57 results about "Image formation" patented technology

An image forming apparatus includes a toner image carrying member, an image transfer device, a fixing device, a registration unit, a guide member, an upstream-side transportation unit, and a downstream-side transportation unit. The image transfer device transfers a toner image from the toner image carrying member to a recording medium. The fixing device fixes the toner image. The registration unit transports the recording medium. The guide member guides the recording medium. The upstream-side transportation unit includes an upstream-side transportation member, disposed at an upstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium. The downstream-side transportation unit includes the downstream-side transportation member, disposed at a downstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium. The upstream-side transportation unit includes an upstream-side positioning member to position the guide member to the upstream-side transportation member. The downstream-side transportation unit includes a downstream-side positioning member to position the guide member to the downstream-side transportation member.

A heat generating roller, fixing equipment and an image forming apparatus in which warm-up time is shortened while preventing excessive temperature rise and good fixing performance is realized by preventing occurrence of offset. In the heat generating roller, fixing equipment and image forming apparatus, the heat generating roller is formed principally by laying a high permeability conductive layer and a nonmagnetic conductive layer in layer. When a voltage is applied from a power supply (not shown) to an exciting coil and an AC current flow through it, magnetic flux is generated around the exciting coil and a magnetic field is formed. Since the heat generating roller has the high permeability conductive layer and the nonmagnetic conductive layer laid in layer, magnetic coupling of a system consisting of the heat generating roller and the exciting coil is good at the time of low temperature and heat generation of the heat generating roller is accelerated. When the Curie point is exceeded, skin depth becomes deep and skin resistance decreases, which suppresses generation of Joule's heat and reduces heat generation of the heat generating roller.

The sheet processing apparatus is provided with a second folding, conveying roller pair that discharges a folded sheet bundle with its folded portion being the leading edge and a folded bundle tray provided below the second folding, conveying roller pair on which the sheet bundle discharged by the second folding, conveying roller pair is to be stacked and that moves the stacked sheet bundle. Before a succeeding sheet bundle is discharged onto a preceding sheet bundle, the folded bundle tray moves the preceding sheet bundle in the upstream direction with respect to the sheet conveyance direction to place the trailing edge of the preceding sheet bundle at a position upstream of the leading edge of the succeeding sheet bundle. Thus, it is possible to provide a sheet processing apparatus that can stack folded sheet bundles with reliability and to improve the image forming efficiency.

An engaging unit engages a housing of a fixing device with a main body of an image forming apparatus in an engaged position, and disengages the housing from the main body in a disengaged position. An operating member operates the engaging unit from the engaged position to the disengaged position or vice versa. A holding recession is formed on at least one corner between a front side and a lateral side of the housing. The operating member and the holding recession form a handling unit with which the housing is supported when the housing is attached to or detached from the main body.

A fixing device for fixing an unfixed image on a recording sheet passing through a fixing nip formed by pressing a pressing member against an inside surface of a pressure belt via a low friction sheet, so that an outside surface of the pressure belt presses against a fixing member, wherein the pressing member includes a first pressing part whose front-side portion is an elastic pressing part, and a second pressing part whose front face presses against a rear face of the first pressing part, the second pressing part has a side wall near an upstream portion of the first pressing part that is upstream from the front-side portion with respect to a rotation direction of the pressure belt, and an upstream end of the low friction sheet, upstream from the other end with respect to the rotation direction, is sandwiched between the side wall and the upstream portion.

A method of detecting a wrap jam or accordion jam type paper jam and stopping a printing process once a wrap jam or according jam type is detected and an image forming apparatus using the same are provided. The method of detecting the paper jam in the image forming apparatus includes sensing to detect a sheet of paper by using an exit sensor, detecting whether the sheet of paper passes between a transfer roller and an OPC (organic photoconductive) drum for a first time period if the exit sensor does not detect the sheet of paper, and stopping a printing operation of the image forming apparatus if the sheet of paper passes between the transfer roller and the OPC drum for the first time period. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce damage to a fusing roller and increase the lifetime of the fusing roller and other components of the image forming device, if a wrap jam or accordion jam type occurs.

A fixing device includes a heat source; a fixing member looped into a generally cylindrical shape to rotate in a circumferential direction thereof and partially heated by the heat source and to heat a surface of a recording medium bearing an unfixed toner image to fix the unfixed toner image thereon in a fixing process; a rotary pressing member disposed facing the fixing member to form a nip therebetween, through which the recording medium is transported in a transport direction; and a rotation driver to rotate one of the fixing member and the pressing member. In a case in which the fixing member is halted for a reason other than the fixing process while power of the fixing device is on, electric power is not supplied to the heat source and the fixing member is rotated by a predetermined amount or more after the fixing member is halted.

A printing image forming apparatus in which a printer driver is installed. The printer driver forms a space in an image of an original document to be printed in which a note is inserted. An inserting device inserts text, images, graphics etc. as the note into the space formed, and a display indicating device displays a formed image on a screen of a display device as a preview. An operator can freely select and set the note by an operation of a button on a UI (User Interface) so as to edit the image of the page.

An image forming apparatus configured to, in a state where a voltage is applied to a charging unit, determine a surface potential of an image bearing member using a first voltage applied when a current value obtained by, after applying a predetermined voltage to a transfer unit, detecting the current value while changing the applied voltage to a positive direction reaches a discharge current value, and a second voltage applied to the transfer unit when a current value obtained by, after applying the predetermined voltage to the transfer unit, detecting the current value while changing the applied voltage to a negative direction reaches the discharge current value.

When a gloss application sheet is conveyed through a nip formed between a first nip formation member and a second nip formation member pressing against each other, the gloss application sheet is sandwiched between the first nip formation member and a recording medium simultaneously conveyed through the nip. The gloss application sheet includes a first contact surface contacting the first nip formation member and a second contact surface disposed opposite the first contact surface for contacting the recording medium. The first contact surface has a reduced adhesive force compared to the second contact surface.

A printing apparatus, or a multifunction peripheral connected via a network, can store images having individual identification (ID). The devices can extract inherent identification (ID) from a document and can retrieve, from a storage device, a pre-stored image having identification (ID) corresponding to the extracted identification (ID), and can compose visualized copy-forgery-inhibited-pattern information on the retrieved image and form a composite image on a recording paper.

The intermediate transfer unit removably mounted to an apparatus main body of an image forming apparatus, includes a contact roller is disposed so as to come into contact with an intermediate transfer belt correspondingly to a photosensitive drum, an opposing member, and a voltage maintaining element which is connected to the opposing member and the contact roller. The number of electric contacts between the intermediate transfer unit and the apparatus main body is decreased so that the apparatus can be downsized, and its cost can be lowered.

An information input device includes a display device that displays an information input screen image and a touch-panel that is arranged on the display device and specifies a designated position on the information input screen image. On a function setting area, a plurality of function setting keys are displayed and, if a flick operation to the right made by the input device on the function setting area is detected, detailed setting items corresponding to each of the function setting keys are displayed on a detailed settings area. Consequently, contents of detailed settings can be displayed at one time in correspondence with each of the function setting keys. Therefore, it becomes possible for the user to easily confirm whether or not function setting is appropriate, and to smoothly select a function.

An image forming apparatus includes a data receiving unit for receiving print data from a host device; a job control unit for controlling edition, expansion, and print control of the image data; a data edition unit for editing the print data; a data expansion unit for receiving an analytical result from the data edition unit and generating print image data; and a print control unit for receiving the print image data and controlling a printing unit to perform a printing operation. The data edition unit determines whether a dashed line drawing command exists. When the dashed line drawing command exists, the data edition unit determines a length of a specific portion of a dashed line. When the length of the specific portion is smaller than a specific length, the data edition unit performs a correction process and increases the length of the specific portion up to the specific length.

On a touch-panel display of an image forming apparatus, which is divided to five areas, that is, a system area, a function selection area, a preview area, an action panel area and a task trigger area, pieces of information are displayed. Even if an operational mode is switched, the same or similar information is always displayed in the area arranged at the same position. In the task trigger area, software buttons operated by the user for actually operating the image forming apparatus are displayed.

An image forming apparatus which has a hibernation function and is capable of selecting a suitable startup method even in a case where device connection states are different at power-off and at next startup. A hibernation image created based on data stored in a memory of the image forming apparatus and a first device connection state indicative of whether the device is connected to the image forming apparatus are stored in a flash disk. After that, when power to the image forming apparatus is turned off and the power is turned on again, a second device connection state indicative of whether the device is connected to the image forming apparatus is obtained. When the first and second connection states are different, the image forming apparatus is started without using the hibernation image, and when they are the same, the image forming apparatus is started using the hibernation image.

A developer cartridge includes a developer cartridge case for accommodating a developer, a developing roller, a toner layer thickness control blade, and a side sealing member. The developing roller is supported by the developer cartridge case such that a circumferential surface thereof is exposed to an outside of the developer cartridge case along a width direction. The toner layer thickness control blade includes a blade body portion made of a metallic plate. A tip portion of the blade body portion is disposed at a sliding portion of the developing roller and the side sealing member so as to contact with the side sealing member. A frictional heat generated at the sliding portion is released to the outside of the developer cartridge case through the blade body portion in order restrain a leak of the developer as much as possible.

An image forming apparatus includes a power supply control unit that controls switching a power source to an auxiliary power supply that stores therein power from a main power supply when the main power supply is off, and to the main power supply when the main power supply is on; a detection unit that detects whether the power source is the main or the auxiliary power supply; a communication mode control unit that switches a data transfer rate from a first high-speed mode to a first low-speed mode allowing power consumption lower than the first high-speed mode when the power source is the auxiliary power supply; and a print mode control unit that switches a print speed from a second high-speed mode to a second low-speed mode allowing the power consumption lower than the second high-speed mode when the power source is the auxiliary power supply.

A power supply control device for an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a shutoff detector for monitoring the state of a power switch. In response to the output signal of the shutoff detector representative of the turn-off of the power switch, a shutoff processing section executes processing for avoiding accidental error detection and protecting a memory before the output voltage of a DC power supply drops to a preselected level.

An image forming apparatus including: an image recording portion that records an image on a sheet; a sheet stacking portion which is provided above the image recording portion and on which the sheet delivered from the image recording portion is stacked; and an image reading portion that is provided above the sheet stacking portion and reads an image on an original, the image reading portion being disposed on a rear side so that the sheet delivered from the image recording portion onto the sheet stacking portion is partially exposed to the outside on a front side of the image reading portion.

An image forming device is provided in which a plurality of toner cartridges can be installed, and with which toner cartridges appropriate to the startup mode of the device can reliably be installed, so that it is possible to perform printing correctly in that mode. The image forming device to which development units containing toner are removably installed, and which performs image forming using the toner, can operate in a plurality of startup modes, in each of which a respective installation condition for the development units, according to at least the toner colors and numbers of the installed development units, is determined; and the image forming device includes a control unit which outputs a command to display a message to a user, if the installation condition for the development units which is determined for the set startup mode, and the installation state of the installed development units, are different.

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus having an upstream conveying portion, a downstream conveying portion, and a contact loop detection portion to detect a loop of the sheet formed between the upstream conveying portion and the downstream conveying portion, wherein the loop detection portion, includes a sensor that outputs the detection signal, a contact portion that protrudes into a sheet conveyance path between the upstream conveying portion and the downstream conveying portion as if to come into contact with the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path and causes the sensor to output the detection signal by moving in contact with the sheet, and a contact force changing portion that changes a contact force with which the contact portion comes into contact with the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path according to a type of the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path.