Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp.

Tomoyuki Hamachi

Makoto Kanno

Ryo Fukuno

Daisuke Uchimitsu

Yoshihisa Nakao

Taiyou Uehara

Katsumi Yamada

Toshiaki Suzuki

A printer including: a powder housing chamber that houses powder including a color material and carrier; a supplying conveying unit that conveys the powder while supplying the powder to a powder holder that holds the powder, by forward rotation; a detection unit that detects the amount of powder within the powder housing chamber, upstream in a conveyance direction from a discharge unit that discharges surplus powder, downstream in the conveyance direction from the supplying conveying unit, and above a rotary shaft of the supplying conveying unit; and a control unit that controls at least one of the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the supplying conveying unit on the basis of a detection result of the detection unit.

Printer having powder detection and supply conveyor control

A powder storage height detection device includes: a main body that includes a transport path along which powder is transported; a powder transport unit that is disposed to rotate in the transport path and includes a transporter provided spirally around a rotational shaft; a swinging unit that comes into contact with a surface of the powder transported in the transport path, and swings by following at least a storage height of the surface; a detection unit that detects a state of swinging of the swinging unit; and a determination unit that determines presence or absence of the powder based on a detection signal outputted from the detection unit. The transport unit includes a non-transport portion in which the transporter is not present, and which is formed as an eccentric shaft having a shaft center displaced from the rotational shaft, the swinging unit is located and disposed to swing in the non-transport portion, and the determination unit samples the detection signal at an interval, and when a proportion of the detection signal lower than or equal to an output level becomes greater than or equal to a threshold value, outputs a signal indicating determination of absence of the powder, the interval being obtained by dividing a required time for one rotation of the transport unit by a predetermined number, the output level defining that the storage height is relatively low.

Powder storage height detection device and powder replenishing device

A powder storage height detection device includes: a main body that has a transport path along which powder is transported; a powder transport unit that is disposed to rotate in the transport path and includes a transporter provided spirally around a rotational shaft; a swinging unit that comes into contact with a surface of the powder transported in the transport path, and swings by following at least a storage height of the surface; and a detection unit that detects a state of swinging of the swinging unit. The transport unit includes a non-transport portion in which the transporter is not present, and the swinging unit is located and disposed to swing in the non-transport portion, and an upper portion located above a contact portion to be in contact with the powder is configurated by an upward convex curved surface.

A developer supply device includes a developer container, an adjustment mechanism, and a controller. The developer container is configured to supply developer by rotating. The adjustment mechanism is configured to adjust a rotation angle of the developer container. The controller is configured to control the rotation angle of the developer container by the adjustment mechanism according to a developer remaining amount in the developer container.

Developer supply device and image forming apparatus

An image forming device includes: a developer holder that is rotatably arranged opposing a latent image holder holding an electrostatic latent image, holds developer including carrier and toner charged to a predetermined regular polarity, has a potential of the same polarity as the regular polarity applied thereto, and develops the electrostatic latent image using the toner; an opposite electrode that is arranged opposing the developer holder with a predetermined gap therebetween; and a controller that changes at least one of a potential applied to the opposite electrode and a rotation direction of the opposite electrode in accordance with an area coverage of the electrostatic latent image of the latent image holder.

Image forming device

An image forming apparatus includes a developing device. The developing device transports a two-component developer by a transporting unit so that the two-component developer passes through a developing roller. The two-component developer is stored in a storage chamber provided with a transporting path. The transporting unit rotates in the transporting path. The developing device causes a portion of the two-component developer to overflow from a discharge port provided at the transporting path, and to discharge the two-component developer. The image forming apparatus has a period in which a first operation is executed, the first operation of reversely rotating the transporting unit at a high speed so that a rotational direction of the transporting unit is an opposite direction to that at a time of development and a rotational speed of the transporting unit is higher than that at the time of development.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Tomoyuki Hamachi