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:
Dec. 01, 2015
Filed:
Jan. 30, 2014
Akira Asaoka, Kanagawa, JP;
Hirotaka Hatta, Kanagawa, JP;
Toshiya Sato, Kanagawa, JP;
Takeshi Kojima, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroyuki Uenishi, Kanagawa, JP;
Yusuke Ishizuka, Kanagawa, JP;
Akira Asaoka, Kanagawa, JP;
Hirotaka Hatta, Kanagawa, JP;
Toshiya Sato, Kanagawa, JP;
Takeshi Kojima, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroyuki Uenishi, Kanagawa, JP;
Yusuke Ishizuka, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A cleaning unit, which is included in a process cartridge or an image forming apparatus, includes a brush rotary body to remove toner, a toner collecting rotary body to collect the toner, a toner collecting blade to scrape the toner, and a cleaning blade to scrape the toner falling from the brush rotary body. The image carrier, the brush rotary body, and the toner collecting rotary body rotate in the same direction. The cleaning blade, the brush rotary body, and the toner collecting rotary body are located to cause a tangential line passing through a contact area of the brush rotary body and the toner collecting rotary body on an outer peripheral circle around a shaft of the brush rotary body to have an intersection point intersecting a non-contact surface of the cleaning blade disposed opposite to a contact portion of the cleaning blade with the image carrier.