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. 07, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 21, 1997
Toru Fujita, Nagano, JP;
Yasuhito Hirashima, Nagano, JP;
Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A remaining amount of toner in an image forming apparatus is determined. The amount of toner remaining determines whether the image forming apparatus may be in a low toner state or a no toner state. An estimate of the amount of toner remaining is obtained by accurately estimating the amount of toner consumed. Latent patch images formed on a photoconductive member 1 by an exposure unit 3 are developed by developing device to obtain patch images. Densities of the patch images are measured by a patch sensor 22, and the contents of a weighting coefficient LUT 44 are changed. Meanwhile, the amount of toner developed, which corresponds to the changed weighting coefficient, is calculated by a development toner weight calculating unit 45 for each pixel on the basis of an exposure signal. This amount of toner developed is summed by a development toner weight summing unit 46. The amount of toner consumed is calculated as a function of the density measured by the patch sensor and the amount of toner developed.
Data source: USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) public patent records. Weekly synchronization. How IDiyas builds this profile