Image forming apparatus and image forming method for forming color images by gray-level image forming technique
US6249304A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 13, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jun 19, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 13, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N1/295
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is aimed at carrying out high-precision and stable image formation using a gray-level image forming technique. In carrying out image formation by a gray-level electrophotographic process, the relationship between the layer thickness Tp of the photosensitive layer on the photosensitive member and the exposure diameter Db of a light beam emitted onto the photosensitive member is defined as 2Tp <Db, so that the charge diffusion and electric field in the photosensitive layer on the photosensitive member can be small. The maximum exposure within the exposure diameter Db is set at a value that can sufficiently reduce the differential sensitivity of the photosensitive layer, where the exposure diameter Db of the light beam is the minimum diameter at 1/e.sup.2 with respect to the peak value of the exposure distribution obtained by integrating the energy distribution of the light beam with the exposure time. In this manner, excellent gray-level image presentation can be obtained, and high-precision and stable image formation can be carried out by using a region of damping characteristics on the photosensitive member.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.