Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd.

Shinsuke Kobayashi

Kazuhiro Funatani

Kensuke Umeda

Ai Suzuki

Takanori Watanabe

Shuichi Tetsuno

Toshihiko Takayama

Jun Hara

Keisuke Ishizumi

Shinji Katagiri

Takaaki Akamatsu

Kohei Okayasu

Kenji Shindo

Masaru Shimura

Hideaki Hasegawa

Hideo Nanataki

Ken Nakagawa

Yasunari Watanabe

Kiyoto Toyoizumi

Hiroki Sasame

Mikihiko Hamada

Masatake Tanaka

Kenichi Iida

Kenichi Ogawa

Jun Agata

Kentaro Yamawaki

Osamu Sasaoka

Hironori Kato

Akira Kato

Takehiko Suzuki

Hisashi Nakahara

Akira Hayakawa

Kouji Yasukawa

Masahiro Tambo

Hiroshi Kita

Masanori Sakai

Takeo Kawanami

Masamichi Sato

Akihiko Uchiyama

Akimichi Suzuki

Akinori Mitsumata

Tomonori Shida

Yoshihiko Tanaka

Masaru Ohno

Kenji Takagi

Michihito Yamazaki

Tatsuo Nishiyama

Yasuzumi Taba

Shimpei Ishikawa

Hiroko Katagiri

Satoshi Takami

Satoshi Minoura

Takuya Hayato

Masatoshi Toduka

Koji Kogure

Toshio Shibahara

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a charging member, a developing member, a transfer member, a brush, a drive unit, a control unit, and a memory. The charging member charges a surface of the photosensitive drum at a charging portion. The transfer member comes into contact with the photosensitive drum to form a transfer portion. The drive unit rotatably drive the photosensitive drum. The control unit controls the drive unit to perform an image forming operation. The memory stores information about the image forming operation. In a case where the image forming operation is performed and a non-image forming operation is performed after the image forming operation, the control unit performs control such that a switching operation for stopping the photosensitive drum after the photosensitive drum is driven and re-driving the photosensitive drum is performed a plurality of times based on the information about the image forming operation.

Image forming apparatus

A mechanism that enables developer replenishment by a simpler structure and a mechanism that enables more user-friendly developer replenishment are provided. An attachment port to which a developer supply bottle containing a developer stored therein is detachably attachable is disposed in an interior of an image forming apparatus. The developer supply bottle can be attached when the cover is in an open state. According to this image forming apparatus, when the developer supply bottle is attached to the attachment port, the developer inside the developer supply bottle moves into a developer housing chamber by its own weight.

Image forming apparatus with simplified developer replenishment structure and that is user-friendly

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member, a charging member, an exposing device, a developing device, a transfer member, a brush, a voltage applying portion, and a control portion controlling a surface potential of the photosensitive member at the brush contacting position. When a value of subtracting a value of the surface potential of the photosensitive member in the brush contacting position from a value of the brush voltage is defined as a contacting position potential difference, the control portion controls the surface potential of the photosensitive member in the brush contacting position so that the contacting position potential difference is changed from a first potential difference to a second potential difference in a predetermined direction which is either one of an increasing direction or a decreasing direction, and then the contacting position potential difference is changed from the second potential difference to a third potential difference in the predetermined direction.

An image forming apparatus to and from which a replenishment container accommodating toner is attachable and detachable includes a replenishment port to allow replenishment of toner from the replenishment container, an opening/closing portion to open the replenishment port in an open position and close the replenishment port in a closed position, a locking member to move between a restricting position in which the locking member restricts movement of the opening/closing portion from the closed position to the open position, and an allowing position in which the movement of the opening/closing portion from the closed position to the open position is allowed. A developer container accepts more toner for replenishment in a case where a second display is in a second state than in a first state, and a first display more accurately displays information related to the toner accommodated in the developer container than the second display.

Image forming apparatus having a toner replenishment operation

An image forming apparatus to perform an image forming operation for forming an image on a transfer material includes a photosensitive drum, a moving member, a detection unit, and a control unit. The detection unit detect information about a first movement in which the moving member moves from an open position to a shielding position or a second movement in which the moving member moves from the shielding position to the open position. During execution of a non-image forming operation, the control unit executes a multiple switching operation for performing a switching operation a plurality of times. The switching operation is an operation in which the control unit stops the photosensitive drum from being driven and then rotatably re-drives the photosensitive drum. Where the detection unit detects the information about the first movement or the second movement, the control unit performs control to execute the multiple switching operation.

An image forming apparatus controls the number of rotations of a photosensitive drum based on information related to the use of the photosensitive drum and a suspension time in a rotation operation of rotating the photosensitive drum after a lapse of the suspension time between a first image forming operation of forming an image on a transfer material and a second image forming operation performed after the first image forming operation.

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable photosensitive member, a charging member, a developing device, a transfer member, a brush, a driving source and a control portion. The control portion controls the driving source to execute an image forming process, in which image formation on the recording material is executed, and a non-image-forming process, in which the photosensitive member is driven to rotate other than in the image forming process. The non-image-forming process between a first recording material and a second recording material, to which the image formation is executed following the first recording material, is defined as a first non-image-forming process, and the non-image-forming process between the second recording material and a third recording material is defined as a second non-image-forming process. The control portion determines a time of the second non-image-forming process based on history information correlating with a usage amount of the photosensitive member and a time of the first non-image-forming process.

Image forming apparatus controlling image forming and sheet interval operations

An image forming apparatus to perform an image forming operation of forming an image on a transferred material includes a photosensitive drum, an exposure unit, a transfer member to form a transfer portion, a transfer voltage applying unit to apply a transfer voltage, an opening/closing member, a detection unit to detect information regarding a first movement or a second movement, and a control unit to execute the image forming operation and a non-image forming operation. Where the detection unit detects the first and second movements, in the non-image forming operation, the control unit rotates the photosensitive drum at least one rotation in a state where a surface of the photosensitive drum is exposed with light by the exposure unit and the transfer voltage is applied so an electrostatic force that causes toner charged to a positive polarity to be attracted to the transfer member is generated in the transfer portion.

Provided are an image bearing member; a charging member that charges the image bearing member; an exposure unit that exposes the image bearing member; a developing unit that develops an electrostatic latent image as a developer image by supplying a developer, charged to regular polarity, to the image bearing member; a transfer member that transfers the developer image to a transfer-receiving body; and a collecting member that collects a deposit on the image bearing member downstream of a transfer portion of the image bearing member at which the developer image is transferred to the transfer-receiving body by the transfer member, and upstream of a charging portion of the image bearing member charged by the charging member, in a rotation direction of the image bearing member. After transfer of the developer image to the transfer-receiving body, the developer remaining on the image bearing member is collected by the developing unit.

An image forming apparatus includes a charging unit that charges an image bearing member, a developing unit that forms a toner image on an latent image formed on the image bearing member, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image onto a transfer material, a charge neutralizer that neutralizes a charge of the image bearing member downstream of a transfer portion and upstream of a charging portion in a rotating direction of the image bearing member, a conductive collecting unit that collects a material adhering on the image bearing member downstream of the transfer portion and upstream of the charging portion, wherein the developing unit collects residual toner on the image bearing member, an voltage application unit sets a potential difference between the voltage applied to the collecting unit and the surface electric potential of the image bearing member not more than a discharge threshold.

Image forming apparatus with brush that collects material adhered to surface of image bearing member and that includes brush portion including threads having specified thread density

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a charging member, a developing member, a transfer member, first and second gears, a drive source, and a control unit. The charging member contacts the photosensitive drum and forms a charging portion to charge a surface of the photosensitive drum. The control unit performs control in such a manner that an image forming operation of performing image formation by rotating the photosensitive drum at a first rotational speed is executable. Where the control unit executes the image forming operation, the control unit performs a switch operation of stopping the photosensitive drum in a state in which the photosensitive drum is driven, while a non-image forming operation to be executed after the image forming operation is executed, and rotationally driving the photosensitive drum again at a second rotational speed faster than the first rotational speed, a plurality of times.

A cartridge attachable to and detachable from an image forming apparatus forming an image on a recording material, the cartridge includes: an image bearing member; a developer container that contains therein a developer; a developing member that is rotatable and carries the developer supplied from the developer container and supplies the developer to the image bearing member; a developer supplying member that is rotatable and provided in the developer container and in contact with the developing member to supply the developer to a surface of the developing member; and a contact member provided in the developer container and in contact with a surface of the developer supplying member, wherein the developer remaining on the image bearing member after image formation is collected to the developing member, and the developer collected to the developing member is collected into the developer container.

Image forming apparatus including brush for surface of developer supplying member

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member, a charging member, an electrostatic image forming portion, a developing member, a transfer member, a transfer voltage source, a brush member, a brush voltage source, and a controller capable of executing a cleaning operation. The controller carries out control so that the cleaning operation includes a first operation in which a potential difference is formed between the transfer member and the photosensitive member so that toner charged to a normal charge polarity is moved from the transfer member toward the photosensitive member, and a second operation in which a potential difference is formed between the brush member and the photosensitive member so that the toner charged to the normal charge polarity is moved from the photosensitive member toward the brush member.

Image forming apparatus capable of suppressing an improper charge resulting from toner being moved from a transfer member to a photosensitive member

A control unit performs control to make a direction of an electric field generated in a first area of an image carrier forming a transfer portion during image forming operation, relative to a voltage applied to a brush member in a state where the first area passes through a contact portion, different from a direction of an electric field generated in a second area of the image carrier forming the contact portion, relative to the voltage applied to the brush member during a period when operation is shifted from first operation in which the image carrier is rotated at a first speed to second operation in which the image carrier is rotated at a second speed different from the first speed, during non-image forming operation different from the image forming operation.

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Yokohama, Japan

Shinsuke Kobayashi