Developer apparatus with restriction member removing toner from convex sections of toner carrier roller

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• an image carrier which carries an electrostatic latent image;
• a toner carrier roller which is opposed to the image carrier and rotates while carrying a toner layer of charged toner on its surface, the toner carrier being shaped approximately like a cylinder and being provided, on a surface thereof, with a plurality of convex sections, which are regularly arranged along a width direction parallel to a rotation shaft of the toner carrier roller and a circumferential direction which is along a circumferential surface of the toner carrier roller, and concave sections which surround the convex sections;
• and
• a restriction member which abuts on the surface of the toner carrier roller, the restriction member removing toner from the convex sections of the toner carrier roller such that the concave sections alone carry toner, thereby restricting the toner layers which are carried on the surface of the toner carrier roller, the restriction member including an elastic abutting member formed by an elastic material, the elastic abutting member which includes an edge part which extends along the width direction parallel to the rotation shaft of the toner carrier roller and abuts on the surface of the toner carrier roller, wherein
• within a restriction nip which is created as the toner carrier roller and the restriction member abut on each other, a plurality of abutting segments where the edge part abuts on the plurality of convex sections, and a plurality of opening segments where the edge part and the concave sections are opposed to each other with a gap between each other, appear alternatingly along the width direction, and in the opening segments, the edge part of the elastic abutting member bulges toward bottom surfaces of the concave sections beyond linear lines which connect top surfaces of two adjacent convex sections which are on both sides to the concave sections which are opposed to the edge part, and
• the gap between the edge part at the opening segments and the concave sections is equal to or larger than the volume average particle diameter of toner.

An image forming method comprising:

• arranging a toner carrier roller oppositely to an image carrier which carries an electrostatic latent image, the toner carrier roller being provided, on a surface thereof, with a plurality of convex sections, which are regularly arranged along a width direction parallel to a rotation shaft of the toner carrier roller and a circumferential direction which is along a circumferential surface of the toner carrier roller, and concave sections which surround the convex sections, and rotating while carrying on its surface a toner layer of charged toner;
• abutting a restriction member which includes an elastic abutting member formed by an elastic material, the restriction member removing toner from the convex sections of the toner carrier roller such that the concave sections alone carry toner, thereby restricting the toner layers which are carried on the surface of the toner carrier roller, the elastic abutting member including an edge part which extends along the width direction parallel to the rotation shaft of the toner carrier roller and abuts on the surface of the toner carrier roller;
• and
• developing the electrostatic image with the toner carried on the toner carrier roller, wherein
• a plurality of abutting segments where the edge part abuts on the plurality of convex sections, and a plurality of opening segments where the edge part and the concave sections are opposed to each other with a gap between each other, appear alternatingly along the width direction, and at the opening segments, the edge part of the elastic abutting member bulges toward bottom surfaces of the concave sections beyond linear lines which connect top surfaces of two adjacent convex sections which are on both sides to the concave sections which are opposed to the edge part, and
• the gap between the edge part at the opening segments and the concave sections is equal to or larger than the volume average particle diameter of toner.