Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Shuji Saito

Yasutaka Yagi

Koujirou Izumidate

Noriaki Sato

Kazuhiro Funatani

Ken Yokoyama

Hiroyuki Seki

Hiroshi Kataoka

Hiroyuki Sakakibara

Masatsugu Toyonori

Naoto Tsuchihashi

Noriaki Egawa

Tetsuichiro Fujimoto

Masanori Asai

Keisuke Mochizuki

Eiji Uekawa

Kouichi Uchida

Hiroshi Kita

Takashi Endo

Akihiko Uchiyama

Kazushi Ino

Akimichi Suzuki

Hiroaki Sakai

Yusuke Nakashima

Hirohiko Aiba

Yasuhiro Matsuo

Atsuhiko Yamaguchi

Hiroyuki Kadowaki

Hiroomi Kojima

Yoshisuke Kasuya

Seiji Nakahara

Kosuke Saito

Kaito Sunamura

An image forming apparatus includes an endless image bearing member, a toner image forming portion, a light source, a detecting portion, a removing member, and a controller. The controller carries out control so that first measurement for detecting reflected light by the detecting portion by irradiating toner, supplied to a first region detectable by the detecting portion, with the light from the light source and second measurement for detecting the reflected light by the detecting portion by irradiating a surface of the image bearing member with light from the light source are made executable. In a case that the second measurement is executed, the controller carries out control so that the toner is supplied to the nip in a second region different from the first region.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an intermediary transfer member having ion conductivity and a rotatable endless belt shape, a primary transfer member, a secondary transfer member, a cleaning member, an environment sensor and a controller. Based on a result of the environment sensor, the controller controls so as to change a current balance based on an integrated value of a first current value and an integrated value of a second current value. The first current value is a current flowing from inside of the intermediary transfer member to outside thereof and the second current value is a current flowing from outside of the intermediary transfer member to inside thereof.

Image forming apparatus controlling current balance based on environmental conditions

A transfer belt, to be used in a state of being in contact with a cleaning member and an image carrier, and to which a developer image is to be transferred from the image carrier, includes a surface layer and a base layer. The surface layer is in contact with the image carrier and the cleaning member. The base layer disposed at a position more apart from the image carrier and the cleaning member than the surface layer. The surface layer is provided with grooves formed by transferring a predetermined mold shape and extending in a first direction along a moving direction of the transfer belt in an operating state. The arithmetic average roughness of the surface layer in a predetermined region is less than or equal to 0.2 &#x3bc;m.

Transfer belt and image forming apparatus

An intermediate transfer belt that can bear a toner image includes a first layer and a second layer. The first layer includes a first surface located on an outer peripheral surface side of the first layer. The second layer is provided on a side of the first surface, transmits light, and includes a second surface. The first surface includes first grooves that (i) extend in a first direction in a circumferential direction of the intermediate transfer belt and (ii) are arranged in a width direction of the intermediate transfer belt that is orthogonal to the circumferential direction. The second surface is located on an outer peripheral surface side of the second layer, contacts a toner image, and includes second grooves that extend in a second direction in the circumferential direction. The first grooves includes 80 or more grooves per 1-mm length in the width direction in the first surface.

Intermediate transfer belt and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transfer member. The intermediate transfer member includes a layer made of an acrylic copolymer. A plurality of grooves is formed in the layer along a moving direction of the intermediate transfer member across a width direction of the intermediate transfer member. A groove distance that is an average distance between adjoining grooves of the plurality of grooves in the width direction of the intermediate transfer member is 2 &#x3bc;m or more and 10 &#x3bc;m or less.

Image forming apparatus that improves contact member durability and suppresses occurrence of cleaning failure

An image forming apparatus includes an exposing unit, an intermediary transfer belt, a cleaning blade to clean a remaining toner on the intermediary transfer belt, and a controller to control so as to form a toner image on the intermediary transfer belt to supply toner as a lubricant of the cleaning blade. The controller controls a first line count when a first toner image is formed to supply the toner to the cleaning blade to become fewer than a second line count when a second toner image is formed to transfer to a recording material.

An image forming apparatus including: a movable intermediate transfer member onto which a toner image borne by an image bearing member is to be transferred; a detection unit configured to irradiate the toner image on the intermediate transfer member with light to detect reflected light; and a control unit configured to adjust a condition for forming the toner image based on a detection result of the detection unit, wherein a plurality of grooves extending along a movement direction of the intermediate transfer member are formed in a surface of the intermediate transfer member in a width direction intersecting the movement direction, and wherein grooves, formed within a range of the intermediate transfer member to which the light is irradiated by the detection unit, among the plurality of grooves are formed so that intervals each between adjacent grooves with respect to the width direction are regularly changed within a predetermined range.

Image forming apparatus and intermediate transfer member

Provided is an electrophotographic belt sustainably excellent in toner removal performance. The electrophotographic belt has an endless shape and has grooves on an outer surface thereof, each of the grooves extending in a circumferential direction and being in non-parallel with the circumferential direction, and the outer surface is composed only of a first region in which the number of the grooves in a direction orthogonal to the circumferential direction is 'n' and a second region in which the number of the grooves in the direction orthogonal to the circumferential direction is larger than the 'n', the first region and the second region being arranged alternately in the circumferential direction, and the &#x201c;n&#x201d; being an integer of 1 or more.

Electrophotographic belt and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

An intermediate transfer belt includes, on a surface in contact with a photosensitive drum and a cleaning blade, a plurality of grooves formed along a moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt in a width direction which intersects the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt. Further, the intermediate transfer belt includes a plurality of first regions in which adjacent grooves in the width direction are arranged at a predetermined interval, and a second region which is positioned between the plurality of first regions and in which an interval between adjacent grooves in the width direction is different from the predetermined interval. The second region is arranged outside, in the width direction of the intermediate transfer belt, a range in which a patch toner is to be formed in concentration correction.

An image forming apparatus includes a controller for forming an adjustment toner image in a region corresponding to between a first region corresponding to a preceding sheet and a second region corresponding to a subsequent sheet, wherein the controller selectively executes a first mode for setting as a first length a gap between the adjustment image and a trailing edge of the first region and for setting as a second length a gap between the adjustment toner image and a leading end of the second region, or a second mode for setting as a third length a gap between the adjustment toner image and the trailing edge of the first region and for setting as a fourth length a gap between the adjustment image and the leading end of the second region. The third is shorter than the first, and the fourth length is longer than the first length.

Image forming apparatus utilizing adjustment toner image

An image forming apparatus includes: a fixing portion for heat-fixing the image on a recording material; a duct including a suction port for sucking air from outside of the image forming apparatus and an exhaust port for delivering the air to the outside of the image forming apparatus; and a fan for forming a flow of the air from the suction port toward the exhaust port in the duct. The duct includes a merging portion, between the suction port and the exhaust port, for merging the air from the neighborhood of the fixing portion with the flow of the air by taking the air from the neighborhood of the fixing portion inside the duct. The recording material on which the image is fixed at the fixing portion is cooled by the air delivering through the exhaust port.

An image forming apparatus including a cleaning member having a belt cleaning blade and a conductive brush. A value of a charging current that is generated when charging residual toner with the conductive brush is smaller when a color mode is executed compared to that when a monochrome mode is executed.

In an adjustment step, an adjustment purpose toner image is formed on an intermediate transfer belt, and the adjustment purpose toner image is removed from the intermediate transfer belt by a cleaning member contacting the intermediate transfer belt and through an electrostatic cleaning step. This adjustment step is executed in a state where a toner attachment amount on a charging member is switched from a first limit value, which is allowed in the image forming step to a second limit value, which is allowed immediately before executing the adjustment step. This switching is performed by the execution of a toner discharging step, where a power supply changes the state of applying voltage to the charging member from that in the electrostatic cleaning step, so that toner attached to the charging member is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt.

Image forming apparatus with cleaning using cleaning member and charging member

A fixing device includes: a cylindrical film; a nip forming member; and a back-up member for forming a nip. The nip forming member includes a projected portion. The projection amount of the projected portion is smaller in an end portion region positioned at an end portion of the projected portion with respect to a generatrix direction of the film than in a central region positioned at a central portion of the projected portion with respect to the generatrix direction, at least a part of the end portion region being inside a feeding region of a maximum-sized recording material usable in the fixing device. With respect to the recording material feeding direction, the width of the part of the projected portion inside the nip is broader in the end portion region than in the central region.

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Suntou-gun, Japan

Shuji Saito