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:
Dec. 09, 2014
Filed:
Sep. 10, 2010
Tomoko Takahashi, Yokohama, JP;
Naoyuki Ozaki, Zama, JP;
Ryuji Yoshida, Yokohama, JP;
Nobuyuki Koinuma, Yokohama, JP;
Hiroaki Maeda, Ebina, JP;
Shunichi Hashimoto, Yokohama, JP;
Mugijirou Uno, Isehara, JP;
Yoshinori Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Mikio Ishibashi, Yokohama, JP;
Hideki Zemba, Kawasaki, JP;
Tomoko Takahashi, Yokohama, JP;
Naoyuki Ozaki, Zama, JP;
Ryuji Yoshida, Yokohama, JP;
Nobuyuki Koinuma, Yokohama, JP;
Hiroaki Maeda, Ebina, JP;
Shunichi Hashimoto, Yokohama, JP;
Mugijirou Uno, Isehara, JP;
Yoshinori Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Mikio Ishibashi, Yokohama, JP;
Hideki Zemba, Kawasaki, JP;
Ricoh Company, Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus including a conveyance unit to convey a transfer medium, a first image forming unit to form a monochrome image transferred at a first transfer position onto the transfer medium, and a second image forming unit disposed downstream from the first image forming unit in a direction of conveyance of the transfer medium, including an intermediate transfer body to form a multi-colored toner image on the intermediate transfer body. The multi-colored toner image is transferred onto the transfer medium at a second transfer position. The conveyance unit is separated from the intermediate transfer body at the second transfer position in a monochrome mode to form the monochrome image using only the first image forming unit, and contacts the intermediate transfer body at the second transfer position in a full-color mode to form a full-color image using both the first and second image forming units.