Konica Minolta, Inc.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.

Yusuke Mamiya

Masashi Saito

Yutaka Otsuka

Soh Hirota

Yusuke Nishisaka

Hironori Akashi

Mitsuru Obara

Masahiro Kouzaki

Yoshinori Tsutsumi

Hajime Kawakami

Kohei Hayashi

Ryohei Matsuo

Shinya Tokutake

Yoshikazu Tsubotani

Shigeki Naiki

Motoki Nakano

Toshihito Kobayashi

Kanako Kibihara

An inkjet-type image forming apparatus, includes: an intermediate transfer body that has an outmost surface layer and transfers a photo-curable ink to a recording medium; a light irradiator that performs a tentative-curing treatment by photo-curing the photo-curable ink after the ink is landed on the intermediate transfer body and before the landed ink is transferred to the recording medium; a temperature controller that causes the outmost surface layer to be melted, expanded, or contracted; and a transferor that transfers the photo-curable ink landed on the intermediate transfer body to the recording medium.

Image forming apparatus and image forming method

A fixation apparatus includes an endless fixation belt, a pad portion, an opposing rotating body, a heat source, a tensioned support portion, a support portion, and an opposing portion. The tensioned support portion supports the fixation belt under tension. The support portion is arranged downstream from a fixation nip portion in a direction of rotation of the fixation belt, and supports the fixation belt from an inner circumferential side of the fixation belt. The opposing portion is arranged as being opposed to an outer circumferential surface of the fixation belt with a space being interposed. The support portion includes a contact area where the support portion and an inner circumferential surface of the fixation belt are in contact with each other. The opposing portion is arranged as being opposed to the contact area.

Fixation apparatus and image forming apparatus

A fixing device is for fixing a toner image on a recording medium an image forming apparatus. The fixing device includes a fixing belt, a heating member, a nip area member, a pressing member, and a protrusion. The fixing belt is held by the heating member and the nip area member. The pressing member presses the fixing belt against the nip area member while being rotationally driven. The toner image is fixed on the recording medium in a nip area where the pressing member presses the fixing belt against the nip area member. The protrusion is in contact with the inner surface of the fixing belt. In the fixing device, the fixing belt is in contact with small areas only other than the heating area and the nip area to reduce the heat loss.

Fixing device containing heating member, nip area member, fixing belt, pressing member, and protrusion, and image forming apparatus

An image formation apparatus includes: a fixer that fixes a toner image onto a sheet by heat and pressure, and includes: a heat source; a first rotary member that is heated by the heat source; a temperature sensing unit that senses a temperature of the first rotary member; and a second rotary member that forms a nip with the first rotary member for applying heat and pressure to the sheet; and a controller that calculates a nip width of the nip in a passing direction of the sheet with use of a rotation period and a rest period of the first rotary member during which the heat source operates, and changes a target temperature of the first rotary member in accordance with the calculated nip width.

For each of N imaginary regions divided at predetermined intervals in the direction of the rotation shaft of a developer roller (), the amount of toner consumed when an image is formed is previously calculated. Then, the same amount of toner as a toner consumption amount calculated for each imaginary region is supplied to a development device () earlier by a time in which the toner supplied from a toner hopper () is transported to each imaginary region than at the time of the development. Thus, it is possible to maintain a toner concentration within the development device within a predetermined range without the toner being dispersed and an image formation speed being reduced even if an image having a high print rate is formed.

Image forming device having a toner supply control portion

An image forming apparatus having an image carrier; an electrostatic latent image forming device that forms an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier; a development device having a housing section that stores toner therein, a stirring device for stirring the toner inside the housing section, and a toner, carrier that develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image by imparting the toner to the image carrier; a voltage applying device that applies a development bias voltage between the image carrier and the toner carrier; a control device that makes the electrostatic latent image forming device and the development device form a test toner image on the image carrier; and a sensing device that senses a toner adhering amount of the test toner image. The control device determines whether to make the stirring device stir the toner based upon a relation between the toner adhering amount of the test toner image and the development bias voltage that was applied by the voltage applying device for formation of the test toner image.

Image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Yusuke Mamiya