Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation

Satoru Uchida

Mitsuru Takahashi

Katsuya Kawagoe

Shinji Kobayashi

Akira Miura

Kazuki Yogosawa

Hiromi Ogiyama

Shin Kayahara

Kazuchika Saeki

Hiroshi Ono

Yuuji Sawai

Hiroyoshi Haga

Takeshi Fukao

Takayuki Kimura

Tomoya Ohmura

Nobuto Yokokawa

Takuya Sekine

Sadaharu Oka

Hiroki Matsuura

Toshiaki Motohashi

Masakazu Imai

Yasuhiro Sagawa

Hideki Kamiyama

Ryuuichi Minbu

Yuuki Nobuoka

Shohji Hayashi

Hideo Yuu

Kiyoshi Horikawa

Tsuyoshi Takihara

Hiromi Kamata

Shin-Ichi Namekata

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearer, a transfer member, a cleaning member, a light irradiator, and a light transmissive member. The transfer member forms a transfer position at which a visible image on a surface of the image bearer is transferred to a recording medium conveyed through a conveyance path. The cleaning member forms a cleaning position at which a substance adhering to the surface of the image bearer after transfer is cleaned. The light irradiator is disposed at a back face side of the recording medium opposite a side at which the surface of the image bearer is disposed relative to the conveyance path. The light irradiator is configured to emit light onto the surface of the image bearer. The light is targeted between the transfer position and the cleaning position. The light transmissive member is disposed between the light irradiator and the image bearer.

Image forming apparatus including charge removing needle and light irradiator

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming mechanism, an image bearing member, a transfer member, a transfer member mount, and an image detector. The image forming mechanism forms a first image and a second image on a surface of the image bearing member. The transfer member is disposed facing the image bearing member and contactable thereagainst to form a transfer nip at which the first image is transferred from the image bearing member to a recording medium. The transfer member mount on which the transfer member is disposed accommodates multiple different sizes of transfer member. The image detector detects the second image on the surface of the image bearing member. The image forming apparatus includes a plurality of interchangeable transfer members, only one of which at any given time faces the image bearing member, and a transfer member switching device to switch between the plurality of transfer members.

Image forming apparatus having a transfer member mount accommodating multiple different sizes of transfer members

A cleaning device is used in an image forming apparatus to remove residual attachments including toner and paper powders from a surface of a movable intermediate transfer element onto which toner images are transferred from an image carrier. The cleaning device includes a cleaning brush that contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer element to apply a bias having a predetermined polarity to the toner adhered onto the surface of the intermediate transfer element so as to make uniform a polarity of the toner. The cleaning device further includes a pressing member that contacts the surface of the intermediate transfer element with a predetermined pressure. The pressing member is disposed at a position upstream of the cleaning brush in a direction of movement of the intermediate transfer element.

Cleaning device and image forming apparatus including the cleaning device that controls occurrences of background fouling and abnormal image

An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an intermediate image transfer belt passed over a plurality of support members and movable while carrying a toner image of preselected polarity transferred thereto. An electrode member contacts the inside surface of the belt and is applied with a preselected voltage for transferring the toner image from the belt to a recording medium. A contact member with high electric resistance contacts the belt at a position adjacent the electrode member and includes an insulating layer thereon.

Image forming apparatus including an intermediate image transfer belt and high resistance contact member

A simple, low cost image forming apparatus for transferring a toner image from a photoconductive element, intermediate image transfer body or similar image carrier to a recording medium and an image transferring device therefor are disclosed. When a discharger for separating a paper or similar recording-medium from the image carrier is located on a path along which the surface of the image carrier moved away from an image transfer nip (in early moves for, e.g., layout reasons, the defective separation of the trailing edge of the paper is obviated which would scatter a toner image. The trailing edge of the paper is substantially prevented from jumping up and contacting a structural element included in the apparatus.

Image forming apparatus and image transferring device therefor

An image forming apparatus includes a transfer device to transfer an image on an image carrier to a transfer sheet. The transfer device includes a transfer roller and transfers an image on the image carrier to a transfer sheet conveyed into a transfer area between the transfer roller and the image carrier by applying a bias voltage to the transfer roller. The transfer device includes a device to apply a release agent for an alien substance to a surface of the transfer roller. Toner and an alien substance, such as paper dust, thereby hardly adheres to the release agent applied on the surface of the transfer roller. Even if toner and/or an alien substance are put on the release agent applied on the surface of the transfer roller, such toner and/or an alien substance are easily removed by a cleaning device. Thus, lowering of an image quality due to insufficient cleaning of the transfer roller is avoided.

Image forming apparatus having a device to apply a release agent to a

An image forming apparatus which utilizes an intermediate transfer member. Plural toner images, for example of different colors, can be superimposed on the intermediate transfer member, and then can be transferred to a paper sheet. A discharging device is provided for discharging a charge applied to the intermediate transfer member. Further, a value of a voltage provided by this discharging device and/or a voltage provided for a transfer bias is proportional to an actual surface potential on the intermediate transfer member, which is proportional to the number of times toner images have been formed on the intermediate transfer member prior to transfer to the paper sheet. For example, if a full color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer member, which may result from four operations of transferring individual toner images onto the intermediate transfer member, a voltage provided by the discharger and/or by a transfer bias device will be higher than that if only a monocolor image has been formed on the intermediate transfer member. Further, the image forming apparatus can be operable to form images on thicker paper, and in this instance a drive speed of devices in the image forming apparatus can be reduced, and a voltage applied to a pre-charger can also accordingly be reduced. The image forming apparatus can also include a cleaning device from the intermediate transfer belt, and the functions of both the intermediate transfer member discharging device and a cleaning device can be combined in one brush roller.

Image forming apparatus which removes a surface potential of an

A sampling head having an input to which a sampling signal is applied, a diode bridge to which the sampling signal is applied, and a strobe pulse generator for controlling the gage time of the diode bridge; wherein the strobe pulse generator comprises a resonance tunnel barrier diode, whereby high speed measurement and miniaturization are attained.

Sampling head

An image reading system for optically reading an original includes a convergent type light-emitting diode array as a light source, a white level reference and an image sensor disposed opposite to the white level reference. The light emitted from the LED array has a light intensity distribution which reduces in level in a transverse direction from an irradiation axis. The LED array is preferably so disposed with its irradiation axis passing a mid-point between the white level reference and an intersection point between an original surface travelling line and a straight line extending between the white level reference and the image sensor.

Image reading system using an LED array

A color original reading apparatus includes a focusing lens which receives a light beam containing image information and reflecting from an original document to be read and outputs a convergent light beam toward a first line image sensor. A first color separating lens is disposed in front of the first image sensor so that only a first predetermined color component of the light beam is allowed to impinge on the first image sensor. A reflecting mirror having a reflecting surface at its forward side surface and a knife edge at its forward end surface is disposed to reflect part of the convergent light beam toward a second line image sensor. The reflecting mirror is disposed not to cross the optical axis of the convergent light beam. In addition, the angle defined by the knife edge is set to be smaller than the angle defined between the reflecting surface and the optical axis. A second color separating filter is disposed in front of the second image sensor so that only a predetermined second color component of said reflected part of said convergent light beam is allowed to reach the second image sensor.

Color original reading apparatus having a knife edged reflecting beam

A color image reader for decomposing two-color images into independent color components includes a color-separating mirror which is provided with a multi-layer interference filter on one of opposite major surfaces thereof. The other surface of the mirror serves as a reflection surface. Image light incident to the mirror is separated into two different color components which are then redirected to propagate in the same direction. The two color components respectively are focused to different line image sensors.

Color image reader

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Tokyo, Japan

Satoru Uchida