Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080226333 | USED TONER COLLECTION DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A used toner conveyance device includes a lateral conveyance member for conveying used toner substantially in the horizontal direction, and a vertical conveyance member for upwardly conveying the used toner transferred from the lateral conveyance member. The vertical conveyance member transfers the used toner to either a collection space or a next conveyance path. The vertical conveyance member stops its operation when a prescribed delay time has elapsed after the lateral conveyance member stops conveyance operation. | 09-18-2008 |
20090180801 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTORECEPTOR, PHOTORECEPTOR SUPPORTING DEVICE, IMAGING DEVICE AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE - An electrophotographic photoreceptor includes, a cylindrical photoreceptor pipe; at least one flange which is attached to an opening of one end of the photoreceptor pipe, and which is provided with a shaft part projecting outward from the one end at a shaft center position of the photoreceptor pipe; and an earth member which is arranged to penetrate through the shaft part of the at least one flange, and which is provided on its inward side with at least one first contact part which contacts an inner circumference of the photoreceptor pipe, and on its outward side with a second contact part. | 07-16-2009 |
20090185842 | CLEANING DEVICE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING SAME - A cleaning device for cleaning a surface of a rotatable image carrier includes a cleaning blade disposed to contact the image carrier and configured to remove toner on the surface of the image carrier, a lubricant applicator unit disposed above the cleaning blade, downstream from the cleaning blade in a surface rotation direction of the image carrier and configured to apply lubricant onto the surface of the image carrier, and an accumulation preventer configured to prevent the toner and excessive lubricant from the lubricant applicator unit from accumulating on the cleaning blade. | 07-23-2009 |
20100021205 | LUBRICANT APPLICATOR AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING SAME - A lubricant applicator includes a solid mold lubricant, a lubricant application roller, and a flicker member. The lubricant application roller scrapes and applies the lubricant to an image bearing member. The flicker member removes a powder substance adhered to the surface of the lubricant application roller and is disposed upstream of the solid mold lubricant in a direction of rotation of the lubricant application roller. The lubricant application roller, the flicker member, and the solid mold lubricant define a sealed space therebetween. A lubricant applicator includes the solid mold lubricant, the lubricant application roller, the flicker member, and an adherence prevention member that prevents the substance removed by the flicker member from adhering again to the lubricant application roller. A lubricant applicator includes the solid mold lubricant, the lubricant application roller, and a lubricant receiver that receives the scraped lubricant from the lubricant application roller. | 01-28-2010 |
20100034557 | Process cartridge and image forming apparatus employing same - A process cartridge detachably attached to an image forming apparatus includes a first subunit, a second subunit, a first positioning member, and a second positioning member. The first subunit accommodates a photoconductor therein. The second subunit accommodates a developer applicator therein. The photoconductor and the developer applicator are arranged substantially parallel to each other to define a development gap therebetween. The first positioning member is fastened to both the first and second subunits to position ends of the photoconductor and the developer applicator on a first side of the respective subunits. The second positioning member is fastened to only one of the first and second subunits to position ends of the photoconductor and the developer applicator on a second side of the respective subunits opposite to the first side. An image forming apparatus employing such a process cartridge is also disclosed. | 02-11-2010 |
20100129126 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a charging device to charge a surface of the image carrier, disposed across a predetermined gap from the image carrier, a latent image forming device, a developing device to develop a latent image formed on the image carrier into a toner image, a transfer unit to transfer the toner image from the image carrier onto a recording medium, a cleaning member to clean the image carrier after the toner image is transferred therefrom, a lubricant application member to lubricate the image carrier, a polarity adjustor to adjust polarities of the toner and lubricant adhering to the image carrier to be identical to a polarity of a charging bias. The polarity adjustor is disposed facing the image carrier, upstream from the charging device and downstream from the transfer unit in a direction in which the image carrier rotates. | 05-27-2010 |
20100183349 | Lubricant applicator, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge - A lubricant applicator rotatable at multiple different linear velocities, including a rotatable lubricant applying member to scrape a lubricant and to apply the lubricant to a surface of an image carrier rotatable at multiple different linear velocities. Any given linear velocity of the lubricant applying member satisfies a relation of n | 07-22-2010 |
20100189461 | Cleaning unit, process cartriedge incorporating same, and image forming apparatus incorporating the cleaning unit - A cleaning unit, which can be incorporated in a process cartridge removably installable in an image forming apparatus, includes a lubricant applicator to apply lubricant to an image carrier, a first blade disposed upstream from the lubricant applicator in a direction of rotation of the image carrier with its distal end held in contact with the image carrier to remove residual toner remaining on the image carrier, a second blade disposed downstream from the lubricant applicator in the direction of rotation of the image carrier with its distal end held in contact with the image carrier to regulate the amount of lubricant applied to the image carrier, a temperature measuring member to measure a temperature of or near the second blade, a heater, and a temperature controller to control the heater to heat the second blade so that the measured temperature falls within a given set temperature range. | 07-29-2010 |
20110091227 | Waste toner container and image forming apparatus incorporating same - A waste toner container that collects waste toner that is not used to form an image in an image forming unit of an image forming apparatus, and includes a waste toner collection opening to receive the waste toner output from the image forming unit, a toner amount detector to detect toner amount in the waste toner container, and a waste toner conveyance member disposed inside the waste toner container to convey the waste toner in the waste toner container. The waste toner conveyance member defines a waste toner conveyance direction exchange point, which is a boundary between two different toner conveyance direction regions in which the waste toner is conveyed in opposite directions, and the waste toner conveyance direction exchange point is disposed closer to the toner amount detector than is the waste toner collection opening. | 04-21-2011 |