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:
Aug. 22, 2000
Filed:
Apr. 13, 1999
Applicant:
Inventors:
Akio Kutsuwada, Kawasaki, JP;
Seiji Oka, Yokohama, JP;
Tetsuo Yamaoka, Yokohama, JP;
Keisuke Hayashi, Tokyo-to, JP;
Shinji Tamaki, Tokyo-to, JP;
Assignee:
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G03G / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
399359 ; 399253 ;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus including a plurality of filters for obtaining reusable toner from used toner scraped off of an image carrier. Also included is a reusable toner container for storing the reusable toner, and a toner transfer device for transferring the reusable toner stored in the reusable toner container to a developing device so that the reusable toner is reused by the developing device. The plurality of filters have a different mesh-size and are positioned in a used toner stream in an order based on the different mesh-size.