The power supply apparatus alternately repeats a control between a first control of varying a frequency of switching operation within a predetermined range and for a predetermined cycle according to a frequency determined based on a feedback voltage, and a second control of varying the frequency within a range narrower than the predetermined range or a third control of controlling the frequency to be a constant frequency.

An MFP 1 includes an image forming unit 4 which forms an image on a sheet S1, a USB interface 12 which is to be connected to a PC 101 via a USB and receives a preceding command described in accordance with a control transfer protocol that is a transfer scheme of USB connection, and a CPU 91 which executes a preparation operation of the image forming unit 4, in response to receiving the preceding command by the USB interface 12. The preceding command is described to instruct the preparation operation of the image forming unit 4.

A conveying belt has a cylindrical base layer, and a surface layer that is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the base layer. The base layer contains polyimide or polyamide-imide, and has an elastic modulus from 3-7 GPa, inclusive. The surface layer is configured as a cured object from a resin composition that contains a fluororesin having a hydroxy group, an isocyanate curing agent, and a silicone copolymer. The silicone copolymer is a copolymer containing a silicone unit and another kind of unit not having a siloxane skeleton, has a hydroxy group, and contains siloxane units in a proportion of at least 95 mol% and less than 100 mol%, or from 40-70 mol%, inclusive. The silicone copolymer content in the resin composition is 1-5 parts by mass, inclusive, relative to a total 100 parts by mass of the fluororesin and the isocyanate curing agent.

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable image bearing member, a developing member to develop an electrostatic latent image at a developing portion, a transfer member to transfer a developer image to a recording member at a transfer portion; and a brush provided with a plurality of base materials contacting the image bearing member at downstream of the transfer portion and upstream of the developing portion in a rotational direction of the image bearing member. The developer remaining on the surface of the image bearing member is collected in the developing portion. An average distance between base materials of the brush with respect to a rotational axis direction of the image bearing member is larger than an average particle diameter of the developer, and is equal to or less than a length corresponding to a special frequency visually recognizable by a user when the image formed by the image forming apparatus is observed by the user.

According to at least one embodiment, a failure prediction server includes an interface, a memory, and a processor. The interface is configured to communicate with equipment including a component that deteriorates over time. The memory is configured to store measurement data acquired from the equipment. The processor is configured to set a monitoring start condition for failure prediction in the corresponding equipment based on the measurement data acquired as initial data from the equipment, accumulate the measurement data acquired from the equipment in the memory after the monitoring start condition is satisfied, and predict a failure of the component based on the measurement data accumulated in the memory.

A post-processing apparatus includes a conveyance unit, a discharge port, a tray, an elevation unit, a detection unit, and a control unit. The conveyance unit conveys a print medium supplied from an image forming apparatus. The discharge port discharges the print medium conveyed by the conveyance unit. The tray is stacked with the print medium discharged from the discharge port and can be raised and lowered in a vertical direction. The elevation unit raises and lower the tray in the vertical direction. The detection unit detects a top surface of an uppermost print medium of one or more sheets of print media stacked on the tray. The control unit controls the conveyance unit and the elevation unit and hold a relative position of the top surface with respect to the discharge port if the print medium is discharged from the discharge port at a first position. The control unit causes the conveyance unit to convey the print medium at a first speed if a discharge time from a first timing indicating the timing relating to discharge of the print medium from the discharge port to a second timing indicating the timing when the print medium is detected by the detection unit is a first time and causes the conveyance unit to convey the print medium at a second speed different from the first speed if the discharge time is a second time.

The image forming apparatus according to the present disclosures is configured to transmit, to a file server, an acquisition request for an updating data file at a time different from an access time, which is indicated by access time information of a setting file, by a particular time and update a content of the setting file by the acquired updating data file.

A sheet laminator laminates a two-ply sheet and a sheet-shaped medium inserted in the two-ply sheet. The sheet laminator includes a sheet feeder, a multi-feeding detector, a fixing device, an ejection device, a purging portion, a passage switcher, and circuitry. The sheet feeder feeds the two-ply sheet. The multi-feeding detector detects multiple feeding of the two-ply sheet. The fixing device fixes the two-ply sheet by application of heat and pressure. The ejection device ejects the two-ply sheet that has been fixed by the fixing device. The purging portion is disposed at a position different from the ejection device. The passage switcher switches a conveyance passage of the two-ply sheet to the fixing device or to the purging portion. The circuitry conveys the two-ply sheet to the purging portion and retries sheet feeding with another two-ply sheet, in response to detection of multiple feeding of the two-ply sheet.

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on paper includes a body surface temperature measuring sensor, a user interface, a communication interface, and a controller. The body surface temperature measuring sensor measures the body surface temperature of the operator in a non-contact manner. The user interface presents a message to the operator. The communication interface transmits a message to the administrator who manages the image forming apparatus. When access to the surface or the inside of the image forming apparatus is required and the body surface temperature of the operator is equal to or higher than a threshold temperature, the controller transmits a message requesting to touch the surface or the inside of the image forming apparatus to the administrator by the communication interface and presents a message requesting not to touch the image forming apparatus to the operator by the user interface.

An image forming apparatus includes a rotatable photosensitive member, a charging member, a developing device, a transfer member, a brush, a driving source and a control portion. The control portion controls the driving source to execute an image forming process in which image formation to the recording material is executed and a non-image-forming process in which the photosensitive member is driven to rotate other than the image forming process. The non-image-forming process between a first recording material and a second recording material to which the image formation is executed following the first recording material is defined as a first non-image-forming process, and the non-image-forming process between the second recording material and a third recording material is defined as a second non-image-forming process. The control portion determines a time of the second non-image-forming process based on a history information correlating with a usage amount of the photosensitive member and a time of the first non-image-forming process.