Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha

Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Toshibec Tec Kabushiki Kaisha

Yasunari Miyazaki

Tomoyuki Kato

Kazuhiko Kikuchi

Kazuhisa Takeda

Yuichi Yokoyama

Masanori Takai

Satoshi Himeno

Daisuke Yamashita

Masato Ogasawara

Norikazu Ochiai

Yoshiyuki Hirahara

Kazunobu Takahashi

Presented is an image forming apparatus that includes a plurality of photoconductors, a sensor, a first memory, and a processor. The photoconductors include first and second photoconductors on which a toner image is formed in response to an image being formed. The sensor detects a physical amount that changes in response to a deterioration state of the first photoconductor. The first memory collects and stores a history of the physical amount and usage status information relating to a usage status of the first photoconductor. The processor performs a prediction of a lifespan of the second photoconductor and determination of a failure of the second photoconductor based on the history of the physical amount and the usage status information of the first photoconductor, and usage status information relating to a usage status of the second photoconductor.

Replacing photoconductor drums associated with image forming apparatuses

An image forming apparatus includes a photoconductor, a charger, a detection unit, and a determination unit. The charger charges the photoconductor. The detection unit detects an actual charging potential of the photoconductor after the photoconductor is charged by the charger. The determination unit determines one of a plurality of causes related to a charging abnormality of the photoconductor based on a relationship between a standard charging potential of the photoconductor to be obtained by charging by the charger and a charging potential detected by the detection unit.

Image forming apparatus and method for determining a cause on an abnormality

An image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic process assembly, a processor, and a memory. The electrophotographic process assembly is configured to transfer a toner image formed on a photoconductive body rotating around an axis extending in a main scanning direction onto a sheet conveyed in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The processor and memory are configured to store a print amount in a plurality of divided sections corresponding to the main scanning direction, acquire the print amount from a monitoring section in one or more monitoring target groupings corresponding to a predetermined section included in the plurality of divided sections, calculate an integrated print amount in the monitoring section, and output information relating to the monitoring target grouping corresponding to the integrated print amount in the monitoring section.

Image forming apparatus and method which performs printing according to an electrophotographic scheme

Image forming apparatus and method for determining a cause of deterioration

An image forming apparatus includes a photoreceptor, a charger, an exposure unit, and a control unit. The charger charges a surface of the photoreceptor. The exposure unit exposes the photoreceptor charged by the charger using a light-emitting diode. The amount of light of a light-emitting diode gradually decreases over time. The control unit controls the exposure unit so that exposure energy by the exposure unit is constant.

Image forming apparatus and control method

An image forming apparatus includes a photoconductive drum, a primary transfer belt, a secondary transfer counter roller, a secondary transfer roller, a bias control circuit, a belt cleaner, and a processor. The photoconductive drum forms a toner image. The primary transfer belt comes in contact with the photoconductive drum and receives the toner image from the photoconductive drum. The secondary transfer counter roller moves the primary transfer belt. The secondary transfer roller presses a printing medium against the primary transfer belt to transfer the toner image on the primary transfer belt to the printing medium. The bias control circuit applies a bias to the secondary transfer roller. The belt cleaner is in contact with the primary transfer belt and removes attached matters from the primary transfer belt. When a printing operation is interrupted, a cleaning operation can be executed to remove residuals on the primary transfer belt.

Automatic cleaning image forming apparatus and method of controlling image forming apparatus

According to one embodiment, an estimation unit corrects ambient temperatures or ambient humidities measured by an environment measurement unit on the basis of calculating an estimated temperature or humidity from measured temperatures or humidities and temperature correction values or humidity correction values, so as to estimate ambient temperatures or ambient humidities of other photoconductors of which the ambient temperatures or the ambient humidities are not measured. A control unit determines image formation conditions for the image forming units forming images on the photoconductors of which the ambient temperatures or the ambient humidities are not measured, on the basis of the ambient temperatures or the ambient humidities estimated by the estimation unit.

Image forming apparatus and control method for image forming apparatus

According to one embodiment, an estimation unit corrects ambient temperatures or ambient humidities measured by an environment measurement unit on the basis of conduction states of charging members provided in the one or more image forming units, so as to estimate ambient temperatures or ambient humidities of other photoconductors of which the ambient temperatures or the ambient humidities are not measured. A control unit determines image formation conditions for the image forming units forming images on the photoconductors of which the ambient temperatures or the ambient humidities are not measured, on the basis of the ambient temperatures or the ambient humidities estimated by the estimation unit.

According to an example of an image forming apparatus, the apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form a toner image by developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier using a toner and fixes the toner image on a recording medium, a count unit configured to count a use amount of a consumption component or an apparatus which are used in the image forming unit according to a image forming condition in the image forming unit, and a count changing unit configured to determine the toner used in the image forming unit and changes a count method of the count unit set according to the image forming condition in response to a determined result.

Image forming apparatus

Certain embodiments provide a marking apparatus that including a determination section configured to determine the type of a medium on which an image is formed with decolorable image forming material, a recording section configured to record a mark indicating the decolored times of the image on the medium on which the image is formed with the decolorable image forming material, and a change section configured to change a recording method of the mark recorded by the recording section according to the determination result of the medium determined by the determination section.

Marking apparatus

In accordance with one embodiment, an image forming apparatus comprises a heating member configured to heat a recording medium, on the surface of which a toner image is carried, to fix the toner on the recording medium; a pressing member configured to contact with the recording paper from the back side of the recording paper; an induction heating section configured to heat the heating member through induction heating; a temperature sensor configured to detect the temperature nearby the heating member; a driving control section configured to carry out a control based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor so that the temperature of the heating member based on the induction heating section is within an allowable temperature range; a temperature range setting section configured to set the allowable temperature range so that the allowable temperature range is narrowed as time elapses from the start of a fixing processing.

An image forming apparatus including: a photo conductor; a charging unit; a plurality of fans; an information acquiring unit acquiring at least any one of print process information, which is information on a print process, or apparatus information, which is information on the internal environment of the apparatus; a reference determining unit that determines whether the print process or the internal environment of the apparatus satisfies the reference by using the print process information or the apparatus information; and an operation control unit including a first control mode that operates and stops the fans and the fixing device when the reference determining unit determines that the reference is not satisfied, and a second control mode that is performed before the first control mode is performed and stops the fixing device while driving the fans, when the reference determining unit determines that the reference is satisfied.

Growing community of inventors

Sunto Shizuoka, Japan

Yasunari Miyazaki