ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,306,556, issued on May 20, was assigned to Canon K.K. (Tokyo).
"Image forming apparatus" was invented by Ayumu Iwanaga (Chiba, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An image forming apparatus includes a sensor detecting a toner image carried on a surface of a moving member, a shutter, a shutter mounting portion and an urging member. The shutter is movably supported between the sensor and the surface of the moving member, and movable to an opening position where the sensor is exposed to the surface of the moving member and a closing position where the sensor is covered to the surface of the moving member. The shutter mounting portion is de...