Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Sharp Kabushiki Kaishi

Naotaka Funayama

Jun Yamaguchi

Tsutomu Nagata

Yoshiaki Sanada

Takahiko Kimura

Yasuyuki Ishiguro

Toshio Nishino

Masatoshi Kaneshige

Hiroshi Tanisawa

Haruko Yoneda

Hisashi Kunihiro

Yasutaka Maeda

Takeshi Wakabayashi

Jitsuo Masuda

Toshihisa Ishida

Hideaki Hagihara

Syouichi Fujita

Hirofumi Sakita

Hiroshi Kawamoto

Yoshinori Otsuka

Yoshinori Urata

Makoto Uehara

Ikuo Itoh

Akira Nakakuma

Akio Shiomi

Shigeaki Tasaka

Kazuhiro Satou

Toshiyuki Kurosaka

Tao Ou

Norio Tateishi

An image apparatus includes a cartridge with two separate accommodating portions. The first accommodating portion for accommodating unused developer and is formed in a housing. A second accommodating portion for accommodating transfer residual developer is arranged adjacent to the first accommodating portion. A conveying member extending over the first and second accommodating portions, when an amount of transfer residual developer to be stored in the second accommodating portion exceeds a predetermined level, conveys the transfer residual developer from the second accommodating portion to the first accommodating portion. Each one of the accommodating portions includes an agitator.

Image apparatus with developing cartridge having two accommodating portions

A process cartridge includes a toner unit including a toner containing space and a toner supply space. A development unit including rollers. There is a holding frame having a fixture section for the development unit and an accepting section for the toner unit. The process cartridge is constructed arrangement in which the toner is fixed in a predetermined position in the accepting section of the holding frame or which the toner unit is detachably installed in a predetermined position in the accepting section of the holding frame.

Detachable process cartridge for image forming apparatus

A toner cartridge includes: a toner storage chamber; a toner collecting chamber; a partitioning wall for separating these chambers; a cylindrical return pipe penetrating through the partitioning wall with a conveyer screw arranged therein and is configured so that when the amount of untransferred toner collected into the toner collecting chamber exceeds the height of the return pipe, the untransferred toner is conveyed by the rotation of the conveyer screw to be returned into the toner storage chamber.

Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus

Toner cartridge

Developing unit for an image forming apparatus

The length of a conveying sheet is set to be greater than the rotational radius of an agitating element so that the distal end of the conveying sheet will slide over the inner wall of the toner container. A slider element having a low frictional resistance is attached at the distal end of the conveying sheet. The slider element preferably has a low coefficient of dynamic friction and is preferably made of a soft resilient material having a thickness smaller than the conveying sheet. Cutouts or openings may be preferably formed at the distal part. A multiple number of ribs are attached to the wall surface of the toner container at the highest position at which the wall and the top plate meet. The ribs are arranged apart from each other in the direction parallel to the agitating shaft of the agitating element. Each rib is a plate-like element projected inward from the wall surface in the toner container with its width put in the direction of the spacing. Further the end portions of the ribs on the interior side of the toner container are adapted to form a curved surface smoothly connecting the top plate surface and the wall surface.

Toner supply device with rotatable agitating element

A developing unit includes a developer hopper, a toner reserve container that incorporates a replenishing roller and a replenishing opening forming a toner replenishing portion, arranged adjacent to the developer hopper in order to replenish the toner to the developer hopper. The toner reserve container further includes an agitator rotatable about a rotary shaft with a conveying sheet for conveying the toner to the replenishing roller. The conveying sheet is attached to the agitator so that it becomes close to the rotary shaft of the agitator. By this configuration, an adequate space can be secured between the top plate, i.e., an operable/closable lid, constituting the toner reserve container and the conveying sheet so that the distal part of the conveying sheet can efficiently retain the toner, thus making it possible to improve the conveyance performance to the replenishing roller and realize an uniform amount of conveyance.

Developing unit and toner replenishing device with conveying apparatus

A developing device having a reduced size in the horizontal direction and in which a developing agent is transported with stirring along a circulating route inside a developing tank to effectively mix newly added toner therewith and stir the mixture. A developing tank for storing developing agent therein is horizontally divided with a partition member thereby providing an upper chamber and a lower chamber. A developer roller and a stirring roller are disposed in the lower chamber. Two screw rollers are disposed in the upper chamber. An inlet opening is formed between an end of the partition member and a regulating member for restricting a layer if the developing agent adsorbed to the developing roller. A developing agent removed by the restricting member is fed through an inlet opening to the screw rollers in the upper chamber. The developing agent is mixed with fresh toner supplied through a supply inlet and transported with being stirred by the screw roller in its axial direction. Then, the developing agent is transferred to the screw roller disposed parallel to the screw roller and it is further transported and returned to the stirring roller in the lower chamber through a return port provided opposite to the screw roller. The compact construction of the developing device is realized by arranging screw rollers for stirring and transporting toner in the upper chamber.

Developing device having a reduced width in the horizontal direction

The object of the invention is to provide a developer for electrophotography which may present stable charging properties and image density after a prolonged period of copying operations as well as have a long life. The object can be achieved by providing a developer for electrophotography, compounded of: a toner component; and a carrier component prepared from a ferrite powder mixture in total of 100 parts, consisting of 10 to 90 parts by weight of a ferrite powder having a specific surface range of 200 to 230 cm.sup.2 /g, and 10 to 90 parts by weight of a ferrite powder having a specific surface range of more than 230 to 300 cm.sup.2 /g.

Developer for electrophotography

A developing apparatus capable of preventing a leakage of developing powder from being placed on photoconductor of a copying machine, the developing apparatus having a doctor for restricting an amount of developing powder to be placed on said photoconductor of the copying machine includes a unit for storing a developing powder, a roller having a sleeve and a magnet and rotationally supported on the storing unit for laminating the developing powder output from the storing unit on the sleeve in accordance with a magnetic force of the magnet, and a unit for preventing the developing powder from being leaked to a non-imaging area located at end portions of the roller, the preventing unit being located in a upstream side of the storing unit and being so arranged that an interval between the preventing unit and the roller is larger than an interval between the doctor and the roller.

Developing apparatus

The developing device, which is capable of mixing developers with magnetic toners and capable of providing the developers having a uniform magnetic toner density to a photoconductor for a copying machine, the device having a developing tank which contains a roller composed of a sleeve and a magnetic body with the magnetic body being disposed inside of the sleeve concentrically and rotatably with respect to each other, the device also having a magnetic toner supply tank disposed adjacent to the developing tank for supplying the magnetic toners to the developing tank through a toner supply port, the developing device includes a unit coupled to the developing tank for controlling an amount of the developers to be supplied to the sleeve, and a unit disposed between the toner supply port and the control unit for scraping the developers from the sleeve. The scraping unit is so arranged that a stirring portion is formed in association with the sleeve for stirring the developers scraped from the sleeve and the magnetic toners supplied from the toner supply tank through the toner supply port. The scaping unit has a throughhole for making the scraped developers to be mixed with the magnetic toners supplied from the toner supply tank through the toner supply port in accordance with a magnetic force produced by the magnetic body so as to produce a flow of the developers which passes through the throughhole.

Developing device with a scraping unit arranged to form a stirring area

A developing device for an electrophotographic copier has a supply tank above a developing tank with an opening therebetween. A sealing member is removably attached to the rims of this opening before the developing device is ready to be used. An end part of this sealing member is attached to a take-up shaft and the sealing member is pulled or peeled off to be wound around the take-up shaft when the developing device is set in the copier and the shaft becomes connected to a motor in the copier.

Developing device for copier with sealing means

A developing device has inside a developer tank a developer magnet roller for supplying developing agent to a photoreceptor, a screening member for preventing the supply of developing agent to this developer magnet roller, and sealing members made of magnets for sealing gaps formed around this screening member.

Developing device with magnetic supply seals

A developing device for a copier is comprised of a developer roller having a shaft rotatably supported by its developing tank and a magnet structure affixed to this supporting shaft and having a plurality of magnet poles on its external peripheral surface. An arcuate brush forming plate is disposed between the developer roller and the photoreceptor of the copier. One end of this plate is formed to scrape developing agent attached to the developer roller such that it can be transported onto this brush forming plate.

Growing community of inventors

Tenri, Japan

Naotaka Funayama