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:
Sep. 15, 2020
Filed:
Jan. 15, 2020
Tetsuya Hara, Tokyo, JP;
Masashi Hommi, Kanagawa, JP;
Yuji Ieiri, Kanagawa, JP;
Takumi Miyagawa, Tokyo, JP;
Tetsuya Hara, Tokyo, JP;
Masashi Hommi, Kanagawa, JP;
Yuji Ieiri, Kanagawa, JP;
Takumi Miyagawa, Tokyo, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A remaining toner amount detecting apparatus detects a remaining toner amount in a toner bottle. The remaining toner amount detecting apparatus includes at least one pair of electrodes that are configured to face each other with the toner bottle interposed between the electrodes; a first estimator configured to estimate the remaining toner amount based on a capacitance between the electrodes of the at least one pair of electrodes; a second estimator configured to estimate the remaining toner amount by counting a number of pixels in a printed image; and an estimation selector configured to use either one of the first estimator or the second estimator to output the remaining toner amount, based on a temperature or a humidity inside an apparatus in which the toner bottle is mounted.