Patent ID: 9377711
Filing Date: 2016-06-28
CPC Classification: B23K,G03G

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus, comprising: a developer carrier configured to carry developer thereon and having a rotation axis; a blade disposed adjacent to the developer carrier and configured to regulate an amount of developer on the developer carrier; and a supporting member configured to support the blade, wherein the blade comprises a plurality of weld marks which are arranged in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the developer carrier and join the blade to the supporting member, wherein an edge of at least one of the plurality of weld marks intersects an edge of an adjacent one of the plurality of weld marks, and wherein the plurality of weld marks form a combined weld mark that has a dimension of 0.1 to 250 mm in an alignment direction that the plurality of weld marks are aligned, and a dimension of 0.1 to 6.0 mm in a direction perpendicular to the alignment direction.