Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Takeo Shoji

Kazushi Watanabe

Toshiyuki Karakama

Kazunori Kobayashi

Takashi Hibi

Hiroyuki Adachi

Tadayuki Tsuda

Isao Ikemoto

Shinya Noda

Yoshikazu Sasago

Kazumi Sekine

Hiroyuki Shirai

Atsushi Toda

Hideaki Hasegawa

Hideki Matsumoto

Satoshi Sunahara

Norihisa Hoshika

Toru Oguma

Yasuyuki Ishii

Hiroshi Sasame

Masahiro Watabe

Atsushi Numagami

Makoto Tanaka

Yasushi Shimizu

Shinichi Sasaki

Ryuta Murakami

Masahide Kinoshita

Yoshiya Nomura

Norihito Naito

Kazushige Sakurai

Atsuya Takahashi

Tomonori Matsunaga

Shinichi Tsukida

Hiroaki Ogata

Tomomi Kakeshita

Kazuo Shishido

Eiichiro Teshima

Noriyuki Yanai

Kazuhiko Ishiwata

Kanji Yano

Katsuhiro Kojima

Gaku Konishi

Mutsumi Baba

Moriyuki Yanai

An image forming apparatus has a developer container containing a developer and a developer carrying member for carrying the developer and adapted to switch an AC voltage to be applied to the developer carrying member. The apparatus includes a detecting member for detecting the amount of developer in the developer container and a processing portion for determining the amount of developer in the developer container according to the value output by the detecting member when the AC voltage is applied to the developer carrying member. The processing portion is adapted to determine the amount of developer by executing a process that corresponds to the operation of switching the AC voltage.

Image forming apparatus and method of detecting amount of residual developer

In an image forming apparatus group including a plurality of kinds of image forming apparatuses having different process speeds, and a cartridge which can be commonly used in a plurality of kinds of image forming apparatuses, when there is provided a cartridge which can be detachably mountable to both a first image forming apparatus and a second image forming apparatus having different process speeds, n a control operation is carried out such that the difference between the peak-to-peak A.C. voltages in first and second first image forming apparatus main bodies varies with an increase in amount of used toners in the cartridge. Even when use of the cartridge is changed between the image forming apparatuses in the middle of being used, the image density level of an output image can be maintained nearly constant.

Image forming apparatus group

An image forming apparatus to which a process cartridge is detachably mountable,

Image forming apparatus, cartridge, image formation system, and storage medium for cartridge

A developing device usable with a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a developing member for supplying a developer to an electrophotographic photosensitive member for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a first electrode, and a second electrode. An electrical signal is generated in accordance with an electrostatic capacity between the first electrode and second electrode when the first electrode or the second electrode is supplied with a voltage from the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and is measured by the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to detect a remaining amount of the developer.

Developing device, a process cartridge, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for detecting an amount of developer

A cleaning apparatus includes a cleaning member for cleaning off toner from an image bearing member, a support member for supporting the cleaning member, and a receiving portion for receiving the toner cleaned off by the cleaning member, the receiving portion having a cleaning frame, and a connecting portion for connecting both end surfaces of the cleaning frame in a longitudinal direction of the cleaning member, in which the support member is provided with a bent portion bent on a deeper side of the cleaning frame, and the connecting portion is below an upper portion of the receiving portion and above a lower surface of the bent portion.

Cleaning apparatus having a cleaning member, a cleaning frame, and a connecting portion connecting both end surfaces of the frame

A cartridge includes a developing apparatus equipped with a developer containing portion containing a developer, a residual developer amount detecting device for detecting a residual developer amount in the developer containing portion, and a storage device capable of storing the latest residual developer amount information. An image forming apparatus includes a continuous rest time counter configured to count a continuous rest time of the image forming apparatus, and a controller which is configured to prohibit updating of the residual developer amount information to the storage device for a predetermined period after the end of the continuous rest time of the image forming apparatus when the continuous rest time counter indicates a time not shorter than a predetermined time. This structure provides an image forming apparatus and an image forming system in which no deterioration in detection accuracy occurs even if an unstable toner state occurs due to a long printing rest time.

Image forming apparatus and image forming system

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an electrifying device for electrifying the image bearing member, and a transferring member provided with a contact portion contacting with the image bearing member. The transferring member causes the contact portion to make a transferring material pass by to thereby transfer a toner image formed on the image bearing member to the transferring material. A length of the transferring member in the lengthwise direction of the image bearing member is shorter than a length of an electrification area in which the electrifying device electrifies the image bearing member. A cleaning blade contact with the image bearing member to remove residual toner from the image bearing member. The image forming apparatus further includes a lubricant imparting device for imparting a lubricant to surface areas of the image bearing member in the lengthwise direction, which are outside the transferring member and correspond to the end portions of the cleaning blade. Lubricant is not applied to a surface area corresponding to a position when the transferring member contacts with the lubricant forming member.

Image forming apparatus

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus which has a developer container for containing developer, the container being detachably mountable to a main assembly of the image forming apparatus, developer amount detecting device for detecting an amount of the developer contained in the developer container, and determining device for determining the amount of the developer in accordance with a maximum value of a detected amount of the developer amount detecting device.

Image forming apparatus and cartridge detachably mountable to same

A cleaning device for removing toner remaining on an image carrier carrying a toner image after toner on the image carrier has been transferred to another material, the cleaning device including: a conductive brush roller to which a bias voltage of a polarity that is the same as the proper polarity of toner for use in development is applied in order to remove that portion of the toner remaining on the image carrier after the image transfer process whose polarity has become opposite to the proper polarity of toner for use in development; a roller electrode which comes into contact with the bush roller and to which a bias that is of a polarity opposite to that of the brush roller is applied to electrostatically attract the toner adhering to the conductive brush; and scraping device for scraping off the toner adhering to this roller electrode, wherein that portion of the toner remaining on the image carrier after the image transfer process whose polarity has become opposite to the proper polarity of toner is removed by the brush roller and that portion of the toner which maintains the proper polarity is allowed to pass.

Cleaning device and image forming apparatus using the cleaning device

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photosensitive body for forming electrostatic latent images thereon; a charging device structured with an electrode member in contact with the photosensitive body for forming the latent images on the photosensitive body; a cleaning device having a cleaning blade to rub and remove toner from the surface of the photosensitive body by enabling the leading edge thereof to abut thereupon in a counter to the moving direction of the photosensitive body; a developing device for developing with toner the latent images formed on the photosensitive body; and a surface roughing device arranged within a cleaning area to which the cleaning blade to abuts, outside the developing area of the developing means to carry out development, and further, arranged on the downstream side of the charging device observed in the moving direction of the photosensitive body, but on the upstream side of the cleaning blade to abut upon the photosensitive body for making the surface thereof rough, hence making it possible to prevent the cleaning blade from being turned up along the movement of the photosensitive body when the blade removes unwanted toner from the surface of the photosensitive body.

Image forming apparatus having blade cleaning device applied thereto, and process cartridge

A method is disclosed for attaching a sheet for receiving toner removed from an image bearing member to a frame. The method includes the steps of adhering the sheet to the frame, using an adhesive, while bending the frame and releasing the frame after the sheet is adhered to the frame. A toner-guiding sheet for guiding toner removed from an image bearing member to a toner-receiving unit is also disclosed. The sheet is widened near a central portion in a longitudinal direction so that the sheet edge will conform to the bent shape of an attachment surface. A cleaning device is also disclosed. The cleaning device may include a frame and a sheet attached to the frame by an adhesive in a condition that a tension force is applied to the sheet. Further, the cleaning device may include a cleaning container having a wall that is thinner at a position near an attachment surface for a sheet than at a position away from the attachment surface, to facilitate bending of the attachment surface during application of a sheet to the attachment surface.

Dip sheet adhering method, cleaning device, process and image forming

A life informing device for a charge body includes a body to be charged, and a charging member for charging the charge body. The charging member is adapted to receive an oscillating voltage and to be in contact with the charge body during the charging operation. Also provided is an informing device for visually or acoustically informing the user whether the charge body reaches the end of the life time thereof, based on an accumulated time of the application time during which the oscillating voltage is applied.

Service life informing device for charged member, informing method

An image bearing member, process device acting on the image bearing member, a first frame, a second frame lockable and separable with respect to the first frame, a locking body and a locking member lockable to the locking body, provided to separably interlock the first and second frames, and a recessed portion and a projection fittable into the recessed portion which are provided to separably interlock the first and second frames. With above construction it is possible to provide a process cartridge, an image forming system, and a method for assembling a cleaning device, which can be easily assembled and can sufficiently cope a large when the number of re-cycles.

Process cartridge mountable in an image forming system and a method for

An image forming apparatus for forming a developed image on a recording material includes a movable image bearing member, a cleaner for removing residual toner from a surface of the image bearing member, and a developer for supplying toner to the image bearing member. The cleaner includes a cleaning blade contactable to a surface of the image bearing member, wherein silicone resin particles are deposited to a contact region between the image bearing member and the cleaning blade. The developer includes a rotatabe member and a regulating blade wherein silicone resin particles exist in the contact region between the regulating blade and rotatable member. The average particle size of the toner is greater tan or equal to the average partice size of the silicone resin particles deposited on the cleaning blade and further the average particle size of the silicone resin particles deposited on the regulating blade is greater than the average particle size of the toner.

Image forming apparatus using silicone resin lubricant in the developing

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Yokohama, Japan

Takeo Shoji