Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.

Kyocera Mita Corporation

Nobuyuki Hayashi

Yosuke Saito

Masaki Kadota

Ai Takagami

Takahiko Murata

Koichi Hayashi

Shigeki Tsukahara

Maki Ike

Yoshihiro Yamagishi

Koji Uno

Kenichi Kasama

Yuta Kitabayashi

Tamotsu Shimizu

Akifumi Yamaguchi

Shinki Miyaji

A cleaning device includes a housing, a cleaning blade, a toner conveyance path, a conveyance screw, and a first flicker. The conveyance screw includes a rotary shaft and a helical vane. The first flicker includes a first base portion and first contact pieces and uses the first contact pieces to press the conveyance screw in a first direction away from a bottom part of the toner conveyance path. The first base portion includes a secured portion and a blade opposed portion. A reinforcement member is stacked on the blade opposed portion.

Cleaning device and image forming apparatus including the same

A cleaning device includes a housing, a cleaning blade, a toner conveyance path, a conveyance screw, a first flicker, and a second flicker. The conveyance screw includes a rotary shaft and a helical vane. The first flicker includes a first base portion and a plurality of first contact pieces. The second flicker includes a second base portion and a plurality of second contact pieces. An inclination angle &#x3b8;1 has a value between an inclination angle &#x3b8;2 and an inclination angle &#x3b8;3.

Cleaning device capable of preventing solidification of toner and image forming apparatus including the same

A cleaning device includes a housing, a cleaning blade, a toner conveyance path, a conveyance screw, and a first flicker. The conveyance screw includes a rotary shaft and a helical vane. The first flicker includes a first base portion and a plurality of first contact pieces and uses the first contact pieces to press the conveyance screw in a first direction away from a bottom part of the toner conveyance path. The first base portion includes a secured portion and a blade opposed portion. The first contact pieces are connected to an upper end part of the blade opposed portion. An elastic member is disposed between the cleaning blade and the blade opposed portion.

An image forming apparatus has an image forming portion, a fixing device, a temperature sensing device, and a control portion. The fixing device has a fixing member having a heated rotary member and a pressing member forming a fixing nip by making contact with the heated rotary member. The temperature sensing device senses the surface temperature of at least one of the heated rotary member and the pressing member in a plurality of regions in the axial direction. The control portion estimates the thickness distribution of the surface layer of at least one of the heated rotary member and the pressing member in the axial direction based on the time taken for the surface temperature in the plurality of regions to reach the predetermined temperature, and thereby estimates the lifetime of at least one of the heated rotary member or the pressing member based on the estimated thickness distribution.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus has a photosensitive member, a charging member, an exposing device, a developing device, a transfer member, a polishing member, a driving device, a voltage applying device, a torque detector, and a control portion. The photosensitive member has a photosensitive layer and a surface protection layer formed on the surface of the photosensitive layer. The polishing member has an elastic layer on its circumferential surface, and rotates with a linear velocity difference from that of the photosensitive member. The torque detector detects the torque of the driving device. The control portion estimates an attachment condition of discharge products to the surface of the photosensitive member based on the torque of the driving device detected by the torque detector. When the torque is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the control portion performs an image degradation suppression process.

Image forming apparatus provided with a photosensitive member having a photosensitive layer and a surface protection layer which is formed on the surface of the photosensitive layer and which has a hardness higher than that of the photosensitive layer

An image forming apparatus includes image forming units, static eliminating sections, a mode switching section, and an exposure switching section. The static eliminating sections outputs first and second light. The mode switching section switches a state a between a first mode in which all of the image forming units are operated and a second mode in which only a first image forming unit is operated. In a second image forming unit located upstream next to the first image forming unit, the exposure switching section causes the image bearing member of the second image forming unit not to be irradiated with the first light and causes the image bearing member of the first image forming unit to be irradiated with the second light in the second mode.

An image forming apparatus has an image carrying body, a first electrically conductive member, a bias application device, and a controller. The first electrically conductive member makes contact with the photosensitive layer of the image carrying body The bias application device applies a bias containing an AC bias to the first electrically conductive member. The controller controls the bias application device. The image forming apparatus can execute, while no image formation is being performed, a temperature raising mode in which, with the first electrically conductive member in contact with the image carrying body outside the image formation region, an AC bias having a peak-to-peak value twice as high as the discharge start voltage between the first electrically conductive member and the image carrying body is applied to the first electrically conductive member to raise the temperature of the surface of the image carrying body.

Image forming apparatus including moisture removal mechansism for removing mositure on surface of photosensitive drum

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a conductive member, a bias application device, and a control portion. The image bearing member has a photosensitive layer formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof. The conductive member is disposed so as to make contact with an inner peripheral surface of the image bearing member and has a dielectric property. The bias application device applies a bias including an alternating current bias to the conductive member. The control portion controls the bias application device. The image forming apparatus is capable of executing a heating-up mode in which an alternating current bias having a peak-to-peak value twice or more as large as a discharge start voltage between the conductive member and the image bearing member is applied to the conductive member to cause the surface of the image bearing member to be heated up.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a first conductive member, a bias application device, and a control portion, and performs image formation on a surface of the image bearing member while making the image bearing member rotate. The image forming apparatus is capable of executing a heating-up mode in which, at the time of non-image formation, in a state where the image bearing member is made to rotate at a velocity lower than that used at the time of image formation, an alternating current bias having a frequency higher than that used at the time of image formation and a peak-to-peak value twice or more as large as a discharge start voltage between the first conductive member and the image bearing member is applied to the first conductive member to cause a surface of the image bearing member to be heated up.

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus and an image forming method capable of effectively suppressing the occurrence of image deletion etc. and thus stably obtaining a high-quality image and stably reducing the influence of titanium oxide particles on image quality. The image forming apparatus includes an amorphous silicon photoconductor drum having a heater provided therein; a charging device; and a rotating member that cleans the surfaces of the amorphous silicon photoconductor drum using titanium oxide particles included in toner particles. In the image forming apparatus and the image forming method using the same, the heater controls a difference between the surface temperature of the amorphous silicon photoconductor drum and the outdoor temperature within a predetermined range, and slide friction between the amorphous silicon photoconductor drum and the rotating member and the average primary particle diameter of the titanium oxide particles are set in predetermined ranges.

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Osaka, Japan

Nobuyuki Hayashi