Magnetic Brush With Bristle Height Equal to Developing Gap

This invention relates to a developing method or a developing bristle height measuring method and apparatus practicing the methods as well as color image printers.

Various types of color toner image printing method and color toner image printer using electrophotography have been proposed; and from the standpoint of speed-up and continuous paper recording specification, method and apparatus of the type wherein a color toner image is formed on the surface of a rotating sensitive member (sensitive drum or sensitive belt) and the color image is transferred to a recording paper are highly evaluated.

In this type of printer using, for example, a sensitive drum, a plurality of pairs of electrostatic latent image forming means and developing means are arranged in the direction of rotation of the sensitive drum to oppose the same and development is repeated plural times in order to form toner images of a plurality of kinds of color at one image forming area. In this printer, however, development for the second color is done at the surface of the sensitive drum where a first color toner image is formed; and, if a developing means of contact type is used for the second color, the first color toner image is scraped off by the developing means for the second color and decreased in image density, and besides the scraped-off first color toner intrudes into the second color developing means, causing color mixing. This problem also takes place in the third and the following developing means.

Approaches to this problem have been proposed wherein a contactless magnetic brush or a magnetic brush of weak slide-contact force is used for the succeeding developing means.

This type of printer is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-43748, JP-A-52-106743 and JP-A-56-144452.

The prior art printer, however, does not consider how the developing gap should be related to the bristle height of a magnetic brush for the purpose of obtaining excellent color images, and it faces difficulties in insuring sufficient image density of both the first and second color toner images. More specifically, the maintenance of image density of the first color toner image tends to cause a decrease in image density or irregularity in density of the second color toner image and conversely, the maintenance of image; density of the second color toner image tends to cause occurrence of fog or a decrease in image density of the first color toner image. Disadvantageously, the prior art apparatus does not consider a change in image density due to a slight change with time in developing conditions, either and is difficult to maintain quality of printed images stably.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus which can keep a toner image density above a predetermined value of both the first and second color toner images when forming color images.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method and means for adjusting the bristle height of a magnetic brush of the developing means and the developing gap to set up the relative relationship therebetween which is suitable for attainment of the uniformity in image density.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, in a developing method in which a developer containing magnetic particles is carried on a developer carrier to form a magnetic brush and a latent image on a latent image carrier opposing the developer carrier is developed by the magnetic brush, the bristle height of the magnetic brush is made to be substantially equal to the developing gap.

According to a second embodiment, in a developing method in which a second latent image on a latent image carrier having thereon a first toner image formed by developing a first latent image is developed by a magnetic brush formed of a developer containing magnetic particles on a developer carrier to form a second toner image, the bristle height of the magnetic brush is made to be substantially equal to the developing gap upon development for formation of the second toner image. The first development is not limited to a magnetic brush.

According to a third embodiment, in a developing method in which an electrically conductive developer containing magnetic particles is carried on a developer carrier to form a magnetic brush and a latent image on a latent image carrier opposing the developer carrier is developed by the magnetic brush, the bristle height of the magnetic brush and the developing gap are so set that electrical resistance between the developer carrier and latent image carrier due to the magnetic brush interposed between the developer carrier and latent image carrier has a value near a point of inflection on a curve representative of change of the electrical resistance.

According to a fourth embodiment, in a developing method in which a second latent image on a latent image carrier having thereon a first toner image formed by developing a first latent image is developed by a magnetic brush formed of a developer containing magnetic particles on a developer carrier to form a second toner image, the bristle height of the magnetic brush and the developing gap are so set that electrical resistance between the developer carrier and latent image carrier due to the magnetic brush interposed between the developer carrier and latent image carrier has a value near a point of inflection on a curve representative of change of the electrical resistance.

According to a fifth embodiment, in a developing method in which a developer containing magnetic particles is carried on a developer carrier to form a magnetic brush and a latent image on a latent image carrier opposing the developer carrier is developed by the magnetic brush, the bristle height of the magnetic brush and the developing gap are so set that frictional force exerted by the magnetic brush on the latent image carrier has a value near a point of inflection on a curve representative of change of the frictional force.

According to a sixth embodiment, in a developing method in which a second latent image on a latent image carrier having thereon a first toner image formed by developing a first latent image is developed by a magnetic brush formed of a developer containing magnetic particles on a developer carrier to form a second toner image, the bristle height of the magnetic brush and the developing gap are so set that frictional force exerted by the magnetic brush on the latent image carrier has a value near a point of inflection on a curve representative of change of the frictional force.

According to a seventh embodiment, in a developing method in which a developer containing magnetic particles is carried on a developer carrier to form a magnetic brush and a latent image on a latent image carrier opposing the developer carrier is developed by the magnetic brush, the bristle height of the magnetic brush is so controlled that developing density exceeds a predetermined value.

According to an eighth embodiment, in a developing method in which a second latent image on a latent imager carrier having thereon a first toner image formed by developing a first latent image is developed by a magnetic brush formed of a developer containing magnetic particles on a developer carrier to form a second toner image, the bristle height of the magnetic brush is so controlled that density levels for the first and second developments exceed predetermined values.

According to a ninth embodiment, in a developing method in which a developer containing magnetic particles is carried on a developer carrier to form a magnetic brush and a latent image on a latent image carrier opposing the developer carrier is developed by the magnetic brush, the developing gap is so controlled that developing density exceeds a predetermined value.

According to a tenth embodiment, in a developing method in which a second latent image on a latent image carrier having thereon a first toner image formed by developing a first latent image is developed by a magnetic brush formed of a developer containing magnetic particles on a developer carrier to form a second toner image, the developing gap is so controlled that density levels for the first and second developments exceed predetermined values.

According to an eleventh embodiment, in a color image printing method in which a first latent image on a latent image carrier is developed by a first magnetic brush formed of a first developer containing magnetic particles on a first developer carrier to form a first toner image and a second latent image on the latent image carrier formed with the first toner image is developed by a second magnetic brush formed of a second developer containing magnetic particles on a second developer carrier to form a second toner image, the bristle height of the second magnetic brush is made to be substantially equal to the developing gap upon development for formation of the second toner image.

According to a twelfth embodiment, in a color image printing method in which a first latent image on a latent image carrier is developed by a first magnetic brush formed of a first developer containing magnetic particles on a first developer carrier to form a first toner image and a second latent image on the latent image carrier formed with the first toner image is developed by a second magnetic brush formed of a second developer containing magnetic particles on a second developer carrier to form a second toner image, the magnetic brush bristle height is made to be substantially equal to the developing gap upon developments for formation of the first and second toner images.

According to a thirteenth embodiment, in a developing apparatus comprising a developer carrier for carrying a developer containing magnetic particles to form a magnetic brush, and means for forming a developing gap through which the magnetic brush opposes a latent image carrier carrying a latent image so that the latent image may be developed by the magnetic brush, means is provided for making the bristle height of the magnetic brush substantially equal to the developing gap.

Since the bristle height of the magnetic brush formed of the developer for developing a second latent image on the latent image carrier formed with first and second latent images is so set as to be substantially equal to the developing gap, the tip of the magnetic brush slightly contacts or does not contact to the surface of the latent image carrier to develop the second latent image, thereby forming a second toner image. Accordingly, a first toner image formed precedently will not be scraped off to prevent a decrease in image density and the first toner will not intrude into the second developing unit to prevent color mixing and occurrence of fog, making it possible to provide the second toner image of sufficient density.

Therefore, the present invention can provide method and apparatus which can keep uniform image density of both the first and second color toner images when forming color images, and besides can provide a method and means for adjusting the bristle height of a magnetic brush of the developing means, to set up a relative relationship between the bristle height and the developing gap which is suitable for attainment of the uniformity in image density.

With the method and apparatus of the invention, developing conditions optimized for obtaining desirable image density stably can be set so that a change with time in image density may be alleviated, making it easy to maintain quality of printed image stably.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first embodiment of a developing apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a graph showing how resistance and current at the developing portion are related to the developing gap when the magnetic brush bristle height is maintained at a predetermined value;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of a two-color image printer of the invention using the FIG. 1 apparatus as a second developing unit;

FIG. 4 is a graph showing how image density of a first color toner image and that of a second color toner image are related to the developing gap in the developing unit when the magnetic brush bristle height is maintained at a predetermined value;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the developing apparatus according to the invention in which desirable image density can be obtained by adjusting the bristle height of the magnetic brush formed of developer;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relation between the magnetic brush bristle height and the magnet roller rotation speed in the FIG. 5 apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a graph showing how resistance and current at the developing portion are related to the magnetic brush bristle height in the FIG. 5 apparatus when the developing gap is maintained at a predetermined value;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the developing apparatus according to the invention in which the relative relationship between the developing gap and bristle height is adjusted by controlling rotation speeds of both the developing sleeve and magnet roller;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are side views showing fourth and fifth embodiments of the developing apparatus according to the invention in which the magnetic brush bristle height is adjusted by controlling the regulator plate gap;

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a sixth embodiment of the developing apparatus according to the invention in which the magnetic brush bristle height is adjusted through rotation speed control of the convey bucket;

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a seventh embodiment of the developing apparatus according to the invention in which the developing gap can be adjusted by moving the developing container;

FIG. 13 is a side view showing an eighth embodiment of the developing apparatus according to the invention in which the regulator plate gap is regulated by means of the regulator rod in the form of an eccentric cam;

FIG. 14 is a side view showing a ninth embodiment of the developing apparatus of the invention in which the developing gap can be adjusted using the developing roller which is movable independently of the developing container;

FIGS. 15 and 16 are side views showing embodiments of a laser beam exposure type two-color image printer according to the invention in which the size of the developing units is changed depending upon the kind of color of developer used;

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a tenth embodiment of the developing apparatus of the invention which uses a modified magnetic brush bristle height adjusting mechanism; and

FIG. 18 is a graph useful to explain the relation between the magnetic pole pitch and the magnetic brush bristle height.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of a developing apparatus of the invention in which a developing sleeve 2 opposing the surface of an electronograph sensitive drum 1 with a predetermined developing gap interposed therebetween is made of a nonmagnetic and electrically conductive material and a rotatable magnet roller 3 is comprised in a space inside the developing sleeve. A developer 4 is a mixture of carrier 4a and toner 4b of coloring granules and is stored in a developing container 5. The developer is adsorbed on the surface of the developing sleeve 2 by means of the magnet roller 3 to form a magnetic brush 4c. As the developing sleeve 2 is rotated clockwise and the magnet roller 3 counterclockwise, the magnetic brush 4c on the developing sleeve 2 rotates clockwise. A regulator plate 6 regulates the amount of particles of developer 4 which is adsorbed on the surface of the developing sleeve 2 and is rotated, and a scraper 7 scrapes off the developer 4 adsorbed on the surface of the developing sleeve 2 and rotated so that scraped-off developer may be collected in the developing container 5. Disposed above the developing container 5 is a toner hopper 8 in which granules of toner 4b are stored so as to be replenished to the developing container 5 by the action of a replenishment roller 9. A stirring means 10 is adapted to stir and convey the developer 4 scraped off from the surface of the developing sleeve 2 by the scraper 7 and the toner 4b replenished from the hopper 8.

In the apparatus constructed as above, the developing gap defining a gap between the surfaces of sensitive drum 1 and developing sleeve 2 and the height of bristles (called bristle height hereinafter) of the magnetic brush 4c, formed of the developer 4 and appearing in the developing gap, are adjusted relatively such that the value, G, of the developing gap substantially equals the value, h, of the bristle height. Under this condition, a bias voltage is applied between the sensitive drum 1 and the developing sleeve 2 to develop a latent image formed on the surface of the sensitive drum 1.

Preferably, for measurement and adjustment of the relative relationship between the magnitude of developing gap G and the bristle height of the magnetic brush 4c formed of developer 4, the following procedure may be taken.

More particularly, the developer 4 (carrier 4a) is made to be electrically conductive or semiconductive, and the developing sleeve 2 is adjustably supported to permit adjustment of the developing gap while being in electrically insulated state. Then, voltage is applied across the sensitive drum 1 (or an electrode disposed at a position corresponding to that of the sensitive drum) and the developing sleeve 2 and the bristle height is measured in terms of the magnitude of current flowing through them by means of a magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11.

In the apparatus having the above construction, current flow Id at the developing portion between the sensitive drum 1 and developing sleeve 2 sets up a current which flows through the magnetic brush 4c formed of the developer 4 and appearing between the sensitive drum 1 and developing sleeve 2 and which changes as shown in FIG. 2 when the magnitude of the developing gap G is changed. In particular, FIG. 2 demonstrates that when the magnitude of the developing gap G is changed while maintaining the bristle height of the magnetic brush 4c at a constant value, the contact condition between the bristle of magnetic brush 4c and the sensitive drum 1 is changed to change resistance Rd of an electric circuit established by the magnetic brush 4c between the sensitive drum 1 and the developing sleeve 2. Especially, a point of inflection at which the resistance Rd begins to decrease from the maximum level (or a point inflection at which the developing current Id begins to increase from the minimum level) takes place at a value of the developing gap G which substantially equals the magnetic brush bristle height h. Thus, this value of the developing gap can be prescribed to be the bristle height h.

Specifically, when the developing gap G is so set as to fall within a range;

desirable image density can be obtained. This range would include where -0.3 mm.ltoreq.G-h.ltoreq.0.

It will further be appreciated that other preferable developing conditions for obtaining desirable image density under the above relative relationship between the developing gap G and bristle height h are the rotation speed of developing sleeve 2 being 100 to 300 rpm, the rotation speed of magnet roller 3 being 100 to 500 rpm and the gap between the developing sleeve 2 and the regulator plate 6 (regulator plate gap) being 0.1 to 0.5 mm. The number of magnetic poles of the magnet roller 3 is 16 to 30. The carrier 4a, one of the constituents of the developer 4, may be ferrite particles, or resin powder including iron powder or magnetic fine powder iron powder or resin powder, having an average particulate size of 10 to 70 .mu.m. In case where developing bias voltage Vb is DC bias voltage of the same polarity as that of electric charge on the toner 4b in order to perform inversion development,

is valid, where Vo is the surface potential on the sensitive drum 1.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a two-color image printer using the aforementioned developing apparatus as a second developing unit.

The printer comprises a first imaging system and a second imaging system which oppose the outer circumferential surface of the sensitive drum 1, the first system including a first charger 15, a first light-exposure unit 17 and a first developing unit 19 which are sequentially arranged in the direction of rotation of the sensitive drum 1 and the second system including a second charger 16, a second light-exposure unit 18 and the second developing unit 20 which are also arranged sequentially in the rotational direction of the sensitive drum 1. In the printer having the above construction, a two-color toner image is formed on the surface of the sensitive drum 1, and the two-color toner image is transferred, by means of a transfer unit 22, to a recording paper fed from a paper hopper 21 and fixed by means of a fixing unit 23. Denoted by 24 is a peel-off member for peeling off the recording paper adsorbed on the surface of the sensitive drum 1, 25 a toner cleaner and 26 a discharger.

The second developing unit 20 measures a bristle height h2 in accordance with the magnetic brush bristle height measuring method described previously and based on a measured value, sets a developing gap G2 pursuant to the following formulas as in the precedence:

In the two-color image printer constructed as above, the surface of the sensitive drum 1 is first charged uniformly by the first charger 15 and thereafter a first image exposure is carried out by the first light-exposure unit 17 to form a first latent image on the surface of the sensitive drum 1. In the first developing unit 19, the magnetic brush formed of the developer slide-contacts the surface of the sensitive drum 1 to develop the first latent image, providing a first color toner image.

The second charger 16 again charges uniformly the surface of the sensitive drum 1 thus formed with the first color toner image. The second light-exposure unit 18 carries out a second image exposure to form a second latent image on the surface of the sensitived drum 1. In the second developing unit 20, the magnetic brush of the developer slide-contacts the surface of the sensitive drum 1 to develop the second latent image, providing a second toner image.

The paper hopper 21 feeds a recording paper onto which the two-color toner image thus formed on the surface of the sensitive drum 1 is to be transferred. The recording paper moves while making contact to the surface of the sensitive drum 1 and the transfer unit 22 applies transfer charge on the back of the recording paper making contact to the surface of the sensitive drum 1 so as to electrostatically transfer the two-color toner image formed on the surface of the sensitive drum 1 onto the recording paper. The recording paper with the thus transferred two-color toner image is peeled off from the surface of the sensitive drum 1 by means of the peel-off member 24 and then conveyed to the fixing unit 23. The fixing unit 23 heats the two-color toner image so as to fix it on the recording paper by fusion.

After completion of the toner image transfer, the surface of the sensitive drum 1 is removed of the remainder of toner by the toner cleaner 25 and of the remaining electric charge by the discharger 26 and is then used for the next image printing.

Referring now to FIG. 4, image density D1 of the first color toner image and image density D2 of the second toner image will be described.

For the second developing unit 20 having the magnetic brush bristle height maintained at h2, the developing gap G2 is related to the image density D1 of the first color toner image and the image density D2 of the second color toner image as graphically shown in FIG. 4.

In the region where the developing gap G2 of the second developing unit 20 is narrower than the bristle height h2, the magnetic brush scrapes off the first color toner image present on the surface of the sensitive drum 1 when the second developing unit 20 develops the second latent image and consequently, the image density D1 of the first color toner image decreases. The image density D1 of the first color toner image increases as the developing gap G2 increases and in the region where the developing gap G2 exceeds the bristle height h2, it is saturated because the contactless status is established between the magnetic brush and sensitive drum.

On the other hand, the image density D2 of the second color toner image obtained when the second developing unit 20 develops the second latent image decreases gradually as the developing gap G2 increases in the contact region where the developing gap G2 is narrower than the bristle height H2 and it decreases rapidly as the developing gap G2 increases in the non-contact region where the developing gap G2 is wider than the bristle height h2.

In the two-color image printer, however, the developing gap G2 is so set as to be substantially equal to the magnetic brush bristle height h2 and therefore the image density D1 and the image density D2 of the two toner images can both exceed a preset value.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a second embodiment of the developing apparatus will be described wherein desirable image density can be obtained by adjusting the bristle height of a magnetic brush formed of developer. Components like those of the developing apparatus described previously will be designated by like reference numerals and will not be detailed here.

In the FIG. 5 developing apparatus, a developing sleeve 2 and a magnet roller 3 are both rotated counterclockwise, a stirring means 10 is disposed beneath the developing sleeve 2 and a stopper 27 disposed above the developing sleeve 2 opposes the surface of the developing sleeve 2 to block the flow of the developer (rotation of the magnetic brush).

With the above construction, as the developing sleeve 2 and magnet roller 3 rotate, a magnetic brush 4c formed of developer 4 and appearing on the surface of the developing sleeve 2 is divided into an upper formation rotating clockwise and a lower formation rotating counterclockwise. The upper formation is formed of developer 4 fed from a developing container 5 under the influence of rotational force due to magnetic force generated by the magnet roller 3, and the lower formation is created under the influence of rotational force due to frictional force against the developing sleeve 2 generated when the rotation of the upper formation is blocked by the stopper 27. For example, with the rotation speed of the developing sleeve 2 kept to be constant, the bristle height h.sub.3 of the magnetic brush 4c can be changed as shown in FIG. 6 by controlling the rotation speed of the magnet roller 3.

A magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11 measures, in the previously-described manner, characteristics as shown in FIG. 7 which relate to the bristle height and developing portion resistance or the bristle height and developing portion current, finds out the bristle height h.sub.3 equal to the developing gap G3 on the basis of the measurement results, and controls the rotation speed of a magnet roller drive motor 34 through a magnet roller control 33 so as to adjust the bristle height of the magnetic brush 4c such that the bristle height h.sub.3 substantially equals the developing gap G3.

The bristle height adjustment in this embodiment is effected by changing the rotation speed of the magnet roller 3 while keeping the rotation speed of the developing sleeve 2 constant but conversely, it may be achieved by changing the rotation speed of the developing sleeve 2 while keeping the rotation speed of the magnet roller 3 constant. The latter case provides such a characteristic that as the rotation speed of the developing sleeve 2 increases, the bristle height h.sub.3 is decreased.

FIG. 8 illustrates a third embodiment of the developing apparatus in which the relative relationship between developing gap G and bristle height h can be adjusted to the optimum condition by controlling rotation speeds of both the developing sleeve and magnet roller. A magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11 measures the relative relationship between the developing gap G and bristle height h in the same measuring manner as that described previously. A control signal distributor 35 controls a control signal fed to a magnet roller control 33 operable to control the rotation speed of a magnet roller drive motor 34 and a control signal fed to a developing sleeve control 36 operable to control the rotation speed of a developing sleeve drive motor 37, thereby ensuring that the bristle height h of the magnetic brush 4c can be so adjusted as to substantially equal the developing gap G. Denoted by 38 and 39 are drive force transmission mechanisms comprised of gears and pulleys and 40 a bearing.

FIG. 9 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the developing apparatus in which the magnetic brush bristle height can be adjusted by controlling the regulator plate gap. In the developing apparatus, developer 4 in a developing container 5 is stirred by a stirring means (stirring screw propeller) 10 and then pumped up by a convey bucket 41 so as to be fed to the surface of a developing sleeve 2. The developer 4 is then adsorbed on the developing sleeve 2 to form a magnetic brush 4c while rotated counterclockwise. A bristle height h of the magnetic brush 4c acting on a sensitive drum 1 can be determined by a regulator plate gap g as in the case of the developing apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1. In the FIG. 9 apparatus, for adjustment of the regulator plate gap g, a regulator plate 6 is secured to one end of an arm 47 rotatably supported on a pivot 45 and the other end of the arm 47 is urged against a solenoid type telescopic rod 48 by the action of a tension spring 46, whereby the regulator plate gap g can be changed by actuating the solenoid type telescopic rod 48 to rotate the arm 47. The actuation control of the solenoid type telescopic rod 48 can be realized by measuring the relative relationship between developing gap G and bristle height h by means of a magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11 and controlling solenoid drive current on the basis of the results of the measurement by means of a solenoid control 43.

FIG. 10 shows a fifth embodiment of the developing apparatus directed to an improvement in the developing apparatus described with reference to FIG. 9. The FIG. 10 apparatus comprises, in addition to a magnetic brush bristle height measuring means similar to that described previously, a contactless gap measuring means for measuring the distance between the developing apparatus and the sensitive drum, so that a bristle height h may be controlled on the basis of measurement results obtained from the two measuring means. The contactless gap measuring means as designated at 50 is mounted to a developing container 5 to oppose the surface of a sensitive drum 1 and is operable to measure, at a position upstream of the developing position, the gap on the basis of the state of reflection of light irradiated on the surface of the sensitive drum 1. A detection signal produced from the contactless gap measuring means 50 is fed to a correction control 49 which in turn corrects a detection signal produced from the magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11 to provide a correction signal applied to a solenoid control 43.

Measurement by the magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11 is effected at the developing portion and feedback control based on only the results of that measurement causes a delay in control. However, thanks to the provision of the contactless gap measuring means 50 capable of measuring the gap between the developing apparatus and sensitive drum in advance, it is possible to make the magnetic brush bristle height control operation accurately follow a variation in developing gap G due to, for example, eccentricity of the sensitive drum 1. In addition, the detection signal delivered out of the contactless gap measuring means 50 can also be used for checking the control state.

FIG. 11 illustrates a sixth embodiment of the developing apparatus in which a bristle height h of magnetic brush 4c can be adjusted by controlling the rotation speed of a convey bucket.

Developer 4 in a developing container 5 is stirred and mixed by a stirring means 10, pumped up by a convey bucket 41 so as to be fed to the surface of a developing sleeve 2 and adsorbed on the surface of the developing sleeve 2 under the influence of magnetic force of a magnet roller 3 to form a magnetic brush 4c. The bristle height h of the magnetic brush 4c is on the one hand regulated in accordance with the magnitude of regulator plate gap g but on the other hand, when the rotation speed of the convey bucket 41 is changed to change the amount of developer fed to the developing sleeve 2, the amount of developer 4 to be conveyed to a regulator plate 6 is changed to change the flow pressure of the developer 4 at the regulator plate gap g. As a result, the amount of developer 4 passing through the regulator plate gap g is changed to change the bristle height h of the magnetic brush 4c. Specifically, as the rotation speed of the convey bucket 41 increases to increase the amount of developer fed to the developing sleeve 2, the bristle height h of the magnetic brush 4c tends to increase. The present embodiment takes advantage of this phenomenon in order to adjust the bristle height h of the magnetic brush 4c and features the provision of a convey bucket control 52 which controls the rotation speed of a convey bucket drive motor 51 on the basis of the results of measurement by a brush bristle height measuring means 11 to make the developing gap G substantially equal to the bristle height h.

FIG. 12 illustrates a seventh embodiment of the developing apparatus in which developing gap G can be adjusted by moving a developing container 5. In the developing apparatus, an upper portion of a developing container 5 is rotatably mounted on a pivot 58 secured to a printer body frame 56 and its lower portion is urged against a solenoid type telescopic rod 55 by the action of a tension spring 57, whereby the developing gap G can be changed by actuating the solenoid type telescopic rod 55 to rotate the developing container 5. As in the precedence, the actuation control of the solenoid type telescopic rod 55 can be realized by operating a magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11 which measures the relative relationship between the developing gap G and bristle height h and a developing gap setter 54 which sets a developing gap G on the basis of the measurement results and controls drive current delivered out of a solenoid control 53.

The developing gap setter 54 sets the developing gap G such that the bristle height h of the magnetic brush 4c substantially equals the developing gap G.

FIG. 13 illustrates an eighth embodiment of the developing apparatus in which a regulater plate gap g can be regulated by a regulator rod 61 in the form of an eccentric cam. In order to develop latent images with fidelity, the bristle height h of magnetic brush 4c needs to be adjusted with high accuracies. The regulator rod 61 is driven for rotation by a regulator rod drive motor 62 to adjust the developing gap g delicately.

In order to control the regulator rod drive motor, a magnetic brush bristle height measuring means 11 measures the bristle height h and a contactless gap measuring means 50 measures the distance between the developing apparatus and sensitive drum in advance. A decider 64 receives the measurement results to decide the developing condition and on the basis of the decision results, a regulator rod control 63 controls the rotation of the regulator rod drive motor 62.

In the present embodiment, circuit switches 65 and 66 are additionally provided to establish such a connection circuit that the magnetic brush measuring means 11 is made to be valid for bristle height measurement only in a non-development mode, and to establish such a connection circuit that developing bias voltage is supplied from a developing bias power supply 67 other than the magnetic brush measuring means 11 in the development mode. This ensures that the bias voltage applied between the sensitive drum 1 and developing sleeve 2 can be set to values optimized for bristle height measuring mode and development mode, respectively.

FIG. 14 illustrates a ninth embodiment of the developing apparatus in which the developing gap can be adjusted by moving a developing roller 70 comprising a developing sleeve and a magnet roller in combination, independently of a developing container 5. In large-scale developing apparatus, movement of the entirety of developing container for the adjustment of the developing gap faces much difficulties and the construction of this embodiment can be applied to such large-scale apparatus to advantage.

The developing roller 70 is rotatably mounted to one end of an arm 72 rotatably supported on a pivot 71 and the other end of the arm 72 is urged against a solenoid type telescopic rod 74 by the action of a tension spring 73, whereby the developing gap can be changed by actuating the solenoid type telescopic rod 74 to rotate the arm 72. The actuation control of the solenoid type telescopic rod 74 can be realized, as in the precedence, by measuring the relative relationship between developing gap G and bristle height h by means of a magnetic brush bristle height measuring means and controlling drive current on the basis of the results of measurement by means of a solenoid control.

Developer 4 in a developing container 5 is adsorbed on the surface of a rotating developer supply roller 75 and is rotated so as to be fed to the developing roller 70 through a developer guide 76. The developing container 5 is mounted to a support base 78 on conveyance rollers 77 through positioning members 79.

FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate two kinds of laser beam exposure type two-color image printers in which the size of the developing unit is changed depending on color of developer used. In the two-color image printer described with reference to FIG. 3, the size of the developing units 19 and 20 is not particularly taken into consideration. Typically, however, image data delivered out of information processors such as computers is of black tone in many applications and black toner is used as a developer in great amounts.

In a two-color image printer shown in FIG. 15, a first developing unit 19 of large size is used with black developer and a second developing unit 20 of small size is used with colored (other than black) developer. Conveniently, the second developing unit 20 for use with color developer is so designed as to be easily detachable in order that a unit used with a developer of one color can be exchanged with another unit to be used with a developer of different a color. From the standpoint of the adjustment of the relative relationship between developing gap G and magnetic brush bristle height h to be effected in the second developing unit as described previously with the aim of preventing decrease in image density and color mixing, the second developing unit 20 is advantageous, particularly, for the adjustment of developing gap G because thanks to its small size and weight, it can adopt any desired one of the adjusting mechanisms.

In a two-color image printer shown in FIG. 16, a first developing unit 19 is reduced in size for use with color (other than black) developer and a second developing unit 20 is increased in size for use with black developer. The use of the second developing unit 20 with black developer is particularly advantageous since the black developer is immune from color mixing. From the standpoint of the adjustment of the relative relationship between developing gap G and magnetic brush bristle height h to be effected in the second developing unit as described previously with the aim of preventing decrease in image density and color mixing, it is advantageous for the second developing unit 20 to adopt, for adjustment of developing gap G, the developing roller positioning mechanism as described with reference to FIG. 14 because of its large size.

FIG. 17 illustrates a tenth embodiment of the developing apparatus in which the magnetic brush bristle height adjusting mechanism is modified. The bristle height of magnetic brush at the developing portion changes also with the pitch between magnetic poles existing at that developing portion inside the developing sleeve. The present embodiment takes advantage of this phenomenon.

Two magnets 79a and 79b forming developing magnetic poles inside a developing sleeve 2 are secured to arms 80a and 80b pivotally mounted on a shaft 81 so that the pitch, P, between the two magnetic poles may be changed. The magnetic pole pitch P between the two magnets 79a and 79b can be adjusted by the angle between the magnets 79a and 79b.

By changing the pitch P between the two magnets 79a and 79b, the bristle height h of magnetic brush can be changed as shown in FIG. 18. Accordingly, like the developing apparatus described previously, the FIG. 17 developing apparatus can be used as a second developing unit of the two-color image printer.

While in the foregoing embodiments the magnetic brush bristle height is measured by the magnetic brush bristle height measuring means and control is effected for bristle height adjustment and developing gap adjustment on the basis of the results of the measurement, the following control schemes may also be adopted to attain similar effects.

(1) A developing current measuring means is provided and control is conducted wherein the aforementioned adjusting mechanism is utilized to adjust the bristle height or the developing gap such that developing current measured by the developing current measuring means substantially equals the value of developing current in the contactless developing mode.

(2) A magnetic brush slide-contact force sensor is provided and control is conducted wherein the aforementioned adjusting mechanism is utilized to adjust the bristle height or the developing gap such that slide-contact force of the magnetic brush detected by the sensor becomes substantially zero.

(3) A toner image density sensor is provided and control is effected such that the aforementioned adjusting mechanism is utilized to adjust the bristle height or the developing gap such that values of image density for the first and second toner images detected by the sensor exceed a desirable level.

In order that the amount of toner particles of the first toner image scraped off upon development of the second latent image by the second developing unit 20 can be reduced in the two-color image printer described previously, it suffices that adherence force of the first toner image to the sensitive drum be increased. To this end, the particulate size of developer toner particles used for the first developing unit may be made to be smaller than the particulate size of developer toner particles used for the second developing unit. Preferably, this expedient may be used in combination with the aforementioned adjustment of the relative relationship between the developing gap and bristle height to enhance the effects of the invention.

Also, making the magnetic brush of the second developing unit 20 soft is effective to mitigate scrape-off of the first toner image. To this end, the saturated magnetizing force of developer carrier used for the second developing unit may be made to be smaller than the saturated magnetizing force of developer carrier used for the first developing unit. Again, this expedient may preferably be used in combination with the aforementioned adjustment of the relative relationship between the developing gap and bristle height to enhance the effects of the invention.

In the event that the above expedients cause characteristics of the first developer toner to differ from those of the second developer toner and there occurs irregularity in transfer upon transfer of toner image, roller transfer process or belt transfer process in which irregularity in transfer hardly occurs may preferably be used in combination with the developing apparatus.

The present invention has been described as applied to the second developing unit of the two-color image printer but the invention may be applied to all developing units following the second developing unit inclusive in a color image printer of two or more kinds of color to bring about remarkable effects and may also be applied to the first developing unit (or applicable to monochromatic image printers).

As described above, since, according to the invention, the bristle height of the magnetic brush formed of developer is set to be substantially equal to the developing gap to ensure that a latent image can be developed to form a toner image by making the tip of the magnetic brush slide-contact the surface of the latent image carrier lightly, a toner image formed precedently will not be scraped off to prevent reduction in image density, and the occurrence of color mixing and fog due to intrusion of the toner into the developing means can be prevented, thus providing toner images of sufficient density. The invention is well adapted to provide method and apparatus adapted for attaining the above effects.