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:
Sep. 26, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 30, 1998
Keiji Kamio, Hitachi, JP;
Yoshitaro Ishii, Hitachi, JP;
Shizuo Tsuruta, Kitaibaraki, JP;
Masahiko Saito, Kitaibaraki, JP;
Tadashi Okano, Hitachi, JP;
Nobuo Suzuki, Hitachinaka, JP;
Yoshikatsu Shinonaga, Hitachi, JP;
Tetsuro Akatsu, Hitachinaka, JP;
Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
When the upper case of the developing device is pushed from above, the upper case may be deformed producing a negatively activated pressure corresponding to the deformed volume of the case, thereby dispersing toner along with the air. When the developing device is mounted to or dismounted from the color image forming apparatus, the dispersed toner may fall out of the developing device. To prevent the toner from falling out of the developing device, the toner carrier and the limiting member for limiting the toner layer thickness are held in the developer case and a falling toner receiver is formed which is recessed in the developer case in the longitudinal and widthwise directions of the toner carrier and the limiting member for limiting the toner layer thickness. The falling toner is collected in the receiver, preventing the device from being contaminated with the falling toner and facilitating the cleaning of the device.