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. 12, 2014
Filed:
Dec. 23, 2009
Toshihiro Yamashiro, Kanagawa, JP;
Toshihiro Yamashiro, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a recording head for discharging an ink droplet onto a recording medium in a print operation; a maintenance operation unit performing a primary maintenance operation on the recording head after a predetermined time following completion of the print operation; a standing time calculation unit calculating a standing time between a completion time of a secondary maintenance operation performed in the predetermined time and an end time of the predetermined time; an intensity comparing unit comparing an intensity of the primary maintenance operation and an intensity of the secondary maintenance operation; and a selection unit selecting a type of the primary maintenance operation based on the standing time when the intensity of the secondary maintenance operation is greater than the intensity of the primary maintenance operation.