Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Toshinori Araki

Keita Inoue

Shinta Sugiura

Masaaki Wakizaka

Osamu Takahashi

Seiya Sato

Koji Akagi

Kentaro Aoyama

Tatsuro Yokoi

Shunsuke Aiba

Shunsuke Hachiya

Toshio Furukawa

Miho Ishida

Yoshiyuki Tsujimoto

Nobuyuki Tanaka

Shintaro Fukuoka

Masaya Takasu

Takuro Nishimura

Yutaro Kuge

An image-forming apparatus includes: a main casing; a drawer movable in a first direction between a first position inside the main casing and a second position outside the main casing; process cartridges attachable to and detachable from the drawer; a controller; and a device-side terminal connected to the controller. The process cartridges are arranged in the first direction in an attached state to the drawer. Each process cartridge includes a photosensitive drum, a magnetic roller, a developing container for storing carrier, a conveying member, a toner sensor, a process memory, and a process-side terminal. The toner sensor is configured to output a detection signal corresponding to a concentration of toner in the developing container. The process-side terminal is for both outputting the detection signal of the toner sensor and outputting information about the process cartridge stored in the process memory. The device-side terminal is configured to contact the process-side terminal.

Image-forming apparatus including process cartridge and device-side terminal configured to contact process-side terminal

An image forming system includes an image forming apparatus including an AC-DC converter and a main board, and a sub board having a sub connector connectable with a main connector of the main board. When the sub board is not connected with the main board, a main DC-DC converter on the main board converts a DC voltage from the AC-DC converter into a first DC voltage and output the first DC voltage to a circuit element for image formation. When the sub board is connected with the main board, the AC-DC converter outputs the DC voltage to a sub DC-DC converter on the sub board via the main connector and the sub connector, and the sub DC-DC converter converts the DC voltage from the AC-DC converter into a second DC voltage and output the second DC voltage to the circuit element via the sub connector and the main connector.

Image forming system for supplying voltage to image forming apparatus even when DC-DC converter on main board fails

An image forming apparatus includes a main body, a drum cartridge removably attached to the main body, and a belt unit removably attached to the main body. The main body includes a drum power supply, a belt power supply, and a controller configured to start supplying power from the drum power supply to a drum memory of the drum cartridge, start supplying power from the belt power supply to a belt memory of the belt unit, stop supplying the power from the drum power supply to the drum memory after starting supplying the power from the drum power supply to the drum memory, and stop supplying the power from the belt power supply to the belt memory after starting supplying the power from the belt power supply to the belt memory.

Image forming apparatus, method, and computer-readable medium for preventing failures and errors in drum memory and belt memory due to hot-swapping

In an image forming apparatus, an image forming unit configured to form a toner image on a transfer medium includes four sets of a photoconductor drum and a development roller, respectively, for forming toner images of first, second, third and fourth colors, arranged in this order, in a direction opposite to a direction of movement of the transfer medium moving toward a detector configured to detect a toner image formed on the transfer medium. A controller executes a bias-corrective test image forming process in which a first bias-corrective test image of the first color is arranged in a position downstream of other three first bias-corrective test images, and a second bias-corrective test image of the first color is arranged in a position between two first bias-corrective test images selected among other three first bias-corrective test images, in the direction of movement of the transfer medium.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a drawer, an operation panel, and a sensor. The housing includes a first side wall having a first opening, and a second side wall having a vent and extending in a direction crossing the first side wall. The drawer supports a cartridge. The drawer is movable through the first opening between an inner position at which the drawer is accommodated in the housing and an outer position at which a part of the drawer is exposed to outside the housing. At least part of the operation panel protrudes from an outer surface of the second side wall. The sensor is arranged in the housing between the drawer and the second side wall. The sensor is configured to detect at least temperature or humidity of ambient air taken in through the vent.

A high-voltage electrical circuit board is located in a first region that is a region at one side of photosensitive drums in a first direction and outside of the photosensitive drums in the first direction. A first motor drives a conveyance mechanism. A second motor is located in a second region and drives each photosensitive drum. A third motor is located in the second region and drives each developing roller to rotate and to drive a separation mechanism configured to individually move the developing rollers between a contact position and a separation position. A control board is located in the second region. The control board includes a controller configured to control a first applying circuit, the first motor, the second motor, and the third motor. The first motor, the second motor, the third motor, and the control board are located at different positions from one another in the second region.

Image forming apparatus in which high-voltage electrical circuit board is located in first region and motors and control board are located in second region

An image forming apparatus includes a controller, a main body frame, a cartridge and a display. The cartridge includes a memory, a cartridge data terminal and a cartridge detection terminal. The controller includes a main body data terminal and a main body detection terminal. The main body data terminal is electrically connected to the cartridge data terminal. The main body detection terminal is electrically connected to the cartridge detection terminal in the case where the cartridge is attached to the main body frame. The controller is configured to perform determining whether the main body detection terminal and the cartridge detection terminal are electrically connected with each other. The controller is configured to perform displaying a determination result of the determining whether the main body detection terminal and the cartridge detection terminal are electrically connected with each other on the display.

Image forming apparatus to which cartridge is attachable and including controller capable of determining whether cartridge is attached to image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Hekinan, Japan

Toshinori Araki