Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Tokyo Rope Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Sumiden Transmission and Distribution System Products, Ltd.

Takashi Hiramatsu

Akihisa Matsukawa

Hiroyoshi Iwayama

Jun Miura

Kazunari Hagiwara

Motonari Ito

Takahiro Kawamoto

Yasunari Watanabe

Takumi Furukawa

Satoshi Sunahara

Takayuki Namiki

Koji An

Hideo Kihara

Kuniaki Tamagaki

Yusuke Usui

Shoko Funaki

Yuki Yamamoto

Kazuhiro Yamauchi

Yu Fukasawa

Masanori Tanaka

Masatake Tanaka

Yuichi Kikuchi

Shuhei Tokiwa

Takashi Mukai

Daisuke Baba

Shohei Kototani

Atsushi Uematsu

Mitsuhide Nakamura

Masashi Domoto

Yosuke Sugitani

In an image forming apparatus a period between a first image forming operation and a second image forming operation is a non-image forming period, and a developing unit is moved from a second position to a first position in a moving operation after the developing unit is moved from the first position to the second position in the non-image forming period in a case in which the consumption amount of the toner is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value in the second image forming operation. A length of the non-image forming period in a case in which the moving operation is executed in the non-image forming period becomes longer than in a case in which the moving operation is not executed.

Image forming apparatus having blurring supression

A cartridge provides comprising: a toner, a developing roller, a supply member and a regular member. The supply member abuts the surface of the developing roller and the regulating member serves to regulate the toner carried on the surface of the developing roller. The cartridge includes a first supply electrode to which a voltage is supplied from outside of the cartridge, with the supply member and the regulating member electrically connected to the same first supply electrode. Additionally, the toner contains a compound A having a structure represented by Formula (1) below,—(CHCHO)—  (1)

Cartridge and image forming apparatus

A developing device includes a frame, a cylindrical developer carrying member rotatably supported by the frame and configured to carry a developer containing toner particles, and a regulating member fixed to the frame at one end thereof and including a contact portion which contacts the developer carrying member at the other end of the regulating member and which forms a contact nip between the regulating member and the developer carrying member. When a position of the contact portion where a maximum of a pressure distribution of the contact portion to the developer carrying member with respect to a rotational direction of the developer carrying member is indicated is a reference position, the contact portion includes a first surface portion positioned upstream of the reference position and a second surface portion positioned downstream of the reference position with respect to the rotational direction.

Developing device, regulating member, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

The electro-conductive member has an electro-conductive support, and an electro-conductive layer, in which the electro-conductive layer has a matrix including a first rubber cross-linked product and domains dispersed in the matrix, each of the domains includes a second rubber cross-linked product and electro-conductive particles, an outer surface of the electro-conductive member has concave portions, a surface of at least a part of the domains is exposed to the outer surface of the electro-conductive member at bottom portions of the concave portions, a volume resistivity of the matrix is greater than 1&#xd7;10&#x3a9;cm, a volume resistivity of the electro-conductive layer is 1&#xd7;10&#x3a9;cm to 1&#xd7;10&#x3a9;cm, and A2 is 20 times or more of A1.

Electro-conductive member, manufacturing method thereof, process cartridge, and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

A developing device includes a regulating member fixed to a frame at one end thereof and including a contact portion which contacts a developer carrying member. The contact portion includes a first region positioned upstream of a reference position and a second region positioned downstream of the reference position in a rotational direction of the developer carrying member. A length of the second region is longer than a length of the first region in a position corresponding to a contact nip with respect to a direction from a fixed end of the regulating member toward the other end as a free end of the regulating member, and the contact portion has a surface roughness smaller in the first region than in the second region, with the surface roughness in the second region being 20% or less of an average particle size of toner particles contained in a developer.

A process cartridge is provided, which is configured to recover, with a developing member, developer remaining on an image bearing member after transfer of a developer image to a transfer receiving member, wherein a charging member has a shaft that is conductive and an elastic layer supported on the shaft and being in contact with the image bearing member; the elastic layer has a matrix containing a first rubber, and a plurality of domains containing a second rubber and an electron-conductive agent and interspersed within the matrix. The electric resistance of the domains is lower than the electric resistance of the matrix. The matrix is exposed on an outer surface of the elastic layer and forms multiple depressed portions, and the domains include a domains exposed at a bottom section of the depressed portion.

Process cartridge and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable photosensitive member. A charging member charges a surface of the photosensitive member. A developing roller carries developer. The developing roller supplies the developer in normal polarity to the surface of the photosensitive member. A regulating member regulates the developer on the developing roller. A common voltage applying unit applies charging voltage and regulating voltage. The regulating voltage is applied with the developing roller rotating such that a potential difference in a direction in which electrostatic force from the regulating member to the developing roller acts on the developer charged in the normal polarity, is formed between the regulating member and the developing roller, and in which the charging voltage to be applied in a non-image-forming period is controlled so as to be smaller in absolute value than in an image-forming period.

Image forming apparatus having a voltage applying unit that applies voltage to a regulating member

When a new development device is mounted, a control unit of an image forming apparatus identifies a development device type. When an identification result corresponds to a first development device containing a first amount of developer, an agitation member operates in a first mode. When the identification result corresponds to a second development device containing a second amount of developer higher than the first amount, the agitation member operates in a second mode. A second operation amount of the agitation member in the second mode is higher than a first operation amount of the agitation member in the first mode. A developer containing chamber of the development device is provided with a discharge opening from which the developer is discharged. The operations in the first and second modes are performed after a sealing member sealing the discharge opening is removed and also before a normal image forming process is executed.

Image forming apparatus

An assembly component of a compression type anchor clamp includes: a housing tube that houses an end portion of a core portion of a power-transmission line; a core portion compression member, made of steel, that includes a housing hole to house the end portion of the core portion and the housing tube and is to be compressed with the core portion and the housing tube; and a conductive portion compression member, made of pure aluminum or an aluminum alloy, that houses an end portion of a conductive portion of the power-transmission line and the core portion compression member and is to be compressed with the conductive portion and the core portion compression member, wherein the housing tube is constituted by pure aluminum or an aluminum alloy whose Vickers hardness 'Hv' is less than or equal to 30, and continuously provided in its cylindrical direction without a gap.

Assembly component of compression type anchor clamp, anchor structure of power-transmission line and method of constructing compression type anchor clamp

A process cartridge includes a developer carrier including a dielectric portion and a conductive portion on a surface thereof, a regulation member, and an image carrier disposed so as to come into contact with the developer carrier. The developer carrier and the image carrier are rotationally driven such that a surface of the developer carrier and a surface of the image carrier move at linear velocities different from each other at a contact portion, and the developer remaining on the image carrier after the developer image is transferred from the image carrier, is collected by the developer carrier at the contact portion.

An image forming apparatus includes a control portion configured to perform a cleaning operation including: a first step of causing a developer, which has a reversed polarity and is attracted to a surface of a charging roller, to have a normal polarity under a state in which the developer bearing member is separated from the image bearing member with the contact/separation unit; and a second step of collecting the developer, which has the normal polarity and is attracted to the surface of the image bearing member, to the developer bearing member, by rotating the image bearing member and the developer bearing member under a state in which the developer bearing member is brought into contact with the image bearing member with the contact/separation unit after performing the first step.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a charging member, a charging voltage source, an electrostatic image forming portion, a developing device, a developing voltage source, a transfer portion, a transfer voltage source, and a controller. During image formation, the toner remaining on the image bearing member after transfer is collected into the developing device while forming an image. In a cleaning operation performed during non-image formation, while rotating the image bearing member, the controller transfers the toner from the charging member onto the image bearing member, passes the toner through the developing portion in an urged state, reverses a charge polarity of the toner to a normal polarity at a charging portion, and then transfers the toner reversed in charge polarity from the image bearing member onto the developing member at the developing portion to collect the toner in the developing device.

Fluctuations in chargeability in an initial state are expected to be small. If a charging member is new, an image forming apparatus performs a supply operation for supplying a developer or a lubricant prior to an image forming operation in such a manner that the developer or the lubricant adheres to a surface of the charging member.

Image forming apparatus having an image bearing member charged with predetermined polarity and potential

A charging member includes a force receiving portion that receives a force in a direction in which the charging member is moved in a longitudinal direction of the charging member while rotating. The charging member is in contact with a brush member at a place different from the place of the force receiving portion. A component of the force received by the charging member at the force receiving portion in the longitudinal direction and a component of a force received by the charging member resulting from tilting of bristles in the brush member are in the same direction.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Takashi Hiramatsu