Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a developing roller, a transfer section, a developer container, and a main unit. The image carrier has a surface for allowing an electrostatic latent image to be formed thereon, and carries a developed image. The developer container includes a container body having a side wall extending in a first direction, a container shutter, and a developer discharge port. The container shutter covers or exposes the developer discharge port. The main unit includes a housing and a guide mechanism. The developer container is mounted into the mounting section while being guided by the guide mechanism, and subsequently the container body of the developer container is rotated in a first rotational direction so that the developer discharge port communicates with the developer supply port and the side wall of the developer container is oblique to the vertical plane at an angle.

Abstract: A developing device includes a developer carrying member for developing an electrostatic image with a developer, a developer container including a developer accommodating portion, a developing opening, and a developing chamber, and a developer supplying member that includes a shaft member, a first feeding member, and a second feeding member. The first feeding member has a length L1 measured in an axial direction of the developer carrying member and has a rotational radius R1 measured from a rotation center of the shaft member, and the second feeding member has a length L2. When a length of the developing opening is L3, a shortest length from the developing opening to the shaft member is L4, and a length from the developer carrying member to the shaft member is L5, the following relationships are satisfied: L1<L3<L2, and L4<R1<L5.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a rotatable image carrier; an image forming unit configured to form an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier based on information defining at least one of a toner region and a non-toner region; a development unit configured to develop the electrostatic latent image as a toner image; a cleaning unit configured to remove toner remaining on the image carrier, after transfer of the toner image; an application unit configured to apply lubricant on the image carrier; and a hardware processor configured to control an amount of the lubricant applied, calculate a ratio of a toner region for each of regions obtained by dividing a surface of the image carrier in a direction perpendicular to a rotation direction of the image carrier, and control the amount of the lubricant applied according to a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of the ratio.

Abstract: An image forming method exposes a surface of an image bearer with light according to an image pattern including an image portion to form an electrostatic latent image, and includes: setting, among pixels constituting the image portion, at least a group of pixels existing at a boundary with respect to a non-image portion as a non-exposure pixel group, and at least a group of pixels existing at a boundary with respect to the non-exposure pixel group as a high power exposure pixel group; specifying, among the pixels constituting the image portion, a predetermined pixel as a target pixel, and a group of pixels existing at a boundary with respect to the non-image portion close to the target pixel as a boundary pixel group; and specifying a light power value of the target pixel based on image identification information acquired from the pixels constituting the image portion.

Abstract: A light scanning apparatus, including: a light source configured to emit a light beam; and a rotary polygon mirror configured to deflect the light beam emitted from the light source so that the light beam scans a surface of a photosensitive member, wherein the rotary polygon mirror is formed in a four-sided polygon, and wherein a difference between a pair of diametrically opposed interior angles of the rotary polygon mirror is larger than 0.03°, and a difference between another pair of diametrically opposed interior angles of the rotary polygon mirror is 0.03° or less.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a main body including a first guide portion and a second guide portion, a process cartridge including a photosensitive drum, a support frame configured to support the process cartridge and move between an inside position and an outside position. The support frame includes a first side frame. The first side frame includes a first guided portion to be guided by the first guide portion. The second side frame includes a second guided portion guided by the second guide portion A dimension of the first side frame is greater than or equal to a dimension of the first side frame. A dimension of the second side frame is greater than or equal to a dimension of the second side frame.

Abstract: A fixing apparatus which fixes a toner image on a recording material, includes a tubular film; a heater disposed in contact with the film, the heater including a substrate and a heat generating resistor formed on the substrate; a contact member disposed in contact with a surface of the heater opposite to a surface of the heater in contact with the film, a coefficient of linear expansion of the contact member being larger than that of the substrate; and a support member configured to support the heater, the support member sandwiching the contact member with the heater, wherein a lubricant is applied in at least a longitudinal end portion of a contact region between the heater and the contact member.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an acquiring portion that acquires a duration of an overcharged state occurring in an area of an image bearing body charged by a charging member after the image bearing body is exposed by a preliminary exposing portion. Adjustment is made to an interval between a first timing when the preliminary exposing portion starts exposing the image bearing body before execution of an adjustment operation for setting a transfer voltage value and a second timing when a voltage applying portion starts, during the subsequent adjustment operation, applying a voltage with an adjustment voltage value to a transfer member such that the second timing is later than a third timing when the duration acquired by the acquiring portion ends.

Abstract: Provided is an image forming apparatus including plural image formation units that form an image, an annular belt that holds the image on an outer circumferential surface thereof and transports the image, a driving roller that rotates with being in contact with an inner circumferential surface of the belt and rotates the belt, an adjustment roller that rotates with being in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the belt and adjusts a frictional force generated between the belt and the adjustment roller, a transfer roller that is driven to rotate with being in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the belt and transfers the image on the outer circumferential surface of the belt to a recording medium, and an adjustment unit that adjusts at least one of a rotational speed of the adjustment roller and a normal force of the adjustment roller against the belt.

Abstract: An image fixing device includes an elastic roller; a back-up unit forming a fixing nip with the roller therebetween, the back-up unit including a cylindrical film, a film guide, extending inside the film, for guiding the film, and an end portion guiding member including a guiding portion for guiding an inner surface of an end portion of the film. The film guide includes plural ribs contacting the film and arranged in a generatrix direction at positions upstream of the fixing nip with respect to a feeding direction of a sheet. The ribs have free end portions retracted more toward a downstream side with respect to the feeding direction of the recording material than the guiding portion of the end portion guiding member. An inside rib has a free end portion which is retracted more toward the downstream side than free end portions of the opposite end ribs.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a first image forming unit that forms a metallic-color toner image having a metallic color, a second image forming unit that forms a non-metallic-color toner image having a color different from the metallic color, and a transfer unit that transfers the toner images onto a recording material so that the non-metallic-color toner image is superimposed on an upper side of the metallic-color toner image on the recording material.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an transfer section including a transfer roller and a rotatable member and performing transfer processing in which it transfers a developer to a recording medium; a power source controller that applies a voltage to the transfer roller and measures a current value of a current that flows through the transfer roller and the rotatable member; and a main controller that calculates a first electrical resistance value between the transfer roller and the rotatable member in if the recording medium is absent between the transfer roller and the rotatable member and a second electrical resistance value between the transfer roller and the rotatable member if the recording medium is present between the transfer roller and the rotatable member on the basis of the current value measured by the power source controller, and determines a transfer voltage value for the transfer processing.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a main body including a first guide portion and a second guide portion, a process cartridge including a photosensitive drum, a support frame configured to support the process cartridge and move between an inside position and an outside position. The support frame includes a first side frame. The first side frame includes a first guided portion to be guided by the first guide portion. The second side frame includes a second guided portion guided by the second guide portion A dimension of the first side frame is greater than or equal to a dimension of the first side frame. A dimension of the second side frame is greater than or equal to a dimension of the second side frame.

Abstract: An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image in accordance with image information includes: an image forming unit configured to form an image that is uniform in area percentage of each of primary colors and a secondary color on an intermediate transfer belt; a measurer configured to measure amounts corresponding to density distribution of residual toner left on the intermediate transfer belt, on which the image uniform in area percentage of each of the primary colors and the secondary color is formed and from which toner is transferred onto a recording medium, in the main-scanning direction; and a corrector configured to correct a tone value of the image information so as to reduce density nonuniformity of a streak region observed in the density distribution in the main-scanning direction using the amounts measured by the measurer.

Abstract: In a developer conveyance device, a spiral screw is arranged inside a spiral coil such that the spiral coil and the spiral screw are both rotated. Accompanied by rotation of the spiral coil, even if waste toner tries to pass through the spiral coil and move in a vertical direction, movement of the waste toner in the vertical direction is blocked by the spiral screw, such that the waste toner is conveyed by the spiral screw. Since the waste toner hardly passes through the spiral coil in the vertical direction, the waste toner is also conveyed by the spiral coil.

Abstract: An optical scanning device (11) in the image forming apparatus (1) of the present invention includes a deflector (35, 37) deflecting a laser light scanning an image carrier (13) outputted from a light source (32Y, 32C, 32M, 32K); a first reflection mirror part (43Y, 43C, 43M, 43K) adjusting scanning curve of the laser light deflected by the deflector (35, 37); and a second reflection mirror part (44Y, 44C, 44M, 44K) arranged at a downstream side from the first reflection mirror part (43Y, 43C, 43M, 43K) in an optical path of the laser light to adjust scanning inclination of the laser light.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer, an image forming device, a toner concentration detector, a toner supply device, an image density detector, and a controller including a memory device. At a predetermined timing before image formation is started, the controller adjusts a developing potential to adjust an image density of a detection toner image on the image bearer and drives the toner supply device or the developing device to adjust a toner concentration in the developing device. After the image formation is started, the controller drives the toner supply device to adjust the toner concentration, and, in a predetermined sheet interval, adjusts the target concentration based on the image density of the detection toner image formed in a non-image area of the image bearer. When the toner concentration is higher than the target concentration plus a threshold, the controller suspends image formation and readjusts the developing potential.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus in which an apparatus main body has: an insertion port through which a process cartridge cannot pass when an image bearing member and a developer bearing member are separated from each other and through which the process cartridge can pass when the image bearing member and the developer bearing member are in contact with each other; and guides that guide one of a first frame and a second frame when the process cartridge is inserted into the insertion port. The image forming apparatus has a separation mechanism that separates the image bearing member and the developer bearing member from each other when the process cartridge is further inserted after the other of the first frame and second frame has passed through the insertion port.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a movement member arranged to move a cartridge and is movable between a first position for disposing the cartridge at a position where image formation is possible and a second position where the cartridge is attachable to and detachable from the movement member. At least one coupling provided in the cartridge is, when the movement member is at the first position, moved to a drive position where the coupling is arranged to engage with a drive member to rotate at least one rotating member, and while the movement member is being moved from the second to first positions, the at least one coupling is at an inclined position.

Abstract: A developer supplier includes a developer container and a main unit. The developer container includes a container body, a container seal, a developer discharge port and a container shutter. The container shutter covers or exposes the developer discharge port. The container shutter includes a container shutter body and a container sheet member. The main unit includes a housing and a main unit seal. The housing has a developer supply port. The developer container is mounted into a mounting section in a first orientation, and subsequently the container body is rotated in a first rotational direction so that the developer container changes to a second orientation and the developer discharge port communicates with the developer supply port. The container sheet member has a downstream end and configured to come into contact with the main unit seal when the developer container is mounted into the mounting section in the first orientation.