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. 13, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 24, 2009
Applicants:
Yushi Hirayama, Kanagawa, JP;
Hitoshi Ishibashi, Kanagawa, JP;
Tetsuya Muto, Kanagawa, JP;
Inventors:
Assignee:
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G03G 15/08 (2006.01); G03G 15/00 (2006.01); G03G 15/10 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a problem-occurrence determining unit, a problem-occurrence area determining unit, and a notifying unit. If the problem-occurrence determining unit determines that a problem has occurred in an image forming process, the problem-occurrence area determining unit determines whether the problem is caused by a toner filling process on the basis of toner-filling control data and toner-supply control data. The notifying unit then notifies the determination as to whether the problem is caused by the toner filling process.