IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
First Claim
1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a photosensitive member provided with a plurality of independent recessed portions on a surface thereof;
a charging member, provided closely to or in contact with said photosensitive member, for electrically charging said photosensitive member;
a voltage source for applying, to said charging member, a charging voltage for electrically charging said charging members;
an exposure device for exposing, to light, said photosensitive member charged by said charging member to form an electrostatic image;
a developing device for developing the electrostatic image formed on said photosensitive member by said exposure device into a toner image with a toner;
a transfer device for transferring, onto a transfer material, the toner image formed on said photosensitive member by said developing device; and
a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on an inputted image signal and then is transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member is formed and transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted,wherein said controller applies a voltage in the form of a DC voltage biased with an AC voltage to said charging member during the image forming operation and applies only a DC voltage to said charging member to electrically charge said photosensitive member thereby to form the test image in the test operation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member, a charging member, a voltage source, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, and a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on an inputted image signal and then is transferred onto a transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of the photosensitive member is formed and transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted. The controller applies a voltage in the form of a DC voltage biased with an AC voltage to the charging member during the image forming operation and applies only a DC voltage to the charging member to electrically charge the photosensitive member thereby to form the test image in the test operation.
14 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a photosensitive member provided with a plurality of independent recessed portions on a surface thereof; a charging member, provided closely to or in contact with said photosensitive member, for electrically charging said photosensitive member; a voltage source for applying, to said charging member, a charging voltage for electrically charging said charging members; an exposure device for exposing, to light, said photosensitive member charged by said charging member to form an electrostatic image; a developing device for developing the electrostatic image formed on said photosensitive member by said exposure device into a toner image with a toner; a transfer device for transferring, onto a transfer material, the toner image formed on said photosensitive member by said developing device; and a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on an inputted image signal and then is transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member is formed and transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted, wherein said controller applies a voltage in the form of a DC voltage biased with an AC voltage to said charging member during the image forming operation and applies only a DC voltage to said charging member to electrically charge said photosensitive member thereby to form the test image in the test operation. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a photosensitive member provided with a plurality of independent recessed portions on a surface thereof; a charging member, provided closely to or in contact with said photosensitive member, for electrically charging said photosensitive member; a voltage source for applying, to said charging member, a charging voltage for electrically charging said charging member; an exposure device for exposing, to light, said photosensitive member charged by said charging member to form an electrostatic image; a developing device for developing the electrostatic image formed on said photosensitive member by said exposure device into a toner image with a toner; a transfer device for transferring, onto a transfer-receiving member, the toner image formed on said photosensitive member by said developing device; a sensor for a density of the toner image on said photosensitive member or the toner image on said transfer-receiving member; and a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on an inputted image signal and then is transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member is formed and detects a density of a toner image for the test image by said sensor, wherein said controller applies a voltage in the form of a DC voltage biased with an AC voltage to said charging member during the image forming operation, and applies a charging voltage constituting only of a DC voltage to said charging member to electrically charge said photosensitive member and then outputs a signal for providing notification of information indicating a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member on the basis of a detection result for the test image by said sensor during the test operation. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a rotatable photosensitive member provided with a plurality of independent recessed portions on a surface thereof, a charging member, provided in contact with said photosensitive member, for electrically charging said photosensitive member; a voltage source for applying, to said charging member, a charging voltage for electrically charging said charging member; an exposure device for exposing, to light, said photosensitive member charged by said charging member to form an electrostatic image; a developing device for developing the electrostatic image formed on said photosensitive member by said exposure device into a toner image with a toner; a transfer device for transferring, onto a transfer material, the toner image formed on said photosensitive member by said developing device; a pre-exposure device for irradiating the surface of said photosensitive member with discharging light at a position downstream of a transfer portion of said transfer device and upstream of a charging portion of said charging member with respect to a rotational direction of said photosensitive member; and a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on an inputted image signal and then is transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member is formed and transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted, wherein during the image forming operation, said controller causes said pre-exposure device to irradiate the surface of said photosensitive member with the discharging light having a first light quantity per unit time, and wherein during the test operation, said controller causes said pre-exposure device to irradiate the surface of said photosensitive member with the discharging light having a second light quantity per unit time different from the first light quantity, and applies a charging voltage consisting only of a DC voltage to said charging member to electrically charge said photosensitive member thereby to form the test image. - View Dependent Claims (11, 19, 20)
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12. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a photosensitive member provided with a plurality of independent recessed portions on a surface thereof; a charging member, provided in contact with said photosensitive member, for electrically charging said photosensitive member; a voltage source for applying, to said charging member, a charging voltage for electrically charging said charging member; an exposure device for exposing, to light, said photosensitive member charged by said charging member to form an electrostatic image; a developing device for developing the electrostatic image formed on said photosensitive member by said exposure device into a toner image with a toner; a transfer device for transferring, onto a transfer-receiving member, the toner image formed on said photosensitive member by said developing device; a pre-exposure device for irradiating the surface of said photosensitive member with discharging light after transfer by said transfer device and before charging of said charging member; a sensor for a density of the toner image on said photosensitive member or the toner image on said transfer-receiving member; and a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on predetermined image information and then is transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member is formed and detects a density of a toner image for the test image by said sensor, wherein during the image forming operation, said controller causes said pre-exposure device to irradiate the surface of said photosensitive member with the discharging light having a first light quantity per unit time, and wherein during the test operation, said controller causes said pre-exposure device to irradiate the surface of said photosensitive member with the discharging light having a second light quantity per unit time different from the first light quantity, and applies a charging voltage consisting only of a DC voltage to said charging member to electrically charge said photosensitive member thereby to form the test image, and then outputs a signal for providing notification of information indicating a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member on the basis of a detection result for the test image by said sensor. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22)
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23. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a rotatable photosensitive member provided with a plurality of independent recessed portions on a surface thereof; a driving portion for rotationally driving said photosensitive member; a charging member, provided in contact with said photosensitive member, for electrically charging said photosensitive member; a voltage source for applying, to said charging member, a charging voltage for electrically charging said charging member; an exposure device for exposing, to light, said photosensitive member charged by said charging member to form an electrostatic image; a developing device for developing the electrostatic image formed on said photosensitive member by said exposure device into a toner image with a toner; a transfer device for transferring, onto a transfer material, the toner image formed on said photosensitive member by said developing device; a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on an inputted image signal and then is transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member is formed and transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted, wherein during the image forming operation, said controller causes said driving portion to rotationally drive said photosensitive member at a first speed, and wherein during the test operation, said controller causes said driving portion to rotationally drive said photosensitive member at a second speed different from the first speed, and applies a charging voltage consisting only of a DC voltage to said charging member to electrically charge said photosensitive member thereby to form the test image. - View Dependent Claims (24, 33, 34)
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25. An image forming apparatus comprising:
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a rotatable photosensitive member provided with a plurality of independent recessed portions on a surface thereof; a driving portion for rotationally driving said photosensitive member; a charging member, provided in contact with said photosensitive member, for electrically charging said photosensitive member; a voltage source for applying, to said charging member, a charging voltage for electrically charging said charging member; an exposure device for exposing, to light, said photosensitive member charged by said charging member to form an electrostatic image; a developing device for developing the electrostatic image formed on said photosensitive member by said exposure device into a toner image with a toner; a transfer device for transferring, onto a transfer-receiving member, the toner image formed on said photosensitive member by said developing device; a sensor for a density of the toner image on said photosensitive member or the toner image on said transfer-receiving member; and a controller for executing an image forming operation in which the toner image is formed depending on inputted image signal and then is transferred onto the transfer material which is then outputted and for executing a test operation in which a test image for obtaining information on a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member is formed and detects a density of a toner image for the test image by said sensor, wherein during the image forming operation, said controller causes said driving portion to rotationally drive said photosensitive member at a first speed, and wherein during the test operation, said controller causes said driving portion to rotationally drive said photosensitive member at a second speed different from the first speed, and applies a charging voltage consisting only of a DC voltage to said charging member to electrically charge said photosensitive member thereby to form the test image, and then outputs a signal for providing notification of information indicating a remaining lifetime of said photosensitive member on the basis of a detection result for the test image by said sensor. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35)
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Specification