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US 5,404,159 AGranted
Image forming apparatus having toner particle modulator with elliptical aperture
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorTsuyoshi Ohashi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus capable of forming an image with a high-resolution. The image forming apparatus comprises an aperture electrode wherein toner particles are controlled so as to pass through each of the apertures or not so as to pass through each of the apertures. The image forming apparatus capable of forming an image by forming toner dots on a recording medium, has an aperture electrode having a plurality of elliptical apertures such that an minor axis of the aperture is parallel to the direction of movement of the supporting member.
Claims16
An image forming apparatus, comprising
- an aperture electrode having an insulative layer, a reference electrode formed on one side of the insulative layer, a plurality of control electrodes formed independently on another side of the insulative layer in a longitudinal direction of the insulative layer, and an elliptic aperture means having a major axis and a minor axis shorter than the major axis, formed in each of the control electrodes so as to penetrate the reference electrode, the insulative layer and the control electrodes, for forming a plurality of dots on a supporting member;
- electric potential applying means for applying an electric potential between each of the control electrodes and the reference electrode, the dots formed by the elliptic aperture means on the supporting member closely conforming to the applied electric potential and improving image resolution;
- charged toner particle supplying means for supplying charged toner particles to the aperture electrode;
- and
- moving means for effecting relative movement in a predetermined direction between the supporting member, to which the charged toner particles adhere after passing through the aperture electrode so as to form the plurality of dots, and the aperture electrode, the minor axis of the elliptic aperture means being parallel to the direction of relative movement between the supporting member and the aperture electrode.
2 more elements
A toner particle modulator, comprising:
- an elongate insulating layer having a longitudinal axis, a first side, and a second side opposite the first side;
- a reference electrode formed on the first side;
- a plurality of independent control electrodes on the second side and spaced from each other in the direction of said longitudinal axis;
- and
- an aperture formed in each control electrode, each aperture extending through one of the control electrodes, the insulative layer and the reference electrode, each aperture being of a shape defining a major axis and a minor axis, with the major axis having a greater length than the minor axis, the minor axis of each aperture extending transversely with respect to said longitudinal axis, wherein the ratio of the major axis to the minor axis is between about 1.5 to about 3.
2 more elements
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- an elongate insulating layer having a longitudinal axis, a first side, and a second side opposite the first side;
- a reference electrode formed on the first side;
- a plurality of independent control electrodes on the second side and spaced from each other in the direction of said longitudinal axis;
- aperture means formed in each control electrode for forming a plurality of dots on a supporting member, each aperture means extending through one of the control electrodes, the insulative layer and the reference electrode, each aperture means being of a shape defining a major axis and a minor axis, with the major axis having a greater length than the minor axis, the minor axis of each aperture means extending transversely with respect to said longitudinal axis and parallel to a direction of movement between the supporting member and the elongate insulating layer;
- electric potential applying means for applying an electric potential between the each of the control electrodes and the reference electrode, the dots formed by the aperture means on the supporting member closely conforming to the applied electric potential and improving image resolution;
- charged toner particle supplying means for supplying charged toner particles to the vicinity of the reference electrode;
- and
- moving means for effecting relative movement between the supporting member, to which the charged toner particles adhere after passing through each aperture means so as to form the plurality of dots, and the control electrodes.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.