Konica Minolta, Inc.

Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Asahi Glass Company, Limited

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Hoya Corporation

Minolta Camera Co., Ltd.

Takeru Kinoshita

Junichi Hashimoto

Takanobu Yamada

Suguru Hamamichi

Hideaki Kodama

Hideaki Ikeda

Junji Murakawa

Naoyoshi Kinoshita

Yoshihiro Hattori

Masaki Mikami

Naoki Kataoka

Hideji Higashimura

Hirotoshi Ise

Takako Hayashi

Kouichi Aritomo

Takahiro Mitsumori

Tsutomu Shoki

Ryo Ohkubo

Tetsuya Sakai

Kazuyuki Hayashi

Morio Hosoya

Hideji Hayashi

Yoshikazu Naito

Syuichi Katogi

Hideo Kitakubo

Chujiro Yokoyama

Kengo Asai

Tsutomo Shoki

Noboyuki Kawai

Chujirou Yokoyama

A cleaning device includes: a brush-like rotation body that collects residual toner adhering to a photoreceptor from the photoreceptor and holds the residual toner; a collection member that is disposed so as to be in contact with the brush-like rotation body and collects the residual toner held by the brush-like rotation body from the brush-like rotation body; a blade member that scrapes off the residual toner collected by the collection member from the collection member; a conveyance member that is disposed below the brush-like rotation body and the collection member and conveys the residual toner scraped off from the collection member by the blade member; and a restriction part that is disposed above the conveyance member and restricts contact of the conveyance member with the brush-like rotation body and the collection member.

Cleaning device capable of preventing a conveyance member from contacting a brush-like rotation body and a collection member, drum unit, and image forming apparatus

A developing roller includes: a magnet roller including a roll part with a magnetic pole; a cylindrical sleeve that houses the magnet roller; a first flange connected to one end of the sleeve; a second flange connected to another end of the sleeve; a conductive shaft connected to a side of the second flange of the magnet roller; a first bearing that supports the first flange so that the first flange rotates relative to the magnet roller; and second bearings that support the second flange so that the second flange rotates relative to the conductive shaft. The second bearings are conductive, and are disposed at different positions along an axial direction of the conductive shaft.

Developing roller, developer, and image forming apparatus

Toner cartridge

A developer replenishment container attachable to and detachable from a container receiver of a developer supply device is provided. The developer replenishment container includes a containing cover portion, a containing portion, and a discharge mechanism configured to deliver a developer to a discharge port while loosening the developer. The containing portion has a circumferential wall and a rotational force input portion. The circumferential wall is provided with a spiral protrusion. The discharge mechanism has a cam member and a biasing member including a bellows portion. A discharge channel is formed between the cam member and the bellows portion. The bellows portion extends and contracts in accordance with reciprocating movement of the cam member along an axial direction of the circumferential wall.

Developer replenishment container

A device that replenishes developer to a developer unit and includes a storage for storing developer, an agitation member, and a vibration plate. The agitation member has a blade shape and is rotationally driven to agitate the developer in the storage. The vibration plate extends from a top portion towards a bottom portion of the storage along a rotation direction of the agitation member, and includes a vibration portion that vibrates due to contact with the agitation member undergoing rotation. A top end of the vibration plate is fixed and a bottom end of the vibration plate is a free end, and there is a gap between the vibration portion and an inner wall of the storage. The vibration plate is provided with an engagement protrusion towards the free end that engages with the agitation member and causes the agitation member undergoing rotation to deform then spring back.

Developer replenishing device, developer device, and image forming device having a vibration plate that engages an agitation member

A toner supply device includes a pressing portion that presses a toner cartridge such that the toner cartridge is detached from a device body. The toner cartridge has an engaging portion. The device body has a guiding portion. The guiding portion has an upper guide groove that guides the engaging portion in an attachment operation of attaching the toner cartridge to the device body, and a lock portion provided at a position deviated from the upper guide groove in an innermost portion of the guiding portion. When the engaging portion moving in the upper guide groove along with the attachment operation reaches the innermost portion, the engaging portion is engaged with the lock portion by the pressing portion pressing back the toner cartridge, allowing the toner cartridge to be attached to the device body so as not to be detached therefrom.

Toner supply device and image forming apparatus

A fixing device and an image forming apparatus to pass a paper through a nip portion between a fixing roller and a pressure roller and fix a toner image on the paper. The image forming apparatus includes a first spring and a second spring to press the pressure roller against the fixing roller and an operation lever to change a pressing state of the springs. The operation lever has two positions of: a first position in which pressing of the pressure roller by the first spring is made active and pressing by the second spring is made inactive; and a second position in which the pressing by the second spring is made active and the pressing by the first spring is made inactive. A contact pressure of the pressure roller against the fixing roller is differentiated in the first position and in the second position.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus configured to change the pressing force between two nip members

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a fixing unit, a door, an elastic member to generate a pressing force of a nip portion of the fixing unit, and a switching member to change a pressing state of the elastic member. The switching member is placed in any one of first, second, and third positions. In the first position, the pressing force is defined as a first level. The second position has a second level different from the first level. The pressing force of the third position is equal to or lower than the smaller one of the first and second levels. While the door is closed from open state, an interference member of the door does not interfere with the switching member in the first or second position but interferes with the switching member in the third position to move the switching member to the first position.

Image forming apparatus having a fixing member with a nip which can be pressed at different pressure levels

An image forming apparatus comprises image forming sections for each color, each including a pressure receiving parts pair in a first outer region of a first rotary body and a second rotary body as an image carrier and a developing roller. A first image forming section includes a first pressure receiving part of the first rotary body and a second pressure receiving part of the second rotary body as the pressure receiving parts pair. A second image forming section includes a third pressure receiving part of the first rotary body and a fourth pressure receiving part of the second rotary body as the pressure receiving parts pair. A protruding distance of the first pressure receiving part is smaller than a protruding distance of the third pressure receiving part. A protruding distance of the second pressure receiving part is larger than a protruding distance of the fourth pressure receiving part.

Image forming apparatus, drum unit, and developing unit

To provide a mask blank for EUVL wherein the incident angle dependence of EUV reflectivity and the film stress in a Mo/Si multilayer reflective film are improved, and a reflective layer-equipped substrate for such a mask blank. The reflective layer-equipped substrate for EUV lithography (EUVL), comprises a substrate, and a reflective layer for reflecting EUV light, formed on the substrate, wherein the reflective layer comprises a second multilayer reflective film having a Mo layer and a Si layer alternately stacked plural times on the substrate, an adjustment layer stacked on the second multilayer reflective film, and a first multilayer reflective film having a Mo layer and a Si layer alternately stacked plural times on the adjustment layer.

Reflective mask blank for EUV lithography, and reflective layer-coated substrate for EUV lithography

A process for producing a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography (EUVL), which comprises forming a multilayer reflective film for reflecting EUV light on a film-forming surface of a substrate, then forming a protective layer for protecting the multilayer reflective film, on the multilayer reflective film, and forming an absorber layer for absorbing EUV light, on the protective layer, to produce a reflective mask blank for EUVL, wherein the multilayer reflective film is a Mo/Si multilayer reflective film, the protective layer is a Ru layer or a Ru compound layer, the absorber layer is a layer containing at least Ta and N, and after forming the Mo/Si multilayer reflective film, the protective layer is formed, and after forming a Si thin film or Si oxide thin film having a thickness of at most 2 nm on the protective layer, the absorber layer is formed.

Reflective mask blank for EUV lithography, and process for its production

A toner resupply device includes a detector plate for detecting a surface of toner stored in a hopper; a douser that moves together with the detector plate; a fixing plate for fixing the detector plate and the douser integrally; and a toner sensor for detecting a phase of the douser. The douser has a light-blocking surface that blocks light to be detected by the toner sensor, and a shaft extending in an axial direction crossing the light-blocking surface, the shaft being inserted in a hole made in the detector plate. The shaft has a groove in which the fixing plate is locked, the groove extending in a direction crossing the axial direction. The fixing plate in a state of being locked in the groove pushes the shaft in the axial direction, thereby fixing the detector plate and the douser to each other.

Toner resupply device including a detector plate, a douser, and a fixing plate fixing the detector plate and the douser, and image forming apparatus

A glass substrate-holding tool employed during the production of a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography includes an electrostatic chuck and a mechanical chuck. A caught and held portion of a glass substrate caught and held by the electrostatic chuck, and pressed portions of the glass substrate pressed by the mechanical chuck are located outside a quality-guaranteed region on each of a film deposition surface and a rear surface of the glass substrate. The sum of a catching and holding force applied to the glass substrate by the electrostatic chuck and a holding force applied to the glass substrate by the mechanical chuck is at least 200 kgf. A pressing force per unit area applied to the glass substrate by the mechanical chuck is at most 25 kgf/mm.

Glass substrate-holding tool and method for producing an EUV mask blank by employing the same

A glass substrate-holding tool, adapted to be employed during the production of a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography (EUVL), includes an electrostatic chuck and a supporting member. The chuck attracts a rear surface of a glass substrate in a non-contact manner by electrostatic attractive force. The supporting member partly supports the rear surface. An area ratio of a projected area of an active surface of the chuck for providing the electrostatic force to an area of a quality-guaranteed region of the rear surface is from 0.5 to 1.0. The active surface is apart from the rear surface by more than 20 &#x3bc;m. The supporting member is configured to support only a region including at least two of four sides defining an outer portion outside the quality-guaranteed region.

Growing community of inventors

Toyokawa, Japan

Takeru Kinoshita