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:
Nov. 05, 1996
Filed:
Mar. 09, 1994
Hideo Yamasa, Yamatokoriyama, JP;
Yasuhiro Takai, Sakurai, JP;
Atsushi Ueda, Shiki-gun, JP;
Hirokazu Tanaka, Osaka, JP;
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides in a preferred embodiment a developer container having a supply and discharge shaft which is driven and rotated in a direction by a supply and discharge shaft motor, a supply screw mounted on one of the ends of the supply and discharge shaft for bringing unused developer in a developer supply container into a developer container, and a discharge screw mounted on the other end of the supply and discharge shaft for discharging the developer in the developer container through a developer discharge opening. With this structure, the ratio of replacing old developer with new developer in the developer container is controlled in the desired manner, and the charging property of the developer is maintained substantially uniform. Additionally, since the replacement efficiency of the developer is improved, the consumption of the developer is reduced. Moreover, even when a copying machine is tilted, a large amount of developer is unlikely to be discharged.