Abstract: The present invention provides a toner recycling control system which stably feeds a liquid developer of an appropriate concentration to a liquid developing apparatus employing a high-viscosity liquid developer; appropriately adjusts the concentration of residual developer collected after development and after transfer; and feeds the adjusted developer to the developing apparatus. The toner recycling control system collects a post-development residual developer from a developer-bearing body and a post-transfer residual developer from an image-bearing body; performs developer concentration adjustment to yield an adjusted developer; and feeds the adjusted developer back to the developer-bearing body.

Abstract: In the present invention, a toner image produced through a development process of supplying a liquid toner onto an image bearing body bearing an electrostatic latent image is transferred from the image bearing body onto an intermediate transfer body and then transferred from the intermediate transfer body onto a printing medium by use of a backup roller in a transfer-and-fixation zone. The printing medium is preheated to a temperature required for transfer and fixation before the printing medium reaches the transfer-and-fixation zone. No heating means is provided in the transfer-and-fixation zone, and the intermediate transfer body and the backup roller are pressed against each other at a high pressure ranging from 10 kg/cm2 to 60 kg/cm2.

Abstract: A liquid-development full-color electrophotographic apparatus utilizes a development section having a liquid toner as a liquid developer to form a toner image according to an electric field established between the development section and a photosensitive drum. The toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum onto an intermediate transfer roller according to an electric field established between the intermediate transfer roller and the photosensitive drum, from the intermediate transfer roller to an intermediate transfer belt, and then to a transfer-and-fixation section, which melt-transfers the toner image onto a printing medium. A voltage controlled according to electric characteristics of each color toner is applied to the corresponding photosensitive drums while the roller is grounded. A toner cohesion enhancement unit is provided for enhancing the degree of toner cohesion of a toner image transferred and reverse transfer is suppressed.

Abstract: The present invention provides a toner recycling control system which stably feeds a liquid developer of an appropriate concentration to a liquid developing apparatus employing a high-viscosity liquid developer; appropriately adjusts the concentration of residual developer collected after development and after transfer; and feeds the adjusted developer to the developing apparatus. The toner recycling control system collects a post-development residual developer from a developer-bearing body and a post-transfer residual developer from an image-bearing body; performs developer concentration adjustment to yield an adjusted developer; and feeds the adjusted developer back to the developer-bearing body.

Abstract: Provided are an applicator roller for conveying and applying liquid toner onto a developing roller in the form of a level, thin layer, and a conductive blade which comes into contact with a liquid toner layer on the developing roller. A predetermined amount of liquid toner passes through a gap between the conductive blade and the developer roller; and voltage is applied to the conductive blade so as to establish a state such that toner particles contained in the liquid toner are sparsely scattered in a surface region of a level, thin toner layer on the developing roller. Subsequently, the liquid toner, whose surface region is in a state such that toner particles are sparsely scattered, is brought into contact with an image bearer body for performing development.

Abstract: A defect inspection method and a defect inspection apparatus accurately determine whether potential defects on a surface of a wafer are true defects, and restrains the oversight or the like of defects, permitting reliable quality assurance and accurate quality control to be achieved. The number and positions of detected potential defects are used as the parameters for determining whether potential defects are true defects. The density of potential defects is determined, and the determined density is compared with a set value to decide whether the potential defects are true defects. A surface of a wafer is captured using a differential interference microscope, and the image is processed to count the number of potential defects observed on the surface. The potential defects are detected at the spots where luminance shifts in the captured image. A spatial filter is applied to the captured image to enhance the area where the luminance shifts, and the enhanced area is binarized.

Abstract: A liquid-development electrophotographic apparatus using a liquid toner is disclosed. A nonvolatile, high-viscosity, high-concentration liquid toner is used as a liquid developer. A developing section is in contact with photosensitive drums 11-14, on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, so that the liquid developer is supplied onto photosensitive drums 11-14. Toner particles contained in the liquid developer are caused to adhere to the photosensitive drums 11-14 according to an electric field established between the developing section and the photosensitive drums 11-14 to thereby form toner images. An intermediate transfer section includes an intermediate transfer roller 15 and an intermediate transfer belt 16. The toner images are transferred from the photosensitive drums 11-14 to the intermediate transfer section according to an electric field established between the intermediate transfer section and the photosensitive drums 11-14.

Abstract: Provided are an applicator roller for conveying and applying liquid toner onto a developing roller in the form of a level, thin layer, and a conductive blade which comes into contact with a liquid toner layer on the developing roller. A predetermined amount of liquid toner passes through a gap between the conductive blade and the developer roller; and voltage is applied to the conductive blade so as to establish a state such that toner particles contained in the liquid toner are sparsely scattered in a surface region of a level, thin toner layer on the developing roller. Subsequently, the liquid toner, whose surface region is in a state such that toner particles are sparsely scattered, is brought into contact with an image bearer body for performing development.

Abstract: A toner image is transferred from a photosensitive member 10 onto an intermediate transfer belt 24. Toner particles transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24 are melted through application of heat, and the molten toner is transferred onto a printing medium. A carrier-removing roller 29 is disposed downstream of a position where a toner layer on the intermediate transfer belt 24 is melted through application of heat. Through utilization of a phenomenon that toner particles (resin component) are melted and integrated in a heating process and a phenomenon that the carrier solvent (liquid component) is isolated in the heating process, the carrier solvent is removed efficiently. Also, there is disposed at the position of the heating process a carrier-removing roller 28 for removing the carrier solvent from the intermediate transfer belt 24 while the toner layer on the intermediate transfer belt 24 is being melted through application of heat.

Abstract: A development section uses a liquid toner as a liquid developer and forms a toner image according to an electric field established between the development section and a photosensitive drum. The toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum onto an intermediate transfer roller 15 according to an electric field established between the same and the photosensitive drum. The toner image is further transferred from the intermediate transfer roller to an intermediate transfer belt 16 and then transferred to a transfer-and-fixation section, which melt-transfers the toner image onto a printing medium. Photosensitive drums 11-14 are provided so as to correspond to a plurality of colors. Toner images formed on the corresponding photosensitive drums are sequentially transferred and superposed on the intermediate transfer roller.

Abstract: An online character entry device which enables a stable specified operation to be implemented without necessity of entry of specific stroke or provision of button switch and with condition that increase of processing amount is not much. There is formed a point from which a pen point does not shift during more than prescribed the time interval within the stroke of the entry character (hereinafter referring to stopping point), and there is provided a first stopping point detecting section for detecting the stopping point within the entry character, and a relevance word retrieval section for retrieving the relevance word using detection result of existence of the stopping point and recognition result concerning entry character, thus executing specified operation (for example, outputting formal name of company from abbreviation entry) prescribed beforehand.

Abstract: A wet type electrophotography apparatus including a non-volatile, high-viscosity, high-concentration liquid toner as a developing solution. The wet type electrophotography apparatus includes a photoconductive medium on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a prewetting device for applying a film of a prewetting solution to the surface of the photoconductive medium, a developing device including a developing roller, and a developing solution applying device for applying a film of the developing solution on the developing roller. The developing roller feeds the developing solution to the photoconductive medium by making contact with the photoconductive medium, and causes toner particles in the developing solution to deposit on an image carrier in accordance with an electrical field formed between the developing roller and the photoconductive medium.

Abstract: A wet-type electrophotography apparatus using a non-volatile, high-viscosity, high-concentration liquid toner as a liquid developer and having a photoconductive medium, a prewetting device applying a film of prewetting solution to the surface of the photoconductive medium, a developing roller feeding the liquid developer to the photoconductive medium while making contact with the photoconductive medium, and causing toner particles in the liquid developer to adhere to the photoconductive medium in accordance with a electric field formed between the developing roller and the photoconductive medium, so that a toner image formed on the photoconductive medium is transferred directly to a printing medium, or to a printing media via an intermediate transfer medium to obtain a printed image.

Abstract: A character reader for optically reading and entering characters. The character reader including: an input apparatus for photoelectrically reading characters as an image, creating image data formed by black pixels lying on a white surface, and entering the image data; a tangent detector for generating at least two line segments, each line segment connecting two black pixels within a character string of the image data; and a tilt decider for choosing a representative line segment from the at least two line segments which is representative of the tilt of the character string, on the basis that the distance between two black pixels specifying the representative line segment is longer than the distance between two black pixels specifying another line segment.

Abstract: An on-line character recognition method is disclosed that recognizes inputted characters on-line by finding distance between strokes for patterns in stroke units of inputted characters and patterns in stroke units for each reference stroke. Reference patterns and inputted character patterns are each divided and represented as stroke shape patterns that indicate the shapes of strokes and stroke position patterns that indicate the position or size of strokes. Inter-stroke shape distances corresponding to each stroke shape pattern and inter-stroke position distances corresponding to each stroke position pattern are found, following which the inter-stroke distance is found based on the inter-stroke shape distances and the inter-stroke position distances.

Abstract: A wet type electrophotography apparatus according using a non-volatile, high-viscosity, high-concentration liquid toner as a developing solution, and including a photoconductive medium on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a prewetting device for coating the surface of the photoconductive medium with a film of prewetting solution, a developing device, an intermediate transfer medium for transferring the toner particles deposited on the photoconductive medium, a pressure roller rotating in contact with the intermediate transfer medium for transferring a printing medium while forcing the printing medium onto the intermediate transfer medium, and a heating device for heating locally the surface of the intermediate transfer medium at a location immediately before the intermediate transfer medium comes in contact with the pressure roller.

Abstract: An online character recognition system comprises a standard stroke storing unit for storing a standard stroke and its correlated standard stroke number, a standard stroke number of strokes storing unit for storing number of strokes information indicating in how many stroke character each standard stroke appears, a character dictionary storing unit for storing a category to be recognized and its correlated standard stroke number-string, a standard stroke control unit for referring to the standard stroke number of strokes storing unit to selectively read, from the standard stroke storing unit, a standard stroke having the same number of strokes information as the number of strokes of an input character, an inter-stroke distance calculating unit for calculating an inter-stroke distance between a standard stroke read by said standard stroke control unit and an input stroke, and a matching unit for recognizing an input character based on an inter-stroke distance calculated by the inter-stroke distance calculating

Abstract: A character reader comprises an input unit for reading characters by a scanner-typed photoelectric transfer unit as an image, creating the image data formed by binary pixel of white and black lying on the plain surface and entering the same, a tangent detecting unit for detecting tangent information on tangents contacting with black pixels forming a character string within the image data, a tilt deciding unit for deciding a representative tangent which is representative for the direction of a row of character string, from the above-mentioned tangents, on the basis of the tangent information detected by the tangent detecting unit.

Abstract: A first carrier signal generator (15) generates a carrier signal (S1) at a first frequency to modulate a preset identification code (S). A second carrier signal generator (16) generates a carrier signal (S2) at a second frequency, distinct from the first frequency. A modulator (14) affixes the identification code (S) to the carrier signal (S2), and outputs the carrier signal (S2) to a light-emitting circuit (17). When a "smart" or "learning" remote controller, of the type that demodulates frequency, receives the identification code (S), the carrier signal (Sw) of the second frequency is demodulated at the first frequency, compressed and stored in memory. The carrier signal (S2) set at the second frequency can cause the memory capacity of the remote controller to overflow, thereby preventing the identification code (S) from being stored in the learning remote controller.

Abstract: A non-magnetic base film is provided thereon with a magnetic layer having ferromagnetic powders dispersed in a binder. The binder contains 30 to 70% by weight of a polyurethane resin A having a glass transition temperature Tg conforming to 60.degree. C..ltoreq.Tg.ltoreq.80.degree. C., and 30 to 70% by weight of a polyurethane resin B having a glass transition temperature Tg conforming to 0.degree. C.<Tg.ltoreq.30.degree. C. The polyurethane resins A and B, at least one which contains a polar group, account for 80 to 100% by weight of the binder. The magnetic recording medium can be fabricated with an improved processability to calendering, has excellent electromagnetic characteristics, allows detachment of powders from the edge portions in particular to be substantially avoided at normal temperature, and is improved in terms of running stability in a high-temperature environment.