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. 20, 2011
Filed:
Feb. 13, 2007
Toshitaka Semma, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshihisa Kimura, Kanagawa, JP;
Tetsuya Yano, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuo Ogawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuhito Kishi, Kanagawa, JP;
Toshitaka Semma, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshihisa Kimura, Kanagawa, JP;
Tetsuya Yano, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuo Ogawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuhito Kishi, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a main power unit that outputs a first DC power and an auxiliary power unit that outputs a second DC power to the components of the image forming apparatus. The auxiliary power unit includes a rechargeable capacitor. A measuring unit measures performance of the capacitor and a determining unit determines performance insufficiency of the capacitor based on the measured performance and the system configuration of the image forming apparatus. The performance is, for example, changes in a capacitance of the capacitor with time. When the determining unit determines performance insufficiency of the capacitor, a control unit adjusts, for example, a use range of the capacitor.