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:
May. 20, 2014
Filed:
Nov. 13, 2009
Andrew Charles Hogan, Lexington, KY (US);
Peyman Kermanshahi Nejad, Lexington, KY (US);
James Marion Nimmo, Georgetown, KY (US);
David Anthony Schneider, Lexington, KY (US);
Christopher Kent Washing, Lexington, KY (US);
Andrew Charles Hogan, Lexington, KY (US);
Peyman Kermanshahi Nejad, Lexington, KY (US);
James Marion Nimmo, Georgetown, KY (US);
David Anthony Schneider, Lexington, KY (US);
Christopher Kent Washing, Lexington, KY (US);
Lexmark International, Inc., , KY (US);
Abstract
A capacitive sensor for sensing amount of waste toner in a waste toner box of an imaging apparatus includes a capacitor that has a pair of separated plates disposed within the interior of the waste toner box. The capacitance of the capacitor changes with the amount of toner in between the plates of the capacitor. A sensor circuitry is connected to the plates of the waste toner box that measure the capacitance of the capacitor as a voltage value. This voltage value is provided to a controller that determines a relative change in the capacitance value by determining a change in capacitance of the capacitor with respect to a number of pages printed by the imaging apparatus. The controller then determines the state of the waste toner box based on this relative change in capacitance.