37results about How to "High-quality image formation" patented technology

A magnetic carrier is provided which uses a toner having high coloring power and enables development to be performed at low electric field intensity and can form high quality images while keeping gradation characteristics. The magnetic carrier includes magnetic carrier particles including at least porous magnetic core particles and a resin. The electric field intensity just before the break-down of the magnetic carrier is 1,300 V / cm or more and 5,000 V / cm or less.

A white or colored thixotropic gel is used in conjunction with an electro-mechanical addressable X-Y pixel array composed of micro-magnet pairs in order to produce a re-writable display surface for forming images. Images are formed on the surface of this display by changing the state of transparency of the gel surface, from semi-solid to semi-liquid as a result of thixotropic bond shearing. In addition, pixels are capsules filled with any given color. Furthermore, each active color capsule is forced upwards by magnetic repulsion between the twin-micro-magnet elements to help form images and break the surface tension of the gel and press against the front layer film and forming a visible pixel or; downwards to help erase the image by means of magnetic attraction between the two micro-magnets located directly underneath each pixel. In an embodiment of this invention, four or more layers of materials are bonded together in a flexible construct in order to provide to users a low-cost electronic paper-like display.

The invention discloses a six-piece optical lens for capturing image and a six-piece optical system for capturing image. In order from an object side to an image side, the optical lens along the optical axis comprises a first lens with a positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface; a second lens with a refractive power; a third lens with a refractive power; a fourth lens with a refractive power; a fifth lens with a refractive power; and a sixth lens with a negative refractive power having a concave object-side surface; and at least one of the image-side surface and object-side surface of each of the sixth lens element has inflection points and both of the image-side surface and object-side surface of the sixth lens element are aspheric. The optical lens can increase aperture value and improve the imagining quality for use in compact cameras.

An electrophotographic photoconductor including: an outermost layer, wherein the outermost layer comprises an amino group-containing acryl-modified polyorganosiloxane, wherein the amino group-containing acryl-modified polyorganosiloxane is a copolymer in which a polyorganosiloxane represented by the following structural formula (1) and an acrylic monomer are graft-polymerized.

An electrophotographic photoconductor including: an outermost layer, wherein the outermost layer comprises an amino group-containing acryl-modified polyorganosiloxane, wherein the amino group-containing acryl-modified polyorganosiloxane is a copolymer in which a polyorganosiloxane represented by the following structural formula (1) and an acrylic monomer are graft-polymerized

The droplet deposition position error measurement method, comprises the steps of: ejecting liquid droplets from a liquid ejection head including a plurality of liquid droplet ejection ports in such a manner that the liquid droplets are deposited on a recording medium; determining an amount of a droplet deposition position error with respect to an ideal droplet deposition position on a recording surface of the recording medium, according to a droplet deposition result obtained from the liquid droplets on the recording medium; separating a first error component caused by an error in a relative position between the liquid ejection head and the recording medium, and a second error component caused by an error in an ejection direction of each of the liquid droplet ejection ports, from the determined amount of the droplet deposition position error; and obtaining error information relating to at least one of the first and second error components.

An image forming apparatus includes: a rotation shaft (71);a movable body (72) that is attached to the rotation shaft (71), that is provided with a cleaning member (73), and that moves with rotation of the rotation shaft (71); a motor M for rotating the rotation shaft (71); a control section (8) for controlling rotation of the motor M; a current detecting section (77) for detecting a current flowing through the motor M; and a time counting section for counting time. Here, the control section is provided with: an overcurrent detection checking function; a time counting function; a predetermined position attainment checking function; a reciprocation control function; an erroneous detection checking function for performing erroneous detection checking operation in which an overcurrent detected while the movable body is moving forward in the reciprocation thereof is checked while the movable body is moving backward in the reciprocation thereof; and a repeating function for performing the erroneous detection checking operation once or a plurality of times in a repeating fashion.

A fixing device has a magnetic field generator; an electric power supplier for electric power supply to the magnetic field generator; electric power controller for controlling an electric power value to be supplied by the electric power supplier; a fixing member, disposed in the magnetic field, having an electroconductive layer which generates heat by eddy current generated by the magnetic field; a temperature detecting member for detecting a temperature of the fixing member; a discriminator for discriminating whether the apparatus is in order by comparing a detected temperature to a reference temperature in a period from a start of heating the fixing member to arrival at a predetermined temperature; and a reference temperature changer for changing the reference temperature on the basis of the supplied electric power value upon the electric power controller changing the electric power value.

A frame structure includes three or more supporting members, a scanner support, a scanner cantilever support, and an adjuster. Three or more supporting members are provided vertically from a base portion. The scanner support is provided horizontally between upper portions of the supporting members. The scanner cantilever support extends horizontally from the upper portion of one of the supporting members. The adjuster is attached to a free end of the cantilever support, and includes an inclined slot. The cantilever support includes a protrusion provided in the free end of the scanner cantilever support. The protrusion is engageable with the slot of the adjuster to obliquely raise and lower the adjuster.

An optical image capturing system, from an object side to an image side, comprises a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element, a fifth lens element, and a sixth lens element. The first lens element has a positive refractive power and may have a convex object-side surface. The second through fifth lens elements has a refractive power and the object-side and image-side surfaces of these lens elements are aspheric. The sixth lens element has a negative refractive power and a concave image-side surface. The object-side surface and the image-side surface are aspheric, and at least one of the two surfaces has inflection points. The first through sixth lens elements has a refractive power. When specific conditions are satisfied, the optical image capturing system may has a large aperture value and a better optical path adjusting ability to acquire better imaging quality.

In ink-jet printing apparatuses having a monochrome head which is longer than a color head, if a monochrome image is processed as a color image, the printing speed cannot be improved. Accordingly, the color attribute is determined by pixel based on a luminance signal indicating a color multivalue image, and the number of color attributes and the number of array attributes in a first line group are counted. Based on these count values, a parameter indicating an image characteristic of second line group including the first line group is calculated. The image attribute of the second line group is determined in correspondence with the respective count values and the parameter. Then, based on the results of determination about adjacent second line groups, the image attribute of third line group included in the second line groups is determined. Thus attribute determination can be appropriately performed in predetermined band units of image data.

The image forming apparatus comprises: an ejection head which ejects ink having electrorheological properties toward a recording medium; an electric field application device which applies an electric field to droplets of the ink deposited on a surface of the recording medium; an electric field intensity control device which controls intensity of the electric field in such a manner that the ink in the droplets has a prescribed viscosity; and a fixing promotion device which carries out processing for promoting fixing of the ink on the recording medium, in a state where the electric field is applied by the electric field application device.

A fixing device includes a fixing belt for fixing an unfixed toner image onto a recording medium, a planar heating member for heating the fixing belt, and a pressure roller. The heating member includes a ceramic heat generating element having a PTC characteristic, and a high-thermal-conductive heat diffusion member. The fixing belt is formed in an endless shape and is supported around, at least, the high-thermal-conductive heat diffusion member, thereby to be heated. The ceramic heat generating element comes into contact with the fixing belt over the full width thereof with the high-thermal-conductive heat diffusion member interposed therebetween. The high-thermal-conductive heat diffusion member comes into contact with the fixing belt over the full width thereof and diffuses heat generated by the heat generating element, in the traveling direction of the fixing belt.

An image forming method is provided, which includes: adjusting the amount of application of liquid developer to an image carrier from a developer carrier in response to an output signal of a first light receiving section obtained by emitting light to a first image carried in the image carrier; and adjusting a bias applied to a charging member which is disposed in the developer carrier in response to an output signal of a second light receiving section obtained by emitting light to a second image different from the first image carried in the image carrier.

The image forming apparatus includes: an ejection head which ejects ink having electrorheological properties toward a recording medium; an electric field application device which applies an electric field to droplets of the ink deposited on a surface of the recording medium; an electric field intensity control device which controls intensity of the electric field in such a manner that the ink in the droplets has a prescribed viscosity; and a fixing promotion device which carries out processing for promoting fixing of the ink on the recording medium, in a state where the electric field is applied by the electric field application device.

The image forming apparatus comprises: an ejection head which ejects ink having electrorheological properties onto a recording medium; an electric field application device which applies an electric field to a droplet of the ink deposited on the recording medium; a fixing promotion device which performs fixing promotion process for promoting fixing of the ink on the recording medium; and a timing control device which controls a time difference between an electric field application cessation timing at which an application of the electric field to the ink on the recording medium by the electric field application device is ceased and a fixing promotion process timing at which the fixing promotion process is performed by the fixing promotion device.

A magnetic carrier is provided which uses a toner having high coloring power and enables development to be performed at low electric field intensity and can form high quality images while keeping gradation characteristics. The magnetic carrier includes magnetic carrier particles including at least porous magnetic core particles and a resin. The electric field intensity just before the break-down of the magnetic carrier is 1,300 V / cm or more and 5,000 V / cm or less.

A fixing device for fixing on a recording material a toner image formed on the recording material includes: a flexible sleeve including a resinous base layer, a parting layer, and an adhesive layer for bonding the base and parting layers; a heater contacting the sleeve; a pressor for forming a nip with the sleeve, in which the recording material is nipped and conveyed; a member for applying a voltage, with the same polarity as toner; and a grounder contacting the recording material in the nip, for grounding the recording material. In a thickness direction of the layers, the electric resistance of the adhesive layer is larger than that of the parting layer, which is larger than that of the base layer. The member applies the voltage to the sleeve in contact with the base layer.

A fixing device for fixing on a recording material a toner image formed on the recording material includes a flexible sleeve including a resinous base layer, a parting layer and an adhesive layer for bonding the base layer and the parting layer; a heater contacted to an inner surface of the sleeve; a pressing member for forming a nip, in which the recording material on which the toner image has been formed is nipped and conveyed, between itself and the sleeve to which the heater is contacted; a voltage applying member for applying a voltage, of a polarity identical to a polarity of toner; and a grounding member, contactable to the recording material in a nipped state in the nip, for grounding the recording material. In a thickness direction of the layers, an electric resistance of the adhesive layer is larger than that of the parting layer and the electric resistance of the parting layer is larger than that of the base layer. The voltage applying member applies the voltage to the sleeve in contact with the base layer.

After a toner empty state, toner is filled. Following the filling of toner, a forcible toner replenishment mode is performed. After release of the forcible toner replenishment mode, a printer CPU replenishes only fresh toner and does not replenish recycled toner while image formation is performed on a predetermined number of paper sheets or while a developing device is driven for a predetermined time.

An image formation apparatus has developing agent charging device situated downstream in the direction of motion of a photosensitive drum from a transfer roller and upstream from a charging roller, for charging residual developing agent remaining on the photosensitive drum. Applying AC voltage to the charging roller is started before a portion on the face of the photosensitive drum where application of voltage to the developing agent charging device has started reaches a position of coming into contact with the charging roller, and applying AC voltage to the charging device is ended after the portion on the face of the photosensitive drum where application of voltage to the developing agent charging device has ended reaches a position of coming into contact with the charging roller. This configuration prevents adhesion of developing agent to the photosensitive drum and charging roller, avoids resultant substandard images, and provides high-quality images for prolonged periods.

A frame structure includes three or more supporting members, a scanner support, a scanner cantilever support, and an adjuster. Three or more supporting members are provided vertically from a base portion. The scanner support is provided horizontally between upper portions of the supporting members. The scanner cantilever support extends horizontally from the upper portion of one of the supporting members. The adjuster is attached to a free end of the cantilever support, and includes an inclined slot. The cantilever support includes a protrusion provided in the free end of the scanner cantilever support. The protrusion is engageable with the slot of the adjuster to obliquely raise and lower the adjuster.

A drive device to drive a plurality of three-terminal light emitting elements includes a drive circuit. The drive circuit includes a first and second conductive type MOS transistor complementarily connected to each other and configured to drive three-terminal light emitting elements that are in conduction state based on a received drive signal. The first conductive type MOS transistor is formed in a substrate region and includes a channel formation region, which is a region wherein a channel is to be formed. An impurity with the same polarity as that of the substrate region is injected in the channel formation region.

The droplet deposition position error measurement method, comprises the steps of: ejecting liquid droplets from a liquid ejection head including a plurality of liquid droplet ejection ports in such a manner that the liquid droplets are deposited on a recording medium; determining an amount of a droplet deposition position error with respect to an ideal droplet deposition position on a recording surface of the recording medium, according to a droplet deposition result obtained from the liquid droplets on the recording medium; separating a first error component caused by an error in a relative position between the liquid ejection head and the recording medium, and a second error component caused by an error in an ejection direction of each of the liquid droplet ejection ports, from the determined amount of the droplet deposition position error; and obtaining error information relating to at least one of the first and second error components.

A liquid discharge method allowing a liquid inside a flow path to be heated by a heat generating element (2), thereby to generate a bubble by using a liquid discharge head including an orifice plate (4) having a discharge port (5), heat generating elements symmetrically disposed on the surface opposite to the liquid discharge surface of the orifice plate with the discharge port as a center, and the flow path communicating with the discharge port, and allowing liquid discharged from the discharge port by a volume change accompanied with a generation of bubble, wherein bubble is allowed to advance into the discharge port, and a top end of bubble is allowed to reach at least up to liquid discharge surface (8) of the orifice plate, and a columnar liquid inside the discharge port sandwiched between bubbles is separated by a contraction force caused by a surface tension toward the center of the discharge port.

The image formation by the plural-image formation mode is manually inhibited by the user in case the image formation is interrupted or the formed image is distorted by defective original feeding in the image formation by such plural-image formation mode. As a result, image formation of high quality can be achieved without trouble. The configuration for this purpose is featured by manually inhibiting the plural-image formation mode by depression of a touch key on an operation unit.