ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 20 -- United States Patent no. 12,529,980, issued on Jan. 20, was assigned to CANON K.K. (Tokyo).
"Image forming apparatus" was invented by Toshiaki Takeuchi (Shizuoka, Japan), Shuichi Gofuku (Shizuoka, Japan) and Takayuki Yada (Shizuoka, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A cartridge that is attachable to and detachable from an apparatus main body includes: a storage portion that includes a discharge port for developer; a stirring member disposed inside the storage portion; a pump capable of varying the volume of the storage portion; and a sealing member including a sealing portion, which is attached to an inner wall of the storage portion so as to seal the discharge ...