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. 14, 2004
Filed:
Sep. 26, 2003
Hisao Chikano, Kawasaki, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In an image forming apparatus including a cooling device that efficiently cools an inside of a main body of the image forming apparatus, the cooling device has an airflow path in which air taken in the main body of the image forming apparatus flows through a drum-shaped image carrier from a first end side of the image carrier, flows through the image carrier, and is discharged from a second end side of the image carrier, then makes a U-turn on the second end side of the image carrier, and flows through space between a toner storing device and a fixing device, and returns to a position on the first end side of the image carrier in the main body of the image forming apparatus. A fan may be provided at a position where the air makes a U-turn in the airflow path.