Electrophotographic image forming apparatus having residual toner collection

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of photoconductive elements each being provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a plurality of means each for uniformly charging the surface of one of said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• at least one means for exposing the surface of each of said plurality of photoconductive elements charged by one of said plurality of means for uniformly charging to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing units each configured to develop a latent image with toner of a particular color, each of the plurality of developing units comprising a developing roller configured to feed said toner of the particular color to one of said plurality of photoconductive elements to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on the one of said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• a plurality of means each for transferring the toner image from one of said plurality of photoconductive elements to a subject body;
• means for sending air to spaces around said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• and
• means for dehumidifying air to be sent by said means for sending;
• wherein a plurality of image forming modules each accommodates one of said plurality of photoconductive elements and said means for dehumidifying is disposed in each of said image forming modules.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoconductive element provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• means for uniformly charging the surface of said photoconductive element;
• means for exposing the surface of said photoconductive element charged by said means for uniformly charging to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing units arranged around said photoconductive element, each developing unit being configured to store toner of a particular color and to develop the latent image with said toner, and each developing unit comprising a development roller configured to feed said toner to said photoconductive element to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on said photoconductive element;
• means for sequentially transferring toner images sequentially formed on said photoconductive element to a subject body one above the other;
• means for sending air to a space around said photoconductive element;
• and
• means for dehumidifying air to be sent by said means for sending;
• wherein an image forming module accommodates said photoconductive element and said means for dehumidifying is disposed in the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoconductive element provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a charger configured to uniformly charge the surface of said photoconductive element;
• an exposing unit configured to expose the surface of said photoconductive element charged by said charger to thereby form a latent image;
• a developing device configured to develop the latent image with toner, the developing device comprising a development roller configured to feed said toner to said photoconductive element to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on said photoconductive element;
• an image transferring device configured to transfer the toner image from said photoconductive element to a subject body;
• an air sending device for sending air to a space around said photoconductive element;
• and
• an air conditioning device for dehumidifying air to be sent by said air sending device;
• wherein an image forming module accommodates said photoconductive element and said air conditioning device is disposed in the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of photoconductive elements each being provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a plurality of chargers each being configured to uniformly charge the surface of one of said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• at least one exposing unit configured to expose the surface of each of said plurality of photoconductive elements charged by one of said plurality of chargers to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing devices each being configured to develop a latent image formed on one of said plurality of photoconductive elements with toner of a particular color, each of the plurality of developing devices comprising a developing roller configured to feed the toner of the particular color to respective one of the plurality of photoconductive elements to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on the respective one of the plurality of photoconductive elements;
• a plurality of image transferring devices each being configured to transfer the toner image from one of said plurality of photoconductive elements to a subject body;
• an air sending device configured to send air to spaces around said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• and
• an air conditioning device configured to dehumidify air to be sent by said air sending device;
• wherein a plurality of image forming modules each accommodates one of said plurality of photoconductive elements and said air conditioning device is disposed in the plurality of image forming modules.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoconductive element provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a charger configured to uniformly charge the surface of said photoconductive element;
• an exposing unit configured to expose the surface of said photoconductive element charged by said charger to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing devices arranged around said photoconductive element and each being configured to store toner of a particular color for developing the latent image with said toner, each developing device comprising a developing roller configured to feed the toner to the photoconductive element to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on said photoconductive element;
• an image transferring device configured to sequentially transfer toner images sequentially formed on said photoconductive element to a subject body one above the other;
• an air sending device configured to send air to a space around said photoconductive element;
• and
• an air conditioning device configured to dehumidify air to be sent by said air sending device;
• wherein an image forming module accommodates the photoconductive element and said air conditioning device is disposed in the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoconductive element provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• means for uniformly charging the surface of said photoconductive element;
• means for exposing the surface of said photoconductive element charged by said means for uniformly charging to thereby form a latent image;
• a developing unit configured to develop the latent image with toner, the development unit comprising a development roller configured to feed said toner to said photoconductive element to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on said photoconductive element;
• means for transferring the toner image from said photoconductive element to a subject body;
• means for sending air to a space around said photoconductive element;
• and
• means for dehumidifying air to be sent by said means for sending;
• wherein an image forming module is removably mounted to a casing of an apparatus body;
• the image forming module includes the photoconductive element, the means for uniformly charging the surface and the developing unit;
• and the means for dehumidifying air sends dehumidified air into the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of photoconductive elements each being provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a plurality of means each for uniformly charging the surface of one of said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• at least one means for exposing the surface of each of said plurality of photoconductive elements charged by one of said plurality of means for uniformly charging to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing units each configured to develop a latent image with toner of a particular color, each of the plurality of developing units comprising a developing roller configured to feed said toner of the particular color to one of said plurality of photoconductive elements to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on the one of said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• a plurality of means each for transferring the toner image from one of said plurality of photoconductive elements to a subject body;
• means for sending air to spaces around said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• and
• means for dehumidifying air to be sent by said means for sending;
• wherein an image forming module is removably mounted to a casing of an apparatus body;
• the image forming module includes at least one of the photoconductive elements at least one of the means each for uniformly charging the surface and at least one of the developing units;
• and the means for dehumidifying air sends dehumidified air into the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoconductive element provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• means for uniformly charging the surface of said photoconductive element;
• means for exposing the surface of said photoconductive element charged by said means for uniformly charging to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing units arranged around said photoconductive element, each developing unit being configured to store toner of a particular color and to develop the latent image with said toner, and each developing unit comprising a development roller configured to feed said toner to said photoconductive element to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on said photoconductive element;
• means for sequentially transferring toner images sequentially formed on said photoconductive element to a subject body one above the other;
• means for sending air to a space around said photoconductive element;
• and
• means for dehumidifying air to be sent by said means for sending;
• wherein an image forming module is removably mounted to a casing of an apparatus body;
• the image forming module includes the photoconductive element, the means for uniformly charging the surface and at least one of the developing units;
• and the means for dehumidifying air sends dehumidified air into the image forming module;
• wherein air sent into an image forming module is discharged to an outside of the image forming module only via an image transfer opening through which a part of the photoconductive element is exposed to the outside of the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoconductive element provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a charger configured to uniformly charge the surface of said photoconductive element;
• an exposing unit configured to expose the surface of said photoconductive element charged by said charger to thereby form a latent image;
• a developing device configured to develop the latent image with toner, the developing device comprising a development roller configured to feed said toner to said photoconductive element to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on said photoconductive element;
• an image transferring device configured to transfer the toner image from said photoconductive element to a subject body;
• an air sending device for sending air to a space around said photoconductive element;
• and
• an air conditioning device for dehumidifying air to be sent by said air sending device;
• wherein an image forming module is removably mounted to a casing of an apparatus body;
• the image forming module includes the photoconductive element, charger and developing device;
• and the air conditioning device sends dehumidified air into the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of photoconductive elements each being provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a plurality of chargers each being configured to uniformly charge the surface of one of said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• at least one exposing unit configured to expose the surface of each of said plurality of photoconductive elements charged by one of said plurality of chargers to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing devices each being configured to develop a latent image formed on one of said plurality of photoconductive elements with toner of a particular color, each of the plurality of developing devices comprising a developing roller configured to feed the toner of the particular color to respective one of the plurality of photoconductive elements to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on the respective one of the plurality of photoconductive elements;
• a plurality of image transferring devices each being configured to transfer the toner image from one of said plurality of photoconductive elements to a subject body;
• an air sending device configured to send air to spaces around said plurality of photoconductive elements;
• and
• an air conditioning device configured to dehumidify air to be sent by said air sending device;
• wherein an image forming module is removably mounted to a casing of an apparatus body;
• the image forming module includes at least one of the photoconductive elements, at least one of the chargers and at least one of the developing devices;
• and the air conditioning device sends dehumidified air into the image forming module.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• a photoconductive element provided with a photoconductive layer on a surface thereof;
• a charger configured to uniformly charge the surface of said photoconductive element;
• an exposing unit configured to expose the surface of said photoconductive element charged by said charger to thereby form a latent image;
• a plurality of developing devices arranged around said photoconductive element and each being configured to store toner of a particular color for developing the latent image with said toner, each developing device comprising a developing roller configured to feed the toner to the photoconductive element to thereby produce a corresponding toner image and to collect residual toner left on said photoconductive element;
• an image transferring device configured to sequentially transfer toner images sequentially formed on said photoconductive element to a subject body one above the other;
• an air sending device configured to send air to a space around said photoconductive element;
• and
• an air conditioning device configured to dehumidify air to be sent by said air sending device;
• wherein an image forming module is removably mounted to a casing of an apparatus body;
• the image forming module includes the photoconductive element, charger and at least one developing device;
• and the air conditioning device sends dehumidified air into the image forming module;
• wherein air sent into the image forming module is discharged to an outside of the image forming module only via an image transfer opening through which a part of the photoconductive element is exposed to the outside of the image forming module.