Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Yasuyuki Tsutsumi

Shigeki Nishimura

Takafumi Wakai

Hirokazu Hamano

Yoshifumi Ozaki

Kazuaki Iikura

Akihiko Noda

Yosuke Ninomiya

Masaru Sakuma

Shinji Mitsui

Munenobu Okubo

Kazuya Yamanoi

Tadashi Kiyama

Yusuke Kitagawa

Toyohiko Awano

Hiromitsu Koizumi

Naomasa Okimura

Kazuo Maruyama

Toru Isosu

Shigeo Ohno

Toshio Masubuchi

Masahiro Andoh

Tsutomu Uezono

Hisashi Murase

Ryuichi Yamamoto

Yoshinobu Kariya

Masahiro Satoh

Noritaka Ide

Hideaki Sakata

A developing device includes a developer container including a first chamber and a second chamber arranged along a lateral direction, which crosses a gravitational direction, developer circulating through the first chamber and the second chamber; a transporting member rotatably disposed in the first chamber; and a supply member rotatably disposed in the second chamber. A lower end position of the supply member and a lower end position of the transporting member in the gravitational direction are at the same level. While the supply member and the transporting member are rotating, an upper surface of developer contained in the first chamber and an upper surface of developer contained in the second chamber are at levels not higher than an upper end position of the transporting member but not lower than an upper end position of the supply member in the gravitational direction.

Developing device and image forming apparatus

There is provided a developing device including a toner holding member that is rotatably provided to face an image holding member and holds and transports a nonmagnetic single-component toner toward a development region to develop an electrostatic latent image on the image holding member, a supplying member that is rotatably provided in elastic contact with the toner holding member to supply the toner from a contact region therebetween to the toner holding member, a toner replenishing unit that faces a replenishment region at a portion apart from the contact region to replenish a new toner, and a regulating member that is provided on a downstream side of the contact region in a rotation direction thereof and on an upstream side of the development region to triboelectrically charge the toner held on the toner holding member and regulate the amount of toner provided for the development.

Developing device, and image forming apparatus using the same

A developing device includes a toner holding member that is rotatably installed opposite to an image holding member which holds a latent image and circularly moves, a supply member that has a rough surface capable of capturing toner, a toner supply portion that supplies new toner, and a restriction member that restricts an amount of toner used for development, wherein the toner supply portion connects an accommodation chamber to a developing chamber via a toner transport path, wherein a developing chamber side opening is located on a lower side of an accommodation chamber side opening of the toner transport path, and wherein a width size in a direction following a rotation direction of the supply member in the developing chamber side opening of the toner transport path is set to be smaller than an outer diameter of the supply member in a projection plane viewed from the supply member side.

A developing device includes a transporting unit that rotates while facing an image carrier that carries an electrostatic latent image, the transporting unit transporting developer toward the image carrier; a feeding unit that contacts the transporting unit to feed the developer to the transporting unit; a transport path that connects a containing chamber that contains the developer to a feeding chamber that houses the feeding unit; a supplying unit that retains the developer to be supplied in the transport path and supplies the developer to the feeding unit in a supply region that is separated from a contact region in which the feeding unit contacts the transporting unit; and an attaching unit that is disposed downstream of the contact region and upstream of the supply region in a rotation direction of the feeding unit and that attaches the developer to the feeding unit at a location below the contact region.

Developing device having an attaching unit for attaching developer and image forming apparatus including the same

A developing device including a toner holding member that faces but is not in contact with an image carrier carrying a latent image and that rotates while holding a nonmagnetic toner, a charging member that charges the toner, and a developing electric field forming unit that forms a developing electric field at least including a direct current component to cause the charged toner to fly and adhere to the latent image to develop the latent image. When the developing electric field is applied such that the toner is caused to fly toward the image carrier by the direct current component of the developing electric field, maintaining a non-electrostatic adhesion of the toner to the toner holding member to be about 2 nN or more under a low-temperature low-humidity environment of a temperature of 10&#xb0; C. and a relative humidity of 15%. The toner holding member's surface has a specific surface roughness specified by a specific oil retention volume.

Image forming apparatus including developing device using toner holding member with specific surface roughness

A developing device includes a container, a toner holding member, a developing electric field forming unit, a layer forming unit, an electrode member, and a low-frequency electric field forming unit. The container accommodates toner. The toner holding member holds toner and transports the toner to a developing region where the toner holding member and the latent image holding member face. The developing electric field forming unit forms a developing electric field for developing a latent image held on a latent image holding member. The layer forming unit forms a toner layer on the toner holding member prior to the developing region. The electrode member faces the toner holding member. The low-frequency electric field forming unit forms a low-frequency electric field acting on residual toner between the electrode member and the toner holding member, and forms stripe-shaped projections in accordance with a period of the low-frequency electric field.

Developing device and image forming apparatus including the same

Image forming apparatus

An image formation apparatus including a photoreceptor, a charger having a charger member for charging the photoreceptor, a latent image write unit for writing an electrostatic latent image onto the photoreceptor charged by the charger, and a developing device having a developer support with a magnetic field production member, for rendering visible the electrostatic latent image written by the latent image write unit with a developer. Further, the charging member of the charger is disposed under effect of a magnetic field produced by the magnetic field production member of the developing device, and the charging member is made of a nonmagnetic material.

Image formation apparatus and charger used therewith

An image forming apparatus includes an intermediate transfer member to which a toner image is transferred, a transfer roll for transferring the toner image from the intermediate transfer member onto a recording sheet, a brush roll for removing the residual toner from the intermediate transfer member, and a toner collecting device for collecting the toner attached to the surface of the transfer roll. In the apparatus, an axial length of the intermediate transfer member is longer than that of the brush roll, and the axial length of each of the transfer roll and the toner collecting device is longer than that of the intermediate transfer member.

Image forming apparatus having intermediate transfer bodies, brush roller devices and transfer roll device having defined axial lengths

A cleaning unit having a brush roll with a myriad of slidingly scrubbing bristles upright relative to a rotation shaft for slidingly scrubbing the surface of a rotation body with the brush roll for removing toner deposited on the rotation body. When the brush roll is out of contact with the rotation body, the tips of the slidingly scrubbing bristles are inclined in the circumferential direction and when the brush roll is placed in contact with the rotation body, the brush roll does not rotate by itself and is rotated with rotation of the rotation body. The linear speed of the brush roll at the contact position is made different from that of the rotation body.

Brush roll cleaning unit and image formation apparatus using it

In an image recording apparatus, the surface of an image carrier is formed of a material having a high affinity to particulates the particle size of which is smaller than toner and the surfaces of which have been treated to be hydrophobic, so that a layer of the particulates treated to be hydrophobic is retained on the surface of the image carrier.

Image carrier and apparatus and method for recording image using image carrier

The invention provides a developing unit, and an image forming apparatus using the same, which is capable of suppressing developer in the middle of a developing process in a developing area from remaining on the surface of an electrostatic latent image carrier when the application of oscillatory bias voltage applied to the developer carrier is stopped and of preventing the inside of the image forming apparatus and each member such as transfer member from being contaminated by the developer. The frequency of the oscillatory bias voltage is controlled so as to be higher than a normal frequency when stopping the application of the oscillating bias voltage.

Developing unit using oscillatory bias voltage

A developing device which can withstand resistance at a time a coagulated toner is scraped off is provided merely by providing a rotating shaft with a strength needed for agitating and conveying toner during normal operation. When the coagulated toner is scraped off, a large load is applied to the rotating shaft through an agitator. The rotating shaft bends, and a crank portion of the rotating shaft moves off of an axis. As a result, the crank portion is supported in a cut portion in a support plate. Therefore, strength of the rotating shaft becomes apparently greater. During normal operation, the crank portion of the rotating shaft moves out of the cut portion so as to be set in a state of non-contact with the cut portion. Therefore, no unnecessary load is applied to the rotating shaft, and the crank portion and the cut portion are not worn.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Yasuyuki Tsutsumi