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:
Apr. 06, 2010
Filed:
Feb. 13, 2004
Mikio Kakui, Nara, JP;
Koichi Toriyama, Yao, JP;
Kotaro Fukushima, Kawanishi, JP;
Hisayuki Utsumi, Nara, JP;
Sayaka Fujita, Kashihara, JP;
Akiko Uchino, Tenri, JP;
Katsuru Matsumoto, Nara, JP;
Mikio Kakui, Nara, JP;
Koichi Toriyama, Yao, JP;
Kotaro Fukushima, Kawanishi, JP;
Hisayuki Utsumi, Nara, JP;
Sayaka Fujita, Kashihara, JP;
Akiko Uchino, Tenri, JP;
Katsuru Matsumoto, Nara, JP;
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka-shi, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus having excellent cleaning property for an electrophotographic photoreceptor and capable of forming a high-quality, high-resolution image. A surface free energy (γ) of a photoreceptor (), which is provided in the image forming apparatus (), is set to 20 to 35 mN/m. A volume average diameter of toner particles included in a developer stored in a developing unit () to develop an electrostatic latent image and form a toner image is set to 4-7 μm When γ of the photoreceptor () is set to within a small range as the particle size of toner is reduced, even small-particle-size toner having increased specific surface area and largely affected by a inter-molecular force is limited in adhesion to the surface of the photoreceptor () to provide a good cleaning property and a high-quality image can be formed.