Abstract: To produce images at high speed, to conserve energy, and to be satisfactorily operated over the long run, a method fixes a toner onto an electrophotographic image-receiving sheet with the use of a belt fixing and smoothing apparatus and thereby forms an electrophotographic image. The belt fixing and smoothing apparatus includes a hot-pressing member, a belt member, a cooling device, and a cooling-releasing section. In the method, the total heat capacity per unit area in portions where the belt member, the toner, and the electrophotographic image-receiving sheet are in contact with one another is 840 J/K/m2 or less.

Abstract: A rotation mechanism for bichromal balls in a twisting ball display is based on electrostatic induction. A bichromal ball with hemispherically differentiated electrical time constants is immersed in a dielectric liquid containing a charge director solution. The liquid is contained within an encapsulant. The charge director solution has positive and negative ions with substantially different mobilities. Space charge clouds created in this fluid upon application of an electric field act so as to induce polarization differently in each hemisphere, leading to a net dynamic polarization. Interaction between the space charge and the induced polarization serves to rotate the ball. Ions are subsequently trapped at the fluid/encapsulant interface due to greater polarizability of the encapsulant. A threshold is obtained by the excess field needed to release the ions and so reverse the ion motion.

Abstract: A method for preserving image squareness and image on image registration in a system having a plurality of imaging stations, each imaging station having an ROS. The method includes adjusting the target skew of a reference ROS within one of the plurality of imaging stations by the angular difference between the actual reference ROS position and the target position for the reference ROS and adjusting the target skew of the reference ROS by the skew of the reference ROS relative to the desired skew for image squareness.

Abstract: A graphical input and display system for creating and manipulating electronic images includes input devices permitting a user to manipulate elements of electronic images received from various image input sources. A processor, connected to the system, receives requests for various image editing operations and also accesses a memory structure. The system memory structure includes a user interaction module, which allows a user to enter new image material or select and modify existing image material to form primary image objects, as well as a grouping module, which maintains an unrestricted grouping structure, an output module, and data memory.

Abstract: The invention provides a double-faced image formation system that prevents transfer and adhesion of a lubricant to an image retaining conveyer and an intermediate transfer part. The system is provided with, on a return path for reversing and conveying a sheet having toner images fixed on one side thereof, a front face electrifying unit and a rear face electrifying unit. Oil adhered on the rear face of the sheet in a fixation unit by the rear face electrifying unit is electrified to a negative polarity, and the oil adhered on the rear face is made impossible to transfer to an intermediate transfer belt. The oil adhered on the front face of the sheet in the fixation unit by the front face electrifying unit is electrified to a positive polarity, and the oil adhered on the front face is made impossible to transfer to a secondary transfer conveyance belt.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a color image forming device for forming toner images of a plurality of colors on a medium, and is for improving second transfer efficiency from an intermediate transfer body to the medium. The device has image forming units (12-1 to 12-4) for forming the toner images of the plurality of colors on at least one image bearing body (14-1 to 14-4) by a plurality of developing units (22-1 to 22-4) respectively accommodating toner of different colors; an intermediate transfer body (24); primary transfer means (38-1 to 38-4) for primary transferring the toner images of the plurality of colors onto the intermediate transfer body sequentially for the respective colors; and secondary transfer means (45) for secondary transferring the toner images of the plurality of colors on the intermediate transfer body onto the medium.

Abstract: Apparatus for producing a carbon structure at least including two electrodes 11 and 12 having forefront portions opposed to each other, and a power supply 18 for applying a voltage between the electrodes 11 and 12 so that discharge plasma is produced in a discharge area between the electrodes 11 and 12. The apparatus for producing a carbon structure further including a magnetic field generating unit 20 to 23 for forming at least a magnetic field including multidirectional lines of magnetic force or a magnetic field including a component parallel with the traveling direction of a discharge current, in an area where the discharge plasma is generated. In addition, a method for producing a carbon structure, using such an operation.

Abstract: An optical pulse code recognition device and an optical distributor recognize multiple bits of a 1 Tbps packet signal as they are, all at one time. A serial signal light emitted from an optical fiber is collimated by a lens and applied onto a mask having a mask pattern. A thin film optical switch increases its optical transmittance when irradiated with a control light, allowing the collimated signal light to transmit through it. When the control light is applied, the transmitted collimated signal light is converted into a parallel signal. The mask pattern has multiple transmission portions allowing one bit of signal light to transmit through and an equal number of non-transmitting portions to block the light, and whether or not a bit pattern of the signal light and the mask pattern match each other is found by detecting a maximum or minimum value of light intensity with a photodetector.

Abstract: The present invention provides an ink-jet recording method adopting an ink-jet recording apparatus including a printer head, which accommodates one or more kinds of ink and has a nozzle face on which one or more nozzles are provided, wherein the printer head is tilted when printing is being stopped so that an axis intersecting with the nozzle face at a right angle is displaced by 3 or more degrees from a direction of the axis when printing is being conducted, and an ink-jet recording apparatus used in the method.

Abstract: A process for providing a layer on a marking member by dissolving a fluoroelastomer; adding and reacting a nano-size zinc oxide and a crosslinking agent, to form a resulting homogeneous fluoroelastomer dispersion, wherein the nano-size zinc oxide has a particle size of from about 1 to about 250 nanometers; and subsequently providing at least one layer of the homogeneous fluoroelastomer dispersion to the marking member.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus of the present invention is provided with an input terminal for inputting a page description language composed of an image-forming command, an analyzing unit for detecting whether image deterioration will occur or not upon printing by analyzing a content of the page description language inputted by the input terminal and a rewriting part for rewriting the content of the inputted page description language according to the result of the detection by the analyzing unit.

Abstract: A method for implementing a filter on a signal is disclosed wherein interval membership information is computed and stored in such a manner so as to use a minimal amount of memory thereby allowing filter computation by a small number of deterministic sequence of table lookups and bit-wise logical operations. In general, the present invention involves using a non-linear filter represented as a plurality of intervals and the discrete values a sample may take. Each sample corresponds to a component in a vector. Each interval is comprised of a lower and upper vector. Each sample value is compared to the lower and upper values of the sample's associated coordinate. A table for that sample is then constructed with binary entries where a ‘1’ denotes that a sample value is within the lower and upper values of the coordinate and ‘0’ denoting otherwise. A table is built for each sample.

Abstract: An image forming device includes an image forming section that forms an image onto a recording medium, a calibration section that performs a color calibration process based upon the image formed on the recording medium and a control section that, when a plurality of images are successively formed by the image forming section, reflects a result of the color calibration process by the calibration section on an image forming process at a timing when a continuity of the formed image or the recording medium is broken.

Abstract: Methods and systems for transferring media between media source devices and media sink devices are disclosed. Remote control units are used to indicate the media sink and media source devices for transferring media data between these elements.

Abstract: An image forming device comprises an image forming section that consecutively forms plural images on a plurality of recording media, a detecting section that detects, on the basis of an image formed in a storage medium, color development data indicating color development characteristics of the image, a warning control section that decides whether or not to issue warning information regarding the color development characteristics on the basis of the color development data detected by the detecting section and reference data which the color development characteristics are to reference, and a warning section that issues warning information regarding the color development characteristics in response to the decision by the warning control section.

Abstract: To provide: an electrical member which can effectively apply characteristics of a carbon nanotube such as an electrode; and an electrical device such as an electrical switch. To provide: an electrical member provided with an electrical contact formed on a base body, in which the electrical contact has a carbon nanotube structure having a network structure constructed by mutually cross-linking functional groups bonded to multiple carbon nanotubes through chemical bonding of the functional groups together; an electrical device employing the electrical member; and a method of manufacturing an electrical member including the steps of: supplying a base body surface with a solution containing multiple carbon nanotubes to which multiple functional groups are bonded; and mutually cross-linking the multiple carbon nanotubes through chemical bonding of the multiple functional groups together to construct a network structure constituting a carbon nanotube structure as an electrical contact.