Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photoreceptor that includes a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer disposed on the conductive substrate, the electrophotographic photoreceptor having an outermost surface layer that contains a binder resin, a charge-transporting material, and a fluorine-containing resin particle, the fluorine-containing resin particle containing 0 or more and 30 or less carboxy groups per 106 carbon atoms, a charging device that charges the electrophotographic photoreceptor, an electrostatic latent image forming device that forms an electrostatic latent image on the electrophotographic photoreceptor that is charged, a developing device that houses a developer containing a toner and that develops, with the developer, the electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photoreceptor into a toner image, a transfer device that transfers the toner image onto a transfer-receiving medium, and an optical discharging device that, after the toner image i

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, and an opening/closing cover configured to expose an opening portion of the apparatus body by being opened. The apparatus body includes a main body frame, a plurality of conveyance units being detachably attached to the main body frame through the opening portion, a control board configured to control the plurality of conveyance units, and a relay board configured to be electrically connected to the control board. The plurality of conveyance units respectively include a plurality of first connectors. The relay board includes a plurality of second connectors that are arranged to face the opening portion and that are configured to be connected to the plurality of first connectors, the relay board being arranged at a position not interfering with attachment/detachment loci in which the plurality of conveyance units are attached to and detached from the main body frame.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming target looped around plural rotators including a driving roller, having at least one straight portion that is shaped straight when viewed in an axial direction of the driving roller, and transported by the driving roller and the rotators, and three or more image formers arranged along the straight portion and configured to form images on the image forming target. An adjacency distance along the straight portion between the image formers adjacent to each other on the straight portion is an integral multiple of an outer peripheral length of the driving roller. The adjacency distance at a downstream end is shorter than the adjacency distance at an upstream end, and one of the adjacency distances is equal to or shorter than the adjacency distance that is relatively on an upstream side.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearing member, a developing unit to develop an electrostatic latent image at a developing portion, a transfer unit to transfer a developer image to a recording member at a transfer portion; and a brush provided with a plurality of fibers contacting the image bearing member at downstream of the transfer portion and upstream of the developing portion in a rotational direction of the image bearing member. An average contacting pressure of the brush per one fiber to the image bearing member is smaller than a depositing force of the developer not transferred to the recording member to the image bearing member. As the brush in a state of not in contact with the image bearing member is viewed from a free end side of the fibers, an average number of the fibers included in a circumference of a diameter of 100 ?m is more than one.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of image forming portions; a rotatable endless belt; a plurality of stretching rollers including an inner roller and a steering roller; an outer roller; a steering mechanism; a position changing mechanism; and a controller. In a case that a changing operation for changing a position of the inner roller is performed by the position changing mechanism during execution of a job for forming the toner images on a plurality of recording materials, the controller controls the steering mechanism so that a tilting operation for tilting the steering roller in a predetermined amount in interrelation with the changing operation is executed.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes multiple developing devices, a temperature sensor, and a controller. The multiple developing devices are configured to respectively develop electrostatic latent images formed on an image carrier and correspond to multiple colors. The temperature sensor is configured to measure a temperature of a first developing device of the multiple developing devices that develops at least a first color of the multiple colors. The controller includes a processor and a memory. The controller is configured to: stop development performed by the first developing device based on the measured temperature of the first developing device; and operate a second developing device of the multiple developing devices to perform development when the first developing device is stopped.

Abstract: An image-forming apparatus includes: a charge device that comes into contact with a photoreceptor and charges the photoreceptor; a separation mechanism that holds the photoreceptor and the charge device in a separate state that is removable; an exposure device; a developing device that forms a toner image; a toner adhesion amount sensor that detects a toner image; an image quality adjuster that controls a voltage applied to the charge device, a voltage applied to the developing device, an amount of light during exposure, and detection of the toner image and a density of the toner image; and a separation removal confirmer that, with the toner adhesion amount sensor, detects whether a toner image is formed in spite of unexposure during an initialization operation of a image forming process to perform separation removal confirmation as to whether the separate state by the separation mechanism has been removed.

Abstract: A method of forming a flexible printed material is described. The method comprises applying a layer of primer onto a flexible substrate; electrostatically printing onto the layer of primer a liquid electrostatic ink composition; applying a curable overprint varnish composition onto the printed electrostatic ink composition and curing the overprint varnish composition using electron beam irradiation. The curable overprint varnish composition comprises an ethylenically unsaturated monomer, an ethylenically unsaturated oligomer, or mixtures thereof, and less than 10 wt. % of a cross-linking additive based on the total weight of the curable overprint varnish composition. A flexible package comprising the flexible printed material is also described.

Abstract: A developing cartridge includes a housing, a storage medium having an electrical contact surface, a holder holding the electrical contact surface and movable with respect to the housing between a first position and a second position, and a roller including a first roller protrusion. The first roller protrusion is movable between a third position and a fourth position in accordance with rotation of the roller. The holder is movable in accordance with movement of the first roller protrusion. As the first roller protrusion moves from the third position to the fourth position, the holder moves from the first position to the second position.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a development device, and a control unit that controls the development device. The development device includes a toner collection mechanism having a duct, a filter, and an exhaust fan. The duct is connected to a conveyance chamber of the development container and allows air in the conveyance chamber to flow through. The filter is disposed at a connecting part between the duct and the conveyance chamber, and collects toner flowing into the duct from the conveyance chamber. The exhaust fan makes the air in the conveyance chamber flow to the outside via the duct. The control unit changes rotational frequency or operation frequency of the exhaust fan based on current detected by a current detection unit at non-image forming time.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a cleaning unit, a development device, and a control unit. The development device includes a toner collection mechanism having a developer carrier and a filter. The control unit is capable of executing a scattered toner recovery mode at non-image forming time, in which the filter is vibrated, a potential difference is generated in the direction for the toner to move from the developer carrier to the image carrier, the developer carrier is rotated in a reverse direction to that at image forming time, and the image carrier is rotated in the same direction as that at the image forming time, so that scattered toner, which has dropped from the filter and adhered to the developer carrier, is recovered by the cleaning unit via the image carrier.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a light emitting chip and at least one processor. The light emitting chip includes a plurality of light emitting elements, a DAC outputting a voltage corresponding to a setting value, and a circuit unit that supplies a current to the plurality of light emitting elements based on the voltage. At least one processor is configured to set the setting value such that one light emitting element included among the plurality of light emitting elements emits light of a predetermined amount, and correct image data pieces that respectively correspond to the plurality of light emitting elements based on first correction data for correcting amounts of light respectively emitted by the plurality of light emitting elements. The circuit unit supplies a current to each of the plurality of light emitting elements based on the corrected image data pieces.

Abstract: An example charging member has a conductive support, a conductive elastic body layer on the conductive support, a first surface layer on the conductive elastic body layer, and a second surface layer on the first surface layer. The first surface layer includes a binder resin and a first plurality of first particles dispersed in the binder resin of the first surface layer, the second surface layer includes the binder resin, a second plurality of first particles, and second particles, the second plurality of first particles and the second particles being dispersed in the binder resin of the second surface layer, and an average diameter d1 of the first particles is 3 ?m?d1?6 ?m and an average diameter d2 of the second particles is 20 ?m?d2?26 ?m.

Abstract: A feeding apparatus includes a feeding unit, an ion generating unit and a controller. The ion generating unit irradiates the sheet fed by the feeding unit with the ion. The controller acquires an information on the fed sheet and to controls the ion generating unit. The controller operates the ion generating unit in a case that the information of the sheet is a first information, and does not operate the ion generating unit in a case that the information of the sheet is a second information.

Abstract: A fixing device includes an endless belt, a rotatable pressing member, a pad member inside of the belt, and a sliding member held by the pad member and sliding on an inner circumferential surface of the belt in a nip. The rotatable pressing member nips and feeds a recording material in the nip in cooperation with the belt and fixes a toner image on the recording material by applying heat and pressure. The sliding member includes a base material layer on which a plurality of projections projecting toward the rotatable pressing member are formed on a side sliding with the belt and a sliding layer provided on an outer surface of the plurality of projections. A leading end of the plurality of projections is a plane and an average roughness (Ra) of the plane satisfies 0.13 ?m?Ra?1.67 ?m.

Abstract: A first exposure head forms an image corresponding to a first color based on a first synchronization signal. A second exposure head forms the image corresponding to a second color based on a second synchronization signal. A period of the first synchronization signal in a case where the first exposure head is to form the image for a second surface of a sheet is shorter than a period of first synchronization signal in a case where the first exposure head is to form the image for a first surface of the sheet. A period of the second synchronization signal in a case where the second exposure head is to form the image for the second surface is shorter than a period of the second synchronization signal in a case where the second exposure head is to form the image for the first surface.

Abstract: A conductive roller includes: a core member including an outer surface along and about an axial line thereof; and a surface layer arranged along the outer surface of the core member. The surface layer includes a conductive portion formed of a conductive resin composition, and a surface roughness imparting material in a form of particles dispersed in the conductive portion. An average particle size of the surface roughness imparting material is in a range of 6 micrometers or greater and 10 micrometers or less. The number of particles of the surface roughness imparting material per unit area of the surface layer is in a range of 1.0×104 particles per mm2 or greater and 2.0×106 particles per mm2 or less. An average thickness of the surface layer is in a range of 3.0 micrometers or greater and 15.0 micrometers or less.

Abstract: Provided is an electrophotographic apparatus including: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; a voltage application unit configured to cause discharge from an electroconductive member to the electrophotographic photosensitive member; a charge transfer amount detection unit configured to detect a charge transfer amount per unit time resulting from the discharge from the electroconductive member to the electrophotographic photosensitive member; and a charging potential control unit, wherein V1 and V2 defined by specific procedures for the electrophotographic photosensitive member satisfy a relationship represented by the following expression (E-4): 100V1<V2?V1 (E-4), and wherein the charging potential control unit is configured to control the charging potential of the electrophotographic photosensitive member at the time of image formation.

Abstract: A conductive roller includes: a core member including an outer surface along and about an axial line thereof; and a surface layer arranged along the outer surface of the core member. The surface layer includes a conductive portion, and a surface roughness imparting material in a form of particles dispersed in the conductive portion. An average particle size of the surface roughness imparting material is in a range of 6 micrometers or greater and less than 10 micrometers. The number of particles of the surface roughness imparting material per unit area of the surface layer is in a range of 3.5×105 particles per mm2 or greater and 7.5×105 particles per mm2 or less. An average thickness of the surface layer is in a range of 0.2 micrometers or greater and 5.5 micrometers or less.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a detachable unit attachable to and detachable from an apparatus body, a preceding unit configured to move relative to the apparatus body before the detachable unit is attached to or detached from the apparatus body, and an adhesion-suppressing component provided on the preceding unit and configured to suppress adhesion of floating matter in the apparatus body to a grip of the detachable unit by covering the grip.