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:
Oct. 16, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 05, 2005
Hirosato Amano, Numazu, JP;
Masaki Serizawa, Numazu, JP;
Makoto Hanada, Tokyo, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides toner supplying devices, toner supplying processes, and the like that control bulk density of a mixture of toner and gas efficiently thereby enhancing the fluidity of the mixture, and maintaining the high fluidity for a long period. The invention includes a toner supplying device that has a toner containing portion configured to store a toner, a toner outlet configured to discharge the toner from the toner containing portion, a conveying pipe configured to convey the toner, and a gas feeding unit configured to feed a gas. The toner supplying device supplies the toner from the toner containing portion to an image forming unit of an image forming apparatus. A porous member is disposed near the toner outlet, and the gas is fed into the toner containing portion through the porous member.