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:
May. 25, 2004
Filed:
Aug. 25, 2000
Atsushi Murakami, Nagoya, JP;
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Abstract
An image reading device includes a cold-cathode lamp as a light source for image reading. The cold-cathode lamp is lit even when the image reading is not performed. A temperature detecting device detects a wall temperature of the cold-cathode lamp or a temperature that has correlation to the lamp wall temperature, and a lighting-out control device turns off the cold-cathode lamp when image reading is not being performed and when a temperature detected by the temperature detecting device is equal to or below a first predetermined temperature. In the image reading device, the image reading operation starts immediately after a user's designation under normal office conditions. As a result, the operating life of the lamp can be prolonged as much as possible.