US-12625450-B2 - Image forming apparatus capable of improving adjustment accuracy of toner image forming condition, and image density adjustment method

US12625450B2US 12625450 B2US12625450 B2US 12625450B2US-12625450-B2

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a second acquisition processing portion and a third acquisition processing portion. The second acquisition processing portion acquires a first toner image forming condition of a toner image forming portion. The third acquisition processing portion acquires, based on the first toner image forming condition acquired by the second acquisition processing portion, a relational expression that indicates a relationship between a second toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion and a toner concentration of a specific toner image that is formed by the toner image forming portion. Further, the third acquisition processing portion uses specific expressions that respectively correspond to a plurality of coefficients included in the relational expression to calculate the plurality of coefficients corresponding to the first toner image forming condition acquired by the second acquisition processing portion.

Inventors

Yukiko KOTANI
Makoto Matsumoto
Masaru Watanabe
Yasuaki Sakamoto
Ayato MORIKAMI
Atsuki Ito

Assignees

KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20241011
Priority Date: 20231013

Claims (4)

1 . An image forming apparatus, comprising: a toner image forming portion including at least a developing member which develops an electrostatic latent image formed on an image-carrying member using toner and configured to form a toner image; and a processor, wherein the processor functions as: a first acquisition processing portion which acquires a toner concentration of a predetermined specific toner image that is formed by the toner image forming portion; a second acquisition processing portion which acquires a first toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion; and a third acquisition processing portion which acquires, based on the first toner image forming condition acquired by the second acquisition processing portion, a relational expression configured for calculating a second toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion by substituting the toner concentration into the relational expression, wherein the third acquisition processing portion uses specific expressions that respectively correspond to a plurality of coefficients included in the relational expression to calculate the plurality of coefficients corresponding to the first toner image forming condition acquired by the second acquisition processing portion, the specific expressions each indicating a relationship between one of the plurality of coefficients and the first toner image forming condition.
2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first toner image forming condition is a charge amount of the toner, and the second toner image forming condition is a developing bias voltage to be applied to the developing member.
3 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the toner image forming portion includes a laser scanning unit which forms an electrostatic latent image on the image-carrying member, the first toner image forming condition is a developing bias voltage to be applied to the developing member, and the second toner image forming condition is a light amount of light emitted by the laser scanning unit.
4 . An image density adjustment method executed in an image forming apparatus including a toner image forming portion including at least a developing member which develops an electrostatic latent image formed on an image-carrying member using toner and configured to form a toner image, comprising: a first acquisition step of acquiring a toner concentration of a predetermined specific toner image that is formed by the toner image forming portion; a second acquisition step of acquiring a first toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion; and a third acquisition step of acquiring, based on the first toner image forming condition acquired in the second acquisition step, a relational expression capable of calculating a second toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion by substituting the toner concentration into the relational expression, wherein the third acquisition step includes using specific expressions that respectively correspond to a plurality of coefficients included in the relational expression to calculate the plurality of coefficients corresponding to the first toner image forming condition acquired in the second acquisition step, the specific expressions each indicating a relationship between one of the plurality of coefficients and the first toner image forming condition.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-177561 filed on Oct. 13, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus that uses electrophotography and an image density adjustment method. An image forming apparatus that uses electrophotography includes a toner image forming portion which forms a toner image on an image-carrying member such as a photoconductor drum. The toner image forming portion includes a developing roller which develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the image-carrying member, and the like. Further, there is known an image forming apparatus which uses a relational expression that indicates a relationship between a developing bias voltage to be applied to the developing roller and a toner concentration of a predetermined adjustment toner image that is formed by the toner image forming portion, to adjust the developing bias voltage. SUMMARY An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a toner image forming portion, a first acquisition processing portion, a second acquisition processing portion, and a third acquisition processing portion. The toner image forming portion forms a toner image. The first acquisition processing portion acquires a toner concentration of a predetermined specific toner image that is formed by the toner image forming portion. The second acquisition processing portion acquires a first toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion. The third acquisition processing portion acquires, based on the first toner image forming condition acquired by the second acquisition processing portion, a relational expression that indicates a relationship between a second toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion and the toner concentration. Further, the third acquisition processing portion uses specific expressions that respectively correspond to a plurality of coefficients included in the relational expression to calculate the plurality of coefficients corresponding to the first toner image forming condition acquired by the second acquisition processing portion, the specific expressions each indicating a relationship between one of the plurality of coefficients and the first toner image forming condition. An image density adjustment method according to another aspect of the present disclosure is executed in an image forming apparatus including a toner image forming portion which forms a toner image and includes a first acquisition step, a second acquisition step, and a third acquisition step. The first acquisition step includes acquiring a toner concentration of a predetermined specific toner image that is formed by the toner image forming portion. The second acquisition step includes acquiring a first toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion. The third acquisition step includes acquiring, based on the first toner image forming condition acquired in the second acquisition step, a relational expression that indicates a relationship between a second toner image forming condition of the toner image forming portion and the toner concentration. Further, the third acquisition step includes using specific expressions that respectively correspond to a plurality of coefficients included in the relational expression to calculate the plurality of coefficients corresponding to the first toner image forming condition acquired in the second acquisition step, the specific expressions each indicating a relationship between one of the plurality of coefficients and the first toner image forming condition. This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line IV-IV indicated by arrows in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a graph showing a relationship between a toner concentration of an adjustment to