Liquid image formation apparatus and liquid developing device

A liquid developing device comprising:

• at least one developer carrier which carries a highly viscous and highly concentrated liquid developer consisting of a carrier liquid and toner dispersed therein;
• and
• an applying member which applies said liquid developer to said developer carrier,
• said liquid developing device for developing a latent image formed on a latent image carrier by said liquid developer carried on said developer carrier, further comprising:
• at least one sweep roller formed of an elastic body for removing excess developer on said latent image carrier after development, located downstream said developer carrier in a direction in which the surface of said latent image carrier moves;
• a nip forming unit which forms a nip between said sweep roller and said latent image carrier;
• a sweep voltage applying unit which applies a voltage to said sweep roller;
• a rotation driving unit which drives to rotate said sweep roller;
• a contact/separation unit which brings said sweep roller into contact with and separates said roller from said latent image carrier;
• and
• a cleaning unit which cleans said sweep roller.

A liquid image formation apparatus comprising:

• a latent image carrier;
• a latent image forming unit which forms a latent image on said latent image carrier;
• a developing unit which visualizes the latent image on said latent image carrier;
• and
• a transfer unit which transfers the visualized image on said latent image carrier to a transfer material, said liquid image formation apparatus further comprising a liquid developing device,
• said liquid developing device including:
• at least one developer carrier which carries a highly viscous and highly concentrated liquid developer consisting of a carrier liquid and toner dispersed therein;
• and
• an applying member which applies said liquid developer to said developer carrier,
• said liquid developing device for developing the latent image formed on said latent image carrier by said liquid developer carried on said developer carrier, said liquid developing device further including:
• at least one sweep roller formed of an elastic body for removing excess developer on said latent image carrier after development, located downstream said developer carrier in a direction in which the surface of said latent image carrier moves;
• a nip forming unit which forms a nip between said sweep roller and said latent image carrier;
• a sweep voltage applying unit which applies a voltage to said sweep roller;
• a rotation driving unit which drives to rotate said sweep roller;
• a contact/separation unit which brings said sweep roller into contact with and separates said roller from said latent image carrier;
• and
• a cleaning unit which cleans said sweep roller.

A liquid developing device comprising:

• at least one developer carrier which carries a highly viscous and highly concentrated liquid developer consisting of a carrier liquid and toner dispersed therein;
• and
• an applying member which applies said liquid developer to said developer carrier,
• said liquid developing device for developing a latent image formed on a latent image carrier by said liquid developer carried on said developer carrier, further comprising:
• at least one removing member which removes excess toner and carrier on said latent image carrier after development, located downstream said developer carrier in a direction in which the surface of said latent image carrier moves;
• and a cleaning unit that cleans the surface of said removing member as a roller,
• wherein said cleaning unit is a blade member, and its contact position with respect to said roller as said removing member is a central position or lower in the vertical direction.

A liquid image formation apparatus comprising:

• a latent image carrier;
• a latent image forming unit which forms a latent image on said latent image carrier;
• a developing unit which visualizes the latent image on said latent image carrier;
• and a transfer unit which transfers the visualized image on said latent image carrier to a transfer material,
• said liquid image formation apparatus using a liquid developing device,
• said liquid developing device including:
• a developer carrier, as said developing unit, which carries a liquid developer consisting of a carrier liquid and toner dispersed therein, said liquid developing device for supplying said liquid developer carried on said developer carrier to said latent image carrier to develop a latent image, said device further including:
• at least one sweep roller, which removes excess liquid developer adhering to the surface of said latent image carrier after development, located on the downstream side of the surface of said latent image carrier, wherein said sweep roller is formed of an elastic body.

A liquid image formation apparatus comprising:

• a latent image carrier;
• a latent image forming unit which forms a latent image on said latent image carrier;
• a developing unit which visualizes the latent image on said latent image carrier;
• and a transfer unit which transfers the visualized image on said latent image carrier to a transfer material,
• said liquid image formation apparatus using a liquid developing device,
• said liquid developing device comprising:
• a developer carrier as said developing unit which carries a liquid developer consisting of a carrier liquid and toner dispersed therein, said liquid developing device for supplying said liquid developer carried on said developer carrier to said latent image carrier to develop a latent image,
• wherein said developer carrier is formed of urethane base resin so as to have conductivity, and
• at least one sweep roller, which removes excess liquid developer adhering to the surface of said latent image carrier after development, is provided on the downstream side of the surface of said latent image carrier.