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. 26, 1993
Filed:
May. 19, 1992
Mita Industrial Co., Ltd., Chuo, JP;
Abstract
A toner conveyor disposed in a housing includes an upstream-side toner conveyor and a downstream-side toner conveyor. A toner amount detector is disposed to detect whether the amount of toner in the downstream portion of the housing is greater than a predetermined amount or not, and the upstream-side toner conveyor is not operated when the amount of toner is greater than the predetermined amount in the downstream portion of the housing. A toner replenishment signal is produced when the amount of toner is not greater than the predetermined amount in the downstream portion of the housing despite the downstream-side toner conveying means being operated for more than a predetermined period of time. The toner amount detector can be a plate which rests on top of the toner and pivots up and down as the toner level changes, with a magnet on the plate detected by a suitable detector. Alternatively, the toner amount detector can be a member which moves up and down on top of the toner as the toner level changes, and a photodetector which is activated when the member is at a low level.