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:
Dec. 09, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 07, 1995
Paul Allen Rooke, Lexington, KY (US);
Thomas Howard Miller, Georgetown, KY (US);
John Edward Passafiume, Lexington, KY (US);
Narutaka Yoshida, Toyokawa, JP;
Yasushi Tsuda, Toyokawa, JP;
Joho Katsuo, Toyohashi, JP;
Hirofumi Hasegawa, Toyokawa, JP;
Lexmark International, Inc., Lexington, KY (US);
Minolta Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive member, a developing unit which is removably installed in a body of the image forming apparatus, a shutter covering a developing region of the photosensitive member when the developing unit is removed from the body of the image forming apparatus and a cleaning member capable of cleaning the surface of the photosensitive member in accordance with rotation of the photosensitive member by making contact with the photosensitive member in conjunction with the shutter covering operation, but which does not contact the photosensitive member when the shutter is open. During a control operation, foreign matter such as used developer adhered to the photosensitive member is removed when the photosensitive member is rotated with the shutter closed.