Abstract: A powder refilling device includes a refill powder chamber to accommodate a powder bag containing powder, an opener to open the powder bag inside the refill powder chamber, and a squeezer to squeeze the opened powder bag to discharge powder therefrom and reduce a volume of the opened powder bag.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an electrostatic latent image bearer; a charger to charge a surface of the electrostatic latent image bearer; a power source to output a charging bias supplied to the charger; an electrostatic latent image writing unit to write an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the electrostatic latent image bearer charged by the charger; a developing unit including a developing member to develop the electrostatic latent image to obtain a toner image; a developing power source to output a developing bias supplied to the developing unit; a processor to adjust the charging bias output from the power source to a predetermined target value; and a storage unit to store an adjustment value algorithm.

Abstract: The image forming apparatus includes a process unit, a latent image writer, a power source, and a controller. The process unit is detachably attachable relative to the image forming apparatus and includes, as a single integrated unit, a latent image bearing member to bear a latent image on a surface thereof, a charging device to charge the surface of the latent image bearing member, and a development device to develop the latent image with toner. The controller causes the power source to output a charging bias at a predetermined target level supplied to the charging device. The process unit includes a first storage device to store correction information for calculating the predetermined target level of the charging bias in accordance with a combination of the latent image bearing member and the charging device. The controller corrects the predetermined target level based on the correction information in the first storage device.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a latent image bearing member, a charging unit, a charging power source, a latent image writing unit, a development unit, a transfer unit, a toner detector, and a controller. The controller causes a background fog pattern to be formed on a surface of the latent image bearing member. In addition to the background fog pattern, the controller causes a latent image to be developed to form a toner image used for position identification on the surface of the latent image bearing member. The controller identifies a time when the toner image used for position identification has entered a detection range of the toner detector based on a change in outputs of the toner detector to determine a time when each of sections of the background fog pattern enters the detection range based on the identified time.

Abstract: A protecting agent-supplying device including: a rotation member configured to rotate in a certain direction; an image bearing member-protecting agent containing a fatty acid metal salt and an inorganic lubricant, and being in the form of a solid, wherein the agent is scraped off by the rotation of the rotation member, supplied to an image bearing member for protection thereof, and disposed to have a surface facing the rotation member, which surface has a width G in a direction along the certain direction, and wherein the position X (a center of the width G) is located upstream in the direction along the certain direction from the position Y (a line of intersection between the surface facing and a line extended from the rotational center of the rotation member perpendicular to the surface facing), and a distance d between these positions satisfies a formula 0<d?G/2.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier, a charging device, a latent image forming device, a developing device, a transfer device, a toner amount detector, and a control circuit to execute an imaging condition determination process. The control circuit obtains a linear approximation formula of a developing potential and an amount of toner according to an exposure potential of the patch pattern and a detected amount of toner to calculate a developing gamma and a developing start voltage according to a gradient of the linear approximation formula, determines target charging potential, exposure potential and developing bias according to the developing gamma and the developing start voltage, determines an amount of a background potential to be corrected according to a difference between the developing start voltage and a target developing start voltage obtained according to environmental information, and corrects the target charging potential.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier to carry a latent image on a surface thereof, a developing device to develop the latent image with toner to form a toner image on the surface of the latent image carrier, a transfer unit to transfer the toner image onto a recording medium, and a controller. The controller executes an image density adjustment control of adjusting a developing bias to obtain a target image density. The controller further executes a forced toner consumption control of forcibly consuming the toner contained in the developing device by attaching the toner to the latent image carrier to form a toner pattern on the surface of the latent image carrier. The controller executes the forced toner consumption control to forcibly consume a smaller amount of toner in response to a higher developing bias as adjusted by the image density adjustment control.

Abstract: A development device is operable in multiple different speed modes and includes a developer bearer to carry developer, a developer regulator to adjust an amount of developer carried on the developer bearer, and multiple developer conveyance members disposed facing the developer bearer to transport developer in a longitudinal direction to circulate developer inside the development device. The multiple developer conveyance members including a first developer conveyance member to supply developer to the developer bearer and a second developer conveyance member to transport developer collected from the developer bearer. The development device executes developer amount balance adjustment in which a driving velocity of at least the multiple developer conveyance members is increased from a driving velocity in a lower-speed mode for a predetermined period after image development in the lower speed mode is completed and before image development in a higher speed mode is started.

Abstract: To provide a protecting agent supplying member, containing a core, and a foam layer formed on a periphery of the core, wherein the protecting agent supplying member is in the shape of a roller, and wherein the foam layer has concavities regularly arranged in a surface thereof.

Abstract: A novel protective agent supply device is provided including a protective agent block including a metal salt of a fatty acid; a rotatable foamed roller having a foamed layer having open cells, that is in continuous contact with both the protective agent block and an outer peripheral surface of an image bearing member that bears a toner image, and that scrapes the protective agent block and supplies the scraped protective agent to the outer peripheral surface of the image bearing member during rotation of the foamed roller; and a pressing unit that presses the protective agent block against the foamed roller.

Abstract: A powder refilling device includes a refill powder chamber to accommodate a powder bag containing powder, an opener to open the powder bag inside the refill powder chamber, and a squeezer to squeeze the opened powder bag to discharge powder therefrom and reduce a volume of the opened powder bag.

Abstract: An image-bearing member protecting agent including a fatty acid metal salt, and an inorganic lubricant, wherein the image-bearing member protecting agent is a solid formed by compression molding a particulate or granulated raw material containing the fatty acid metal salt and the inorganic lubricant, and applied or adhered to a surface of an image bearing member, and wherein the image-bearing member protecting agent has a front surface which is a side of the image-bearing member protecting agent to be used at the beginning, and a rear surface which is a side thereof to be left when most of the image-bearing member protecting agent is used up, and the image-bearing member protecting agent has a density decreasing from the front surface toward the rear surface.

Abstract: The present invention provides an image-bearing member protecting agent, which has a block shape and is used in an image forming process where the image-bearing member protecting agent is applied or attached to a surface of an image bearing member while being scraped off with a roll-shaped brush, the image-bearing member protecting agent including: a fatty acid metal salt, wherein the image-bearing member protecting agent includes a plurality of small blocks and has such an orientation that one or more of the small blocks are easily separated from other small blocks, and a plurality of oriented surfaces of the plurality of small blocks are arranged in a laminated state in a substantially same direction.

Abstract: A protecting agent-supplying device which supplies, to an image bearing member, an image bearing member-protecting agent for protecting the image bearing member, wherein the image bearing member-protecting agent contains at least a fatty acid zinc salt and boron nitride, and wherein the protecting agent-supplying device supplies the image bearing member-protecting agent to the image bearing member so that the amount of zinc (Zn) present on a surface of the image bearing member satisfies the relation 0.4?Zn?2.5 (Atomic %) and the amount of boron (B) present on the surface of the image bearing member satisfies the relation 0.2?B?30.2 (Atomic %).

Abstract: An image bearing member-protecting agent which is supplied to an image bearing member for protecting the image bearing member, the image bearing member-protecting agent including a fatty acid metal salt and an inorganic lubricant, wherein the image bearing member-protecting agent is formed by compression molding of powder containing at least the fatty acid metal salt and the inorganic lubricant, and wherein the image bearing member-protecting agent satisfies the relation 1.0<A/B, where A denotes a density at end portions in the longitudinal direction of the image bearing member-protecting agent and B denotes a density at a central portion in the longitudinal direction of the image bearing member-protecting agent.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member configured to bear a toner image, a protective layer forming device configured to apply a protective agent to a surface of the image bearing member with a brush-shaped protective agent applicator, and a surface roughness maintainer configured to maintain a surface roughness Ry of a contact surface of the protective agent with the brush-shaped protective agent applicator at 500 ?m or less. The protective agent is a solid material in which a granular material comprising a fatty acid metallic salt is compressed.

Abstract: A novel protective agent supply device is provided including a protective agent block including a metal salt of a fatty acid; a rotatable foamed roller having a foamed layer having open cells, that is in continuous contact with both the protective agent block and an outer peripheral surface of an image bearing member that bears a toner image, and that scrapes the protective agent block and supplies the scraped protective agent to the outer peripheral surface of the image bearing member during rotation of the foamed roller; and a pressing unit that presses the protective agent block against the foamed roller.

Abstract: To provide a protecting agent supplying member, containing a core, and a foam layer formed on a periphery of the core, wherein the protecting agent supplying member is in the shape of a roller, and wherein the foam layer has concavities regularly arranged in a surface thereof.

Abstract: An image bearing member-protecting agent including a fatty acid metal salt and boron nitride, wherein the image bearing member-protecting agent contains the fatty acid metal salt in an amount of 60% by mass to 87% by mass, and is formed by compression molding; or an image bearing member-protecting agent including a fatty acid metal salt and boron nitride, wherein the image bearing member-protecting agent contains the fatty acid metal salt in an amount of 88% by mass to 99% by mass, and is formed by melt molding.

Abstract: A protecting agent-supplying device including: a rotation member configured to rotate in a certain direction; an image bearing member-protecting agent containing a fatty acid metal salt and an inorganic lubricant, and being in the form of a solid, wherein the agent is scraped off by the rotation of the rotation member, supplied to an image bearing member for protection thereof, and disposed to have a surface facing the rotation member, which surface has a width G in a direction along the certain direction, and wherein the position X (a center of the width G) is located upstream in the direction along the certain direction from the position Y (a line of intersection between the surface facing and a line extended from the rotational center of the rotation member perpendicular to the surface facing), and a distance d between these positions satisfies a formula 0<d?G/2.