A method of operating an electrophotographic printer (100) to control the optical density of a printed image is described. The method comprises providing a printing substance on a transfer member (104); emitting a pulse of heat to heat the printing substance on the transfer member to increase flowability of the printing substance on the transfer member; and transferring, from the transfer member to a substrate (108), the printing substance heated by the pulse of heat so as to provide the printed image on the substrate.

A charging device includes a first cleaning member that cleans a surface of a charging wire by moving along the wire while being in contact with the wire at a first side; and a second cleaning member that cleans the surface of the wire by moving while being in contact with the wire at a second side, and moving relative to the first cleaning member in a crossing direction that crosses a wire length direction.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion configured to form a toner image. The image forming portion includes: a photosensitive body; a charging device; an exposure device; a toner supply device; and a transfer device. A continuously printed amount, which has been attained by the image forming portion while the image forming portion has formed toner images continuously with a time interval between every two successive image-forming timings having a length shorter than or equal to a prescribed length, is determined. A charging voltage to be applied to the charging device is set based on a sum of a reference charging voltage and a correction value, the reference charging voltage being determined based on a target surface potential of the photosensitive body, the correction value being determined based on the continuously printed amount.

Provided is a blower pipe with an inlet, an outlet, a passage part formed with a passage space to cause air to flow therein, and suppressing parts that are provided in different parts in a direction in which air in the passage space of the passage part is caused to flow and that suppress the flow of the air, wherein an outlet suppressing part constructed so that the passage space in the outlet is closed by a permeable member dotted with ventilation portions is provided in the outlet of the passage part as one of the suppressing parts, and wherein the permeability of an end region present at least at one end in the lateral direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction among regions along the longitudinal direction of the opening shape of the outlet is set to a smaller value than the permeability of regions other than the end region.

A corona discharger and unit in which a crack of a surface layer of a discharge wire is provided. The corona discharger includes a discharge wire 23, holding portions 61, 62 for holding the discharge wire 23 aat a longitudinal opposite end portions of the discharge wire 23, wherein the discharge wire 23 comprises base material of metal, and a surface layer of the material comprising carbon on a part of the base material, and discharge wire 23 includes a coated region coated with the surface layer, and a non-coated region at the opposite sides of the coated region with respect to the longitudinal direction of the discharge wire 23, and wherein the opposite end portions of the discharge wire 23 is in the non-coated region.

A blower duct includes a path section including an entrance path section having an inlet through which air is taken in, a first bent path section, and a second bent path section having an outlet facing a longitudinal-direction portion; a first flow control member that makes a portion of the path of the first bent path section narrower than other portion of the path and causes an elongated gap extending in the longitudinal direction to pass the air; and a second flow control member constituted of an air permeable member having air permeable sections at the outlet. One of the paths located downstream of the first flow control member in an air flowing direction is partially provided with an inclined inner wall surface that is inclined from above to extend toward an upper portion of a downstream opening end of the narrowed path in the first flow control member.

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a charging device, an exposure device, a development device, and a development voltage power supply. The development device includes a development container storing a nonmagnetic one-component developer composed only of a toner, and a developer carrier on which a toner layer is formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof. The development voltage power supply applies a development voltage to the developer carrier. The image forming apparatus alternately forms white regions and exposed regions at a predetermined pitch repeatedly on a surface of the image carrier to form a solid image with an area ratio lower than 100%. Where V0 represents a white-region potential of the image carrier, VL represents an exposed-region potential of the image carrier, Vt represents a toner-layer potential, and Vd represents the development voltage, Vd0.5*(V0VL)+VLVt is fulfilled.

In a corona charger including a housing that encloses a discharge electrode and has an open portion on a charging-object side and a shutter that opens and closes the open portion, if discharge products dropped from ends of the shutter adhere to a photosensitive member and absorbs moisture, an image defect called image deletion may occur. A charging device includes a corona charger including a discharge electrode and shields provided on two respective sides of the discharge electrode. The corona charger has an open portion on a charging-object side thereof. The open portion is opened and closed by a sheet-type shutter in a longitudinal direction of the charger. The sheet-type shutter is curled in a transverse direction such that a central portion bulges, with respect to two ends, in a thickness direction of the shutter from a front surface that is nearer to the discharge electrode toward a back surface.

A charging device includes a discharge electrode; and a control electrode that is disposed between the discharge electrode and a charged body that is charged by the discharge electrode, in which the control electrode includes plural linear conductors disposed to intersect a rotation direction of the charged body at any angle, and plural connection portions that are members of connecting the linear conductors along the rotation direction of the charged body, and are disposed more in a region of a central portion than in a region of both end portions in a direction intersecting the rotation direction of the charged body.

An image forming system includes: a rotatable image carrier; a charger that is disposed to be opposed to the image carrier, and configured to charge a surface of the image carrier; a light exposer that is disposed to be opposed to the image carrier downstream of the charger in a rotational direction of the image carrier, and configured to expose the image carrier by transmitting light through multiple lenses arranged in an axial direction of the image carrier to form a latent image on the image carrier, the light being emitted from multiple light emitting elements; and a first ventilation pipe that is provided between the charger and the light exposer to construct part of an in-pipe wall surface at a lateral surface of the light exposer, and configured to allow air to pass through the first ventilation pipe, the lateral surface closer to the charger.