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. 17, 1996
Filed:
Nov. 04, 1994
Yoshiaki Miyashita, Kawasaki, JP;
Takeshi Tabuchi, Kawaguchi, JP;
Kouichi Yamazaki, Yokohama, JP;
Nobuo Kikuchi, Kawagoe, JP;
Kentaro Matsumoto, Ichikawa, JP;
Sadao Takahashi, Tokyo, JP;
Tadashi Hayakawa, Tokyo, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In an image forming apparatus having a charging member for charging a photoconductive element in the form of a drum or a belt in contact therewith, a cleaning member cleans the surface of a charge roller contacting the photoconductive element. The cleaning member is usually spaced apart from the surface of the charge roller, but the former is caused to contact the latter only for a predetermined period of time at predetermined intervals. This frees the charge roller from excessive cleaning due to the cleaning member and, therefore, obviates defective images. The time for causing the cleaning member to contact the charge roller may be changed on the basis of the degree of contamination of the charge roller in order to cope with accidental smears brought about on the charge roller.