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. 04, 2011
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2007
Ryosuke Hirokawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroyuki Watase, Kanagawa, JP;
Ryosuke Hirokawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroyuki Watase, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A supporting unit is mounted on a body of an image forming apparatus in a swingable manner around a swing fulcrum. A through shaft serves as the swing fulcrum, which is inserted into the supporting unit through the swing fulcrum so that both ends of the through shaft are supported by supporting members. The through shaft includes at least one of an operation member that is slidable on the through shaft in an axial direction and a biasing unit that biases a sliding force in one direction of the axial direction. When the supporting unit is opened with respect to the body, at least a part of a conveying path on which the recording medium is conveyed is exposed.