Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090035025 | DEVELOPING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE - A disclosed developing apparatus employs a flare roller that is a toner carrier in which electrodes of two different phases are provided at fine intervals. Density irregularities or scumming in a developed image due to a potential difference between the flare roller and a latent image carrier are prevented by maintaining a constant potential on the flare roller surface. A voltage is applied to the electrodes on the flare roller such that an electric field that varies with time is generated between the electrodes, whereby a toner cloud is produced by the movement or hopping of toner over the flare roller. Thereby the toner attaches to a latent image on the latent image carrier, thus developing the latent image. In one embodiment, a bias with an average potential equal to an average potential of the bias applied to the electrodes is applied to a toner layer thickness regulating member. | 02-05-2009 |
20090051735 | LIQUID DROPLET FLIGHT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A liquid droplet flight device is provided that moves an ink or the like using a comparatively low voltage and stably causes flight of even a high viscosity ink or the like. When causing droplets of a liquid inside a liquid retaining section to fly onto a medium transported between liquid droplet discharge means and an opposing electrode in the liquid droplet flight device, a high voltage is applied to the flight electrode from a bias power source to generate an electric field between the flight electrode and the opposing electrode. On/off control of flight control means is performed in this state to apply a drive voltage of a low voltage to an EW drive electrode from a drive power source such that the liquid inside a slit moves to a leading end portion of the flight electrode due to an electrowetting phenomenon, and the liquid that has moved to the leading end portion of the flight electrode flies toward the opposing electrode through the electric field such that a liquid droplet lands on the medium. | 02-26-2009 |
20090067879 | DEVELOPING DEVICE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A developing device for a toner powder cloud development system, which can achieve high image quality and can be made compact. The developing device has a two-component development unit, a toner carrier, and an alternating current power source. The toner carrier, which is arranged opposing a latent image carrier, has a plurality of electrodes disposed in a line in a prescribed direction on the surface thereof, and mutually insulated. The alternating current power source supplies a voltage such that an electric field across the plurality of electrodes is temporally switched. The inter-electrode electric field causes the toner being carried on the surface of the toner carrier to carry out hopping, thereby forming a toner powder cloud and carrying out development. The movement speed of the latent image carrier and the linear velocity of the toner carrier are set at approximately equivalent speeds. | 03-12-2009 |
20090067889 | DEVELOPING DEVICE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A developing device constituted to be capable of reliably making toner flare, and carrying out developing normally in the developing area, by preventing toner from adhering to the toner carrier. A developing device having a toner carrier which is disposed in opposition to a latent image carrier and which carries toner for developing an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier, the developing device including: a plurality of electrodes aligned at a predetermined interval within the toner carrier; voltage application means for applying a voltage to the electrodes so that the electric field between the plurality of electrodes varies with time, wherein the electric field between the electrodes causes the toner on the toner carrier to hop and form a cloud; and a toner adhesion prevention member that is provided upstream of a developing area where the latent image carrier is in opposition to the toner carrier and that prevents adhesion of toner to the toner carrier. According to the developing device, it is possible to prevent toner from adhering to the toner carrier, and it is possible to make the toner flare reliably. | 03-12-2009 |
20090123193 | DEVELOPMENT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS THAT USES THIS DEVICE - A development device capable of suppressing the occurrence of development defects caused by partial damage to an electrode of a toner bearing roller. The development device is provided with a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer, which are laminated so as to overlap one another in a normal direction with respect to the surface of the roller part of the toner bearing roller. A plurality of openings, which are independently arranged in a matrix in both the roller surface movement direction and an orthogonal-to-movement direction which is the direction orthogonal thereto, are provided in, of these electrode layers, the second electrode layer existing in the upper location that is closer to the roller surface, over the entire latent image bearable area of a photosensitive body in the orthogonal-to-movement direction. The toner on the surface of the roller part is caused to hop between a plurality of spots directly beneath the openings that respectively exist directly beneath the plurality of openings in the second electrode layer, and a plurality of spots between the openings that respectively exist between the plurality of openings in the second electrode layer, within the entire area of the first electrode layer which is uniformly formed in the roller circumferential direction. | 05-14-2009 |
20090257786 | DEVELOPING DEVICE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A developing device includes a toner carrying member and an electric-field forming unit. The electric-field forming unit forms electric fields having different characteristics at a first area of the surface of the toner carrying member located within a developing area and a second area of the surface of the toner carrying member located out of the developing area such that a hopping height of toner at the first area is higher than that at the second area. | 10-15-2009 |
20100021214 | DEVELOPING DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE - A toner carrying member includes a plurality of electrodes arranged in a first direction intersecting with a second direction in which its surface moves. A voltage applying unit applies a bias to the electrodes such that an electric field direction is changed temporally in an alternate manner between adjacent electrodes. An adjusting member adjusts an amount of toner carried on the toner carrying member. A toner-cloud facilitating member includes a conductive member arranged between the toner supplying member and the adjusting member in the second direction in opposite to the toner carrying member. | 01-28-2010 |
20100226690 | TONER CONTAINER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A toner container and an image forming apparatus are disclosed. The toner container includes a guiding member formed at a part surrounding a toner outlet to be protruded from a circumferential surface of the toner container for guiding an opening or closing operation of a shutter member in a circumferential direction of the toner container. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus main body includes a main body side shutter for opening or closing a toner supplying opening to be connected to the toner outlet. When the shutter member is opened, an end surface of the guiding member pushes the main body side shutter together with the opening operation of the shutter member, and the toner supplying opening is opened and is connected to the toner outlet. | 09-09-2010 |
20110176820 | DEVELOPMENT DEVICE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A development device includes a toner-containing chamber for containing supplied toner having an interior wall, a developer-containing chamber for containing developer including toner and carrier communicating with the toner-containing chamber; and a transport screw to transport the supplied toner from the toner-containing chamber to the developer-containing chamber, disposed in the toner-containing chamber so that there is no gap between the outer edge of the transport screw and the interior wall of the toner-containing chamber in a portion lower than a level of the supplied toner in the toner-containing chamber. | 07-21-2011 |
20130129391 | TONER CONTAINER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A toner container and an image forming apparatus are disclosed. The toner container includes a guiding member formed at a part surrounding a toner outlet to be protruded from a circumferential surface of the toner container for guiding an opening or closing operation of a shutter member in a circumferential direction of the toner container. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus main body includes a main body side shutter for opening or closing a toner supplying opening to be connected to the toner outlet. When the shutter member is opened, an end surface of the guiding member pushes the main body side shutter together with the opening operation of the shutter member, and the toner supplying opening is opened and is connected to the toner outlet. | 05-23-2013 |
20140050509 | TONER CONTAINER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A toner container and an image forming apparatus are disclosed. The toner container includes a guiding member formed at a part surrounding a toner outlet to be protruded from a circumferential surface of the toner container for guiding an opening or closing operation of a shutter member in a circumferential direction of the toner container. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus main body includes a main body side shutter for opening or closing a toner supplying opening to be connected to the toner outlet. When the shutter member is opened, an end surface of the guiding member pushes the main body side shutter together with the opening operation of the shutter member, and the toner supplying opening is opened and is connected to the toner outlet. | 02-20-2014 |
20140212180 | DEVELOPING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE INCORPORATING SAME - A developing device includes a developer bearer to carry developer, a first developer compartment from which developer is supplied to the developer bearer, a second developer compartment from which developer is sent to the first developer compartment, and first and second communicating portions through which developer is circulated between the first and second developer compartments. The second communicating portion to send developer from the second developer compartment to the first developer compartment is constructed of multiple openings. | 07-31-2014 |
20150086244 | TONER CONTAINER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A toner container and an image forming apparatus are disclosed. The toner container includes a guiding member formed at a part surrounding a toner outlet to be protruded from a circumferential surface of the toner container for guiding an opening or closing operation of a shutter member in a circumferential direction of the toner container. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus main body includes a main body side shutter for opening or closing a toner supplying opening to be connected to the toner outlet. When the shutter member is opened, an end surface of the guiding member pushes the main body side shutter together with the opening operation of the shutter member, and the toner supplying opening is opened and is connected to the toner outlet. | 03-26-2015 |