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:
Feb. 24, 2026
Filed:
Aug. 29, 2024
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Tomoki Fujikawa, Shizuoka, JP;
CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a control unit that controls a state of a restricting unit to switch between a restricted state in which a plurality of consumable units are restricted from being removed and an unrestricted state in which the plurality of consumable units are not restricted from being removed. In a first state in which a contract for a service for using the consumable unit of the specific type provided by a service provider is in effect, the control unit sets the restricting unit to the restricted state in a case where all the plurality of consumable units mounted in the image forming apparatus are consumable units of the specific type, and sets the restricting unit to the unrestricted state in a case where at least one of the plurality of consumable units mounted in the image forming apparatus is the normal consumable unit.