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:
Jun. 16, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 23, 1996
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus has a toner carrier roller, a back electrode which is located so as to face the toner carrier roller, a voltage source for applying a voltage which generates an electric field for making toner fly from the toner carrier roller to the back electrode, a control electrode which has many openings through which the toner is allowed to pass and first and second conductive layers formed around the openings and is formed so that at least portions of the first and second conductive layers which surround the openings do not overlap each other in a direction where the toner flies from the toner carrier roller to the back electrode, and a voltage source for applying a voltage which controls the toner passing through the opening according to an image signal. As a result, an electrostatic capacity is hardly formed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, thereby suppressing a fall in response characteristic to the toner flying control due to the electrostatic capacity.