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:
Mar. 04, 2008
Filed:
Dec. 16, 2005
Seiko Itagaki, Hachioji, JP;
Hiroshi Akita, Hachioji, JP;
Isamu Miura, Hachioji, JP;
Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes: an image carrying member; a latent image forming unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the image carrying member; a developing unit to develop the electrostatic latent image on the image carrying member to form a toner image; a forcible discharge unit to forcibly discharge the toner from the developing unit; a toner supplying unit to supply toner by the discharged quantity; and a fog-detection unit to detect fog of the image, wherein the forcible discharge unit forcibly discharges the toner from the developing unit based on a detected result of the fog-detection unit.