Electrophotographic toner and image forming method and apparatus using the toner

An image forming method comprising:

• forming an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor;
• developing the electrostatic latent image with a toner to form a toner image on the photoreceptor;
• and
• transferring the toner image onto a receiving material, wherein the toner comprises particles having volume average particle diameter of 3 μm to 15 μm, and wherein the particles of the toner having particle diameters within a range of D±d and measured in μm, wherein d≦2 μm, have an average non-electrostatic adhesion force Fne (D) and measured in nN against the photoreceptor, and wherein a proportional factor K of a primary regression line of a diagram in which the toner particle diameter D is plotted on the horizontal axis and the non-electrostatic adhesion force Fne (D) is plotted on the vertical axis, is from 0.01 nN/μm to 5 nN/μm.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an image bearing member;
• a latent image forming device which forms an electrostatic latent image on the image bearing member;
• a developing device which develops the latent image with a toner;
• and
• a transferring device which transfers the toner image onto a receiving material, wherein the toner comprises particles having volume average particle diameter of 3 μm to 15 μm, and wherein the particles of the toner having particle diameters within a range of D±d and measured in μm, wherein d≦2 μm, have an average non-electrostatic adhesion force Fne (D) and measured in nN against the image bearing member, and wherein a proportional factor K of a primary regression line of a diagram in which the toner particle diameter D is plotted on the horizontal axis and the non-electrostatic adhesion force Fne (D) is plotted on the vertical axis, is from 0.01 nN/μm to 5 nN/μm.