Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080304843 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE - An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member the moving surface of which travels, a charging device including a charging member located facing the moving surface of the image bearing member, which uniformly charges the moving surface of the image bearing member to form a latent electrostatic image thereon by applying a charging bias in which an AC voltage is overlapped with a DC voltage to the charging member, a developing device to develop the latent electrostatic image with toner to form a toner image on the moving surface of the image bearing member, a transfer device to transfer the toner image on the moving surface of the image bearing member to a recording medium, a fixing device to fix the toner image on the recording medium, an image formation speed switching device to switch from one image formation speed to another image formation speed among multiple image formation speeds by changing a surface traveling speed of the image bearing member according to a particular switching condition, a storage device to store a charging current target of the charging bias applied to the charging member for each of the multiple image formation speeds, an electric current detection device to detect an electric current flown through the charging member and an AC voltage adjustment device to adjust an AC voltage of the charging bias applied to the charging member such that the electric current detected by the electric current detection device approaches the charging current target stored at the storage device which corresponds to the image formation speed when the electric current is detected. With regard to at least two image formation speeds among the multiple image speeds, the charging current target is set for each of the at least two image formation speeds such that each AC voltage adjusted by the AC voltage adjustment device is substantially the same. | 12-11-2008 |
20090010693 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE - An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of process cartridges provided for black and for another color. The process cartridges each including a set of a latent image carrier, a charging unit that charges a surface of the latent image carrier, and a lubricant applying unit that applies lubricant to the surface of the latent image carrier. The process cartridges for black and for the another color each has a cartridge frame with which the process cartridge is attachable to and removable from an apparatus body. The cartridge frames of the process cartridges for black and for the another color being of the same type. The process cartridge for black differs from the process cartridge for the another color in the configuration of the charging unit. The amounts of lubricant applied by the lubricant applying units to the respective latent image carriers differ with respect to the configuration of the charging unit. | 01-08-2009 |
20090060554 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE USED THEREIN - An image forming apparatus includes multiple imaging units and a controller. The multiple imaging units each include a photoconductor, a charging device, a developing device, a retractable cleaner, and a cleaner retraction mechanism. The charging device charges the photoconductor for forming an electrostatic latent image thereon. The developing device develops the electrostatic latent image. The retractable cleaner cleans the charging device when in contact with the charging device. The cleaner retraction mechanism is configured to bring the retractable cleaner into contact with the charging device. The charging device and the photoconductor are installed and replaced in conjunction with each other. The controller calculates a photoconductor usage of each of the multiple imaging units, and individually controls the cleaner retraction mechanism in each of the multiple imaging units according to the calculated photoconductor usage. | 03-05-2009 |
20090103944 | LUBRICATING DEVICE, LUBRICANT APPLICATOR, AND PRIMING AGENT USED THEREWITH - A lubricating device operable to lubricate a moving imaging surface subsequent to removal of residual toner by a cleaning device includes a lubricant applicator, a metering blade, and a priming agent. The lubricant applicator is located downstream of the cleaning device in a direction of movement of the imaging surface, and applies lubricant to the imaging surface. The metering blade is located downstream of the lubricant applicator in the direction of movement of the imaging surface, and spreads the applied lubricant into a thin layer by directly contacting the imaging surface. The priming agent is prepared by mixing a lubricant and a powder, and provided, prior to initial operation, on the lubricant applicator for application to the imaging surface upon startup. | 04-23-2009 |
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 |
20090252510 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND PROCESS CARTRIDGE - Provided is an image forming apparatus containing: an image-bearing member; a toner removal unit configured to remove a toner remained on the image-bearing member; a coating unit configured to coat a surface of the image-bearing member with a lubricity imparting agent; a unit configured to change a coated state of the lubricity imparting agent which has been applied to the image-bearing member by the coating unit; and a controlling unit configured to control the coating unit so as to operate a coating mode for at least the period when the image-bearing member is rotated once or more in the course of image formation, wherein the coating mode is a mode in which an amount of the lubricity imparting agent applied onto the image-bearing member is increased compared to an applied amount of the lubricity imparting agent during an ordinal operation for image formation. | 10-08-2009 |
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 |
20100316422 | Cleaning device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus - A cleaning device includes a cleaning blade configured to clean a surface of a rotating subject, a solid lubricant configured to reduce the friction coefficient of the surface of the subject, and a lubricant coating device that includes a coating roller to shave the solid lubricant during normal rotation and a reverse rotation to coat the surface of the subject with the lubricant. The amount of lubricant supplied to the subject during normal rotation of the coating roller is different from a supply amount of the lubricant during reverse rotation of the coating roller, with more lubricant supplied during reverse rotation than during normal rotation. | 12-16-2010 |