Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Takuzi Yoneda

Yuji Arai

Masami Tomita

Toshio Koike

Yuki Oshikawa

Hiroshi Ono

Kiyonori Tsuda

Takeshi Uchitani

Hiroyuki Nagashima

Ken Amemiya

Masanori Kawasumi

Haruji Mizuishi

Tokuya Ojimi

Emi Kita

Takatsugu Fujishiro

Takaaki Tawada

Kohichi Utsunomiya

Hideo Yoshizawa

Takeshi Shintani

Yutaka Takahashi

Keiko Matsumoto

Hiroomi Harada

Yoshiki Hozumi

Shinichi Kawahara

Takaya Muraishi

Mugijirou Uno

Hiromichi Ninomiya

Takeshi Tabuchi

Satoshi Takano

Satoshi Hatori

Hitoshi Ishibashi

Yoshio Hattori

Kaoru Yoshino

Takeo Suda

Koichi Kato

Nobuo Kuwabara

Shuji Tanaka

Kazuyuki Sugihara

Masato Yanagida

Akira Fujimori

Hiroshi Mizusawa

Takayuki Maruta

Keiichi Yoshida

Tokuya Ohjimi

Maiko Koeda

Eiji Shimojo

Teruyuki Kasuga

Hideyo Watanabe

Mugijiro Uno

A driving force transmission mechanism includes a connection for integrally rotating a driving shaft on the driving source side and a driven shaft of a rotary member. The connection includes a tubular boss portion; and a fitting shaft portion fitted into the tubular boss portion. An inner shaft portion is provided in a projecting manner from bottom center of the tubular boss portion toward inside the tubular boss portion. An inner recessed portion into which the inner shaft portion fits is provided in center of a leading edge plane for fitting of the fitting shaft portion. Micro gaps are provided between an inner surface of the tubular boss portion and an outer surface of the fitting shaft portion and between an inner surface of the inner recessed portion and an outer surface of the inner shaft portion.

Driving force transmission mechanism and image forming apparatus

A development device includes a development casing, a developer bearer disposed facing a latent image bearer through an opening formed in the development casing, a magnetic field generator, a developer regulator disposed facing the developer bearer, a first seal member to cover a clearance between the latent image bearer and a rim of the development casing upstream from the opening, and a second seal member. The first seal member includes a first end portion fixed to the rim of the development casing and a second end portion in contact with the latent image bearer, and the second seal member includes a first end portion fixed to an inner face of the development casing farther from the latent image bearer than the first seal member, and a second end portion hanging to contact the developer carried on the developer bearer downstream from the developer regulator.

Image forming apparatus incorporating developing device with first and second seals

A developer supplier for supplying a developer to each of a plurality of developing devices, includes a plurality of developer supplying units each configured to supply a developer in which a toner and a carrier are preliminarily dispersed at a given concentration to each of the plurality of developing devices. A proportion of the carrier included in the developer which is supplied to one of the plurality of developing devices is set so as to be greater than a proportion of the carrier included in the developer which is supplied to the another one of the plurality of developing devices.

Developer supplier, image forming apparatus, developer supplying method and image forming method

A development device includes a development casing, a developer bearer disposed facing a latent image bearer through an opening in the development casing to carry developer, a magnetic field generator disposed inside the developer bearer, a developer regulator extending in an axial direction of the developer bearer to adjust an amount of developer carried on the developer bearer, and a first axial end seal provided in an axial end portion of the development device outside an image range, in contact with an upstream face of the developer regulator to reduce a size of a clearance between the developer regulator and the development casing.

Development device and image forming apparatus incorporating same

An imaging device provided with a latent image carrying body rotatably disposed to carry a latent image, a developing unit that develops the latent image carried on the carrying body by using a developer containing toner at least, and a duct disposed downstream of the developing unit and having a wall with an upstream suction port and a downstream suction port formed. An air flow path is formed by a surface of the latent image carrying body and a surface of the duct wall, between the upstream suction port and the downstream suction port. A gap of the air flow path is wider at the downstream side than at the upstream side with respect to the rotational direction of the latent image carrying body.

Imaging device, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge

A cleaning roller cleaning a surface of a cleaning component, wherein the cleaning roller is provided in a roller configuration having a cylindrical shape and has a portion in contact with the cleaning component, the portion being made of a melamine resin foam having a continuous foam structure, the melamine resin foam being provided by heating compression from an original configuration in a radial direction, and wherein the portion in contact with the cleaning component has a continuous foam structure and a tensile strength in a range of 1.7&#xb1;0.5 kg/cm, and an image forming apparatus incorporating the same.

Charging device, process cartridge, image forming apparatus, and toner

An image forming method and apparatus, the apparatus including a latent image carrier configured to carry a latent image thereon, a developing unit disposed facing the latent image carrier to develop the latent image with developer, a developer container containing the developer and attachable to the image forming apparatus, a developer detector configured to detect the presence of the developer in the developing unit, and a developer supply controller, and a disengagement detector configured to detect whether or not an intermediate transfer member is disengaged from the latent image carrier. The developer supply controller prohibits supply of the developer from the developer container to the developing unit when the developer detector detects that the developer is present in the developing unit, and when the disengagement detector detects that the intermediate transfer member is not disengaged from the latent image carrier.

Image forming apparatus and developer supply method therefor

A switching controller switches from a developer replenishment prohibition mode to a developer replenishment permission mode when the replenishment detection device detects that the developer containing section does not store a prescribed amount of the developer, and from the developer replenishment permission mode to the developer replenishment prohibition mode when a prescribed operation is executed upon completion of replenishment of the developer from the developer containing bottle to the developer containing section. The developer replenishment prohibition mode prohibits the developer replenishment device from replenishing the developer to the developer containing section, while the developer replenishment permission mode permits the developer replenishment device to replenish the developer to the developer containing section.

Image forming apparatus and developer replenishing method

A developer supply system includes a container, a memory, and a positioning mechanism. The container has a deformable bag formed of flexible material to accommodate developer therein. The memory is attached to a given planar surface of the deformable bag to store information for communication to the image forming apparatus. The positioning mechanism holds the container therein while maintaining the given planar surface in position relative to the image forming apparatus when the deformable bag collapses as it discharges developer. An image forming apparatus employing such a developer supply system is also disclosed.

Developer supply system and image forming apparatus incorporating same

The present invention provides a charging device which comprises a charging roller () and a cleaning component (). The charging roller charges a surface of an image-recording medium () with a voltage which is applied from an external source. The cleaning component cleans a surface of the charging roller. The charging roller includes a resistance adjustment layer which is made of a resin composite and formed on an outer periphery of a core metal. The hardness of the charging roller is 45 degrees or more in JIS D hardness. The cleaning component has a portion which is in contact with the charging roller. This portion is made of resin foam which has a continuous foam structure. The density of the resin foam is 5 to 15 kg/mand its tensile strength is 1.7&#xb1;0.5 kg/cm.

In an image forming apparatus, an area applied with a lubricant, i.e., an area of a lubricant layer having a uniform thickness, is obtained by spreading the lubricant by a lubricant smoothing blade. The area applied with a lubricant covers an area cleaned by a cleaning blade, i.e., a contact portion of the cleaning blade with a photoconductor.

Image forming apparatus, lubricant applying device, transfer device, process cartridge, and toner

A lubricant supplying device including a molded lubricant having a Martens hardness of about 40 N/mmto about 70 N/mmmeasured with a test force of 50 mN and a load-applying period of 30 seconds, a rotative member including a fibrous brush of a thickness of about 5 deniers to about 15 deniers in a circumference of a rotative supporting axis of the rotative member with a density of about 20,000 fibers to about 100,000 fibers per square inch, and configured to apply lubricant shavings of the molded lubricant to an image bearing member held in contact with a cleaning member and to remove the lubricant shavings remaining on the surface of the image bearing member, and a pressing member configured to press the molded lubricant against the rotative member at a pressure force ranging from about 2 N/m to about 12 N/m.

Method and apparatus for image forming and effectively applying lubricant to an image bearing member

An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member, a charging member, and a measuring member. The image forming member is configured to bear an image. The charging member is configured to charge a surface of the image bearing member when a direct current bias voltage is added to at least an alternating bias voltage which is applied to the charging member, and has a frequency fc of the alternating bias voltage. The measuring member is configured to measure a potential of the surface of the image bearing member, and has a drive frequency fvsen. The relationship of the frequency fc and the drive frequency fvsen is expressed as fc&#x2260;fvsen&#xd7;n and fc&#xd7;n&#x2260;fvsen.

Method and apparatus for image forming capable of effectively preventing resonance of frequencies

A lubricant supplying device including a molded lubricant having a Martens hardness of approximately 40 N/mmto approximately 70 N/mmmeasured with a test force of 50 mN and a load-applying period of 30 seconds, a rotative member including a fibrous brush of a thickness of approximately 5 deniers to approximately 15 deniers in a circumference of a rotative supporting axis of the rotative member with a density of approximately 20,000 fibers to approximately 100,000 fibers per square inch, and configured to apply lubricant shavings of the molded lubricant to an image bearing member held in contact with a cleaning member and remove the lubricant shavings remaining on the surface of the image bearing member, and a pressing member configured to press contact the molded lubricant with the rotative member at a pressure force ranging from approximately 2 N/m to approximately 12 N/m.

A charge apparatus charges by uniformly superimposing an alternate current bias voltage with a fixed frequency over a direct current bias voltage as the charge bias voltage on a photosensitive member. An exposure apparatus exposes the surface of the charged photosensitive member based on image data, and writes a latent image, and a developing apparatus supplies toner to and makes visible the latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member. A transfer apparatus transfers the visible image on the photosensitive member to a transfer medium, and a cleaning apparatus cleans the surface of the photosensitive member after transfer.

Image forming apparatus that charges a photosensitive member by superimposing an alternate current bias voltage on a direct current bias voltage as the charge bias voltage

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Takuzi Yoneda