US Patent Issued to Ricoh on March 31 for "Developing device including seal and image forming apparatus" (Japanese Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,591,188, issued on March 31, was assigned to Ricoh Co. Ltd. (Tokyo).

"Developing device including seal and image forming apparatus" was invented by Yasuhide Ohkubo (Kanagawa, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A developing device includes: a toner bearer; a layer-thickness regulating member including a regulating portion and a projecting portion; a seal holding surface; and a seal. The regulating portion presses against a surface of the toner bearer to regulate a layer thickness of toner on the toner bearer. The projecting portion is at a back side of the regulating portion. The seal holding surface is opposite an end surface of the t...