Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a charger, and a cleaning member. The charger charges a circumferential surface of the image bearing member to a positive polarity. The cleaning member is pressed against the circumferential surface of the image bearing member and collects a toner remaining on the circumferential surface of the image bearing member. A linear pressure N of the cleaning member on the circumferential surface of the image bearing member is at least 14 N/m and no greater than 40 N/m. A rebound resilience R of the cleaning member at a temperature of 25° C. is at least 38%. The leaner pressure N and the rebound resilience R satisfy mathematical formula (1A). The image bearing member satisfies mathematical formula (1B). R < 13.771 × N 0.4043 ( 1 ? A ) 0.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a development device, a transferring device, a static eliminating device, a cleaning device, a light concentrating member and a separating claw. On the image carrier, an electrostatic latent image is formed. The development device develops and visualizes the electrostatic latent image by a toner. The transferring device transfers the toner on the image carrier to a recording sheet. The static eliminating device irradiates the image carrier with a light to eliminate a remained static charge. The cleaning device removes the toner remained on the image carrier. The light concentrating member is arranged between the static eliminating device and image carrier to concentrate the light emitted from the static eliminating device and to irradiate the image carrier with the concentrated light. The separating claw is supported by the light concentrating member to separate the recording sheet from the image carrier.

Abstract: Provided is an image forming method, in which excellent cleaning properties are obtained for a long period of time even when the process is employed to an image forming apparatus with a charging roller for charging a photoreceptor, and a favorable image can be formed while inhibiting occurrence of a black spots-like image defect even in a high temperature and high humidity environment. In the image forming method, charging of a photoreceptor in a charging step is performed by a charging roller. A toner for electrostatic image development includes toner base particles added with an external additive. The external additive contains at least first external additive particles composed of a polytetrafluoroethylene and second external additive particles composed of at least one selected from a fatty acid metal salt and an amide wax.

Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor, including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer; a crosslinked surface layer comprising ?-alumina and tin oxide, wherein a first one-dimensional data array obtained from measuring a concavo-convex shape of the surface of the photoreceptor is subjected to a wavelet conversion to be separated into 6 frequency components, the one-dimensional data array of the lowest frequency component is further thinned so as to have 1/40 data arrays to obtain a second one-dimensional data array, the second one-dimensional data array is further subjected to the wavelet conversion to be separated into additional 6 frequency components, and wherein when relationships between respective arithmetic average roughness (WRa) (y-axis) of the 12 frequency components and the frequency components (x-axis) are graphed, at least WRa (214 to 551 ?m) and WRa (26 to 106 ?m) have a folding point or a maximum point.

Abstract: An image-bearing member protecting agent including a fatty acid metal salt, and an inorganic lubricant, wherein the image-bearing member protecting agent is a solid formed by compression molding a particulate or granulated raw material containing the fatty acid metal salt and the inorganic lubricant, and applied or adhered to a surface of an image bearing member, and wherein the image-bearing member protecting agent has a front surface which is a side of the image-bearing member protecting agent. to be used at the beginning, and a rear surface which is a side thereof to be left when most of the image-bearing member protecting agent is used up, and the image-bearing member protecting agent has a density decreasing from the front surface toward the rear surface.

Abstract: Provided are a negatively-chargeable electrophotographic photosensitive member, an image forming process and an electrophotographic apparatus. The electrophotographic photosensitive member has, between its cylindrical substrate and photoconductive layer, a first lower-part layer formed of a non-single crystal material containing silicon atoms and a second lower-part layer formed of a non-single crystal material containing silicon atoms, and has, on its photoconductive layer, an upper-part layer formed of a non-single crystal material containing silicon atoms. The first lower-part layer is a layer containing a periodic-table Group 13 element, and the upper-part layer has a region capable of retaining electrification charges.

Abstract: In an image forming method in which a toner image, which is visualized via an electrostatic latent image formed on an electrophotographic photoreceptor, employing a developer incorporating toner, is transferred onto a recording material followed by fixing, and any residual toner remaining on the electrophotographic photoreceptor is removed, an image forming method in which an electrophotographic photoreceptor and a toner which satisfy specified requirements are employed and image formation is carried out while feeding a surface energy lowering agent from the developer onto the aforesaid electrophotographic photoreceptor, and an image forming apparatus employing the same.

Abstract: A method for forming images including a) depositing an electrostatic latent image on a charge retentive surface of a photoreceptor member having a substrate; a charge transport layer with charge transport materials; and an overcoat layer positioned on the charge transport layer, wherein the overcoat layer includes a crosslinkable alcohol-soluble polyamide; and wherein the overcoat layer further includes additives having titanium dioxide, silica, a crosslinking agent, a deletion control agent, and a charge transport molecule; and b) applying a developer material via a development component to the charge-retentive surface to develop the electrostatic latent image to form a developed image on the charge-retentive surface, wherein the developer material comprises emulsion aggregation toner, and further wherein at least one of the additives create a texturized surface on the charge retentive surface thereby reducing the contact area between the emulsion aggregation toners and the charge retentive surface enabling

Abstract: The present invention relates to a toner for electrostatic image development, comprising a crystalline ester compound synthesized by polymerizing a carboxylic acid component with an alcohol component, a non-crystalline resin, a colorant and a releasing agent, wherein the weight-average molecular weight of the crystalline ester compound is 5000 or less, and the number of carbon atoms in at least one component selected from the carboxylic acid component and the alcohol component is 10 or more.

Abstract: A method of forming a toner image employing a photoreceptor is described. The photoreceptor comprises a photosensitive layer on a cylindrical conductive substrate, Formula (1) and Formula (2) are held, 0<Pmax<2P??Formula (1) 2?(Pmax/D)×100?50??Formula (2) wherein P (?m) is the average of the coating layer thickness in central section in the width direction of the photoreceptor, Pmax (?m) is average of the maximum value of the layer thickness out of the image forming region, and D (?m) is average of distance between point, at which said maximum value is obtained, and edge of the coating layer, and the toner contains 1.0 to 7.0 number % of toner particles having number based particle diameter not more than 3.17 ?m based on whole number of toner particles, and number average toner particle diameter is 4-9 ?m.

Abstract: An image forming method comprising steps of forming a toner image by developing by a toner a latent image on a photoreceptor comprised of a layer formed on a substrate, transferring the toner image onto a recording medium on which the toner image is recorded and fixing, wherein the average circular degree of the toner is not less than 0.94, and the toner contains a wax comprising an ester of a carboxylic acid having carbon atoms of not less than 16 or an ester of an alcohol having carbon atoms of not less than 16, and the layer is a layer to be contacted to the toner in the developing step and contains an inorganic fine particles having a number average of primary particle diameter of approximately not less than 1 nm and less than 100 nm.

Abstract: An electrophotographic photoconductor and method that seldom generate cracks even while recycling a photoconductor drum and peripheral members or in a liquid developing process, and thereby produce excellent images. The electrophotographic photoconductor includes a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer comprising a charge generation material and a charge transport material. The photosensitive layer comprises a resin binder of polyarylate resin having structural units represented by the following formula (I): In the formula, R1 and R2 represent a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, or an aryl group. R1, R2, and a carbon atom bonding to the R1 and R2 together form a cyclic structure. The cyclic structure is bonded to no more than two arylene groups. Each of R3 through R10 being a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, and a bromine atom. The values of m and n satisfy the equation 0.5<m/(m+n)<0.7.

Abstract: An electrophotographic photoconductor including: an outermost layer, wherein the outermost layer comprises an amino group-containing acryl-modified polyorganosiloxane, wherein the amino group-containing acryl-modified polyorganosiloxane is a copolymer in which a polyorganosiloxane represented by the following structural formula (1) and an acrylic monomer are graft-polymerized.

Abstract: Disclosed is a toner for use in an image forming apparatus using an amorphous silicon photoconductor as a latent image carrier, and having a cleaning blade for removing the toner remaining on the photoconductor after a transfer step. The toner has a friction coefficient with the photoconductor in a range of 0.3 to 0.6. At least inorganic fine particles such as titanium oxide are externally added to the toner. The inorganic fine particles have a number-average primary particle size of 30 nm or more.