Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor, including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer overlying the electroconductive substrate; and a surface layer overlying the photosensitive layer, wherein the surface layer includes a resin having no charge transportability; and an inorganic particulate material, wherein the inorganic particulate material is a zinc oxide doped with a boron group, and wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor has a surface specific resistivity (R1) not less than 1013 ?/cm2 when the surface layer has an electric field intensity of 1×104 V/cm, and a ratio (R1/R15) of the surface specific resistivity (R1) to a surface specific resistivity (R15) when the surface layer has an electric field intensity of 1.5×105 V/cm of from 100 to 5,000.

Abstract: A photoconductor is provided. The photoconductor includes an electroconductive substrate; an intermediate layer located overlying the electroconductive substrate; and a photosensitive layer located overlying the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer includes at least a resin, and a particulate zinc oxide that includes sodium, sulfur and calcium in amounts of from 10 ppm to 200 ppm, from 50 ppm to 500 ppm, and from 10 ppm to 200 ppm, respectively.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member having a surface layer A having a surface hardness of 200 N/mm2 or greater, the surface layer A containing fillers made of a metal oxide and a cleaning blade having a reed-like elastic blade having a front edge portion to remove toner from the surface layer A in motion while the front edge portion is in contact with the surface layer A, the front edge portion having a laminate structure formed of a substrate of the elastic blade, a mixed layer of the substrate and an acrylic and/or methacrylic resin, the mixed layer having a thickness of 1.0 ?m or greater, and a surface layer B having an acrylic and/or methacrylic resin, the surface layer B having a thickness of 0.1 ?m or greater.

Abstract: An electrophotographic photoconductor, including: an electroconductive substrate; and at least a photoconductive layer and a surface layer in this order over the electroconductive substrate, wherein the surface layer includes a resin having no charge transport properties, and first inorganic fine particles, and wherein the first inorganic fine particles are inorganic fine particles having surfaces modified with at least one of a primary amino group and a secondary amino group, and a volume resistivity of the first inorganic fine particles is 1×108 ?·cm or less.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photoreceptor; and a cleaning blade. The electrophotographic photoreceptor includes an outermost layer having a ten-point average roughness Rz of from 0.5 to 2.4 ?m and an average interval between concavities and convexities Sm of from 30 to 300 ?m, and the cleaning blade includes a reed-shaped elastic blade having a contact point to the electrophotographic photoreceptor. The contact point includes a substrate; a mixed layer overlying the substrate, including a material forming the substrate and at least one of an acrylic resin and a methacrylic resin and having a thickness not less than 1.0 ?m; and a surface layer overlying the mixed layer, including at least one of an acrylic resin and a methacrylic resin and having a thickness not less than 0.1 ?m.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus including an image bearing member having a surface layer A having a surface hardness of 200 N/mm2 or greater, the surface layer A containing fillers made of a metal oxide and a cleaning blade having a reed-like elastic blade having a front edge portion to remove toner from the surface layer A in motion while the front edge portion is in contact with the surface layer A, the front edge portion having a laminate structure formed of a substrate of the elastic blade, a mixed layer of the substrate and an acrylic and/or methacrylic resin, the mixed layer having a thickness of 1.0 ?m or greater, and a surface layer B having an acrylic and/or methacrylic resin, the surface layer B having a thickness of 0.1 ?m or greater.

Abstract: An electrophotographic photoreceptor, including an electroconductive substrate; a photosensitive layer overlying the electroconductive substrate; and a surface layer overlying the photosensitive layer, wherein the surface layer includes a resin having no charge transportability; and an inorganic particulate material, wherein the inorganic particulate material is a zinc oxide doped with a boron group, and wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor has a surface specific resistivity (R1) not less than 1013 ?/cm2 when the surface layer has an electric field intensity of 1×104 V/cm, and a ratio (R1/R15) of the surface specific resistivity (R1) to a surface specific resistivity (R15) when the surface layer has an electric field intensity of 1.5×105 V/cm of from 100 to 5,000.

Abstract: A network address supply system includes terminal equipments, a server, and a switching HUB to which the terminal equipments and the server are connected via communication lines. Each terminal equipment includes an address supply requesting unit. The switching HUB includes interfaces, a first line data storing unit, and a communication line control unit that when one of the interfaces receives an address supply request broadcast packet from one of the terminal equipments, transmits the address supply request broadcast packet to only an interface corresponding to the interface information stored in the first line data storing unit. The server includes a network address storing unit and an address supplying unit that when receiving the address supply request broadcast packet, broadcasts an address broadcast packet containing an unused network address stored in the network address storing unit as a response packet to the address supply request broadcast packet.

Abstract: In the case where calls made by a calling part of a first LAN connecting device are rejected by a call receiving part of a second LAN connecting device, non setting of the number of channels needed for data transmission will be detected by a channel shortage detecting block of the first LAN connecting device. In this case, an information requesting block will make a request for information of channel availability at the time of channel releasing to the second LAN connecting device. This request will be registered in the information request registering block of the second LAN connecting device. When availability of the channels accommodated in an interface is detected by the channel monitoring block of the second LAN connecting device, an information sending block will transmit channel availability information to the first LAN connecting device in accordance with the request registered in the information request registering block.

Abstract: A bus load distributing method suitable for data communications equipment and a bus switching control device for data communications equipment. The data communication equipment includes plural buses, a bus connecting unit for interconnecting the plural buses, and a control unit for connecting physically and selectively each module to one among the plural buses. The control unit connects plural modules to a bus to recognize, distribute and reduce the load on the bus. The control device also switches a bus to be connected in accordance with the traffic of each module to optimize the bus load.

Abstract: An internally meshing planetary gear structure or a flexible meshing type gear meshing structure is intended to achieve the lightening, miniaturization and high load capacity by increasing the meshing points of the gear even is the difference in the teeth number between the external gear and the internal gear is two or more. The difference in the teeth number between each of the external gears and the internal gear is set to be N (N: integer being two or more), the tooth profile of the external gear is constructed on the basis of the innermost curve of the epitrochoid parallel curves in N pieces which are superposed to be shifted in phase from each other, and the tooth profile of the internal gear is constructed on the basis of the innermost curve of the trochoid internally enveloping curves in N pieces which mesh with the above epitrochoid parallel curves and which are superposed to be shifted from each other by the same phase as in the external gear.

Abstract: An internally meshing planetary gear structure or a flexible meshing type gear meshing structure is intended to achieve the lightening, miniaturization and high load capacity by increasing the meshing points of the gear even is the difference in the teeth number between the external gear and the internal gear is two or more. The difference in the teeth number between each of the external gears and the internal gear is set to be N (N: integer being two or more), the tooth profile of the external gear is constructed on the basis of the innermost curve of the epitrochoid parallel curves in N pieces which are superposed to be shifted in phase from each other, and the tooth profile of the internal gear is constructed on the basis of the innermost curve of the trochoid internally enveloping curves in N pieces which mesh with the above epitrochoid parallel curves and which are superposed to be shifted from each other by the same phase as in the external gear.

Abstract: A planetary gear apparatus includes: an external gear mounted on an input shaft with an eccentric member and a bearing fitted onto the eccentric member therebetween; an internal gear engaging with the external gear, the internal gear being coaxial with respect to the input shaft; an output shaft for outputting a reduced rotational force; and a drive for coupling the external gear and the output shaft. The planetary gear apparatus is adapted to transmit the rotational force of the input shaft to the output shaft after it has reduced the speed thereof, or to transmit the rotational force of the output shaft to the input shaft after it has increased the speed thereof, by fixing the internal gear. The external gear has a ring-like shape.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for the thermal cracking of heavy oil containing nonvaporizable, high-molecular weight hydrocarbone in the presence of steam in one or more thermal cracking tubes or ducts, which process is characterized in that a fluid comprising steam and heavy oil is flowed through a thermal cracking tube such that thermal cracking is carried out under the following conditions:(a) temperature of the fluid in the thermal cracking tube: 800.degree. to 1100.degree. C.(b) pressure of the fluid in the thermal cracking tube: 0 to 50 kg/cm.sup.2 G(c) flow rate or velocity of fluid through the thermal cracking tube: 10 to 100 m/sec, and(d) residence time of the fluid in the thermal cracking tube: at least 0.2 seconds.