Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.

Ogawa Tent Co., Ltd.

Michiharu Suzuki

Hiroshi Hosokawa

Kenji Kikuchi

Shinji Tamaki

Shunji Katoh

Hideo Yoshizawa

Shingo Kuboki

Toshio Koike

Hiroshi Ikeguchi

Teppei Kikuchi

Jun Shiori

Keinosuke Kondoh

Kazuhiro Aso

Seiji Terazawa

Junji Yamabe

Hideki Kimura

Junichi Awamura

Keiichi Yano

Shingo Sakashita

Hideki Zemba

Tomoki Murayama

Masaya Fukuda

Takahiro Ikuma

Hisataka Tatsu

Tadashi Ogawa

Teppei Kawata

Satoshi Kojima

Koichi Sakata

Hitoshi Iwatsuki

Yoshitaka Sekiguchi

Hisashi Nakajima

Masashi Nagayama

Hiroyuki Kishida

Nobuo Kuwabara

Shigenori Yaguchi

Tsuneyasu Nagatomo

Toyoaki Tano

Naoto Suzuki

Hiroshi Tohmatsu

Yuta Azeyanagi

Kenji Honjoh

Saori Yamada

Mariko Takii

Masana Shiba

Yohhei Watanabe

Kenichi Mashiko

Shinya Hanatani

Ryoichi Teranishi

Haruki Nagata

Junji Seto

Chihiro Kikuchi

A cleaning device includes multiple cleaners, a partition, and a holder. The multiple cleaners include a first cleaner and a second cleaner adjacent to the first cleaner. The multiple cleaners each include a cleaning roller to remove a substance adhering to a surface of an object and a housing having an opening to collect the substance. The partition partitions the first cleaner and the second cleaner and defines a part of a wall of each of the first cleaner and the second cleaner. The holder holds the multiple cleaners.

Cleaning device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A powder container contains powder and is attached to an image forming apparatus including: a conveying nozzle to convey the powder; a powder receiving hole of the conveying nozzle to receive the powder from the powder container; an apparatus main-body gear to transmit a driving force to the powder container; and a container receiving section including the conveying nozzle and receiving the powder container. The powder container includes: an opening at one end of the powder container in a longitudinal direction; a nozzle receiver at the opening to receive the conveying nozzle; a conveyor to convey the powder; and a container gear to drive the conveyor by meshing with the apparatus main-body gear. The container gear is to mesh with the apparatus main-body gear at a position closer to the opening than the powder receiving hole in the longitudinal direction. The opening is to mate with the container receiving section.

Powder container

A snap ring is set to a set portion of a shaft of a rotator from a direction orthogonal to an axial direction of the shaft. The snap ring includes a first arcuate portion and a second arcuate portion facing each other, being elastically deformable in directions away from each other, holding the set portion by elastic deformation restoring force. One ends of the first and second arcuate portions are away from each other to form an insertion portion to insert the set portion. When the snap ring is not used, the first arcuate portion has a same radius of curvature as the second arcuate portion and the set portion, and a center of curvature closer to the second arcuate portion than the first arcuate portion, and the second arcuate portion has a center of curvature closer to the first arcuate portion than the second arcuate portion.

Snap ring, rotator device, fixing device, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, a removable component configured to be removably installed in an installation position in the apparatus body, a cover configured to open and close when the removable component is removed from or installed in the installation position, a replacement removable component configured to be installable in and removable from the installation position in which the removable component is installed, and a holder configured to hold the replacement removable component at a different position from the installation position when the removable component is installed in the installation position and the cover opens. The replacement removable component held by the holder is configured to inhibit the cover from closing.

Image forming apparatus including a removable component which is held by holder

An image forming apparatus includes image bearers, developing devices, developer containers, and developer supply devices. The image bearers are arranged side by side along a movement direction of an intermediate transferor or a sheet. The developing devices, the developer containers, and the developer supply devices are configured to be rearrangeable for each color in the movement direction in a manner that one or each of a developing device, a developer container, and a developer supply device corresponding to each color of the different colors is detached from and attached to the image forming apparatus, separately from a rest of the developing device, the developer container, and the developer supply device. The image forming apparatus is configured to be available for use when colors of the developing device, the developer container, and the developer supply device correspond to each other after rearrangement.

Image forming apparatus

A developing device includes a developer bearer opposed to an image bearer, configured to bear developer and rotate in a direction of rotation of the developer bearer, and configured to develop a latent image on the image bearer and a casing opposed to the developer bearer at a position downstream from an opposed position, at which the developer bearer is opposed to the image bearer, in the direction of rotation of the developer bearer. A casing gap between the developer bearer and the casing continuously decreases or increases from a first end of the developing device to a second end of the developing device across a center of the developing device in a longitudinal direction of the developing device.

Developing device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transferor to rotate in a predetermined rotation direction, a plurality of image bearers disposed along the intermediate transferor to bear latent images, a plurality of developing devices to develop the latent images, a plurality of developer containers to contain developers, and a plurality of conveyance paths each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of developing devices and a respective one of the plurality of developer containers to supply the developers to the plurality of developing devices respectively. An arrangement of the plurality of developing devices in the predetermined rotation direction is configured to be changed without changing an arrangement of the plurality of developer containers. A layout of the plurality of conveyance paths is configured to be changed without changing connections between a supply source and a supply destination of the plurality of conveyance paths.

Image forming apparatus including developing devices, developing containers, and changeable conveyance paths between the developing devices and the developing containers

An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transferor, a plurality of image bearers, a plurality of developing devices, a plurality of developer containers, a plurality of conveyance paths, and a plurality of sub-hoppers. At least one set of an image bearer, a developing device, and a sub-hopper is disposed at a height different from other sets. The arrangement of the plurality of developing devices and the plurality of sub-hoppers in the rotation direction of the intermediate transferor is changed while satisfying the following. The arrangement of the plurality of developer containers is not changed and the connections between the plurality of developing devices and the plurality of sub-hoppers are not change, while the layout of the plurality of tubes as the plurality of conveyance paths is changed so that the connections between the plurality of tubes and the plurality of sub-hoppers are not changed.

A nozzle receiver is to be arranged in a powder container used in an image forming apparatus. The nozzle receiver includes a nozzle receiving opening, in which a conveying nozzle for conveying powder supplied from the powder container is inserted in the image forming apparatus; an opening/closing member to open and to close the nozzle receiving opening; and a supporter to support the opening/closing member. The opening/closing member includes a sealing portion to seal the nozzle insertion opening. The supporter includes an end surface portion perpendicular to a moving direction of the opening/closing member. The projection area of the end surface portion in the moving direction of the opening/closing member is smaller than a projection area of the sealing portion in the moving direction of the opening/closing member.

Nozzle receiver, powder container, and image forming apparatus

Toner container

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Michiharu Suzuki