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. 27, 2016
Filed:
Mar. 13, 2014
Junji Yamabe, Shizuoka, JP;
Seiji Terazawa, Shizuoka, JP;
Masashi Hasegawa, Shizuoka, JP;
RICOH COMPANY, LIMITED, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a lid pulling mechanism that includes a hook to open a toner discharge opening by pulling, from the bottle head section, a lid member that is in contact with a bottle head section of a toner bottle to close the toner discharge opening, and the lid pulling mechanism pulls the lid member in a direction inclined upward with respect to a virtual line that extends in a horizontal direction. Therefore, the distance is decreased between the lid member and the bottle head section and above the toner discharge opening through which air easily passes; thus, intake of air from the outside to the inside of the bottle head section is prevented. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of spread of toner from the inside of the bottle head section to the outside of the container.