ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,466,674, issued on Nov. 11, was assigned to Canon K.K. (Tokyo).
"Shaft and image forming apparatus" was invented by Atsushi Kawarago (Shizuoka, Japan) and Takeshi Tsukahara (Shizuoka, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A shaft on which a torque limiter is mounted includes a rotation restricting portion. The rotation restricting portion is inserted into and engaged with an engaging portion of the torque limiter. The rotation restricting portion is provided with an outer circumferential portion which is projected in an outer diameter direction from an outer circumference of the shaft and of which an outer circumferential surface is forme...