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:
Jan. 15, 2013
Filed:
Jul. 18, 2008
Ichiro Kadota, Kawasaki, JP;
Yasuyuki Ishii, Machida, JP;
Tomoko Takahashi, Yokohama, JP;
Masaaki Yamada, Tokyo, JP;
Hideki Kosugi, Yokohama, JP;
Yoshinori Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Ichiro Kadota, Kawasaki, JP;
Yasuyuki Ishii, Machida, JP;
Tomoko Takahashi, Yokohama, JP;
Masaaki Yamada, Tokyo, JP;
Hideki Kosugi, Yokohama, JP;
Yoshinori Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A development unit includes a toner carrying device, a regulating member, and a toner leak protection member. The toner carrying device having a first electrode and a second electrode arrayed with an interval. The first and second electrodes are supplied with a given voltage to set an electric field, changing in a time cycle, between the first and second electrodes. The electric field is used to hop toner over the toner carrying device to form a toner cloud for developing a latent image. The regulating member regulates an amount of toner on the toner carrying device. The toner leak protection member, made from a conductive material, prevents leakage of toner, and is supplied with a bias voltage.