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. 30, 2008
Filed:
Aug. 20, 2004
Toshio Koike, Kanagawa, JP;
Ken Amemiya, Tokyo, JP;
Naohiro Kumagai, Kanagawa, JP;
Masato Yanagida, Tokyo, JP;
Masanori Kawasumi, Kanagawa, JP;
Takeshi Uchitani, Kanagawa, JP;
Yutaka Takahashi, Tokyo, JP;
Yuji Arai, Kanagawa, JP;
Takaaki Tawada, Kanagawa, JP;
Masami Tomita, Shizuoka, JP;
Takeshi Tabuchi, Saitama, JP;
Eisaku Murakami, Tokyo, JP;
Takeshi Shintani, Kanagawa, JP;
Takuji Yoneda, Tokyo, JP;
Toshio Koike, Kanagawa, JP;
Ken Amemiya, Tokyo, JP;
Naohiro Kumagai, Kanagawa, JP;
Masato Yanagida, Tokyo, JP;
Masanori Kawasumi, Kanagawa, JP;
Takeshi Uchitani, Kanagawa, JP;
Yutaka Takahashi, Tokyo, JP;
Yuji Arai, Kanagawa, JP;
Takaaki Tawada, Kanagawa, JP;
Masami Tomita, Shizuoka, JP;
Takeshi Tabuchi, Saitama, JP;
Eisaku Murakami, Tokyo, JP;
Takeshi Shintani, Kanagawa, JP;
Takuji Yoneda, Tokyo, JP;
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a charging unit that charges the image carrier, a latent image forming unit that forms a latent image on the image carrier, a developing unit that develops the latent image to form a toner image, a transferring unit that transfers the toner image to a recording medium, a cleaning unit that cleans toner remaining on the image carrier, a lubricant applying unit that applies a solid lubricant to a surface of the image carrier, and a detecting unit that detects whether the image carrier is brand new. The toner has an average roundness of 0.94 or more. The lubricant applying unit is operated when the detecting unit detects that the image carrier is brand new.