Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Takuya Suganuma

Masanori Kawasumi

Kazuhisa Sudo

Kazuki Yogosawa

Hirokatsu Suzuki

Kazuya Saitoh

Hiroyuki Sugiyama

Takeshi Uchitani

Akira Shinshi

Tomoko Takahashi

Masahiko Satoh

Tatsuya Kubo

Shunichi Hashimoto

Ryuji Yoshida

Masaharu Furuya

Jun Yura

Mugijirou Uno

Masaki Sukesako

Hirohmi Tamura

Hironobu Takeshita

Hiroki Ishii

Hotaru Hashikawa

Yoshinori Nakagawa

Hideki Kimura

Hiroshi Nakai

Atsushi Kurokawa

Minoru Masuda

Akio Kosuge

Takeshi Kojima

Masashi Nagayama

Hiroyuki Kishida

Shin Kayahara

Ichiro Kadota

Yoshihiro Fujiwara

Tomomi Suzuki

Eisuke Hori

Shuji Tanaka

Shigekazu Enoki

Taichi Urayama

Naoyuki Ozaki

Tohru Suganuma

Tetsuto Ueda

Sho Sekiguchi

Kento Takeuchi

Kaede Masuko

Taku Kumiya

Shogo Kezuka

Hiroki Atari

Yuta Yabuta

Yusuke Chiba

A developing device includes a developing case, a filter, and a filter holder. The developing case stores developer inside to develop a latent image formed on a surface of an image bearer and has an opening portion that communicates between an inside and an outside of the developing device. The filter has a lower weight density per unit volume at a first side of the filter facing the inside of the developing device than a weight density per unit volume at a second side of the filter facing the outside of the developing device. The filter holder is detachably attached to the opening portion of the developing case with the filter held by the filter holder.

Developing device including filter detachable holder, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A developing apparatus includes an electrostatic latent image bearer, a developing sleeve, a case, and an air filter. The case accommodates a two-component developer and the developing sleeve. The air filter is attached to the case. The air filter has a thickness of 2 to 20 mm and has a density gradient with a pressure loss of 2 to 40 Pa at a wind speed of 10 cm/s. The air filter forms an airflow sucked into the case from a gap between the developing sleeve and the case and forms an airflow discharged from the case through the air filter. The two-component developer accommodated in the case contains a magnetic particle a surface of which is coated with a resin layer. The resin layer contains at least one type of chargeable particle.

Developing apparatus, developer for electrophotographic image formation, electrophotographic image forming method, and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

A filter holding device includes an opening portion and a filter. The opening portion communicates an inside of the filter holding device with an outside of the filter holding device. The filter includes a first side and a second side. The first side faces the inside of the filter holding device. The second side faces the outside of the filter holding device. The filter has a lower weight density per unit volume at the first side than at the second side. At least a side face of the first side of the filter is covered with an air-impermeable member. The side face is a lateral face of the filter at the first side.

Filter holding device, developing device, process cartridge, image forming apparatus, and filter

A developing device includes a developing roller to rotate in a predetermined direction of rotation and opposed to or in contact with an image bearer to form a development range, a cover to cover the developing roller downstream from the development range in the predetermined direction of rotation, a sheet member cantilevered by the cover to contact the developing roller with a flat face of the sheet member while trailing along the predetermined direction of rotation at a position downstream from the development range. The cover includes a large gap portion to form a first gap in a first predetermined range in the predetermined direction of rotation and a small gap portion disposed adjacent to and downstream from the large gap portion in the predetermined direction of rotation to form a second gap smaller than the first gap in a second predetermined range in the predetermined direction of rotation.

Developing device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing member, a pressing member, heat generators, temperature detectors, a power source, and a heat controller. The heat generators include a first heat generator and second heat generators corresponding to an imaged area and a blank area, respectively, of a recording medium. The heat controller controls a power source according to data provided by the temperature detectors, such that a heating area of the fixing member heated by one of the second heat generators located adjacent to the first heat generator acquires a temperature of T&#x2212;&#x394;T, where Tis a temperature corresponding to the imaged area higher than a temperature Tcorresponding to the blank area, and &#x394;T is a temperature lower than a difference between Tand T. The heat controller changes &#x394;T between when a first side thereof is printed upon duplex printing and upon single-sided printing.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

A powder refilling device includes a refill powder chamber to accommodate a powder bag containing powder, an opener to open the powder bag inside the refill powder chamber, and a squeezer to squeeze the opened powder bag to discharge powder therefrom and reduce a volume of the opened powder bag.

Powder refilling device, process cartridge and image including same, and powder refilling method

An image forming apparatus capable of continuous image formation on multiple pages includes an image bearer to bear an image, a latent image forming unit to form a latent image on the image bearer, a developing device to develop the latent image with toner, a temperature sensor to detect temperature inside the developing device or adjacent to the developing device, a controller to impose a limit on a quantity of pages in continuous image formation and cancel the limit according to a detection result generated by the temperature sensor, and a report unit to report time data indicating when the limit is imposed.

Image forming apparatus

The image forming apparatus includes a latent image bearing member; a charging device charging the surface of the latent image bearing member; a latent image forming device forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image bearing member; a developing device supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image; a cover film supplying device supplying a cover film to the surface of the latent image bearing member at a cover film supplying position located on an upstream side from the development position so that the toner image is formed on the cover film covering the surface of the latent image bearing member; and a cover film separating device separating the cover film bearing the toner image thereon from the surface of the image bearing member before the cover film bearing the toner image thereon reaches the cover film supplying position.

Electrophotographic image forming method and apparatus with a cover film supplying device

By using a black-image forming device, an abrasive pattern is formed on a sheet conveying belt so that toner is input to a contact section where a cleaning blade is in contact with the sheet conveying belt. After the toner is input to the contact section where the cleaning blade is in contact with the sheet conveying belt and then the sheet conveying belt makes one or more revolutions, a process control is performed in which Y, M, and C toner patterns and B toner pattern are transferred onto the sheet conveying belt.

An image forming apparatus includes a first image carrier, a second image carrier, an intermediate transfer member disposed facing the second image carrier, a conveyance belt to transport a transfer sheet, disposed facing both the first image carrier and the intermediate transfer member, a first transfer member to transfer a first toner image formed on the first image carrier onto the transfer sheet, a second transfer member to transfer a second toner image formed on the second image carrier onto the intermediate transfer member, and a third transfer member disposed downstream from the second image carrier in a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer member, to transfer the second toner image from the intermediate transfer member onto the transfer sheet transported by the conveyance belt. The first image carrier and the intermediate transfer member inflect the conveyance belt at a first inflection angle and a second inflection angle, respectively.

Image forming apparatus preventing gaps between a conveyor belt and transfer sheet

A developing device including a developer container configured to store a developer and a developing unit provided below the developer container. The developer container includes a first developer agitation member, and a developer guide member extending along a rotation path of the first developer agitation member, configured to conform to a shape of the rotation path. The developing unit includes a developer bearing member and a restriction member. The developer guide member prevents the developer from being directly supplied to a restriction nip formed between the developer bearing member and the restriction member and guides the developer to the developer bearing member. An edge of the developer guide member is positioned between the restriction nip and a center of rotation of the first developer agitation member.

Developing device, toner cartridge, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus including a developer guide member

The invention provides a developing device, a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus that allow preventing abrupt variations in toner charge on a developing roller, caused by intrusion, into a nip, of toner accumulated above a regulating member of the developing device. A developing device using a one-component developer includes: a supply roller to which one-component developer is replenished, by natural motion, from a developer storing section. The bottom of the developing device is of a size that allows the supply roller to rotate. The developing device further comprises a filling member for filling a space above the regulating member, in order to prevent the toner located above the regulating member from intruding into a nip formed between the supply roller and a developing roller.

Developing device and process cartridge used in image forming apparatus

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Kanagawa, Japan

Takuya Suganuma