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:
Nov. 30, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 20, 2003
Haruyuki Shimomura, Nagoya, JP;
Hiroshi Koie, Nagoya, JP;
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus having a photosensitive member, an exposure device having a plurality of laser emitting elements that each irradiate a laser beam onto the photosensitive member to form an elactrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member, a developing device that supplies a developing agent to the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image, and a controller that controls the irradiation of the plurality of laser emitting elements. The controller includes a determining device that determines which laser emitting element from the plurality of laser emitting elements is closest to reaching its end of operating life and a restricting device that restricts the irradiation of the laser emitting element determined closest to reaching its end of operating life.