Patents by Inventor Hiroshi Ikuno

Hiroshi Ikuno has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20060040192
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate, a charge generation layer overlying the electroconductive substrate to generate a first charge to form an electrostatic latent image when exposed to a first light, and a charge generation and transport layer overlying the charge generation layer to generate a second charge when exposed to second light and to transport the first and second charges to a surface of the photoreceptor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2005
    Publication date: February 23, 2006
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Takeo Tsukamoto
  • Patent number: 6998209
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate, a charge generation layer overlying the electroconductive substrate to generate a first charge to form an electrostatic latent image when exposed to a first light, and a charge generation and transport layer overlying the charge generation layer to generate a second charge when exposed to second light and to transport the first and second charges to a surface of the photoreceptor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2006
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Takeo Tsukamoto
  • Publication number: 20050287452
    Abstract: A photoconductor is disclosed that exhibits superior wear resistance, excellent flaw resistance, and appropriate electric properties owing to a photosensitive layer having a crosslinked layer with superior smoothness and higher crosslink density, wherein the photoconductor comprises a support, and a photosensitive layer disposed on the support, the photosensitive layer comprises a crosslinked layer, the crosslinked layer comprises a radical polymerizable monomer having three or more functionalities and no charge transport structure and a radical polymerizable compound having one functionality and a charge transport structure, and the crosslinked layer is cured by way of photopolymerization and thermal polymerization.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2005
    Publication date: December 29, 2005
    Inventors: Hiroshi Tamura, Hiroshi Ikuno, Yoshiki Yanagawa, Tetsuro Suzuki, Yoshiaki Kawasaki, Naohiro Toda
  • Publication number: 20050282075
    Abstract: A photoconductor comprising a photosensitive layer disposed on an support, wherein the photosensitive layer has at least a crosslinked layer and the crosslinked layer is produced by curing at least a radical polymerizable monomer having three or more functionalities and no charge transport structure and a radical polymerizable compound having a charge transport structure through irradiating a light energy in an atmosphere having a low oxygen concentration of 0.001 vol % to 2.0 vol %.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2005
    Publication date: December 22, 2005
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Hiroshi Tamura, Tetsuro Suzuki, Yoshiki Yanagawa
  • Publication number: 20050266328
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate and a photosensitive layer overlying the electroconductive substrate. An outermost layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is a crosslinked layer including a radical polymerizing monomer having three or more functional groups without a charge transporting structure. The outermost layer also includes a radical polymerizing compound having one functional group with a charge transporting structure and a reactive silicone compound having a radical polymerizing functional group.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2004
    Publication date: December 1, 2005
    Inventors: Yoshiki Yanagawa, Hiroshi Ikuno, Hongguo Li, Kazukiyo Nagai, Hiroshi Tamura, Tetsuro Suzuki
  • Publication number: 20050244176
    Abstract: In an image forming apparatus that employs a system of charging by adjacent discharge, not only can degradation of the photoreceptor surface caused by adjacent discharge be prevented, but also there is no side effect on the developer, and at the same time size reduction is achieved. The image forming apparatus comprises an object to be charged whose surface moves; a charging device for charging the object to be charged using an electrical discharge generated by applying a voltage comprising an alternating current component to a charging member provided in contact with or in proximity to the object to be charged; a latent image forming device for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the object charged by the charging device; and a developing device for causing a two-component developer to come into contact with the image portion of the electrostatic latent image formed by the latent image forming device and affixing toner thereto.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2005
    Publication date: November 3, 2005
    Inventors: Hiroshi Nakai, Yasuo Suzuki, Nozomu Tamoto, Takahiko Tokumasu, Kazahiko Watanabe, Kohichi Ohshima, Noboru Tsukude, Nekka Matsuura, Hiroshi Ikuno
  • Publication number: 20050221210
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoconductor having at least a photoconductive layer on an electrically conductive support, wherein a surface layer of the photoconductive layer is a crosslinked layer obtainable by curing at least a three or more-functional radical-polymerizable monomer having no charge transporting structure and a charge transportation compound having a radical-polymerizable functional group by using an acylphosphine oxide compound as a photo-polymerization initiator under light energy irradiation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2005
    Publication date: October 6, 2005
    Inventors: Tetsuro Suzuki, Hiroshi Tamura, Hiroshi Ikuno, Yoshiki Yanagawa, Kazukiyo Nagai, Hongguo Li
  • Publication number: 20050158641
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoconductor having at least a photoconductive layer on an electrically conductive support, in which a surface layer of the photoconductive layer can be obtained by curing at least a free-radical-polymerizable monomer having no electron transporting structure, represented by general formula (A) and a one-functional free-radical-polymerizable compound having an electron transporting structure, wherein R71, R72, R73, R74, R75, and R76 are described in the specification.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2005
    Publication date: July 21, 2005
    Inventors: Yoshiki Yanagawa, Hiroshi Ikuno, Hongguo Li, Kazukiyo Nagai, Hiroshi Tamura, Tetsuro Suzuki, Naohiro Toda, Yoshiaki Kawasaki
  • Patent number: 6844124
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer located overlying the electroconductive substrate and including a resin; and a surface layer including a filler and a binder resin, wherein the surface layer and the photosensitive layer have a continuous structure, and wherein the surface layer satisfies the following relationship: ??D/5, wherein D represents an average of maximum thicknesses of the surface layer in units of micrometers in 20 segments of 5 ?m wide when a portion of a cross section of the photoreceptor of 100 ?m wide is divided into the 20 segments, and ? represents a standard deviation of the 20 maximum thicknesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2005
    Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Hidetoshi Kami, Ryohichi Kitajima, Narihito Kojima, Akihiko Matsuyama, Hiroshi Nagame, Katsuichi Ohta, Tetsuro Suzuki, Nozomu Tamoto, Hiroshi Tamura, Yohta Sakon, Eiji Kurimoto, Tatsuya Niimi, Yuka Miyamoto
  • Publication number: 20040253527
    Abstract: Disclosed is an electrophotographic photoconductor including at least a photoconductive layer on a conductive substrate, wherein the surface layer of the photoconductive layer contains at least a surface crosslinked layer formed by curing a tri- or more-functional radical polymerizable monomer without having a charge transporting structure and a mono-functional radical polymerizable compound having a charge transporting structure and the surface crosslinked layer has a surface roughness Rz of 1.3 &mgr;m or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2004
    Publication date: December 16, 2004
    Inventors: Tetsuro Suzuki, Hiroshi Tamura, Hiroshi Ikuno, Kazukiyo Nagai, Hongguo Li
  • Publication number: 20040248024
    Abstract: Disclosed is an electrophotographic photoconductor including at least a photoconductive layer on an electroconductive substrate, which comprises at least a cross-linked surface layer formed by curing a tri- or more-functional radical polymerizable monomer without having a charge transporting structure and a mono-functional radical polymerizable compound having a charge transporting structure wherein the cross-linked surface layer has a surface roughness Rz of 1.3 &mgr;m or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2004
    Publication date: December 9, 2004
    Inventors: Tetsuro Suzuki, Hiroshi Tamura, Hiroshi Ikuno, Kazukiyo Nagai, Hongguo Li
  • Publication number: 20040053152
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoconductor having a layer of a crosslinked resin obtained by reacting an epoxy group-containing amine compound having a charge transferability-imparting group with at least one silicon compound selected from an epoxy ring-free alkoxysilane compound, an epoxy ring-free silanol compound, an epoxy ring-containing alkoxysilane compound and an epoxy ring-containing silanol compound.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2003
    Publication date: March 18, 2004
    Inventors: Kazukiyo Nagai, Chiaki Tanaka, Tetsuro Suzuki, Hiroshi Ikuno, Hongguo Li
  • Publication number: 20040048178
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer located overlying the electroconductive substrate and including a resin; and a surface layer including a filler and a binder resin, wherein the surface layer and the photosensitive layer have a continuous structure, and wherein the surface layer satisfies the following relationship: &sgr;≦D/5, wherein D represents an average of maximum thicknesses of the surface layer in units of micrometers in 20 segments of 5 &mgr;m wide when a portion of a cross section of the photoreceptor of 100 &mgr;m wide is divided into the 20 segments, and &sgr; represents a standard deviation of the 20 maximum thicknesses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2003
    Publication date: March 11, 2004
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Hidetoshi Kami, Ryohichi Kitajima, Narihito Kojima, Akihiko Matsuyama, Hiroshi Nagame, Katsuichi Ohta, Tetsuro Suzuki, Nozomu Tamoto, Hiroshi Tamura, Yohta Sakon, Eiji Kurimoto, Tatsuya Niimi, Yuka Miyamoto
  • Patent number: 6686114
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including a photoreceptor configured to bear an electrostatic latent image while rotating in a direction, wherein the photoreceptor includes an electroconductive substrate, a photosensitive layer located overlying the substrate, and a protective layer located overlying the photosensitive layer and including a filler; a latent image former configured to form the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor; an image developer configured to develop the electrostatic latent image with a developer including a toner; an image transfer device configured to transfer the toner image onto a receiving material; a cleaner configured to remove the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor while contacting the surface of the photoreceptor; and a surface condition controller configured to control a surface condition of the photoreceptor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2004
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yohta Sakon, Hiroshi Nagame, Narihito Kojima, Hiroshi Ikuno
  • Publication number: 20030224268
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate, a charge generation layer overlying the electroconductive substrate to generate a first charge to form an electrostatic latent image when exposed to a first light, and a charge generation and transport layer overlying the charge generation layer to generate a second charge when exposed to second light and to transport the first and second charges to a surface of the photoreceptor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2003
    Publication date: December 4, 2003
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Takeo Tsukamoto
  • Patent number: 6641964
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer located overlying the electroconductive substrate and including a resin; and a surface layer including a filler and a binder resin, wherein the surface layer and the photosensitive layer have a continuous structure, and wherein the surface layer satisfies the following relationship: &sgr;≦D/5, wherein D represents an average of maximum thicknesses of the surface layer in units of micrometers in 20 segments of 5 &mgr;m wide when a portion of a cross section of the photoreceptor of 100 &mgr;m wide is divided into the 20 segments, and &sgr; represents a standard deviation of the 20 maximum thicknesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Hidetoshi Kami, Ryohichi Kitajima, Narihito Kojima, Akihiko Matsuyama, Hiroshi Nagame, Katsuichi Ohta, Tetsuro Suzuki, Nozomu Tamoto, Hiroshi Tamura, Yohta Sakon, Eiji Kurimoto, Tatsuya Niimi, Yuka Miyamoto
  • Publication number: 20030049555
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including a photoreceptor configured to bear an electrostatic latent image while rotating in a direction, wherein the photoreceptor includes an electroconductive substrate, a photosensitive layer located overlying the substrate, and a protective layer located overlying the photosensitive layer and including a filler; a latent image former configured to form the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor; an image developer configured to develop the electrostatic latent image with a developer including a toner; an image transfer device configured to transfer the toner image onto a receiving material; a cleaner configured to remove the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor while contacting the surface of the photoreceptor; and a surface condition controller configured to control a surface condition of the photoreceptor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2002
    Publication date: March 13, 2003
    Inventors: Yohta Sakon, Hiroshi Nagame, Narihito Kojima, Hiroshi Ikuno
  • Publication number: 20030049050
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a photoconductive element including a conductive support rotatably supported and a charge injection layer and a surface protection layer sequentially laminated on the conductive support. A charger includes a conductive body for injecting, when a preselected voltage is applied thereto, a charge in the charge injection layer in contact with the surface protection layer. A writing unit exposes the charged surface of the photoconductive element imagewise to thereby locally vary the potential deposited on the photoconductive element and electrostatically form a latent image. A developing unit develops the latent image to thereby produce a corresponding toner image. The toner image is transferred from the photoconductive element to a recording medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2002
    Publication date: March 13, 2003
    Inventors: Masahiko Shakuto, Tsukuru Kai, Hidetoshi Yano, Takahiko Tokumasu, Toshihiko Baba, Hiroshi Ikuno, Kei Yasutomi, Hirokatsu Suzuki, Nobutaka Takeuchi, Toshihiko Baba
  • Patent number: 6489073
    Abstract: Electrostatic latent images are developed with a toner in such a configuration that an electrostatic-latent-image-bearing member is disposed to face a developer-bearing member which bears thereon a developer consisting of a magnetic carrier and a toner by relatively moving the developer-bearing member and the electrostatic-latent-image-bearing member at different velocities, with the development being carried out under conditions represented by formula (1): 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihiro Kotsugai, Kimitoshi Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Ikuno
  • Publication number: 20020115005
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer located overlying the electroconductive substrate and including a resin; and a surface layer including a filler and a binder resin, wherein the surface layer and the photosensitive layer have a continuous structure, and wherein the surface layer satisfies the following relationship: &sgr;≦D/5, wherein D represents an average of maximum thicknesses of the surface layer in units of micrometers in 20 segments of 5 &mgr;m wide when a portion of a cross section of the photoreceptor of 100 &mgr;m wide is divided into the 20 segments, and &sgr; represents a standard deviation of the 20 maximum thicknesses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: August 22, 2002
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ikuno, Hidetoshi Kami, Ryohichi Kitajima, Narihito Kojima, Akihiko Matsuyama, Hiroshi Nagame, Katsuichi Ohta, Tetsuro Suzuki, Nozomu Tamoto, Hiroshi Tamura, Yohta Sakon, Eiji Kurimoto, Tatsuya Niimi, Yuka Miyamoto