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:
Aug. 07, 2012
Filed:
Oct. 01, 2009
Eichi Koizumi, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobutaka Takeuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Akira Yoshida, Kanagawa, JP;
Shinji Kato, Kanagawa, JP;
Eichi Koizumi, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobutaka Takeuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Akira Yoshida, Kanagawa, JP;
Shinji Kato, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A first developer container having a toner supplying opening is provided in a developing unit. A toner concentration sensor is arranged downstream of the toner supplying opening to detect toner concentration in developer. A supply controlling unit is provided to determine an excess or a shortage in the amount of supplied toner based on image information correspondingly to a detection result by the toner concentration sensor, and to correct the driving amount of a toner supplying unit that has been determined based on the image information correspondingly to the recognized excess or shortage in the amount of supplied toner.