Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Stanley Electric Co., Ltd

Other

Tetsuo Yamada

Tsukasa Matsuda

Takayuki Yamashita

Atsumi Kurita

Aya Kakishima

Yuichi Fukuda

Toru Inoue

Yasuyuki Kobayashi

Tatsunori Izawa

Yasushi Nagata

Tohru Inoue

Kazuhiko Arai

Junpei Amano

Yasuo Matsumura

Takeharu Etoh

Yoshihisa Kitano

Koji Udagawa

Yumiko Komori

Satoru Hirosaki

Kenji Mitani

Toshihide Tanaka

Masaki Umemoto

Hisashi Ohmachi

Dao Vu Truong Son

Yasuhiro Toda

A solid-state imaging apparatus allows precise observation and analysis of ultra-high-speed phenomena at a frame rate more than 100 Mega frames per second, which has been targeted in advanced science and engineering. The solid-state imaging apparatus comprises pixels arranged in M columns and N rows. Each pixel includes a first layer for photoelectric conversion and a second layer having m charge collection devices, where m is equal to or greater than 3, for collecting and storing charges generated light incident on a substantially whole area of the pixel, and a readout device for reading out the charges, where m charge collection devices are locally placed in an area around a center of the pixel. The second layer further includes a second storage device for storing the charges collected and stored by each of the collection devices.

Solid-state imaging apparatus

A fixing device includes a heating rotation body, a heat source and a pressurization member. The heating rotation body has an endless peripheral surface that moves circularly. The heat source heats the heating rotation body. The pressurization member is in pressure-contact with the peripheral surface of the heating rotation body to press a recording medium, which passes through a nip between the pressurization member and the heating rotation body, against the peripheral surface of the heating rotation body. The pressurization member includes a base material and plural layers deposited on the base material. A volume resistance of a surface layer forming a surface of the pressurization member is larger than that of a layer disposed just below the surface layer. The layer disposed just below the surface layer is grounded.

Fixing device and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes: an imaging device that forms a toner image based on image data and transfers the toner image to a recording medium; a fixing device including a pair of rotatable members that defines a contact pressing portion that allows the recording medium with the toner image to pass through, and heats and presses the recording medium with the toner image; a surface potential measuring device that measures a surface potential of at least one of the pair of rotatable members; and a controller that performs control to give an alert notification that at least one of the pair of rotatable members which contacts with the toner image to be fixed should be replaced, when a result of the surface potential measured by the surface potential measuring device has exceeded a predetermined value.

Image forming apparatus, method of recommending replacement of rotatable member, method of cleaning rotatable member and method of controlling image formation

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming section which transfers toner onto a latent image due to a difference of electrostatic potential to form a toner image, a transfer section which transfers the toner image onto a recording material directly or via an intermediate transfer body, a fixing section which passes the recording material carrying the toner image between a fixing rotation body and a pressurizing member contacted and pressed each other, and heats and pressurizes to fix the toner image, and a paper dust amount measuring section which measures an amount of paper dust adhering to the recording material. The image forming section forms an image pattern with high toner area coverage at a predetermined interval based on the measured amount of paper dust, and the fixing section fixes the image pattern with the high toner area coverage transferred onto a recording material.

Image forming apparatus

A fixing device for heating and pressing a recording medium carrying an unfixed toner image or an unfixed ink image to fix the unfixed toner image or the unfixed ink image on the recording medium, includes a heating roller which has a heating source and has an endless peripheral surface moves around an axis, a pressure roller which is pressed onto the peripheral surface of the heating roller, and presses the recording medium passing between the pressure roller and the heating roller onto the peripheral surface of the heating roller, and plural cleaning sections which are provided to make contact with the heating roller. At least one of the cleaning sections is set, at a portion making contact with the heating roller, to have a relatively negative potential with respect to a surface potential of the heating roller.

Fixing device

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming section which transfers toner onto a latent image to form a toner image, a transfer section which transfers the toner image onto a recording material directly or via an intermediate transfer body, a fixing section which has a pair of rotatable members contacted and pressed each other, in which the recording material carrying the toner image is passed through the pair of rotatable members, and heats and presses the toner image to fix the toner image on the recording material, a cleaning section which cleans a peripheral surface of one of the pair of rotatable members, a paper dust amount measuring section which measures an amount of paper dust separably adhering to the recording material, before the toner image is transferred, and a control section which controls a cleaning operation rate of the cleaning section based on the measured amount of paper dust.

Image forming apparatus for fixing a toner image

A method for forming an image contains steps of: transferring a toner having a volume average particle diameter of 5 &#x3bc;m or less to a recording medium as a toner image having a monochromatic maximum toner mass per area of 0.35 mg/cmor less; and fixing the toner image at a surface temperature of a fixing roll which is 130&#xb0; C. or less. The toner preferably has 0.02 log(Pa)/&#xb0; C. or less of a gradient of a storage, elasticity per temperature in a temperature range of from Tm+20&#xb0; C. to Tm+50&#xb0; C. Here, Tm represents a melting temperature of a crystalline resin contained in the crystalline toner.

Image forming method

An image-forming apparatus, a fixing unit and a heat circulation system are equipped with a heat circulator capable of being fabricated at low costs and ensuring high heat exchange efficiency. The heat circulator includes two tabular metal members that come into contact with an intermediate transfer member at positions upstream and downstream of a simultaneous transfer and fixing zone, and plural heat pipes that transfer the heat of the first metal member to the second metal member.

Image-forming apparatus and fixing unit with heat circulator for high heat exchange efficiency

A vehicle lamp fixture is disclosed in which a truncated bowl-shaped reflector is formed as a single unit in front of each respective LED . Each reflector is formed from a transparent substance and has an aperture in the front surface. Each reflector also has a reflective surface that totally reflects light from the LED and a light conductive member that conducts at least a portion of light reflected by the reflective surface toward the front of the light fixture. A transparent front lens can thereby be used that does not include light-distributing facets.

Vehicle lamp fixture and method of use

A vehicle lamp is disclosed that includes plural light sources located on a printed wiring board. A first reflection structure reflects light from the light sources to a light emitting surface, and a second reflection structure reflects light reflected from the first reflection structure in an illuminating direction of the vehicle lamp. The construction of the lamp's first and the second reflection structures permits the light emitting surface of the vehicle lamp to shine uniformly. Accordingly, the number of the light sources required is minimized.

Vehicle lamp

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus which adopts a simultaneous transfer and fixing method and is capable of obtaining a high-grade image which has high luster, a favorable balance of color and an excellent transparency. In an image forming apparatus provided with a transfer and fixing device which includes a heating roller and a pressure roller for transferring and fixing a toner image on an intermediate transfer body to a recording medium, the transferring and fixing operation is carried out using the heating roller and the pressure roller under a condition that the ratio a/b between the length a of a nip region N of the heating roller and the pressure roller in a direction A at the central portion of these rollers extending in a roller axial direction and the length b of the nip region N in the direction A at both ends of these rollers extending in the roller axial direction is set to be more than 0.8.

Transfer and fixing device having specific nip ratio

A method of forming an image for transferring, to a predetermined recording medium, a toner image transported to a transfer position by a toner image support for supporting the toner image and transporting the image from a predetermined toner image forming position to a predetermined toner image transfer position, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

Method of forming an image and a recording medium used therefor

An image forming apparatus heats and presses a toner image retaining medium, with a toner image being formed thereon, and a sheet of print paper in face-contact with each other so that the toner image is transferred and simultaneously fixed onto the print paper, and rectifies the curling of the face-contact medium and paper during the heat-pressing process, thereby attaining a high print quality without creases on the paper which would otherwise emerge due to the heat-pressing process.

Image forming method and image forming apparatus for simultaneously

An image forming apparatus such as a printer and a copying machine, employs a simultaneous transfer and fixing method to obtain a highly lustrous image of high image quality, free of uneven lusterand disordered pixels over the entire density area. Assuming the outside diameter of the convex side roll to be R (mm), the hardness of hardness test of durometer type A and the thickness of the surface layer of the concave side roll to be HR (degree) and dR (mm) respectively, the hardness of hardness test of durometer type A and the thickness of the surface layer of the toner image carrier in contact with the recording medium to be Hb (degree) and db (.mu.m) respectively, and the nip width to be N (mm), the material and thickness of each surface layer for these two rolls and the intermediate transfer belt are selected so as to satisfy the following relationship:

Image forming apparatus for simultaneous transfer and fixing of images

An electrostatic recording head comprises an insulating substrate having a builtup structure thereon. The builtup structure includes, in the following order, a plurality of dielectric electrode strips having portions which are arranged in parallel to and kept away from one another, a first insulating layer, a plurality of discharge electrode strips each extending to intersect with the respective portions of the dielectric electrode strips, a second insulating layer having a plurality of openings to form part of an ion generating space region at individual intersected portions of said discharge electrode strips and said dielectric electrode strips, and a screen electrode which is provided to complete each ion generating space region in association with the second insulating layer and has a plurality of openings, through which ions are passed, corresponding to the respective ion generating space regions. The screen electrode is made of a member which is selected from the group consisting of metals, noble metals and alloys mainly composed of these metals and which has a melting point not lower than 1500.degree. C. Alternatively, the screen electrode may be made of a core member and a surface layer which is made of the above metal member, or an oxidation-resistant material such as an inorganic compound, a polymer or a metal alkoxide polymer.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Tetsuo Yamada