Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Satoshi Shinguryo

Sadao Takahashi

Yoshiyuki Kimura

Shinichi Kuramoto

Kiyoshi Tanikawa

Yoshiaki Miyashita

Kazuhiro Ando

Youichi Asaba

Tadashi Saitoh

Yoshihiro Sakai

Katsuo Sakai

Hideya Furuta

Itsuo Ikeda

Tsukasa Adachi

Tsuneo Kurotori

Manabu Mochizuki

Seiichi Miyakawa

Tadashi Saito

Yoshihiro Mitekura

Masatoshi Saitoh

Yuichi Kobayashi

Masaaki Kogure

Haruhiko Fukuda

Mitsuhiro Nonaka

Ituso Ikeda

Naoki Matsuyama

In a method and an apparatus for removing an image forming substance such as toner from an image holding member such as a sheet of transfer paper, a CCD sensor detects an unremoved image formed by a stamp, additional writing, etc. and left on the transfer paper sheet after toner separating processing is performed with respect to the transfer paper sheet by a liquid-providing toner-separating unit. A discriminating mark such as a punch, a mark o, etc. is additionally provided to the transfer paper sheet having the detected unremoved image by a discriminating mark providing unit. The transfer paper sheet having the discriminating mark is automatically sorted by a sorting unit and is discharged onto a paper discharging tray. The toner removing apparatus may have an unrecognizing device for blotting the unremoved image such as a seal print, a signature, etc. on the transfer paper sheet. The unrecognizing device may coat the unremoved image with ink having the same color as the unremoved image, or may punch the unremoved image. Thus, it is possible to prevent the transfer paper sheet having the unremoved image from being used or thrown away in error and prevent the unremoved image from being abused in advance.

Method and apparatus for removing image forming substance from image

In a method for repeatedly using an image holding member such as a sheet of paper, toner for an electronic photograph is constructed such that a maximum value of viscoelasticity of the toner shown by tan .delta. is equal to or smaller than 3 in the range of a heating temperature when the toner is heated and fixed to the image holding member. Such toner has sufficient elastic or cohesive force. Accordingly, when the toner is heated and fixed to the paper sheet, no excessive adhesive force is caused to such an extent that paper fibers of the paper sheet eat into the toner attached to the paper sheet. Accordingly, after an aqueous solution including a surfactant is supplied to the paper sheet by a liquid supplying unit, the toner is softened by heat from heating rollers so that the toner is attached to a surface of an offset belt. When the toner attached to the surface of the offset belt is separated from the paper sheet, the toner can be completely removed from the paper sheet without damaging paper fibers on a surface of the paper sheet.

Method for repeatedly using image holding member

This invention provides a method for using paper repeatedly by flaking and removing an image from the paper, even if the image has been touched up on the paper with handwriting, and a preferable printing tool used in the method. The method includes the steps of touching up the image on the paper with the printing tool containing a main component of a colored thermoplastic resin particle and being formed into a stick shape by solidifying the resin particle alone or with binder resin sticking to the resin particle. The image can be formed on the paper with a liquid-applying type of printing tool having a liquid container containing a resin dispersion liquid being formed by dispersing the resin particle in a solvent. Regenerating of the paper by removing the touched-up image from the paper comprises the steps of wetting the paper through a treatment liquid such as water, and while heating the resin particle of the image, adhering the resin particle to a flaking member having a greater adherent force to the resin particle than the adherent force between the resin particle and a surface of the paper so as to flake and remove the resin particle from the surface of the paper.

Method for using image support regeneratively and tool for forming image

An image display device in which image data produced by an image scanner separate from the display may be written and erased. The display consists of a movable endless belt. Four embodiments are shown with the belt being made of an electrochromic material which electrochemically shows oxidation-reduction reactions; an optically reversible photochromic material; a thermoplastic sheet produced by applying a photoconductor and a thermoplastic resin to a transparent conductive film; and a color photochromic sheet made up of a photochromic film whose absorption changes when illuminated by light of predetermined wavelengths and a repetitive sequence of color filters of red, green and blue each being formed in a stripe configuration, respectively. Visible images are displayed on the display member based on the image data.

Wide screen display device using an endless belt

A color electrophotographic copying process utilizing the Carlson process. A colored original to be copied is color-separated and read by a solid-state image pickup device. Color compensation or gradation compensation is carried out on the basis of the data read by the solid-state image pickup device. When the color compensation is effected, amounts of masking are determined on the basis of the data read by the solid-state image pickup device, and the color-separated latent images are partially erased in an area-modulating manner dependent on the determined amounts of masking with an eraser having a light-emitting dot array. When the gradation compensation is effected, the latent images are partially erased with the eraser in an area-modulating manner dependent on the determined amounts of masking, or an appropriate gradation reproduction curve is selected on the basis of the data read by the solid-state image pickup device.

Color electrophotographic copying process

A developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an imaging surface includes a developing electrode disposed opposite to the imaging surface and a control circuit for controlling the potential of the developing electrode. In one form, when the control circuit causes the developing electrode to be electrically floating, the upper limit of the voltage excursion is set at different levels as desired. In another form, the control circuit includes a sensor for sensing the potential of the imaging surface thereby allowing to carry out so-called fixed bias or auto-bias developing modes. In a further form, the mode of developing operation is automatically set depending upon the position of a pressure plate which is to be placed on an original for keeping the original in position during copying process.

Developing device

Multicolored image forming apparatus wherein image processing is accomplished by exposing a photosensitive drum through an exposure optical device to the reflected light beam from the document illuminated with a lamp, reading the document image by an image sensor, energizing, by means of the processed signal of the output of the sensor, each LED in an eraser consisting of an LED array offset from the exposure slit center along the photosensitive drum in the width direction thereof, and erasing it. The light source simultaneously illuminates the document illumination position for slit exposure and a position offset from its center by a distance equal to the displacement between said erase position and the exposure position. The image sensor receives the light beam reflected from the document.

Multicolored image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Kawasaki, Japan

Satoshi Shinguryo