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US 9,851,657 B2Granted
Image forming apparatus
AssigneeSharp Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorTakeshi Okuda
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a cartridge storage portion that is installed in an image forming apparatus main body, and a toner cartridge that is configured so as to be able to be inserted into and removed from the cartridge storage portion. The cartridge storage portion has a storage opening that receives the toner cartridge, and has a gap between an end part of the toner cartridge and the storage opening, through which the end part of the toner cartridge is not able to be held, when the toner cartridge is stored in the cartridge storage portion.
Claims6
An image forming apparatus, comprising:
- a cartridge storage portion that is installed in an image forming apparatus main body and extends along a longitudinal axis;
- and
- a toner cartridge that is configured so as to be able to be inserted into and removed from the cartridge storage portion, the toner cartridge having a first end part which does not include a handle and having a second end part longitudinally opposite the first end part, wherein
- the cartridge storage portion has a storage opening that receives the toner cartridge,
- the toner cartridge is inserted longitudinally into the cartridge storage portion, leading with the second end, and
- when the toner cartridge is fully-inserted into the cartridge storage portion such that the toner cartridge is able to convey toner, the first end part remains exposed from the cartridge storage portion and the image forming apparatus main body, and a gap, through which the first end part of the toner cartridge is not able to be held, is between the first end part of the toner cartridge and the storage opening.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.