The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 09, 1997
Filed:
Apr. 12, 1996
Yoshie Iwakura, Narashino, JP;
Takuya Abe, Yokote, JP;
Kiyoshi Toizumi, Yamatokoriyama, JP;
Fumio Shimazu, Yamatokoriyama, JP;
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus has a photoreceptor drum whereon a toner image is to be formed, a transfer drum for transferring the toner image to a transfer material by making the transfer material contact with the photoreceptor drum, the transfer drum having a dielectric layer, semiconducting layer and conducting layer laminated in this order from a surface which comes into contact with the transfer material, a power source section for applying any voltage to the conducting layer, and a grounded conducting roller which is located in an upstream section in a transfer material transporting direction with respect to a transfer position on a surface of the dielectric layer and comes into contact with the dielectric layer surface through the transfer material. The volume resistivity of the dielectric layer is not lower than 40 percent of the volume resistivity of the semiconducting layer. In this structure, a current component flowing in the circuit is greater than a current component causing the dielectric layer to function as a power source, thereby accumulating charges on the dielectric layer. As a result, stable adhesion of the transfer material to the transfer drum, and improved image quality are achieved.