Abstract: A head cleaning mechanism includes a recording head and a wiper. The recording head includes an ink ejection face provided with an ink ejection region in which a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink onto a recording medium are open. The wiper wipes the ink ejection face in a predetermined direction. The ink ejection face has, downstream of the ink ejection region in the wiping direction, an elevated portion extending in the head width direction perpendicular to the wiping direction. The elevated portion includes an upstream side inclined face which inclines downward from the ink ejection face to the downstream side in the wiping direction, and a downstream face which is arranged downstream of the upstream side inclined face in the wiping direction and which faces the downstream side in the wiping direction.

Abstract: A head cleaning mechanism includes a recording head and a wiper. The recording head includes an ink ejection face having an ink ejection region where a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink onto a recording medium are open. The wiper wipes the ink ejection face in a predetermined direction. The ink ejection face has, downstream of the ink ejection region in the wiping direction, a depressed portion extending in the head width direction perpendicular to the wiping direction. The depressed portion includes an upstream side inclined face which inclines upward from the ink ejection face to the downstream side in the wiping direction, and a downstream side inclined face which is arranged downstream of the upstream side inclined face in the wiping direction and which inclines downward to the downstream side in the wiping direction.

Abstract: A head cleaning mechanism includes a recording head and a wiper. The recording head includes an ink ejection face provided with an ink ejection region in which a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink onto a recording medium are open. The wiper wipes the ink ejection face in a predetermined direction. The ink ejection face has, downstream of the ink ejection region in the wiping direction, an elevated portion extending in the head width direction perpendicular to the wiping direction. The elevated portion includes an upstream side inclined face which inclines downward from the ink ejection face to the downstream side in the wiping direction, and a downstream face which is arranged downstream of the upstream side inclined face in the wiping direction and which faces the downstream side in the wiping direction.

Abstract: A head cleaning mechanism includes a recording head and a wiper. The recording head includes an ink ejection face having an ink ejection region where a plurality of ink ejection openings for ejecting ink onto a recording medium are open. The wiper wipes the ink ejection face in a predetermined direction. The ink ejection face has, downstream of the ink ejection region in the wiping direction, a depressed portion extending in the head width direction perpendicular to the wiping direction. The depressed portion includes an upstream side inclined face which inclines upward from the ink ejection face to the downstream side in the wiping direction, and a downstream side inclined face which is arranged downstream of the upstream side inclined face in the wiping direction and which inclines downward to the downstream side in the wiping direction.

Abstract: A discharge device comprises a discharge roller unit including a first discharge roller and a second discharge roller, and deforming a sheet on which an image is formed, the sheet being deformed such that the sheet is recessed toward one of the rollers when the sheet is fed between the first discharge roller and the second discharge roller.

Abstract: A cleaning apparatus 30 is provided with a cleaning roller 33 that is a rotating member, a scraper 35, a partition wall 36, opening/closing members 37, and a discharge screw 38 that is a discharging member. The scraper 35 supported by the partition wall 36 scrapes toner by bringing the tip thereof into contact with the cleaning roller 33. The partition wall 36 has a plurality of openings 36a, and partitions between a space S1 formed on an upstream side of the cleaning roller 33 in a rotation direction of a drum and a space S2 in which the discharge screw 38 is provided. The opening/closing members 37 are individually provided for the openings 36a so as to permit toner to move through the openings 36a only in a direction from the space S1 to the space S2. With this structure, it is possible to make toner present in the vicinity of the cleaning roller 33 smoothly move toward the discharge screw 38.

Abstract: An image forming device including: a fixing unit that fixes a toner image formed on a recording medium by heating the toner image to a temperature that is higher than the softening point of a toner that forms the toner image; and a cooling unit that cools the fixed toner image from a temperature that is higher than the softening point of the toner, to a temperature that is lower than the softening point of the toner, at a predetermined cooling speed.

Abstract: In an image forming apparatus that uses toners of a plurality of different colors, amorphous toner is used during image forming with a first color. Then, a controller, by using a toner remaining-removing switching device, causes toner scraped off from an image carrier by a blade during cleaning to remain at a predetermined region near the blade. Spherical toner is used during image forming with a second color and thereafter. The controller switches the toner remaining-removing switching device during any one of processes starting from the process of the second color until the end of image formation to remove toner remaining at the predetermined region, and the toner subsequently scraped off, from the image carrier.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus for forming a color image with a plurality of color toners includes: a photosensitive body, a rotary developing device for developing a latent image on the photosensitive body by selectively allowing developing units corresponding to their respective color toners to rotationally move to a developing position opposite the photosensitive body; and a cleaning blade for removing the residual toner on the photosensitive body. At least one color toner in the plurality of color toners is an irregular toner, and other color toners are spherical toners. The volume mean particle size of the irregular toner is not more than the volume mean particle size of the spherical toner. With this construction, high cleaning capability can be attained without impairing the merit of the spherical toner that enables a densely high-fine image to be obtained.

Abstract: A cleaning apparatus 30 is provided with a cleaning roller 33 that is a rotating member, a scraper 35, a partition wall 36, opening/closing members 37, and a discharge screw 38 that is a discharging member. The scraper 35 supported by the partition wall 36 scrapes toner by bringing the tip thereof into contact with the cleaning roller 33. The partition wall 36 has a plurality of openings 36a, and partitions between a space S1 formed on an upstream side of the cleaning roller 33 in a rotation direction of a drum and a space S2 in which the discharge screw 38 is provided. The opening/closing members 37 are individually provided for the openings 36a so as to permit toner to move through the openings 36a only in a direction from the space S1 to the space S2. With this structure, it is possible to make toner present in the vicinity of the cleaning roller 33 smoothly move toward the discharge screw 38.

Abstract: A cleaning unit that performs image formation by use of an amorphous and spherical toners of a plurality of different colors and sequentially performs cleaning for each of the colors has: toner remaining-removing switching means that is provided upstream of a blade in the rotation direction of an image carrier and that permits switching such that a toner scraped off remains at a region where the blade and the image carrier make contact with each other or the toner is removed from the region; and a controller for controlling switching made by the toner remaining-removing switching means. The process by use of the amorphous toner is first performed.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises an image carrying member for carrying a toner image, a cleaning blade for separating toners remaining on the image carrying member, and a lubricant supplying device for supplying to the image carrying member a lubricant for preventing the image carrying member and the cleaning blade from mutually wearing.

Abstract: In an image forming method in which an electrostatic latent image is formed on a rotating image carrier, the electrostatic latent image is developed by toner particles, to form a toner image on the surface of the image carrier, the toner image is transferred to a recording medium, and toner particles or the like remaining on the surface of the image carrier are removed by a cleaning blade, inorganic fine particles having a BET specific surface area from 30 to 300 m.sup.2 /g stay in a portion on the upstream side of a portion where the cleaning blade is in contact with the surface of the image carrier in the direction of rotation of the image carrier, and the length of the portion where the inorganic fine particles stay on the upstream side of the contact portion in the direction of rotation of the image carrier is in the range of 5 to 50 .mu.m.