensitive body formed in the first developing roller and the sliding friction force between a magnetic brush for developing agent and the photosensitive body formed in the second developing roller is within a range of 0.9 to 2.1.

Electrophotographic apparatus

A hot-melt type ink jet printer includes a nozzle array, an ink tank containing a hot-melt ink therein, and an ink supply tube connecting the ink tank and the nozzle array, wherein a hot-melt ink is used which is a solid at room temperature but liquifies when heated. The ink supply tube is made of an elastic material that contracts and deforms corresponding to contractions and deformations of the ink contained in the ink supply tube. A cap is attached to the tip end of the ink supply tube so that the inlet of the ink supply tube that is in the ink tank faces to the side or upward.

Ink jet printer having elastically deformable ink supply tube

A suction purging unit for removing dusts solidified ink etc. from nozzles of a print head of an ink jet printer, the nozzles being arrayed in a moving direction of the print head. A contact portion is provided at one side of a body portion in which a fluid passage is formed. The contact portion is contactable with at least one of the nozzles for suction purging, and is separated from the nozzle between-suction purging mode. The body portion is pivotally movable toward and away from the print head, and is vertically movable. The body portion is movable along a top surface of the print head when the latter is moved in the moving direction.

Suction-purging unit and suction purging method for an ink jet printer

An electrographic printer for printing an image on a continuous printing sheet having a leading edge and a tail edge, the printer including a photosensitive drum, a tractor for feeding the continuous printing sheet to the photosensitive drum, a guide member positioned at an image transfer position and disposed movable toward and away from the photosensitive drum for providing an intimate contact of the printing sheet with the photosensitive drum so as to transfer a toner image on the drum to the printing sheet, a fixing section for fixing a transferred toner image on the printing sheet, a sheet stacker and a feed roller for feeding an image fixed sheet to the sheet stacker, and means for changing a gap between the guide member and the photosensitive drum. The changing means enlarges the gap until the leading edge of the printing sheet passes through the feed roller, and reduces the gap after the leading edge passes through the feed roller. The printer further includes means for changing sheet feeding speed of the feed roller lower than the sheet feeding speed of the tractor after the tail edge of the printing sheet passes through the tractor, whereby a printing to a tail edge portion of the printing sheet is performable.

Electrophotographic printer

Growing community of inventors

Ibaraki, Japan

Masayuki Ainoya