Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Toshikazu Tsuchiya

Tsutomu Ishida

Hidetoshi Hanamoto

Masafumi Monde

Masao Umezawa

Tomoo Akizuki

Shinji Hosoya

Taku Fukita

Atsutoshi Ando

Hidehiro Ushiozu

Toru Saito

Hiroshi Mano

Atsushi Ogata

Michio Uchida

Takahiro Uchiyama

Masahide Hirai

Takuya Mukaibara

Yasuo Yoda

Naoto Tsuchihashi

Yoshiki Kudo

Hisahiro Saito

An image forming apparatus includes an irradiation unit for irradiating an image carrier having a formed detection image with light, the irradiation unit being capable of switching a size of a light-emitting region; a light-receiving unit for receiving reflected light of the light irradiated by the irradiation unit and outputting a detection signal corresponding to a light-receiving amount of the reflected light including a specular-reflected light component; a detection unit for detecting one of position information and density information of the detection image based on the detection signal; and a control unit for controlling to switch the size of the light-emitting region to detect one of the position information and the density information of the detection image.

Image forming apparatus and detection apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a developing unit that contains developer and that is detachable; and a detection member that includes a detected electrode and that moves around a rotation shaft in the developing unit, an electrostatic capacitance sensor electrode that is provided on an outer side of the developing unit, an electrostatic capacitance sensor that detects an electrostatic capacitance between the detected electrode and the electrostatic capacitance sensor electrode and that outputs data related to the detected electrostatic capacitance, and a CPU that determines an amount of the developer in the developing unit based on the data output from the electrostatic capacitance sensor.

Image forming apparatus for determining remaining amount of developer in developer container

An image forming apparatus includes a developing unit for accommodating a developer, a rotatable member, rotatable in the developing unit, for stirring the developer, and a pressure-detecting portion for detecting a pressure applied by the rotatable member and for outputting a voltage signal corresponding to the pressure. The pressure-detecting portion is provided on the wall surface perpendicular to the rotational axis direction of the rotatable member in the developing unit. In addition, a discriminating portion discriminates an amount of the developer in the developing unit on the basis of a change in the voltage signal outputted from the pressure-detecting portion.

Image forming apparatus

A developing apparatus includes a developing unit configured to be detachable from and attachable to an image forming apparatus to contain a developer, a rotary member configured to rotate in the developing unit, and a detection unit installed on an internal surface of the developing unit and configured to detect a pressure caused by pressure through the developer by rotation of the rotary member. In addition, a measurement unit is configured to measure a period in which the pressure is changed, and a determination unit is configured to determine an amount of the developer in the developing unit based on the period detected by the measurement unit.

Image forming apparatus having developer amount determination

The image forming apparatus includes a developing unit that is detachable and contains a developer, a detection member that includes an electrode to be detected and is rotatable around a rotation axis in the developing unit, an agitator that moves around the rotation axis in the developing unit; an electrostatic capacitance sensor electrode provided on an exterior of the developing unit, an electrostatic capacitance sensor that detects electrostatic capacitance between the electrode to be detected and the electrostatic capacitance sensor electrode, and outputs data on the detected electrostatic capacitance, and a CPU that determines an amount of developer in the developing unit based on the data output from the electrostatic capacitance sensor.

When a stirring member that stirs developer in a developer containing portion rotates at high speed, toner flies and the detection accuracy of light transmission type toner remaining amount detection is degraded. A developing apparatus including a developer containing portion that contains developer, a stirring member that stirs the developer in the developer containing portion, and a partition member which is disposed to separate the developer containing portion from a space adjacent to the developer containing portion and which bends to block at least a part of a light path, which is formed in the space and used to detect an amount of the developer, when being pressed by the stirring member via the developer.

Developing apparatus, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A CPU determines that a motor is undergoing a forward rotation when a time difference between a detection timing of a light beam deflected by a rotating polygonal mirror and an output timing of a detection signal from a magnetic detector element falls within a predetermined range, and that the motor is undergoing a reverse rotation when the time difference does not fall within the predetermined range. With this configuration, a detection circuit for detecting voltage induced in three phases is unnecessary, and therefore the cost can be reduced. Furthermore, there is no need to detect voltage induced in each of the three phases. As it suffices to simply detect the time difference, the amount of time required to detect a rotation direction can be reduced.

Motor control device, and optical scanning device, image forming device and printed circuit board including the same

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable member which is provided on and rotatable about a rotation shaft in a detachably mountable developing unit containing a developer and has flexibility so that it is flexed depending on a resistance of the developer; an electroconductive member to be detected which is provided on the rotatable member; a detecting electrode provided in a neighborhood of an outer wall surface of a bottom of the developing unit; a converting portion for detecting an electrostatic capacity between the member to be detected and the detecting electrode and for converting the electrostatic capacity into an electric signal; a measuring portion for measuring a time duration in which the electric signal converted by the converting portion exceeds a predetermined threshold; and a discriminating portion for discriminating an amount of the developer on the basis of the time duration measured by the measuring portion.

A developing unit includes a developer storage unit, a developer bearing member, an agitation member, a flexible member, and a magnet member. The developer storage unit stores a developer. The developer bearing member develops an electrostatic latent image formed on an image bearing member with the developer. The agitation member agitates the developer in the developer storage unit. The flexible member, disposed in the developer storage unit, is distorted by pressure applied by the agitation member via the developer. The magnet member, disposed on the flexible member, is displaced in response to the flexible member being distorted.

Developing unit, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes: an image bearing member configured to bear a toner image; a plurality of electrode portions; a control unit configured to control a voltage applied to the electrode unit based on image information; and a toner bearing member configured to bear toner and form a toner image on the image bearing member according to the voltage applied to the electrode portion, in which &#x3b1;&#x3e;1.22 is satisfied and rx&#x2033;/ry&#x2033; is defined as &#x3b1;, where Dy indicates a thickness of the image bearing member, Dx indicates a distance between the electrode portions adjacent to each other, rx&#x2033; indicates a resistance component of the image bearing member in a direction parallel to Dx and ry&#x2033; indicates a resistance component of the image bearing member in a direction parallel to Dy in a rectangular solid body including Dx and Dy in a side.

A toner container includes a toner accommodating portion: a rotatable toner stirring member; a sensor for detecting a remaining amount of the toner; wherein the sensor includes a first flexible sheet portion, a second sheet portion, a first opening, a first electroconductive portion, a second electroconductive portion, wherein the first sheet portion flexes by a stirring operation of the stirring member, and the first electroconductive portion is contacted to the second electroconductive portion, by which the remaining toner amount is detectable, and wherein the toner accommodating portion is provided with a second opening for communicating the first opening and an outside of the toner accommodating portion with each other.

Toner container, developing device, process cartridge and image forming apparatus

The image forming apparatus includes a video controller unit that receives image information to convert the image information into an image signal for image formation, an engine controller unit that controls image formation, a laser driver unit that emits a laser beam, and a plurality of signal lines that connect the video controller unit, the engine controller unit, and the laser driver unit to each other, wherein the laser driver unit detects the laser beam emitted from the illumination element and generates a horizontal synchronization signal which is electrically transmitted via any one of the plurality of signal lines and used as the reference of an image writing timing in response to the detection. Among the signal lines, a signal line for transmitting the image signal or a control signal electrically and a signal line for electrically transmitting the horizontal synchronization signal are used as a common signal line.

Image forming apparatus with shared line for horizontal synchronization signal

A driving control apparatus for a stepping motor is provided by which the productivity is improved while keeping the driving performance of the motor at a required level. To accomplish this, a driving control apparatus of the present invention drives a stepping motor by switching an excitation current supplied to a coil of a predetermined phase between a first excitation current value, a second excitation current value greater than the first excitation current value, and a third excitation current value still greater than the second excitation current value. In a first mode for generating a first driving force by the stepping motor, the first through third excitation current values are sequentially switched, whereas in a second mode for generating a second driving force smaller than the first driving force, the first and second excitation current values are sequentially switched.

Driving control apparatus for stepping motor and image forming apparatus

Disclosed is a fixing apparatus which includes a first rotatable member having an endless configuration, and a second rotatable member in pressure contact with the first rotatable member which causes a recording material bearing an image to be nipped and conveyed at a pressure contact portion between the first and second rotatable members. A temperature raising unit is provided for raising temperature of a local portion of the first rotatable member by reception of electric power supply, and a temperature detecting unit detects a temperature of a location different from the pressure contact portion with respect to a rotational direction of the first rotatable member. A first control unit is provided for feedback-controlling electric power to be supplied to the temperature raising unit, and a second control unit is provided for temporally supplying electric power corresponding to a set value set by a setting unit to the temperature raising unit.

Fixing apparatus, and image forming apparatus

In a fixing apparatus using a fixing belt having an elastic layer as a fixing member and an image forming apparatus mounting such a fixing apparatus thereto, before a temperature detecting unit detects temperature change caused upon recording material conveying into a nip region, an electric power required to be applied to a heating element to heat the heating element is corrected to a predetermined electric power, and, when the fixing apparatus is started-up upon starting of print, at a predetermined timing, the electric power required to be applied to the heating element to heat the heating element is corrected to the predetermined electric power and a value of the predetermined electric power is substantially the same as an electric power value required for reaching the fixing apparatus to the predetermined power. The value of the predetermined power is determined in accordance with heat capacity of the recording material or a heat accumulating degree of the fixing apparatus on demand.

Fixing apparatus and image forming apparatus with temperature controller increasing electric power substantially at a timing with temperature degradation

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Susono, Japan

Toshikazu Tsuchiya