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:
Jan. 18, 2011
Filed:
Dec. 19, 2006
Masahiko Sasa, Nagoya, JP;
Masahiko Sasa, Nagoya, JP;
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Nagoya-shi, Aichi-ken, JP;
Abstract
A medium supporting member, which is used in an image forming apparatus, includes: a plurality of ribs that support a recording medium; and an irradiation target portion that has a flat and smooth surface which is irradiated with a light by a light emitting unit of the image forming apparatus, wherein: a reflected light of the light emitted by the light emitting unit is detected by a light receiving unit of the image forming apparatus, and a presence or absence of the recording medium in the irradiation target portion is detected based on a quantity of the reflected light; and a distance between the irradiation target portion and the recording medium is increased in a direction from the light receiving unit to the light emitting unit.