Abstract: In accordance with the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member for bearing an electrostatic latent image, a charging device for charging the surface of the image bearing member, an electrostatic latent image forming device for forming the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image bearing member charged by the charging device, a developing device, which includes a developer bearing member for bearing a single component developer, for performing development by bringing the single component developer into contact with the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image, a transfer device for electrostatically transferring the visible image to a transfer member, and a fixing device for fixing the electrostatically transferred visible image on the transfer member. The developer bearing member includes at least a conductive core bar, an electron-conductive layer composed of an elastic body, and an ion-conductive layer.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member for bearing an electrostatic latent image, and a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image with a developer and collecting the developer remaining on the image bearing member including a developer carrying member for carrying the developer. The developer carried by the developer carrying member comes into contact with the image bearing member as the developer carrying member moves and a regulating member for regulating a layer thickness of the developer carried by the developer carrying member. The regulating member regulates the layer thickness of the developer carried by the developer carrying member so that there will be three to eight layers, wherein V2/V1>1.54 holds where V1 is a peripheral velocity of said image bearing member and V2 is a peripheral velocity of said developer carrying member.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; electrostatic image forming means for forming an electrostatic image on said image bearing member, said electrostatic image forming means including a flexible charge member for electrically charging said image bearing member, said charge member forming a nip between said image bearing member and itself and is supplied with an oscillating voltage, wherein electroconductive particles are provided in the nip; and developing means for developing an electrostatic image formed on said image bearing member with a developer, said developing means being capable of a residual developer on said image bearing member, wherein a frequency f (cycle/sec) of the oscillating voltage and a peripheral speed v (mm/sec) of said image bearing member satisfy ¦f/v¦≧12 (cycle/mm).

Abstract: It is proposed to provide a developing agent carrier, developing unit, and image forming apparatus which can stably obtain a high-quality image. There is provided a developing agent carrier comprising an elastic portion which comes into contact with an image carrier, wherein an Asker C hardness of the elastic portion is not less than 20 and not more than 40, and a dynamic friction coefficient of a surface of the elastic portion is not less than 0.01 and not more than 0.2.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that has an image bearing member a flexible charging member for forming a nip portion between itself and the image bearing member and charging the image bearing member, the charging member being applied with a voltage when the charging member at least charges the image bearing member for an image formation, the charging member being provided with a foamed layer on a surface thereof and the nip portion being provided with electrically conductive particles developing device for developing an electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member with a developer, the developing device executing a developing operation and, at the same time, executing a collecting operation for collecting a residual developer on the image bearing member wherein the voltage is a superposed voltage with a direct current voltage and an alternating current voltage having a peak to peak voltage which is less than the alternating current voltage applied when th

Abstract: The present invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising an image bearing member, an electrostatic image forming device adapted to form an electrostatic image on the image bearing member and including an electrifying member contacted with the image bearing member to electrify the image bearing member, the electrifying member having a first conductive member to which voltage is applied, and a developer carrying member cooperating with the image bearing member to form a nip therebetween and adapted to carry developer to the nip and to develop the electrostatic image with the developer and having a second conductive member to which voltage is applied, and wherein a resistance value between the second conductive member and a developer layer of the developer carried on the developer carrying member is greater than a resistance value between the first conductive member and a surface of the image bearing member.

Abstract: A developer scraping member for scraping developer from a developer carrying member has a surface layer having a foamed member, a base layer provided inside of the surface layer, and an intrusion preventing layer provided between the surface layer and the base layer. The intrusion preventing layer prevents the developer, which has intruded into the surface layer, from intruding into the base layer.

Abstract: The present invention provides an image forming apparatus, which has an image bearing body for bearing a toner image, transferring device for transferring a toner image on the image bearing body to a transferring material, a charging member for charging the image bearing body, having a residual toner after the transfer on a surface thereof by being brought into contact therewith, electrostatic image forming device for forming an electrostatic image on the image bearing body charged by the charging member, developing device for collecting the residual toner on the image bearing body while developing the electrostatic image on the image bearing body by using a toner charged in the same polarity as a charging polarity generated by the charging member, control device for controlling a voltage to be applied to the charging member, and a cleaning sequence for performing a cleaning of the charging member by applying a voltage not higher than a discharge threshold and equal to the polarity of the toner after a discha

Abstract: A developing apparatus has a developer carrying member for carrying a developer thereon and conveying it to a developing area opposed to an image bearing member, an agitating member for agitating the developer to be supplied to the developer carrying member and a stripping device for stripping off the developer having passed the developing area from the developer carrying member wherein the developer stripped off from the developer carrying member by the stripping device is guided to a position farther from the developer carrying member than a position at which the agitating member is disposed.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a charging member for charging a surface of the image bearing member while contacting thereto with a predetermined voltage applied to the charging member; exposure member for exposing the surface of the image bearing member to form an electrostatic latent image; a toner carrying member contacted to the image bearing member with a predetermined voltage applied to the toner carrying member to visualize the electrostatic latent image into a toner image with toner carried thereon; an image transfer member for urging a transfer material to contact the transfer material to the image bearing member with a predetermined voltage applied to the image transfer member to transfer the toner image onto the transfer material; a device for applying the predetermined voltages to the charging member, the toner carrying member and the transfer member; and a controller for controlling the device that applies the predetermined voltage, the controller being operable in a

Abstract: An image forming apparatus wherein a developer remaining on a photosensitive member after an image transfer process is removed by developing means, the apparatus includes an electrophotographic photosensitive member; a contact charging means including an electrode contacted to the photosensitive member to electrically charge the photosensitive member, the contact charging means being supplied with a bias voltage form a charging bias voltage source; exposure means for exposing the photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image thereon after the photosensitive member is electrically charged by the charging means; developing means for supplying the developer from a developer carrying member to a latent image portion of the photosensitive member to develop the photosensitive member and simultaneously removing the developer remaining on the photosensitive member after the transfer process and conveyed to a downstream of the contact charging means on the photosensitive member, to the developer carrying

Abstract: An electrophotographic apparatus includes a movable photosensitive member having a photoconductive layer, and a charging member for charging the photosensitive member. A latent image forming device forms an image on the photosensitive member, and an electric charge applying device applies an electric charge of a polarity opposite from a charging property of the charging member to the photosensitive member. The photosensitive member includes a rectifying layer on the photoconductive layer to provide, at an interface between the photoconductive layer and the rectifying layer, a p-n junction preventing electric charge of the opposite polarity from entering the photoconductive layer.

Abstract: A hybrid type image forming apparatus capable of forming a high quality image by using two image forming units having different resolution from each other, perform high throughput image forming by selecting most suitable image forming method or methods depending upon a kind of input image data, and reducing its running cost. In the apparatus, input image data of resolution of 300 dpi is separated into monochromatic image data and color image data. The monochromatic image data is converted into that of 600 dpi so that four pixels of an image of 600 dpi make one pixel of an image of 300 dpi. Then, a monochromatic image is formed on the basis of the monochromatic image data of 600 dpi by the image forming unit employing the electrophotograph method. A print medium on which the monochromatic image is formed is conveyed to the image forming unit employing the ink-jet printing method where a color image is formed on the basis of the color image data of 300 dpi.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium includes a first conveying path for conveying a recording medium in order to form an image thereon using a first image forming device, a second conveying path for conveying a recording medium in order to form an image thereon using a second image forming device for forming an image according to an image forming method different from an image forming method of the first image forming device, a third conveying path for conveying a recording medium in order to form an image thereon using the first image forming device and the second image forming device, and a setting device for selectively setting one of a first conveying mode using the first conveying path, a second conveying mode using the second conveying path, and a third conveying mode using the third conveying path.

Abstract: An electrophotographic apparatus for simultaneously performing image exposure and development including an electrophotographic photosensitive body comprising a conductive layer and an electrophotographic photosensitive layer formed on the translucent substrate. An optical system is provided for exposing the image from the side of the translucent substrate of the photosensitive body, and a developer apparatus is arranged opposing to the side of photosensitive layer of the exposure position of the photosensitive body for supplying developer charged with the developing bias.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member for bearing an electrostatic image; a developer carrying member, opposed to the image bearing member, for carrying a one component developer which is charged to a predetermined polarity by friction between the developer and the developer carrying member; an electric field generating device for generating, between the image bearing member and developer carrying member, an electric field for developing the electrostatic image on the image bearing member with a reverse development method; a regulating member for regulating an amount of the developer on the developer carrying member; and a voltage applying device for applying to the regulating member, a voltage having a polarity opposite the predetermined polarity.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium has an image forming system for forming an image on the recording medium, a second image forming system for forming an image on the recording medium based on an image forming method different from that for the first image forming system, a first recording medium transport passage for discharging the recording medium out of the apparatus after the recording medium has passed through the first and second image forming systems, a second recording medium transport passage for discharging the recording medium out of the apparatus without passing the recording medium through the second image forming system after the recording medium has passed through the first image forming system, and a third recording medium transport passage for discharging the recording medium out of the apparatus without passing the recording medium through the first image forming system after the recording medium has passed through the second image forming system.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium includes a first transporting path for transporting the recording medium for forming an image on the recording medium by using a first image forming unit, a second transporting path for transporting the recording medium for forming an image on the recording medium by using a second image forming unit which forms the image by an image forming method which is different from a method employed by the first image forming unit, and a controller for controlling the apparatus in a black image selection mode, in which the first transporting path is selected in accordance with black image data for forming a black image on the recording medium, and the recording medium is transported through the selected first transporting path to form a black image on the recording medium, a color image selection mode, in which the second transporting path is selected in accordance with image data including color image data for forming a color image on the recording

Abstract: A developing apparatus includes a developer carrying member for opposing to an image bearing member bearing an electrostatic image, and for carrying a developer to develop the electrostatic image on the image bearing member, the developer having a polarity which is the same as a charging polarity of the image bearing member, and a bias voltage source for applying an oscillating bias voltage to the developer carrying member. The bias voltage oscillates interposing an image portion potential of the image bearing member, and an absolute value of a peak level of a background portion side potential is smaller than an absolute value of a background portion potential.

Abstract: A developing apparatus includes a developer carrying member for carrying developer, an elastic blade press-contacted to the developer carrying member to regulate a layer of developer formed on the developer carrying member, where the elastic blade comprises an electrically conductive layer, and a high resistance layer located at the developer carrying member side of the conductive layer, and an electric field generating device for forming an oscillating electric field between the developer carrying member and the conductive layer, wherein a maximum intensity of the electric field is not less than 10.sup.6 V/m.