Abstract: The present invention is an image-forming method in which, when ?(A) is the contact angle relative to water of a surface of a photosensitive member and ?(B) is the contact angle relative to water of a surface of an intermediate transfer member, ?(B) is from 100° to 150°; ?(A) and ?(B) satisfy ?70°??(A)??(B)<0°; the toner has a toner particle that contains a binder resin; and the contact angle relative to water of a surface of a pellet molding of the toner is from 60° to 80°.

Abstract: Provided is a toner that has excellent low-temperature fixability, hot offset resistance, high image glossiness and fixing wraparound resistance, as well as high durable stability. The toner includes toner particles that contain a binder resin, a colorant and a wax, and fine inorganic particles on a surface of the toner particles, wherein the binder resin contains a polyester resin A and a styrene resin B, and a content ratio A/B of the polyester resin A and the styrene resin B is 85/15 or more and 98/2 or less based on mass, the styrene resin B has a weight average molecular weight Mw of a tetrahydrofuran soluble component of 2,000 or more and 5,000 or less, and the toner has been subjected to a hot-air surface treatment.

Abstract: The present invention is an image-forming method in which, when ?(A) is the contact angle relative to water of a surface of a photosensitive member and ?(B) is the contact angle relative to water of a surface of an intermediate transfer member, ?(B) is from 100° to 150°; ?(A) and ?(B) satisfy ?70°??(A)-?(B)<0°; the toner has a toner particle that contains a binder resin; and the contact angle relative to water of a surface of a pellet molding of the toner is from 60° to 80°.

Abstract: A developer supply cartridge includes a developer supply container. The developer supply container includes a developer accommodation section, a developer in the developer accommodation section, a discharging port configured to discharge the developer toward a developer supply apparatus, a pump unit configured to perform an exhaust operation through the discharging port, a developer storage section configured to store a certain amount of developer before discharge, the developer storage section communicating with the developer accommodation section and being in contact with the discharging port, and a suppression part configured to control inflow and suppression of inflow of the developer from the developer accommodation section to the developer storage section and suppress the inflow of the developer during the exhaust operation of the pump unit. The developer has a compressibility Ct of 30.0% or more and 45.0% or less.

Abstract: Provided is a developer replenishing cartridge excellent in accuracy with which an image forming apparatus is replenished with a developer irrespective of a use environment even when the developer is in a consolidated state. The developer replenishing cartridge includes: a developer replenishing container and a developer, being removably mountable to a developer replenishing apparatus; in which: the developer replenishing container includes a pump portion that operates so that a state where the internal pressure of a developer containing portion is lower than the atmospheric pressure and a state where the pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure alternately repeatedly switch with each other; and the developer contains toner having a uniaxial collapse stress at a maximum consolidation stress of 10.0 kPa, of 2.5 kPa or more and 3.5 kPa or less.

Abstract: Provided is a developer replenishing cartridge excellent in accuracy with which an image forming apparatus is replenished with a developer irrespective of a use environment even when the developer is in a consolidated state. The developer replenishing cartridge includes: a developer replenishing container and a developer, being removably mountable to a developer replenishing apparatus; in which: the developer replenishing container includes a pump portion that operates so that a state where the internal pressure of a developer containing portion is lower than the atmospheric pressure and a state where the pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure alternately repeatedly switch with each other; and the developer contains toner having a uniaxial collapse stress at a maximum consolidation stress of 10.0 kPa, of 2.5 kPa or more and 3.5 kPa or less.

Abstract: An article arraying device including a robot; a vision sensor for obtaining position information of each of randomly arranged articles; an arrangement pattern generating section for generating an arrangement pattern by using the position information, the arrangement pattern including pattern elements in a regular arrangement, in such a manner that any one of the pattern elements coincides with a position of a reference article in the randomly arranged articles; a picking motion generating section for generating a picking motion by using the position information, the robot picking up by the picking motion an article other than the reference article; an arraying motion generating section for generating an arraying motion, the robot placing by the arraying motion the picked-up article in a position juxtaposed to the reference article in accordance with the arrangement pattern; and a robot controlling section for controlling the picking motion and the arraying motion.

Abstract: Provided is a toner obtained by melting and kneading a binder resin containing a polyester resin A and a polyester resin B, a colorant, and a wax, in which in the resin A, the content of a polyhydric alcohol unit derived from an aromatic diol, the content of a polyhydric alcohol unit derived from an oxyalkylene ether of a novolac type phenol resin, and the content of a polyvalent carboxylic acid unit derived from an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid, which contains a straight-chain hydrocarbon having 4 or more to 16 or less carbon atoms as a main chain and has carboxyl groups at both of its terminals, fall within specific ranges, and in the resin B, the content of a polyhydric alcohol unit derived from an aromatic diol and the content of a polyvalent carboxylic acid unit derived from an aromatic dicarboxylic acid or a derivative thereof fall within specific ranges.

Abstract: Provided are a toner and a two-component developer each of which: shows a small fluctuation in charge quantity and a small fluctuation in image density even under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment; and does not cause any member contamination even after endurance and hence can stably output an image. The toner and the two-component developer each have a feature in that positively chargeable strontium titanate fine particles are added to toner particles having fixed thereto negatively chargeable silica fine particles.

Abstract: Provided is a toner that allows a transferred image to be stably output regardless of smoothness of a transfer material even under high-temperature and high-humidity environment or under low-temperature and low-humidity environment, that is excellent in cleanability for a transfer member even at the time of high-speed printing, and that causes less member contamination. The toner is a toner including toner particles each containing a binder resin and a wax, and silica fine particles on surfaces of the toner particles, wherein the silica fine particles have a number-average particle diameter of primary particles of 60 nm or more and 300 nm or less, a coverage rate of the surfaces of the toner particles with the silica fine particles is 15% or more and 95% or less, and the toner has a uniaxial collapse stress at a maximum consolidation stress of 10.0 kPa, of 2.5 kPa or more and 3.5 kPa or less.

Abstract: The present invention provides a 6,13-dihalogen-5,14-dihydropentacene derivative and a method for production thereof. Compounds (b) and (c) are reacted through cross-coupling reaction in the presence of a metal compound and a lithiating agent to synthesize compound (d), which is then halogenated to thereby obtain a 6,13-dihalogen-5,14-dihydropentacene derivative (compound (e)). [wherein X1 and X2 are each a halogen atom, and R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9 and R10 are each a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted C1-C20 hydrocarbon group, etc.

Abstract: Provided is a toner that has excellent low-temperature fixability, hot offset resistance, high image glossiness and fixing wraparound resistance, as well as high durable stability. The toner includes toner particles that contain a binder resin, a colorant and a wax, and fine inorganic particles on a surface of the toner particles, wherein the binder resin contains a polyester resin A and a styrene resin B, and a content ratio A/B of the polyester resin A and the styrene resin B is 85/15 or more and 98/2 or less based on mass, the styrene resin B has a weight average molecular weight Mw of a tetrahydrofuran soluble component of 2,000 or more and 5,000 or less, and the toner has been subjected to a hot-air surface treatment.

Abstract: The present invention provides a 6,13-dihalogen-5,14-dihydropentacene derivative and a method for production thereof. Compounds (b) and (c) are reacted through cross-coupling reaction in the presence of a metal compound and a lithiating agent to synthesize compound (d), which is then halogenated to thereby obtain a 6,13-dihalogen-5,14-dihydropentacene derivative (compound (e)). [wherein X1 and X2 are each a halogen atom, and R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9 and R10 are each a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted C1-C20 hydrocarbon group, etc.

Abstract: An object picking device, which is inexpensive and capable of speedily and accurately picking one object at a time from a random pile state. A target detecting part of an image processing part processes an image captured by a camera and detects objects. A target selecting part selects an object among the detected objects based on a certain rule. A view line direction calculating part calculates the direction of a view line extending to the selected object. A target position estimating part estimates the position including the height of the selected object based on size information of the object in the image. Then, a grip correction calculating part calculates an amount of correction of the movement of a robot so as to grip the object by using the robot.

Abstract: A teaching position correcting apparatus corrects plural teaching point positions of a robot in a robot operation program, by sequentially moving the robot to each of the plural teaching points and by sequentially reading a current position of the robot at each of the plural teaching points. The apparatus includes: a position correction amount calculating unit that calculates a position correction amount, based on corrected teaching point positions and teaching point positions before correction; and a corrected-position calculating unit that calculates corrected positions of teaching point positions before correction out of the plural teaching points, based on the position correction amount. At the time of moving the robot to uncorrected teaching points, a moving unit moves the robot to corrected positions of the teaching point positions before correction.

Abstract: An organic semiconductor material is provided. The organic semiconductor material includes a polyacene derivative expressed by the following general formula (1): where each of R1 to R10 may be independently the same substituents or different substituents but all of R1, R4, R5, R6, R9 and R10 may never be hydrogen atoms at the same time, and where each of R1 to R10 is at least one kind of substituent selected from the group consisting of an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having a substituent and of which number of carbon atoms ranges of from 1 to 20, an aromatic hydrocarbon group having a substituent, a complex aromatic group having a substituent, a carboxyl group, a hydride, an ester group, a cyano group, a hydroxyl group, a halogen atom and a hydrogen atom. The organic semiconductor material can be dissolved into an organic solvent at low temperature (for example, room temperature) and is suitable for use with a coating process.

Abstract: An apparatus for picking up objects including a robot for picking up an object, at least one part of the object having a curved shape, having a storing means for storing a gray gradient distribution model of the object, a recognizing means for recognizing a gray image of the object, a gradient extracting means for extracting a gray gradient distribution from the gray image recognized by the recognizing means, an object detecting means for detecting a position or position posture of the object in the gray image in accordance with the gray gradient distribution extracted by the gradient extracting means and the gray gradient distribution model stored by the storing means, a detection information converting means for converting information of the position or position posture detected by the object detecting means into information of position or position posture in a coordinate system regarding the robot; and a robot moving means for moving the robot to the position or position posture converted by the detection

Abstract: An article conveying robot system capable of effectively containing an article in a container conveyed by a conveyor by using a robot. A container detecting part measures the distribution of shading of an image of each containing cell based on a detection result of the container, detects the containing state of each cell, and stores the detection result of each cell. An information managing part of a controller of an upstream side robot receives information from a container detecting part of a controller of a downstream side robot, and then generates containing cell information. An information managing part checks the cell information to be processed, and then transmits the cell information to a task executing part only when an article is not located in the corresponding cell. Task executing part controls the robot so as to locate an article in the selected cell based on the cell information.

Abstract: A workpiece picking apparatus includes a robot, a workpiece recognition device for recognizing the workpieces located in a wide area, an accurate measurement device for accurately measuring the three-dimensional position of the workpiece, a workpiece select device for selecting the workpiece to be picked, and an NG workpiece storage device for storing information on the rough position of an failed NG workpiece when the measurement of the three-dimensional position or the picking for the workpiece has failed. The workpiece select device excludes the NG workpiece stored in the NG workpiece storage device and selects the next workpiece to be measured. The robot picks the selected workpiece based on the three-dimensional position of the workpiece measured by the accurate measurement device.

Abstract: An article conveying robot system capable of effectively containing an article in a container conveyed by a conveyor by using a robot. A container detecting part measures the distribution of shading of an image of each containing cell based on a detection result of the container, detects the containing state of each cell, and stores the detection result of each cell. An information managing part of a controller of an upstream side robot receives information from a container detecting part of a controller of a downstream side robot, and then generates containing cell information. An information managing part checks the cell information to be processed, and then transmits the cell information to a task executing part only when an article is not located in the corresponding cell. Task executing part controls the robot so as to locate an article in the selected cell based on the cell information.