Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
399299000 | From plural photoconductive members (e.g., drums) | 29 |
20080226358 | Image forming apparatus - A reciprocating-motion converting mechanism includes a cam that rotates around a rotation center; a reciprocating member that is reciprocated due to rotation of the cam; and a pressing unit that presses the reciprocating member to the cam. A first load torque is generated by a load applied at a point of contact of the cam and the reciprocating motion member. A load applying unit applies a load to the cam to generate a second load torque having a phase substantially opposite to a phase of the first load torque. | 09-18-2008 |
20090016784 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - An image forming apparatus, including: | 01-15-2009 |
20090190971 | TRANSFER BELT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS PROVIDED WITH THE SAME - An transfer belt device includes a roller support supporting transfer rollers, a cam driving shaft having a cam, the cam having capability of swinging the roller support to move the transfer rollers toward and apart from color photosensitive drums to thereby switch a transfer belt and the color photosensitive drums between a state where the transfer belt is in contact with the color photosensitive drums and a state where the transfer belt is out of contact with the color photosensitive drums, a tension roller kept in contact with a surface of the transfer belt to exert tension on the transfer belt, and a pivotal axis on which the tension roller is swingably supported, the pivotal axis being common with the cam driving shaft. | 07-30-2009 |
20090196661 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - An image forming apparatus, including: | 08-06-2009 |
20090263166 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image carrier members each configured to carry a latent image, a plurality of electrostatic chargers each configured to charge the image carrier member uniformly, a plurality of developing devices each configured to develop the latent image formed to the image carrier member by toner, a plurality of cleaners each configured to remove the toner remaining on the carrier member, an intermediate transfer member having a non-electroconductive material on which a developed image is transferred by one of the image carrier members and then another developed image is transferred over the developed image by another image carrier member and a plurality of transfer rollers each provided so as to oppose the image carrier member with the intermediary of the intermediate transfer member. | 10-22-2009 |
20090317146 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image forming units arranged to form toner images of different colors on surfaces of photoconductive drums, an intermediate transfer unit that has an intermediate transfer belt arranged in the vicinity of the photoconductive drums and a plurality of intermediate transfer rollers opposed to the respective photoconductive drums through the intermediate transfer belt, and that transfers the toner images formed on the photoconductive drums to the intermediate transfer belt, and a transfer unit arranged to transfer, to a piece of paper, the toner images of different colors transferred to the intermediate transfer belt. The intermediate transfer unit includes a position setting mechanism arranged to move the intermediate transfer rollers individually to an operation position in which the roller makes contact with the intermediate transfer belt to be close to the photoconductive drum or to a stand-by position in which the roller is separated away from the intermediate transfer belt to be retreated from the photoconductive drum. | 12-24-2009 |
20100226692 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHICALLY PRODUCED BARRIER IMAGES USING AN INTERMEDIATE TRANSFER MEMBER - Systems and methods of producing image products using printing are provided. The printed image products can include stereoscopic and/or color shifting images. These images can be formed by a sequential application of a base image, a clear toner layer and a barrier image layer in a single pass through a printer. The barrier image layer can include opaque barriers (for stereoscopic or color shifting images) or can include translucent or transparent barriers (for color shifting images). | 09-09-2010 |
20100226693 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHICALLY PRODUCED BARRIER IMAGES - Systems and methods of producing image products using printing are provided. The printed image products can include stereoscopic and/or color shifting images. These images can be formed by a sequential application of a base image, a clear toner layer and a barrier image layer in a single pass through a printer. The barrier image layer can include opaque barriers (for stereoscopic or color shifting images) or can include translucent or transparent barriers (for color shifting images). | 09-09-2010 |
20100272478 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of N image carriers including first through Nth image carriers, a transfer unit including an endless transfer belt, a plurality of M belt supporting members including a plurality of first through Nth nip opposing members contacting the inner surface of the endless transfer belt at positions corresponding to where the plurality of N image carriers contacts the outer surface of the endless transfer belt to form N transfer nips thereat, the first opposing member defining a first supported area of the endless transfer belt, a contact and separation mechanism including a retaining unit to move the first supported area of the endless transfer belt into and out of contact with the first image carrier, and a mark detector to detect a plurality of adjacent marks formed at a predetermined pitch in a circumferential direction of the endless transfer belt. | 10-28-2010 |
20100322678 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A color image forming apparatus comprising: a first development device which develops an electrostatic image on a first image bearing member with toner of color other than black; a first transfer member which forms a nip portion for nipping an image receiving member with the first image bearing member; a second development device which develops an electrostatic image on a second bearing member with black toner so as to form a toner image and collects the toner on the second image bearing member; and a second transfer member which forms a nip portion for nipping the image receiving member with respect to the second image bearing member and transfers the toner image on the second image bearing member electrostatically to the image receiving member, wherein the position of the second transfer member to the second image bearing member in the moving direction of the image receiving member is in the downstream side relative to the position of the first image bearing member of the first transfer member. | 12-23-2010 |
20110002717 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus starts a separation operation of separating at least one of a plurality of image bearing members and an intermediate transfer member from each other at a first speed, and when the at least one of a plurality of image bearing members and the intermediate transfer member are not separated from each other within a predetermined period of time from the start of the separation operation, the image forming apparatus performs the separation operation at a second speed lower than the first speed. With such a configuration, even when a sudden load to the separation motor occurs, a load increases due to aging degradation, etc., the occurrence of a separation operation failure of the intermediate transfer belt may be reduced to increase the service life of the image forming apparatus. | 01-06-2011 |
20110058859 | Transfer device and image forming apparatus including same - A transfer device includes a rotatable intermediate transfer belt wound around and stretched between a pair of rollers, facing a plurality of image bearing members bearing toner images, a plurality of transfer members facing the image bearing members through the intermediate transfer member, to transfer overlappingly the toner images onto the intermediate transfer member forming a composite toner image, a lubricant applicator disposed upstream from the image bearing members in a direction of rotation of the intermediate transfer belt and on the same plane as the image bearing members, to apply a lubricant on the intermediate transfer member, an opposing member disposed opposite the lubricant applicator, to contact the lubricant applicator through the intermediate transfer member, and a pressure member disposed upstream from the image bearing members and downstream from the lubricant applicator in the direction of rotation of the intermediate transfer belt, to press against the intermediate transfer member. | 03-10-2011 |
20110085826 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of optical scanning units to scan light modulated according to an image signal, a plurality of photoconductive drums to form a plurality of electrostatic latent images by the light scanned from the plurality of optical scanning units, a plurality of developing units to develop the plurality of electrostatic latent images formed on the plurality of photoconductive drums into a plurality of toner images, an intermediate transfer unit to transfer the plurality of toner images developed by the plurality of developing units, a plurality of first transfer rollers installed in the intermediate transfer unit to correspond to the plurality of photoconductive drums, respectively, and to apply transfer voltages that is used to transfer the plurality of toner images onto the intermediate transfer unit, a second transfer roller to transfer the plurality of toner images formed on the intermediate transfer unit onto a paper, and a fixing unit to fix the plurality of toner images transferred onto the paper, wherein the plurality of first transfer rollers includes the first transfer rollers of a first group in which distances between the first transfer rollers of the first group and the plurality of photoconductive drums, respectively, are sequentially reduced downstream along a direction that the intermediate transfer unit travels, and the first transfer roller of a second group is independent from the distances between the first transfer rollers of the first group and the plurality of photoconductive drums. | 04-14-2011 |
20110116845 | MULTIPASS ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT ENGINE - A method and system for printing image documents using a variety of toners where some toners using a multi-development station having two or more development stations. These toners are co-printed prior to fixing, on the receiver by the multi-development station. | 05-19-2011 |
20110182628 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - An image forming apparatus and an image forming method are provided that realize both the use of a decolorizing toner and a non-decolorizing toner and miniaturization of the apparatus. | 07-28-2011 |
20110194877 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes toner image forming units that are arranged in a line at two end portions and at an intermediate portion of the line, each of the toner image forming units forming a toner image; an image transfer body to which the toner images formed by the toner image forming units are transferred; pressing members that are linearly arranged so that each of the pressing members faces a corresponding one of the toner image forming units with the image transfer body therebetween, each of the pressing members applying a pressing force to the image transfer body; and a fixing unit that fixes the toner images on a recording member. The pressing forces applied by the pressing members that are disposed at the two end portions are smaller than the pressing force applied by the pressing member that is disposed in the intermediate portion. | 08-11-2011 |
20110222920 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a first image carrier facing an intermediate transfer belt, a primary transfer unit primarily transferring images on the first image carrier onto the intermediate transfer belt, a secondary transfer roller facing the intermediate transfer belt secondarily transferring images on the intermediate transfer belt onto a recording medium, a second image carrier provided upstream/downstream of a secondary transfer position in a recording medium conveying direction, a direct transfer unit directly transferring images on the second image carrier onto the recording medium, a recording medium carriage belt rotatably stretched across roller members including the secondary transfer roller supporting and conveying the recording medium to pass a direct transfer position and the secondary transfer position, and a displacement unit displacing the secondary transfer roller between a contact position where the recording medium carriage belt contacts the intermediate transfer belt and a separate position where it is separated therefrom. | 09-15-2011 |
20110249992 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a first image carrier forming a black toner image, a plurality of second image carriers forming a yellow, magenta, or cyan toner image, a third image carrier forming a special color toner image, and a transfer target member or an intermediate transfer belt. The apparatus further includes first and second detachment units. The first detachment unit detaches only the third image carrier from the transfer target member, and the second detachment unit detaches the second image carriers and the third image carrier. When switching from a special color image mode to either a normal color image mode or a monochrome image mode is performed during continuous printing of the recording media, the first detachment unit or the second detachment unit controls the detachment operation based on the number of recording media continuously printed by the normal color image mode or the monochrome image mode. | 10-13-2011 |
20120107023 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus to form an image in a single pass includes a plurality of image carriers, a transfer belt to receive developer images from the image carriers, a plurality of primary transfer rollers disposed to be offset from the image carriers along the transfer belt, respectively, a backup roller disposed adjacent to the last one of the primary transfer rollers disposed most-downstream in a rotating direction of the transfer belt, and a secondary transfer roller to transfer the developer images from the transfer belt to a printing medium, the secondary transfer roller being disposed opposite to the backup roller to interpose the transfer belt therebetween. The backup roller has a resistance in the range of 5 to 50 MΩ. | 05-03-2012 |
20120251193 | TRANSFER DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A transfer device includes an endless member caused to circulate by a driving unit, plural transfer members coming in contact with a rear surface of the endless member and transferring toner images on image holding members to the endless member, a support member movably supporting a specific transfer member of the transfer members located at a position which is more upstream in a circulation direction of the endless member than a contact position where a recording medium comes in contact with the endless member and which is closest to the contact position, a regulation member regulating the movement of the specific transfer member in a state where the specific transfer member is disposed at a position where the toner image formed on the corresponding image holding member is transferred to the endless member, and a first impelling member impelling the support member to the regulation member. | 10-04-2012 |
20130078009 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FORMING THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING SHEET, THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING SHEET AND THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING METHOD - There is provided an apparatus for forming a thermal transfer printing sheet. The apparatus includes: a release sheet feeder that feeds a release sheet having a release surface; a first image forming section that transfers an image, which is to be thermally transferred and printed on a transfer medium, onto the release surface of the release sheet; a second image forming section that forms a thermoplastic resin pattern corresponding to the image as a transfer base material and transfers the thermoplastic resin pattern onto the release surface of the release sheet; and a fixing section that fixes the image and the thermoplastic resin pattern onto the release surface of the release sheet in a film shape, through heat and pressure. | 03-28-2013 |
20140119782 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING TRANSFER BELT - A post-processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: transfer belt; roller position adjustment mechanism; position information acquiring portion; first opposing portion which causes transfer belt to contact first image carrier; second opposing portion capable of being positioned at either contact position that causes transfer belt to contact second image carrier or separation position that causes transfer belt to be separated from second image carrier; movement mechanism portion which moves second opposing portion to contact position or separation position; first control portion which controls roller position adjustment mechanism so that transfer belt will return to target position, based on position information acquired by position information acquiring portion; and second control portion which, in the case where transfer belt does not return into a correction range and is out of correction range, controls movement mechanism portion so as to change position of second opposing portion. | 05-01-2014 |
20140126937 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus ( | 05-08-2014 |
20140233987 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a first image bearing member; a plurality of second image bearing member; an endless belt opposing the first and second image bearing members; a driving roller; a supporting roller; a first transfer member opposing the first image bearing member; a plurality of second transfer members provided opposing the second image bearing members; and a supporting member for supporting the second transfer members. The supporting member is movable between a first position as a contact position and a second position as a spaced position. When image formation is effected in a state in which the supporting member is positioned in the first position, a nip between the first image bearing member and the belt member is positioned closer to a side where the supporting roller is positioned than a rectilinear line connecting contact positions of the belt member with the second image bearing members. | 08-21-2014 |
20150055992 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - In a constitution provided with no primary-transfer roller, in order to ensure a contact length between each of photosensitive drums and an intermediary transfer belt, the photosensitive drums are disposed in entering amounts at a plurality of levels with respect to a stretching surface of the intermediary transfer belt, and therefore an apparatus is upsized in a height direction. In order to avoid this, four image bearing members are arranged, along the intermediary transfer belt, in the same entering amount with respect to the stretching surface of the intermediary transfer belt, and a depressing member for depressing a belt surface between two central image bearing members toward an outside is provided. | 02-26-2015 |
20150338783 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a first photosensitive member, having a first outer diameter, a toner image being formed on the first photosensitive member, and a second photosensitive member, having a second outer diameter, a toner image being formed on the second photosensitive member, the second outer diameter being greater than the first outer diameter. A second transfer roller in relation to the second photosensitive member is disposed on a downstream side of a first transfer roller in relation to the first photosensitive member in a conveyance direction of an intermediate transfer belt. A pressing force of the second transfer roller applied to the second photosensitive member is set to be greater than a pressing force of the first transfer roller applied to the first photosensitive member. | 11-26-2015 |
20150338790 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes: a belt; a first image forming unit including a first drum; a second image forming unit including a second drum; a contact-and-separation portion; an executing portion; and a controller for rotating the second drum by a predetermined angle so that when a cycle of an operation is to be repeated N times, a position of the second drum contacting the belt in an (N−1)th cycle differs from a position of the second drum contacting the belt in an Nth cycle, the cycle including receiving the image data in a state that the belt and the first and second drums are at rest and in a stand-by state that the image forming apparatus waits for an input of the image data in the first state, executing the image forming operation, and then returning the image forming apparatus to the stand-by state. | 11-26-2015 |
20160139527 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes development sections having development rollers, photosensitive drums, primary transfer rollers disposed opposite to the photosensitive drums in one-to-one correspondence, an intermediate transfer belt, and a voltage application section. The voltage application section includes a first voltage application section and a second voltage application section. In forced toner discharge from the development sections, the first voltage application section applies opposite polarity voltage between each of three upstream primary transfer rollers among the primary transfer rollers and the corresponding one of the photosensitive drums. The second voltage application section applies positive polarity voltage between a most downstream primary transfer roller and the corresponding one of the photosensitive drums. | 05-19-2016 |
20160378025 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a movable endless belt, a first image bearing member, second image bearing members provided upstream of the first image bearing member with respect to a movement direction of the belt, a first transfer roller, second transfer rollers, an auxiliary roller provided upstream of a mostupstream second transfer roller of the second transfer rollers with respect to a movement direction of the belt, and an executing portion capable of executing an operation in a full-color mode in a first roller arrangement and an operation in a monochromatic mode in a second roller arrangement. | 12-29-2016 |