Patent · US Expired

Image forming apparatus

US5758038A · kind A · utility

10Cited by
1References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 9, 1996
Grant dateMay 26, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 9, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03G2215/0119
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An image forming apparatus has a plurality of image forming units for forming, on an image receiving member such as a transfer sheet, toner images of a plurality of different colors such as magenta, cyan, yellow and black. Each of the image forming units includes a photosensitive drum serving as an image carrier, a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image carried by the image carrier to form a color toner image, and a transfer device for transferring the toner image to the image receiving member. The developing device in the image forming unit for forming on the image receiving member the toner image of an (i+1)-th color is of the type capable of simultaneously performing both development and removal of residual toner. The transfer currents T.sub.i and T.sub.i+1 employed by the transfer units which perform transfer of the toner images of an i-th color and the (i+1)-th color satisfy the following condition (1). The sphericity factor SF of the toner used in at least one of the image forming units, defined by the following equation (2) satisfies the following condition (3): EQU 1.0<Ti+1/Ti<1.1 (1) EQU SF={(diameter of toner having greatest diameter).sup.2 /toner …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.