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:
Jul. 08, 2025
Filed:
Apr. 11, 2024
Shunta Yamahori, Kanagawa, JP;
Yuuji Matsuda, Tokyo, JP;
Yuji Ieiri, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroshi Okamura, Kanagawa, JP;
Tomohide Kondoh, Kanagawa, JP;
Shunta Yamahori, Kanagawa, JP;
Yuuji Matsuda, Tokyo, JP;
Yuji Ieiri, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroshi Okamura, Kanagawa, JP;
Tomohide Kondoh, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
To inhibit toner bottle in which toner is remaining from being replaceable, image forming apparatus includes: bottle cover that can open/close insertion opening of toner bottle housing; locking mechanism to lock closed bottle cover; actuating mechanism including unlocking member to unlock locked bottle cover and open bottle cover, and actuator to actuate unlocking member; front cover situated in openable/closable manner in front of bottle cover to inhibit bottle cover from becoming open while front cover is closed; fault sensing unit to perform first fault sensing process in which actuator is sensed as having fault when failing to actuate unlocking member in spite of actuator being driven while image forming unit is non-operating; and condition sensing unit to sense presence of possibility that front cover is opened. Fault sensing unit is excluded from performing first fault sensing process while condition sensing unit is sensing the possibility as being present.