Abstract: An apparatus for sealing a housing to prevent the escape of airborne material therefrom. Carrier beads are captured and suspended in a magnetic field extending across a region adapted to be sealed, forming a curtain of carrier beads for preventing the escape of airborne material, including toner particles, therepast. The carrier bead curtain is continuously collapsed and regenerated as carrier beads are captured, accumulated, and deposited into the housing.

Abstract: An electrophotographic copying machine includes a paper feeding tray and a paper discharging tray respectively attached to both end surfaces of a body, each of which has a first, a second and a third tray plates which are rotatably connected to each other. When the machine is not used, the first, second and third tray plates are contained in the body in a state where the same are collapsed and folded over each other and, when the machine is used, the first, second and third tray plates are withdrawn and developed. A plurality of ribs which are extended in a paper feeding direction are on one upper surface of the first plate attached to the body in a rotatable manner, and a plurality of through holes, or slits, which receive the ribs when the first, second and third tray plates are collapsed are formed on the second and third tray plates.

Abstract: A printing machine, such as a copier or a printer, is provided with an electrophotographic engine cartridge including a toner cartridge, a rotatable photoconductor drum, and a specially designed magnetic brush development module. The development module utilizes a rotating magnetic roller, disposed in a developer sump, to transport a toner carrier developer material toward a side surface portion of the rotating drum onto which the toner portion of the transported developer is electrically transferred. The development module is operated in a unique closed loop fashion by the action of a specially designed blade member which strips away the toner-depleted developer from the roller and causes it to enter a recycling well. The depleted developer is transferred from the recycling well into the developer sump wherein it is mixed with toner entering the sump from the toner cartridge, and then re-applied, in the form of reconstituted developer, to the magnetic roller for subsequent toner transfer to the rotating drum.

Abstract: Image forming apparatus and method for forming a visible image on an image recording medium using a photosensitive medium having a substrate and a photosensitive image forming layer thereon and an intermediate supporting medium having a support member and a thermal adhesive layer thereon, comprising an electrophotographic unit for electrophotographically forming a latent image on the photosensitive image forming layer and developing the latent image into a visible image, a first image transferring unit for transferring the photosensitive image forming layer having the visible image thereon from the photosensitive medium to the intermediate supporting medium with heat and pressure, and a second image transferring unit for transferring the photosensitive image forming layer having the visible image thereon from the intermediate supporting medium to an image recording medium under heat and pressure.

Abstract: An apparatus in which successive toner images are transferred from a photoconductive drum to a sheet at a transfer zone. The sheet is transported by a perforated belt entrained about a stationary sleeve through a recirculating path. The sleeve has a plurality of spaced ports extending in and through the periphery thereof and connected to a vacuum source. In this way, the sheet is vacuum tacked to the belt to move in unison therewith in synchronism with the photoconductive drum. At the transfer zone, the sheet separates the belt and is interposed between the photoconductive member and a corona generator. The corona generator applies an electrostatic charge to the sheet to attract successive toner images thereto. The sheet moves with the belt in a recirculating path so that successive different color toner images are transferred thereto in registration with one another.

Abstract: A cleaning method is provided for use in a color electrophotographic apparatus in which color toner images formed by using a plurality of color toners on a photosensitive medium by repeating charging, exposure and reverse-developing steps are transferred to a sheet of paper at one stroke. The toners include color toners and a black toner. Each of the color toners is a toner for a DC electric field jump developing method which serves to develop without making contact with the photosensitive medium. The black toner is a toner for a two-component magnetic brush developer which is mixed with a carrier to be used. The two-component magnetic brush developer is used both as a developer serving to develop in contract with the photosensitive medium and a cleaning agent serving to clean the toners remaining on the photosensitive medium after the transfer operation.

Abstract: An apparatus in which developer material comprising carrier granules and magnetic toner particles is transported closely adjacent to a latent image. The developer roller transporting the developer material is electrically biased. The electrical bias has a wave form that removes a substantially uniform distribution of magnetic toner particle sizes from the carrier granules and develops the latent image therewith.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a developing process for forming a high-quality image in the electrophotography. In this developing process, a two-component type developer is used and the moving direction of a developing sleeve is the same as the moving direction of a photosensitive material drum at the position of the sliding contact of the photosensitive material drum with a magnetic brush of the developer. In carrying out this forward direction sliding contact developing process, by setting the angle .theta. of a fixed main developing pole to the direction reverse to the moving direction of the sleeve from the line connecting the centers of the drum and sleeve and the drum/sleeve diameter ratio within certain specific ranges, the reproducibility of fine lines and the image density can be simultaneously improved very effectively in a well-balanced state, and a toner image having a high quality can be formed.

Abstract: A toner supply device loaded with a removable toner cartridge for supplying a toner to a developing unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. When the toner is fed from the toner cartridge to the toner supply device, an agitating member incorporated in the toner supply device is operated for a predetermined period of time to agitate the toner. The device supplies the toner evenly and rapidly to the developing unit after crushing hard masses of the toner or removing local concentration of the toner which are apt to occur in the cartridge.

Abstract: A photocopier for books has a casing on whose top surface is mounted a platten. The platten is set back from the front of the casing, and it extends to a downwardly inclined support surface adapted to support the half of an opened book whose other half is to be copied. In a modification of the copier a step or recess is formed between the platten and the support surface, to enable the sloping part of the book adjacent to its spine to extend or splay outwards, thereby avoiding damage to the spine.

Abstract: An electrophotographic apparatus having a cam mechanism for shifting a transfer unit and a cleaning unit of the apparatus, enabling both of them to take a contacted position and a separated position with the surface of the photoreceptor drum to perform the functions of toner image transfer and residual toner cleaning in an ordered timing. The cam mechanism is provided with a cam which is driven to rotate intermittently around an axis of the photoreceptor drum, and a transfer cam follower and a cleaning cam follower are guided by the cam. The transfer cam follower shifts the transfer unit to take a transfer position in a transfer time interval and shifts the transfer unit to a separated position from the surface of the photoreceptor drum in a non-transfer time interval. The cleaning cam follower shifts the cleaning unit to a cleaning position in a cleaning time interval and shifts the cleaning unit to a separated position from the surface of the photoreceptor in a non-cleaning time interval.

Abstract: A toner cartridge for use with a facsimile transceiver, printer or similar electrophotographic image forming apparatus for supplying a toner, or developer, to a developing unit of the apparatus. A first locking pawl fixes the casing and lid to each other in a condition wherein the toner has not been supplied to the developing unit, while a second locking pawl is caused into a position capable of fixing the casing and lid after the lid has been slid once relative to the casing. To supply the toner from the cartridge to the developing unit, the first pawl is pressed down to unlock the lid from the casing, and then the lid is slid along the casing. As the lid is so slid, the second pawl is brought to the condition for fixing the casing and lid. When the lid is returned along the casing after the supply of the toner, it is fixed to the casing by both of the first and second pawls.