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:
Jun. 07, 2016
Filed:
Jul. 06, 2015
Tomohiro Fukao, Osaka, JP;
Tsuyoshi Nozaki, Osaka, JP;
Yoshihiro Mikuriya, Hyogo, JP;
Yoshimichi Ishikawa, Hyogo, JP;
Atsushi Yamamoto, Osaka, JP;
Kazuoki Fuwa, Hyogo, JP;
Tomoharu Miki, Osaka, JP;
Naoki Nakatake, Hyogo, JP;
Takeshi Yamashita, Osaka, JP;
Tetsushi Sakuma, Chiba, JP;
Tomohiro Fukao, Osaka, JP;
Tsuyoshi Nozaki, Osaka, JP;
Yoshihiro Mikuriya, Hyogo, JP;
Yoshimichi Ishikawa, Hyogo, JP;
Atsushi Yamamoto, Osaka, JP;
Kazuoki Fuwa, Hyogo, JP;
Tomoharu Miki, Osaka, JP;
Naoki Nakatake, Hyogo, JP;
Takeshi Yamashita, Osaka, JP;
Tetsushi Sakuma, Chiba, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus is provided which includes an image bearer, a charger, an irradiator, a developing device to develop an electrostatic latent image on the image bearer with a toner to form a toner image, a transfer device to transfer the toner image onto a transfer medium, and a cleaner to remove toner particles remaining on the image bearer without being transferred. The toner includes a mother particle including a binder resin and a colorant and one or more external additives. At least one of the external additives includes primary particles having a number average particle diameter in the range of 0.05 to 0.30 μm. The cleaner includes an elastic body blade having a contact part with the image bearer. The contact part has a surface elastic modulus in the range of 15 to 25 N/mmand a surface friction coefficient in the range of 0.5 to 0.7.