Minolta Company, Ltd.

Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Seishi Ojima

Izumi Osawa

Shuji Iino

Isao Doi

Kenji Masaki

Hidetoshi Miyamoto

Toshimitsu Fujiwara

Hideaki Ueda

Masaharu Kanazawa

Yasumitsu Fujino

Mitsutoshi Nakamura

Noboru Ueda

Akihito Ikegawa

Masashi Yamamoto

Keiko Nagayasu

Toshiyuki Kobayashi

Futoshi Ishida

Yoshihiro Uchimoto

Fumie Motoori

Takeshi Kakutani

Yasunari Kitagaki

An electrostatic charge image developing toner comprises core particles formed by flocculating and fusion-bonding at least polyester resin particles containing wax and colorant particles, and a coating layer containing a resin formed over the core particles.

Electrostatic charge image developing toner and production process for the same

An electrostatic latent image developing toner contains toner particles each of which has a shell layer on the surface of a core particle comprising at least a first binder resin having a softening point of less than 100&#xb0; C., a second binder resin having a softening point of not less than 100&#xb0; C. and a colorant, being applicable to a low-temperature fixing process, and making it possible to achieve conflict functions, such as a heat-resistant storing property, mechanical strength and charge environmental stability.

Electrostatic latent image developing toner

A toner including core particles containing at least a resin and a colorant and coated with a resin coating layer is provided. The core particles are formed by flocculating and fusion-bonding at least resin microparticles and colorant microparticles dispersed in fluid dispersion, while two or more coating layers are formed over the core particles. A wax is added to at least one of the coating layer(s) but for the outermost coating layer, and the core particles. A ratio d/r between an average thickness d of the overall coating layers and a volume average particle size r of the core particles is adjusted to 0.01 to 0.6.

Toner and production process for the same

The present invention relates to a non-magnetic one-component toner that is characterized by containing toner particles that have a volume-average particle size of 2 to 8 &#x3bc;m, a ratio of the volume-average particle size/number-average particle size of not more than 1.22, an average degree of roundness of not less than 0.92 and a Vickers hardness of not less than 13.5HV0.01 (10 g), and also concerns a non-magnetic one-component contact developing device using such a toner and an image-forming apparatus using such a developing device.

Non-magnetic one-component toner, non-magnetic one-component contact developing device and image-forming apparatus

An optical recording medium including a substrate, an information recording region arranged on the substrate and capable of bearing information being readable with predetermined light, and a tracking region arranged on the substrate, having optical characteristics different from those of the information recording region and having substantially no difference in level with respect to the surface of the information recording region. A method of making an optical recording medium, including the steps of forming uniformly a recording layer on a substrate, the recording layer being made of a recording material being reversibly reactive to predetermined light, and causing an irreversible reaction in a partial region of the recording layer without causing a substantial difference in level with respect to the other region of the recording layer. An optical memory device including the foregoing optical recording medium, an exposing device having a head for emitting evanescent light to the optical recording medium, a drive device for driving the head, and a control device for controlling the drive device to perform tracking of the head in accordance with the tracking region.

Optical recording medium, method of making the same and optical memory device using the optical memory medium

(1) Electrophotographic liquid developer comprising electrically insulating medium liquid and toner dispersed in the medium liquid, wherein the toner has a melt viscosity (.eta.) in a range from 2.times.10.sup.2 poises to 1.times.10.sup.5 poises at 100.degree. C. in a dry state, and has a glass transition temperature of 20.degree. C. or more. (2) Electrophotographic liquid developer comprising electrically insulating medium liquid and toner dispersed in the medium liquid, wherein the toner contains binder resin exhibiting at least one peak in each of ranges of a molecular weight lower than 5000 and of a molecular weight of 5000 or more when detected by a gel permeation chromatography (GPC). (3) An image forming apparatus comprising an electrostatic latent image carrier for forming an electrostatic latent image; a liquid developing device developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier into a visible toner image with liquid developer; an intermediate transfer member carrying the toner image transferred thereto from the electrostatic latent image carrier for further transferring the transferred toner image to a record member; and a heating device for heating the intermediate transfer member, wherein the liquid developing device develops the electrostatic latent image with the liquid developer of the above (1) or (2).

Electrophotographic liquid developer and image forming apparatus

A liquid developer having a superior sedimentation characteristic and floating characteristic and an image forming apparatus using said liquid developer, wherein said liquid developer comprising toner dispersed in liquid medium and the difference in specific gravity between said toner and said liquid medium is at or lower than a prescribed level.

Liquid developer and image forming apparatus

A liquid developer for electrophotography using a polyester resin as a toner binder resin which is suitable for high-speed systems and has excellent stability over time is disclosed. The invention is a novel liquid developer for electrophotography having colored particles dispersed in an electrically insulated fluid medium. The liquid developer includes an oil-soluble ionic surface active agent as a charge controller. According to one embodiment, the colored particles include a binder resin having an acid value of 40 mgKOH/g or higher but less than or equal to 100 mgKOH/g. According to another embodiment, the colored particles include a binder resin having a glass transition temperature Tg of 35.degree. C. or higher but less than or equal to 65.degree. C.

Liquid developer for electrophotography

A color image forming method and apparatus of the electrophotographic type with a plurality of liquid developing devices. In a plurality of liquid developing devices accommodating liquid developer comprising colored microparticles dispersed in an electrically insulated fluid medium are used to form toner images of different colors, which are electrostatically transferred and overlaid one over another on a transfer medium to produce an overlaid toner image. The color image forming method and apparatus providing excellent overlay transfer characteristics for toner images transferred to a transfer medium.

Color image forming method and apparatus providing for efficient toner

A method for producing a liquid developer comprising steps of:

Toner and liquid developer, liquid developer, and method of producing

An image forming apparatus having an insulated member disposed adjacent to a photosensitive member, a scanner exposing an image on the photosensitive member in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the insulated member while voltage is applied between the photosensitive member and the insulated member so as to provide a charge on the insulated member surface corresponding to the optical exposure image. The exposure position exposed by the scanner is changed in the direction of movement of the image-bearing member for each scan.

Image forming apparatus

In a process for image formation, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photosensitive member having an amorphous carbon layer as an outermost surface layer. The electrostatic latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image. The toner image is transferred to transfer paper of which pH-value according to JIS-P-8133 is in a range from 7.0 to 8.5.

Process for image forming using a photosensitive member having an

A contact charging device which charges the surface of an electrostatic latent image carrying member rotating at a high speed by contacting a charging member to the surface of the image carrying member. The charging member has a conductive substrate, a conductive elastic layer superimposed over the conductive substrate and having a JIS-A hardness of 30.degree. or greater, and a conductive resin layer superimposed over the conductive elastic layer and having a 10% elongation load of not more than 700 gf on a 1 cm wide section.

Contact charger and image forming apparatus provided with same

A contact charging device having a charging member including a rotatable support member and a plurality of flexible films. One end of each the films is attached to the support member, and a free end of each the films is in contact with surface of the charge-receiving member for charging the surface of a charge-receiving member.

The present invention provides a photosensitive member composed of a photosensitive layer and a surface protective layer on an electrically substrate in this order, in which the surface protective layer comprises an amorphous carbon layer which has a specified ratio of absorptivity coefficients of infrared absorption peaks in infrared absorption spectrum.

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Takatsuki, Japan

Seishi Ojima