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US 6,212,348 B1Granted
Developing unit having elastic blade
AssigneeSharp Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsAtsushi Inoue, Hiroshi Tatsumi, Takayuki Yamanaka, Takashi Sakai
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A developing unit having an elastic blade which is provided with rectangular holes along the width in the area between its abutment portion against a developing roller and the supported end.
Claims16
A developing unit comprising:
- a developer support for retaining and conveying developer;
- and
- a flexible plate-like developer layer regulating member which is supported and fixed at one end and is free at an other end, the developer layer regulating member having a flat portion, in proximity to the free end, abutting against the developer support so as to form a developer layer of a designated thickness on the developer support, wherein void space made up of at least one through-hole is formed along a width in an area between the abutting flat portion of the developer layer regulating member and the fixed supported end
- said at least one through-hole being formed in an area closer to the fixed supported end of the developer layer regulating member, with respect to a midpoint between the free end and the fixed supported end of the developer layer regulating member, wherein a ratio (Lh/Lv) is set at 1 or lower, where Lh is a maximum dimension along a width of a void space formed in the developer layer regulating member and Lv is a maximum dimension in a direction perpendicular to the width of the void space.
1 more element
A developing unit comprising:
- a developer support for retaining and conveying developer;
- and
- a flexible plate-like developer layer regulating member which is supported and fixed at one end and is free at an other end, the developer layer regulating member having a flat portion, in proximity to the free end, abutting against the developer support so as to form a developer layer of a designated thickness on the developer support, wherein a plurality of void spaces made up of through-holes are formed along a width in an area between the abutting flat portion of the developer layer regulating member and the fixed supported end,
- the plurality of void spaces being formed of a same void space shape at regular intervals on an area of the developer layer regulating member corresponding to at least a middle of a developer layer forming area on the developer support, a void space ratio (Lh/P) at both end areas of the developer regulating member being set smaller than a void space ratio of the developer regulating member corresponding to the middle of the developer layer forming area, wherein Lh is a maximum dimension along a void space and P is a pitch between adjacent void spaces.
1 more element
A developing unit comprising:
- a developer support for retaining and conveying developer;
- a flexible plate-like developer layer regulating member which is supported and fixed at one end and is free at an other end, the developer layer regulating member having a flat portion, in proximity to the free end, abutting against the developer support so as to form a developer layer of a designated thickness on the developer support, wherein void space made up of at least one through-hole is formed along a width in an area between the abutting flat portion of the developer layer regulating member and the fixed supported end;
- and
- a sealing element having a higher flexibility than the developer layer regulating member provided on at least one side in a through-hole formed area of the developer layer regulating member.
1 more element
A developing unit comprising:
- a developer support for retaining and conveying developer;
- and
- a flexible plate-like developer layer regulating member which is supported and fixed at one end and is free at an other end, the developer layer regulating member having a flat portion, in proximity to the free end, abutting against the developer support so as to form a developer layer of a designated thickness on the developer support, wherein void space made up of at least one recess is formed along a width in an area between the abutting flat portion of the developer layer regulating member and the fixed supported end, wherein a void space ratio (Lh/P) is set at 0.5 or lower, where Lh is a maximum dimension along a width of a void space formed in the developer layer regulating member and P is a pitch between adjacent void spaces.
A developing unit comprising:
- a developer support for retaining and conveying developer;
- and
- a flexible plate-like developer layer regulating member which is supported and fixed at one end and is free at an other end, the developer layer regulating member having a flat portion, in proximity to the free end, abutting against the developer support so as to form a developer layer of a designated thickness on the developer support, wherein a plurality of void spaces made up of recesses are formed along a width in an area between the abutting flat portion of the developer layer regulating member and the fixed supported end,
- the plurality of void spaces being formed of a same void space shape at regular intervals on an area of the developer layer regulating member corresponding to at least a middle of a developer layer forming area on the developer support, wherein a void space ratio (Lh/P) is set at 0.5 or lower, where Lh is a maximum dimension along a width of a void space formed in the developer layer regulating member and P is a pitch between adjacent void spaces.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.