Image forming apparatus and system operable in ghost-suppression mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9417566-B2
Application number	US-201514802054-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2015
Priority date	Jul 18, 2014
Publication date	Aug 16, 2016
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a first toner image forming unit including a rotatable photosensitive drum and a charger and configured to form a first toner image on the drum, the charger being supplied with a DC voltage to charge; a movable intermediary transfer member supplied with a transferring current for transferring the first image from the drum onto the transfer member, the transfer member carrying a second toner image at a position upstream of the transfer portion; and a switching portion for switching a mode from a first mode in which a maximum toner deposition amount of the second image fed to the transfer portion and a transfer current supplied to the transfer member are set at respective standard levels to a second mode in which the toner deposition amount and the transferring current are set at respective predetermined levels which are different from the standard levels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a movable intermediary transfer member;
first to third toner image forming units arranged in the listed order along a moving direction of said intermediary transfer member from an upstream side toward a downstream side with respect to the moving direction and configured to sequentially form different color toner images on said intermediary transfer member, said first toner image forming unit for forming a first toner image and including a first photosensitive member and a first exposure member configured to form an electrostatic latent image by exposing said first photosensitive member to light with a predetermined exposure amount, said second toner image forming unit for forming a second toner image and including a second photosensitive member and a second exposure member configured to form an electrostatic latent image by exposing said second photosensitive member to light with a predetermined exposure amount, and said third toner image forming unit for forming a third toner image and including a third photosensitive member, a charging member configured to be supplied with a voltage having only a DC component to charge said third photosensitive member in a charge portion, a transfer member configured to form a transfer portion between said third photosensitive member and said transfer member with said intermediary transfer member therebetween;
a voltage source configured to apply a voltage to said transfer member to form in the transfer portion an electric field for transferring the third toner image formed on said third photosensitive member onto said intermediary transfer member while passing the first toner image and the second toner image;
an execution portion configured to execute an image forming operation for forming an image on a recording material by transferring altogether the toner images sequentially formed on said intermediary transfer member by said first to third toner image forming units;
an input portion configured to input an image adjustment setting, the image adjustment setting including a first setting and a second setting; and
a control portion configured to set, when the first setting is inputted, a transferring current to a first current and the exposure amounts of said first and second exposure members so as to provide a first maximum toner deposition amount during the execution of the image forming operation by said execution portion, and said control portion being configured to set, when the second setting is inputted, the transferring current to a second current which is greater than the first current and the exposure amounts of said first and second exposure members so as to provide a second maximum toner deposition amount which is smaller than the first maximum toner deposition amount during the execution of the image forming operation by said execution portion.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said control portion sets initially the image adjustment setting to the first setting, and when said input portion inputs the second setting, said control portion sets the image adjustment setting to the second setting, and the image forming operation executed after the second setting is inputted is executed with the second setting.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said control portion initially sets the image adjustment setting to the first setting, and when said input portion inputs the second setting, said control portion sets the image adjustment setting to the second setting, and only the image forming operation first executed after the second setting is inputted is executed with the second setting, and wherein after completion of the first execution of the image forming operation, said control portion resets the image adjustment setting to the first setting.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said input portion includes the operating portion for inputting information relating to the image adjustment setting.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said input portion receives information relating to the image adjustment setting from external terminal equipment.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said input portion includes an operating portion for inputting information relating to the image adjustment setting, and said input portion receives information relating to the image adjustment setting from external terminal equipment, wherein said control portion sets the image adjustment setting with a preference given to the input from the external terminal equipment.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Shibuya Kenichi

Classifications

• G03G15/1615 Primary

  relating to the driving mechanism for the intermediate support, e.g. gears, couplings, belt tensioning · CPC title

• G03G15/1675 Primary

  with means for controlling the bias applied in the transfer nip · CPC title