The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 30, 2025
Filed:
Aug. 01, 2024
Kyocera Document Solutions Inc., Osaka, JP;
Kazuki Yoshioka, Osaka, JP;
Rei Yamagishi, Osaka, JP;
KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a toner cartridge that supplies toner to an image carrier. The toner cartridge includes a development unit that is connected to a toner container via a connection hole, and has an external opening for supplying the toner to the image carrier, an outer shutter that opens and closes the external opening, an inner shutter that opens and closes the connection hole, and a gear mechanism that connects the outer shutter and the inner shutter to be capable of interlocking with each other. When outer shutter is in a first closing position to close the external opening, the inner shutter is in a second closing position to close the connection hole. When the outer shutter is in a first opening position to open the external opening, the inner shutter is in a second opening position to open the connection hole.