Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Shinichi Tsukida

Masahiro Goto

Koichi Hiroshima

Takahiro Inoue

Manabu Takano

Koichi Suwa

Junichi Kato

Makoto Takeuchi

Akio Noguchi

Kimitaka Ichinose

Masahiro Shibata

Masaki Ojima

Katsuhiro Sakaizawa

Yoji Serizawa

Seiji Uchiyama

Kazuro Yamada

Yukihide Ushio

Shimpei Matsuo

Hiroshi Sasame

Hiromichi Yamada

Takehiko Suzuki

Toshiaki Miyashiro

Koichi Tanigawa

Hideyuki Yano

Satoru Izawa

Seiichi Shinohara

Katsuhiko Nishimura

Jun Suzuki

Yasuo Yoda

Satoshi Tsuruya

Toru Kosaka

Hiroyuki Adachi

Hiroshi Hashimoto

Masaharu Ohkubo

Shunichi Masuda

Toshio Miyamoto

Takashi Nakahara

Kazushige Sakurai

Kenjiro Hori

Yoichiro Maebashi

Masahiro Watabe

Keiji Okano

Takeo Shoji

Hiroki Kisu

Bunro Noguchi

Satoshi Akiyama

Yozo Hotta

Toshio Yoshimoto

Akira Domon

Nobuo Komiya

Yoshimi Kuramochi

Gaku Konishi

Yuko Ohkama

Hiromichi Tsujii

Hiromiichi Yamada

Moriyuki Yanai

The image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearing member, a charging member that is contactably provided to the image bearing member and that charges the image bearing member with a voltage containing an AC component and a DC component; and a control device that makes selection on whether a mode, in which a rotation time of the image bearing member is prolonged and in which a voltage is applied to the charging member in the prolonged rotation time, is performed or not. As a result, the image forming apparatus is provided which performs charging with high stability.

Image forming apparatus with mode having prolonged rotation time of image bearing member at non-image forming time

An image forming apparatus, including: an image bearing member on a surface of which an electrostatic latent image is formed; a developing device which contains a developer and which has a rotatable developer carrying member, which abuts against the surface of the image bearing member, and a storage device storing information on image formation history, the developing device being adapted to visualize the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image bearing member as the developer carrying member carries the developer to the electrostatic latent image; a moving mechanism which moves the developing device to one of a first position where development is performed and a second position where development is not performed; and a control device which controls, based upon the information on image formation history stored in the storage device, an operation for giving a charge to the developer according to a lapsed time from a finish time of image formation, in a state in which the developing device is moved to the second position by the moving mechanism. In the image forming apparatus, a toner is charged sufficiently in the developing device, and image failure due to insufficiency in a charging amount of toner may be prevented, thereby capable of forming a high quality image.

Image forming apparatus and control method for the image forming apparatus

A color printer has multiple developing-agent-containing cartridges each having storage units, and a cartridge holding unit for rotatably holding the developing-agent-containing cartridges. With one of the multiple developing-agent-containing cartridges positioned at an image formation position, a latent image on an image carrying member is developed by the developing agent contained in the developing-agent-containing cartridge. An access position where the storage units of the developing-agent-containing cartridges are accessed is a position other than the image formation position. This provides an image formation device and a control method thereof whereby storage units provided to developing-agent-containing cartridges can be accessed in a precise manner.

Image formation apparatus, and control method for image formation apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a developing device, which includes a developer carrying member and a storage device, a contact/separation mechanism and control device. The control device operates the developer carrying member according to a state of the developing device.

Image forming apparatus featuring a developer carrying member with a controlled operation time and related control method

Composition for accessing a memory in image formation apparatus and method for accessing a memory in image formation apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable member to be charged; a rotatable charge member for electrically charging the member to be charged, the charge member being contactable to the member to be charged; and a moving element for moving the member to be charged and the charge member in a longitudinal direction of the member to be charged.

Image forming apparatus comprising member to be charged and a charge member

An image forming apparatus which includes an image bearing body and a light beam scanner for exposing the image bearing body, which is charged, based on an image signal and forming an electrostatic latent image on the image bearing body. A rise time or a fall time of a light beam emitted from the light beam scanner is controlled when a pixel density of the electrostatic latent image is switched.

Image forming apparatus with pixel density based light beam control

A cleaning apparatus for use in an image forming apparatus removes toner, including spherical toner particles, from an image bearing member for bearing a toner image for use in an image forming apparatus. The toner to be removed is a one-component toner having a shape coefficient SF of 100 to 120. The apparatus has blade-shaped elastic member rubbing a surface of the image bearing member for removing the toner and is urged against a surface of the image bearing member with a line pressure of 55 to 95 g&middot;f/cm. The elastic blade is formed so that a thickness of a portion, supported by a support member, of the elastic blade is larger than a thickness of a free end of the elastic blade.

Cleaning apparatus and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus has an image bearing member for bearing a different color toner image; a movable intermediate transfer member; voltage applicator for applying a voltage to the intermediary transfer member to effect electrostatic, sequential and superimposing transfer of the different color toner images from the image bearing member onto the intermediary transfer member at a transfer position A first toner image on the intermediary transfer member passes through the transfer position in the period which is after a first toner image is transferred from the image bearing member onto the intermediary transfer member by the voltage applicator and which is before a second toner image which is immediately subsequent to the first toner image is transferred from the image bearing member onto the intermediary transfer member; and a control for switching a voltage applied to the intermediary transfer member from a first voltage for transferring the first toner image from the image bearing member onto the intermediary transfer member to a second voltage having an absolute value larger than that of the first voltage, before a leading edge of the first toner image on the intermediary transfer member reaches the transfer position during the period.

Image forming apparatus with control of voltage application to intermediate transfer member

An image forming apparatus includes a movable image bearing member for bearing different color toner images; a movable intermediary transfer member including an electroconductive layer and a surface layer; first transferring means for applying a voltage to the electroconductive layer to sequentially and superimposedly transfer the different color toner images from the image bearing member onto the intermediary transfer member at a first transfer position; second transferring means for electrostatically transferring the different color toner images from the intermediary transfer member on the transfer material at a second transfer position, wherein the second transferring means is disposed faced to such a side of the intermediary transfer member as receives the toner image; wherein the image forming apparatus is operable with the transfer material having a length measured in a direction of feeding of the transfer material, which is longer than a distance between the first transfer position to the second transfer position in a moving direction of the intermediary transfer member; wherein when a toner image is formed on the transfer material having a length in the transfer material feeding direction longer than the distance, the different color toner images on the intermediary transfer member pass through the first transfer position in a period which is after completion of transfer of the different color toner image from the image bearing member onto the intermediary transfer member by the first transferring means and before transfer of the different color toner images from the intermediary transfer member onto the transfer material by the second transferring means; control means for switching a voltage applied to the electroconductive layer by the first transferring means from a first voltage for transferring a final color toner image from the image bearing member onto the intermediary transfer member to a second voltage having a smaller absolute value than that of the first voltage before a leading edge of the different color toner images on the intermediary transfer member reaches the first transfer position; wherein the second transferring means starts transfer of the toner image from the intermediary transfer member onto the transfer material after the control means switches the voltage to the second voltage.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus prevents the transfer, onto an intermediate transfer member, of the remaining toner after having passed under a cleaning blade by the small vibration phenomenon thereof induced by the shock resulting from the stopping or starting of the rotation of a photosensitive drum. At the start-up of the image forming apparatus or at the end of the printing operation, the intermediate transfer member is separated from the photosensitive drum. Then, after the start of the printing operation, the photosensitive drum is rotated while it is separated from the intermediate transfer member. Then the photosensitive drum is contacted with the intermediate transfer member after an abutting portion on the photosensitive drum, where the cleaning blade is in contact in the stopped state of the image forming apparatus, passes through a position opposed to the intermediate transfer member, and the image forming operation is then initiated. In this manner, the remaining toner that has passed under the cleaning blade is not transferred onto the intermediate transfer member.

Image forming apparatus with an image bearing member and intermediate

An image forming apparatus has an image bearing member, an image forming unit for forming a toner image on the image bearing member and having a first charge member for charging the image bearing member, a rotatable intermediate transfer member onto which the toner image on the image bearing member is transferred at a first transfer position, the toner image on the intermediate transfer member being transferred onto a transfer material at a second transfer position, and a second charge member for charging residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member, the second charge member charging the residual toner on the intermediate transfer member with polarity opposite to charging polarity of the first charge member for charging the image bearing member, after the toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer member to the transfer material. At the first transfer position, an electric field for transferring the residual toner on the intermediate transfer member charged by the second charge member onto the image bearing member is generated, and a charging area of the second charge member in a longitudinal direction thereof is disposed internally of a longitudinal charging area of the first charge member.

Image forming apparatus with first and second charging members

An image forming apparatus has an image bearing member; toner image forming unit for forming a toner image with non-magnetic toner on an image bearing member; intermediate transfer member contactable to the image bearing member and movable along an endless path; primary transfer unit for effecting primary image transfer of the toner image formed on the image bearing member onto the intermediate transfer member at a first transfer position; secondary transfer unit for effecting a secondary image transfer of the toner image from the intermediate transfer member on the transfer material at a second transfer position; and a residual toner charger for charging the residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member to a polarity opposite from a regular polarity thereof. After the secondary image transfer, the residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member is charged by the residual toner charger to the opposite polarity, and is then passed through the first transfer position during the primary image transfer, so that the residual toner is transferred back to the image bearing member substantially simultaneously with a next primary image transfer, thus removing the residual toner from the intermediate transfer member.

Image forming apparatus which back-transfers residual toner from an

An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member for bearing an image thereon, an intermediate transfer member having a base body and an elastic member provided outside the base body and onto which an image is transferrable from the image bearing member, and a second transfer member forming a nip portion between the second transfer member and the intermediate transfer member, for transferring an image from the intermediate transfer member to a transfer material in the nip portion. The hardness of the surface of the second transfer member is greater than the hardness of the surface of the intermediate transfer member.

Image forming apparatus comprising image bearing member, intermediate

In an image forming apparatus a toner image is transferred onto a transfer material using an intermediate transfer member. The image forming apparatus has an image bearing member; a toner image forming unit for forming a toner image on the image bearing member; an intermediate transfer member movable along an endless path in contact with the image bearing member; a bias voltage applicator for applying a bias voltage to transfer the toner image from the image bearing member onto the intermediate transfer member at a first transfer position of the intermediate transfer member; and an image transfer device for transferring the toner image from the intermediate transfer member onto the transfer material at a second transfer position of the intermediate transfer member, a residual toner charge for charging residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer member after image transfer therefrom, to a polarity opposite from a regular polarity of the toner to permit the residual toner to transfer back, simultaneously with a next image transfer at the first transfer position, to the image bearing member when the residual toner passes through the first transfer position.

Image forming apparatus having cleaning device for cleaning intermediate

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Saitama, Japan

Shinichi Tsukida