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. 29, 2011
Filed:
Jun. 30, 2008
Tetsuro Hirota, Hadeno, JP;
Takumi Hagiwara, Edina, JP;
Kenichi Kawabata, Isehara, JP;
Mamoru Yorimoto, Tarra, JP;
Tetsu Morino, Zama, JP;
Noboru Sawayama, Yokohama, JP;
Tetsuro Hirota, Hadeno, JP;
Takumi Hagiwara, Edina, JP;
Kenichi Kawabata, Isehara, JP;
Mamoru Yorimoto, Tarra, JP;
Tetsu Morino, Zama, JP;
Noboru Sawayama, Yokohama, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, a water-repellent transfer belt, a pattern formation controller, a read unit, and a detection unit. The recording head has a plurality of nozzles aligned in a given direction, and ejects droplets of a liquid therefrom. The pattern formation controller directs each of the plurality of nozzles to eject the liquid to form a detection pattern on the transfer belt. The detection pattern has multiple droplets ejected from each of the plurality of nozzles sequentially arranged and spaced apart from each other both in the given direction and in a direction orthogonal to the given direction. The read unit includes a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and reads the detection pattern to output a read result. The detection unit detects a defective nozzle according to the read result.