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:
Mar. 16, 1999
Filed:
Apr. 11, 1995
Masataka Maeda, Konan, JP;
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Abstract
In an image forming apparatus, a toner carry roller, the upstream surface of an aperture electrode unit and the downstream surface of the aperture electrode unit are processed so that the surface roughness values thereof are equal to about 2 .mu.m, 0.2 .mu.m or less and about 6 .mu.m in terms of Rz, respectively. Accordingly, at the upstream side of the toner supply direction, the friction coefficient between the toner and the upstream surface is smaller than that between the toner and the toner carry roller surface so that subsequently-supplied toner pushes previously-supplied toner to the apertures of the aperture electrode unit. At the downstream side of the toner supply direction, the friction coefficient between the toner and the toner carry member is smaller than that between the toner and the downstream surface, the toner which is carried and supplied by the toner carry roller is fed to the apertures where it is dammed up by the toner adhering to the downstream surface. The toner fed to the apertures is electrostatically attracted to a supporter side by control electric field and then flies onto the supporter, thereby forming picture elements.