Konica Minolta, Inc.

Shingo Aoki

Takenori Suenaga

A solid lubricant application device includes: a rotating body; a solid lubricant applied to the rotating body; a resilient urging member that causes the solid lubricant to abut toward a circumferential surface of the rotating body; and a guide mechanism that guides movement of the solid lubricant. When a straight line parallel to a direction in which the solid lubricant abuts against the rotating body is referred to as a first straight line, and a straight line parallel to a direction in which the resilient urging member and the solid lubricant are connected is referred to as a second straight line, the guide mechanism guides the movement of the solid lubricant such that an intersecting angle, which is a smaller one of angles formed by the first straight line and the second straight line, decreases as the solid lubricant is applied to the rotating body and accordingly changed in shape.

Solid lubricant application device and image formation apparatus

An image forming apparatus reflecting one aspect of the present invention includes a deviation detecting portion, a registration roller, and a leading end detecting portion. The deviation detecting portion detects a deviation amount of the sheet being fed from a reference position in a sheet width direction orthogonal to a feeding direction. The registration roller modifies deviation by swinging the sheet being fed in the sheet width direction in accordance with the deviation amount detected by the deviation detecting portion. The leading end detecting portion is disposed on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction of the registration roller and detects a leading end of the sheet being fed. The leading end detecting portion detects the leading end of the sheet after deviation is modified by the registration roller.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes: a transfer part configured to transfer an unfixed toner image transferred from a photosensitive member onto a recording medium; a pair of pre-transfer rollers configured to convey a recording medium toward the transfer part; a fixing part configured to make the recording medium onto which the toner image is transferred pass between a pair of fixing rollers to fix the toner image onto the recording medium; a first detection sensor configured to detect a position of the recording medium between the transfer part and the pair of pre-transfer rollers; a second detection sensor configured to detect a position of the recording medium downstream of the pair of pre-transfer rollers; and a controller configured to calculate a deviation amount of the recording medium, rock the pair of pre-transfer rollers and adjust a position to which an image is written to form a toner image.

Image forming apparatus, image forming system, and image forming method

An image forming apparatus includes: a developer collecting duct that is linear and has a plurality of coupling portions vertically spaced apart from each other; and a plurality of developer discharging sections that each have an engaging portion inserted into one of the coupling portions to thereby be disposed as being exposed to the inside of the developer collecting duct, and that discharge waste developer to the developer collecting duct through a developer outlet provided in the engaging portion. Second and subsequent ones of the developer discharging sections from the top are detachably attached to the developer collecting duct. The developer collecting duct has a flow path restricting portion that restricts the area through which the waste developer flows down to prevent the waste developer from hitting the engaging portion of lower one of the developer discharging sections.

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Toyokawa, Japan

Shingo Aoki