The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 29, 2019
Filed:
Nov. 06, 2018
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Sumihiro Inokuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroshi Adachi, Kanagawa, JP;
Masashi Hommi, Kanagawa, JP;
Naohiro Funada, Kanagawa, JP;
Norio Muraishi, Tokyo, JP;
Kengo Tanaka, Tokyo, JP;
Shingo Nishizaki, Kanagawa, JP;
Masaki Karakawa, Kanagawa, JP;
RICOH COMPANY, LTD., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A powder detector includes a driver to drive a motor, a stirrer to stir powder in a vessel, a vibration plate disposed in the vessel and vibrated by a flip of the stirrer rotated by the motor, and circuitry. The circuitry detects a vibration of the vibration plate, estimates an amount of powder based on a detection result of the vibration, and causes the driver to drive the motor from a starting point, so as to move the stirrer to a preset halt position. The starting point is a rotation angle of the motor on detection of the vibration.