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. 25, 2003
Filed:
Oct. 15, 2001
Shinichi Itoh, Yokohama, JP;
Tetsuo Katoh, Kunitachi, JP;
Tatsuyuki Miura, Yokohama, JP;
Seiji Tsuzuki, Kawaguchi, JP;
Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus and method cause a connecting/conveying device to convey a recovered toner from a cleaner part to a recovered toner housing to house therein the recovered toner, and cause a controller to control a recovered toner supply and a new toner supply in accordance with a toner concentration ratio in a developing device, which is detected by a toner concentration ratio detector, to supply the recovered toner, which is stored in the recovered toner housing, and the new toner, which is stored in the new toner housing, to the developing device. The controller separately controls the recovered toner supply and the new toner supply in accordance with the contents detected by the toner concentration ratio detecting means, to cause to change the combination of the amounts of the recovered toner and new toner to be supplied to the developing device.