Abstract: A fixing device has a fixing unit and a temperature detection unit. The fixing unit includes a heat roller provided with a roller section and a heater section, and a pressure roller in pressure contact with the heat roller. These rollers are disposed in a protective cover. The roller section includes a base layer of aluminum formed into a hollow cylindrical shape, a black radiation layer, and a toner parting layer. The heater section is disposed in a hollow space of the base layer. In this heat roller, when heat is emitted from the heater section, and the heat is transmitted to the radiation layer via the base layer, greater amount of infrared radiation is emitted from the radiation layer than in the case of a heat roller that is not equipped with the radiation layer. The temperature detecting unit includes an infrared radiation sensor.

Abstract: A feeding device has a loading unit for allowing one of a plurality of recording media and a storage case having a plurality of recording media contained therein to be selectively loaded thereon, a feeding roller for feeding the recording media from the loading unit, and ribs for preventing the storage case from floating to restrict the position of the storage case relative to the feeding roller.

Abstract: In a laser printer, when a sheet of paper, which is to be supplied in between a photosensitive drum and a transfer roller, is jammed, after the sheet of paper is removed and the jam is cleared up, a developing jam control program is executed to rotate a drum cleaning roller at a rotational speed higher than a normal rotational speed and to apply the transfer roller with a reverse bias voltage whose polarity is the same as that of the charged toner.

Abstract: A color blindness dialog box in a Properties window includes a color blindness process mode checkbox enabling a user to select a printing process designed for color blindness. When the color blindness process mode checkbox is checked, it is determined whether the image to be printed includes problematic areas for people with color blindness. If so, image data for these areas is extracted and displayed in a popup window. Subsequently, a borderline process is performed to form a borderline on either or both of the border areas and of text data and graphics data. Thus, the problematic areas are extracted and processed properly so that the problematic areas will become easy to distinguish.

Abstract: A toner cartridge for use in a printer includes a developing roller and an electrode. The toner cartridge is mountable in the printer by moving in a mounting direction and removable from the printer by moving in a removal direction. The developer roller supplies toner to a photosensitive member of the printer. The electrode is for electrically connecting with a bias supply electrode of the printer to supply a bias to the developing roller. The electrode moves, in a direction from outside the housing toward the interior of the housing and orthogonal to the mounting direction and the removal direction, under contact with the printer while the developing cartridge is being mounted in the printer. The electrode is electrically connected with the bias supply electrode of the printer while the developing cartridge is mounted in the printer.

Abstract: A thermal fixing device is provided in an image forming device having a main casing. The thermal fixing device includes a thermal fixing unit provided with a heat roller and a pressure roller for heatingly fixing a visible image onto a sheet, and a temperature sensor unit for detecting a temperature of the thermal fixing unit. The temperature sensor unit is mounted to the main casing, and the thermal fixing unit is detachably mounted to the temperature sensor unit.

Abstract: A system of printers uses replicable toner boxes, which each has a unique serial number. Each printer determines once the toner box is empty. At this time, the printer registers the serial number of the used toner box in used toner box list in a memory. Each time a toner box is mounted in the printer, the printer reads and compares the serial number of the freshly inserted toner box with the serial numbers in the list in the memory. If the serial number of the presently mounted toner box matches any in the list, this means that the toner box has previously been judged to reach life end, so the printer displays a message that the toner box is not suitable for use in the printer and prevents further printing operations until the toner box is replaced with a new one.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus designed such that an intermediate transfer unit storage portion can be pulled in a horizontal direction from an accommodating portion of a casing and a processing unit storage portion, to which developing cartridges and a photosensitive belt mechanism are detachably attached, can be pulled from the intermediate transfer unit storage portion.

Abstract: A fixing device has a fixing unit and a temperature detection unit. The fixing unit includes a heat roller provided with a roller section and a heater section, and a pressure roller in pressure contact with the heat roller. These rollers are disposed in a protective cover. The roller section includes a base layer of aluminum formed into a hollow cylindrical shape, a black radiation layer, and a toner parting layer. The heater section is disposed in a hollow space of the base layer. In this heat roller, when heat is emitted from the heater section, and the heat is transmitted to the radiation layer via the base layer, greater amount of infrared radiation is emitted from the radiation layer than in the case of a heat roller that is not equipped with the radiation layer. The temperature detecting unit includes an infrared radiation sensor.

Abstract: The present invention attempts to minimize irregularity in recording caused by a variation in transport of a carriage. One of a plurality of kinds of timing, according to which a recording signal is applied, set relative to a signal indicating the position of the carriage is selected in order to record data.

Abstract: A feeding device has a loading unit for allowing one of a plurality of recording media and a storage case having a plurality of recording media contained therein to be selectively loaded thereon, a feeding roller for feeding the recording media from the loading unit, and ribs for preventing the storage case from floating to restrict the position of the storage case relative to the feeding roller.

Abstract: A recording apparatus has a feed mechanism for feeding a recording medium loaded on a recording-medium loading section; a recording unit for recording on the recording medium fed by the feed mechanism; and a recording-medium discriminating device for discriminating the type of recording medium loaded on the recording-medium loading section. The type of recording medium is discriminated by the recording-medium discriminating device before the feeding operation by the feed mechanism, and the operation of the recording unit is controlled according to the type of recording medium stored in a memory.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus designed such that an intermediate transfer unit storage portion can be pulled in a horizontal direction from an accommodating portion of a casing and a processing unit storage portion, to which developing cartridges and a photosensitive belt mechanism are detachably attached, can be pulled from the intermediate transfer unit storage portion.

Abstract: Image deterioration due to contact of a cleaning roller and a photosensitive member when an image forming operation stops can be prevented. When the image forming operation stops, a photosensitive belt is stopped in a condition that a stop position of the photosensitive belt corresponds to a photosensitive belt cleaning roller. Even if a stain is caused in the stop position of the photosensitive belt by the contact with the photosensitive belt cleaning roller, an image is formed in an image region of the photosensitive belt, separate from the stop position, in the image forming operation and the image is not deteriorated by the stain.

Abstract: In a laser printer, when a sheet of paper, which is to be supplied in between a photosensitive drum and a transfer roller, is jammed, after the sheet of paper is removed and the jam is cleared up, a developing jam control program is executed to rotate a drum cleaning roller at a rotational speed higher than a normal rotational speed and to apply the transfer roller with a reverse bias voltage whose polarity is the same as that of the charged toner.

Abstract: A developing device 31 includes three shielding members 20 that divide an inner space of the developing device 31 into a developing chamber 23 and toner hopper chambers 21. The shielding members 20 in predetermined conditions prevent toner inside the developing chamber 23 from entering the toner hopper chambers 21. When toner empty condition of the developing chamber 23 is detected, the shielding member 20a is driven to rotate so as to supply toner 22a into the developing chamber 23. When the toner empty condition is detected for the second time, then the shielding members 20a, 20b are driven to rotate for supplying toner 22b to the developing chamber 23. In this manner toner can be supplied to the developing chamber 23 without allowing the toner returning to the toner hopper chambers 21.

Abstract: In the case of conducting the printing through the use of a print head having nozzles disposed at a pitch being twice a predetermined pitch Pd of recording dots, control is executed to satisfy the condition that, when a minimum integer 3 forming inter times a value 3 obtained by dividing a feed quantity L corresponding to the minimum drive unit of a drive motor by the predetermined recording dot pitch Pd is divided by an integer 2 obtained by dividing a pitch Ph of the nozzles of the print head by the recording dot pitch Pd, the residue 1 is not a divisor, above 2, of the integer 2 obtained by dividing the print head nozzle pitch Ph by the recording dot pitch Pd. Whereupon, it is possible to increase the recording medium conveying speed and further to realize high-quality recording at a small recording dot pitch.

Abstract: A code printing method and apparatus which prints an image and a code on the same recording medium. The apparatus stores a plurality of density patterns corresponding to each density, and codes corresponding to the density patterns. When code data is inputted and printing of the code is instructed, the apparatus determines the density of each pixel of image data, selects the density pattern representing the code data among the density patterns corresponding to the pixel density, and prints the density pattern instead of the image pixel. Thus, the image and code are printed without deterioration of image quality.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a feeder for feeding a recording medium; a carriage reciprocally movable relative to the recording medium; an ink jet recording head detachably mountable on the carriage and having electrothermal transducers for producing thermal energy contributable to ejection of recording ink through ejection outlets thereof, the recording head has an ejection outlet information setting portion wherein a number and a pitch of the ejection outlets of the ink jet recording heads are set; and control circuit for detecting the ejection outlet information in the ejection outlet information setting portion, for discriminating the number and the pitch of the ejection outlets from the detected ejection outlet information, and for determining ejection timing of the recording head and a feed pitch of the recording medium by the feeder on the basis of the number and the pitch of the ejection outlets.

Abstract: A recording apparatus having a black ink recording head for discharging black ink onto a recording material and at least one single color non-black recording head for discharging non-black ink onto the recording material includes a recording head driver for driving the recording heads to discharge the ink onto the recording material; and a controller for controlling the recording head driver so that a volume, per unit area of the recording material, of the black ink discharged from the blue ink recording head and deposited on the recording region of the recording material is larger than that of the non-black ink discharged from the non-black ink recording head and deposited on the recording region of the recording material.