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:
Oct. 23, 2012
Filed:
Oct. 20, 2009
Applicants:
Rumi Miyazaki, Osaka, JP;
Atsushi Takehara, Kyoto, JP;
Keiji Kunimi, Osaka, JP;
Inventors:
Assignee:
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G03G 15/08 (2006.01); G03G 15/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a toner-image forming unit, a photosensor, an information obtaining unit, and a toner-amount calculating unit. The toner-image forming unit forms a toner image on the image carrier with toner. The photosensor detects a toner area where the toner is sticking to the image carrier. The information obtaining unit obtains particle-size-change information about how particle size distribution of the toner changes over time. The toner-amount calculating unit calculates a toner amount of the toner image based on the toner area and the particle-size-change information.