Powder container, method of assembling the same and image forming apparatus
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsGoro Katsuyama, Seiji Terazawa, Fumio Ogata
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A powder container of the present invention is made up of a deformable bag for storing desired powder and a box more rigid than the bag for accommodating the bag. The bag includes an outlet portion for discharging the power. Despite that the bag is flexible, the powder container does not fall down when mounted to an image forming apparatus. Further, the powder container is easy to assemble and easy to transport at the time of collection. A method of assembling the toner container and an image forming apparatus using the same are also disclosed.
Claims31
A powder container comprising:
- a deformable bag for storing powder including a cap configured to be removed from an outlet portion to deliver stored powder;
- and
- a box more rigid than said bag for accommodating said bag including a fining portion configured to fit the cap when the cap is removed from the outlet portion of the bag to deliver stored powder;
- wherein said box includes an open portion for allowing said bag to be inserted into said box.
A powder container comprising:
- a deformable bag for storing powder including a cap configured to be removed from an outlet portion to deliver stored powder;
- and
- a box more rigid than said bag for accommodating said bag including a fitting portion configured to fit the cap when the cap is removed from the outlet portion of the bag to deliver stored powder;
- wherein said bag has the outlet portion for discharging the powder at a bottom thereof and an inclined surface tapering toward said outlet portion;
- and
- wherein said box includes at least one wall inclined along said inclined surface of said bag.
A powder container comprising:
- a deformable bag for storing powder including a cap configured to be removed from an outlet portion to deliver stored powder;
- and
- a box more rigid than said bag for accommodating said bag including a fitting portion configured to fit the cap when the cap is removed from the outlet portion of the bag to deliver stored powder;
- wherein said box is polyhedral and comprises a plurality of walls having contiguous sides and separate sides;
- and
- wherein said box is capable of being developed in a form of a flat sheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.