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AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsKaoru Tada, Nobuhiko Kita, Sei Onuma, Ryoh Idehara, Kazuyoshi Kondo, Yuusuke Furuichi, Genta Hagiwara
Estimating the term…
An image forming apparatus includes a removable body that is removably set in a main body of the image forming apparatus, and an engaging mechanism that causes the removable body and the main body to engage with each other when the removable body is lifted by a user.
An image forming apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Apparatus which relate to the handling of copy material: supplying of sheet copy material; Cassettes therefor
For connecting the different parts of the apparatus: mechanical connection means
Electrography
About 2 years 8 months of term left · ends 18 Jun 2029 (estimated)
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese priority document 2007-239885 filed in Japan on Sep. 14, 2007.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for preventing a removable body from being pulled or falling from an image forming apparatus.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 2A and 2B are external perspective views of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side view of an engaging mechanism arranged in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 100 is assumed as a laser printer in the below embodiments. However, the present invention can be applied to another type of a color image forming apparatus that can form a color image, such as a printer, a facsimile device, a copier, and a multifunction product that has functions of both a copier and a printer. The image forming apparatus 100 performs image forming processing based on an image signal corresponding to image information sent from external terminals. Even when the image forming apparatus 100 is a facsimile device, the same image forming processing is performed. Image forming can be performed on a sheet recording medium such as a plain paper typically used for copying, an OHP sheet, a thick sheet such as a card or a postcard, or an envelope.
The image forming apparatus 100 is a tandem type that has a plurality of cylindrical photosensitive drums 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20BK arranged in parallel to each other. Each of the photosensitive drums 20Y, 20M, 20C, and 20BK serves as an image carrier on which an image in each corresponding color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black is formed.