US 7,543,517 B2
	Gear made of resin and image forming device having the resin gear
Kouji Noguchi, Kawaguchi (Japan); and Kazuyuki Sakamaki, Kawaguchi (Japan)
Assigned to Enplas Corporation, Saitama (Japan)
Filed on Dec. 06, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/296,523.
Application 11/296523 is a division of application No. 10/820672, filed on Apr. 08, 2004, granted, now 7,004,046.
Application 10/820672 is a division of application No. 09/827524, filed on Apr. 06, 2001, granted, now 6,752,035.
Claims priority of application No. 2000-107495 (JP), filed on Apr. 10, 2000; and application No. 2000-160670 (JP), filed on May 30, 2000.
Prior Publication US 2006/0081082 A1, Apr. 20, 2006
Int. Cl. F16H 55/17 (2006.01)

U.S. Cl. 74—437  [74/DIG. 10]

4 Claims

1. A gear made of a resin comprising a substantially cylindrical toothed portion formed at a radially outer location, a shaft-supporting section formed at a radially inner location around a rotational center of the toothed portion and a thin plate shaped web of constant thickness extending radially and circumferentially and connecting such shaft-supporting section and said toothed portion to each other, wherein said thin plate shaped web has a circumferential rib formed thereon concentrically with and radially inside said toothed portion, and a plurality of diametrical ribs formed on at least one outer surface of said thin plate shaped web to diametrically connect said circumferential rib and said shaft-supporting section to each other along a side of the thin plate shaped web, each of said plurality of said diametrical ribs comprising a first diametrical rib portion formed to extend obliquely in a direction opposite from a normal rotational direction from an outer periphery of said shaft-supporting section and a second diametrical rib portion formed to extend obliquely with respect to a diameter of said gear in a direction opposite from a direction of said first diametrical rib portion from the outer periphery of said shaft-supporting section and wherein said first and second diametrical rib portions are formed on said at least one outer surface of said thin plate shaped web, and said toothed portion, shaft-supporting section, thin plate shaped web, circumferential rib, and said plurality of diametrical ribs of said gear are all made integrally of the same resin material wherein said thickness of said thin plate shaped web between said circumferential rib and said toothed portion and a thickness of said thin plate shaped web between said shaft supporting section and said circumferential rib are a same constant thickness.